ARCs, Planning and Press Kits

A few months back I recorded a show for a huge toy brand and I’ve been eager to share the details with everyone. I had so much fun recording for them, they were kind, encouraging and have written such an awesome series. I’m praying it’ll be picked up for a second season.

As for novel updates, there are currently 20 ARCs left for reviewers to check out. I’ve reached out to several bloggers, booktubers and bookstagramers who review the genre, mainly those whose content I enjoy. I’ve actually been compiling a list of potential reviewers since 2019, but unfortunately there were some people on that list who are no longer active on their accounts or who aren’t currently accepting ARCs. Still, I did find that the list was very helpful and I would encourage other authors to create one in advance so that you’re more organized when the time comes.

One thing that I’ve found is that your schedule becomes very busy, very quickly as your book is goes from the final editing stages to release. There is so much planning involved, decisions to finalize, events to organize…and I’m glad that I was given the advice from my publisher and editor to think about these things long in advance.

Another thing that I recommend, is to create a media/press kit. It was a lot easier than I anticipated. Truthfully it seemed intimidating at first but once I understood exactly what companies and reviewers were looking for it all came together smoothly. Press kits are like a business card for your book (or content) and they allow for information about the author, publisher and the book to be compiled into one, nearly organized space for others to glance over when deciding whether they would like to…say, participate in an event with the author, such as a signing or do an interview on a podcast.

Having this type of preparation has allowed me to concentrate on the present, focus on upcoming events, have time to update my blog and other social media accounts and to work on my other projects once I complete what’s on the daily agenda.

It is something that I would highly recommend doing whether you’re traditionally publishing or going the indie route. Being organized early on, will allow you to enjoy the process and your release without added stress. It’ll give you a place to pull from when certain events or subjects arise. You may not go with your initial plan or idea, but it’ll give you time to really look it over and so that you have an easier time making those big decisions before the launch of your book.

You can learn more about Vermin on Goodreads.