Preparing for Publication

I’m excited to tell you that my third book, The Potomac River: A History and Guide, has shipped from The History Press’s warehouse to distributors and retailers. You can now order the book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and have it shipped to you in the next week.

This is my second book by The History Press, which published Prohibition in Washington, D.C.: How Dry We Weren’t in 2011. I’ve so enjoyed our collaboration that I didn’t hesitate to hit them up for my latest project – and I really hope we’ll have even more projects in the future.

Can I also ask a favor of you, the reader? I’ve created a Facebook fan page for the book, and I’m trying to get as many people as possible to “Like” it. If you would be so kind...

There is a natural quiet period in between when a book is at the printer, and when it actually ships to book buyers. This isn’t a time to rest if you’re an author – it’s a time to plan. Blog postings, events, interviews, the publication party, and reviews. Things that will help generate buzz for your book. You’ve got a crucial three month window after publication to make the book a success.

As we prepare for publication of The Potomac River, I’ve been more than a little busy setting up events for this spring. Here are some of the many fun things that I’ve lined up:

• Publication party at Congressional Cemetery on April 26. A Save the Date reminder has been sent out. This is open to the public - and all are invited. This will the funnest party you’ve ever been to in a cemetery! 
• Georgetown Neighborhood Library – May 3
• Literary Hill BookFest – May 6
• Barnes & Noble in Clarendon – May 12
• One More Page Books in Arlington – May 23

And I’m working on even more events, like Arlington Central Library and the Gaithersburg Book Festival. This fall will see the the major book festivals in Washington, DC. Creating, preparing for, and speaking at these events takes a great deal of time - even for just a one-hour appearance somewhere, you can spend several days preparing for it. And it is you, the author, who will do most of this work, unless you have money to hire a publicist. 

Social media is a big part of the strategy to publicize The Potomac River. My plan is to microblog on both Facebook and Twitter, mentioning upcoming events and posting a photo every few days about the river, along with the story behind that photo. There’ll be more blog postings here on Throwing Spaghetti, Cultural Tourism DC, bookstore blogs, and other places.

The publisher, The History Press, will be sending out a mass e-mail in the coming week announcing the book. This will go out to all of their press contacts as well as to my database of contacts (an Excel spreadsheet of about 1,500 people). 

I’ve already got one radio interview lined up: I’m taking the host of WAMU’s Metro Connetion radio magazine show out to the Seneca quarry, a forgotten site on the Potomac where they quarried the red sandstone for the Smithsonian Castle. This should broadcast at the end of March.

And finally, I made a list of key influencers and reviewers who will get copies of the book in the hope that they will add their voice to the public discussion. I provided these names to the publisher’s publicist. Despite the reputed demise of print media, many people still read book reviews in periodicals, and this is a key way to generate mass awareness. 

Speaking of reviews, if and when you get your copy of The Potomac River, I would encourage all readers to consider writing a review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and any other online forum. Your voice really does matter: people trust their friends and family’s opinions more than anything else.

Here we go!

Garrett Peck

www.garrettpeck.com