They say it takes a village to raise a child, and frankly, I think the belief is true about writers. For many of us, writing has to balance with work, family, and other commitments. And many of us need to step back and realize that we can’t do it all. We need help.

When it comes to promo that’s probably more true than for other aspects of our authorial career. Others can’t write the books for us, or go through the edits, line by line, making the manuscript polished. They really can’t execute contracts, and unless they’re professionals, they probably can’t decipher them either. Which leaves the only other major job of being an author: promotion.

There are usually two ways of finding help with promotion. You can hire someone, such as a promotional agency, or you can have a friend or family members help out. Sometimes, the latter approach works best, as children can become involved in their mother’s job by doing things like using a hole punch to make a hole in a bookmark and stringing ribbon through it, or other smaller, crafty jobs. As a member of Bookworm Bags, usually, it’s my mother who stuffs the bags.

She likes to do it, loving to see all the various promo items that the authors send. She’s a voracious reader herself, so we talk about the books, the authors, and my writing career. She also likes to help out when, and where, she can. So it’s a win-win situation for me. I have someone to stuff my bags, and she gets to help out.

This Mother’s Day I want to thank her for her help, not just with the promo activities, but everything she’s done for me over the years. Today, however, she’s in the hospital, and while things are expected to have a positive outcome, it certainly isn’t where she’d prefer to spend her Mother’s Day. Also makes taking her out for that steak dinner pretty difficult.

While holidays such as this one make us stop and say thank you to those who help us, it’s always a good idea to thank your helpers, no matter who they are or what time of year it is. If it’s an author who helped you along the way with information or a publisher tip, or the graphic artist who made a banner, or even your kids who help you decorate bookmarks to make them stand out from the crowd…say thank you! Writing is a lonely business. Having help makes it less so. And, if you have help with your promo, it might even make you sell more books!

I thought I’d take my blog post this month and use it as an opportunity to explain why I like Bookworm Bags and why I think authors should join. The premise of Bookworm Bags is that a reader receives (either through a conference, book signing, contest win or other means) a goody bag filled with bookmarks, postcards, and other promo items from a bunch of different authors. Everyone loves free gifts. And to a reader, what could be more exciting than to receive free stuff from new-to-them authors?

As an author, it’s another avenue of promotion. And it relies on the circles created by other authors. By sharing items with other Bookworm Bag members, who in turn share them at their signings or contests, I am able to reach more readers than I could on my own. Since we often send books to major conferences, this is another way that I can share my stuff with readers whom I wouldn’t have had a chance to reach otherwise.

When I’ve sent Bookworm Bags, such as with orders from Pink Petal Books, I’ve gotten great comments from readers. Most of them enjoy receiving the freebies, and I hope they’ve also discovered great authors.

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