Morgan Baker on Book Promotion 101
This week we are hearing from author and Writing It Real member Morgan Baker. You can listen to her reading an excerpt of her memoir Emptying the Nest: How to Get Better at Saying Goodbyes during an interview with Hippocampus magazine posted on her website https://www.bymorganbaker.com/. In the interview, she also tells the story of writing and publishing Emptying the Nest: How to Get Better at Saying Goodbyes.
For Writing It Real members, she has generously written a description of her book promotion plan. It will help many of us think about how to support our own books when they are due to come out into the world even before their actual publication date arrives. In the article, she mentions creating a media kit. and following the article shares the one she wrote for getting word out about her book. Here are Morgan’s valuable thoughts and experience.
Book Promotion 101
by Morgan Baker
My first “real” job out of college was with an ad agency for several years, but that did not make me a marketer. I am a writer and a teacher, but in today’s world of publishing, more often than not, marketing your book, whether fiction or memoir, will come down to what you can do. Publishers of all sizes have small budgets, if any, for marketing and publicity.
To compound this challenge, I was raised to hide my light under a bushel. Standing out and saying look what I achieved, was not encouraged.
Now, that is my job. Literally.
I could have hired a publicist, but they usually only work for three months, and they’re expensive. I took a class (https://www.lanelit.com) where I learned how to do the promotion myself. Through the class and outside research on how to launch a book, I figured out what I needed to do to get my memoir, Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes, the attention it deserved.
Things I learned:
*Get ready for a long and hilly ride.
*Start way before your book is scheduled to come out (at least six months). I had a short turn-around time with my publisher, so I started six months before pub date and I was already a bit late. It takes longer to get things done than I realized – like blurbs for your book or getting a launch site. I wish I had had more time, maybe an additional three months.
*Before you even start to reach out to people, magazines, organizations, do some prep work: write an author bio, a summary of your book, get an author photo. Think about the themes in your book that you can capitalize on for in-person events, podcasts, virtual events and articles. My themes were about evolving identity, mental health, and change, but also included motherhood – mine and my dog’s.
*Get book blurbs. Give your book to others to read before it comes out. If you have a PDF, send it. Think about who would relate to the book’s topics.
*Have fun. While promoting myself doesn’t come naturally, and learning something new can be intimidating, it has been super gratifying making new connections.
*Figure out who your readers are and then go find them. There are different ways to get that attention – writing companion pieces, book tour/bookstore visits, virtual events, book groups, podcasts, reviews.
*Create a media kit. This includes ways to reach you, a short and long bio, a description of the book, a photo, your social media, website, publisher. Then you can add to it – praise for the book, events planned and events past, and of course, any awards. A sample of what I feel goes into it follows this article.
*Pitching is hard work. But if you’ve made a media kit you’ll find it’s a bit easier. Get comfortable with this concept. I hated it at first, but now I have all my ingredients in place and I just pitch to anything I think looks at all compatible.
*Your Launch: I lined up a local indie bookstore for my launch. And I coordinated a birthday party with publication day. I turned 65 the day before Pub Day.
I had so much fun at both events. I could never have predicted just how great they both would be. I felt the way I did when my husband was courting me before we got engaged. I was special. I had something to offer. I knew everyone at both events and I was so grateful and just really happy to see all these friends from different parts of my life coming together to support me.
*Know what you want to say at your events whether virtual or in-person.
*Do events with other people.
Whether I was doing something virtual or in-person, I always had another person with me, who had read my book. Some of the other people were writers with similar topics and themes, or friends who were also writers and editors who could ask me great question.
*Find and pitch to podcasts. There is a podcast out there for everyone. Finding the right podcast for you, can take time, but is worth it. I have been interviewed for a mom’s podcast and a writing memoir podcast.
*Write companion pieces – these are essays or articles that touch on some aspect of your book about which you can write and get published in print and online in journals whose readers are interested in similar topics. I wrote for a dog website, a parenting publication, a dog magazine, and a blog for a midlife podcast.
*Social Media – What are you comfortable with? Facebook? Instagram? Twitter? Tick Tock? Get used to posting about your own work and that of others.
*Beware of envy. You will see what other people are doing and wonder why you’re not. Why did another writer get the placement in a magazine, and you didn’t? Don’t forget, people most often post the positive. For every post about a success, there were probably at three nos. There is room in the world for lots of books. It’s counter-productive to focus on others.
*Make friends and connect with others. Whether you set out to do this or not, you will make friends – virtual and in real time. I have loved meeting other writers and authors, reuniting with old friends, and making new friends. And all of that has happened because I put myself out there.
*Support other writers. When you have the chance, post about another writer. Comment in social media about books. Congratulate them.
*Manage your time. All of this can seem daunting. Make a plan. What does your calendar look like? I teach in a classroom and in Zoom rooms. I made a plan that I would pitch 2-3 times a week. What are you most comfortable with? Focus on those – whether social media or writing companion pieces – each media will reach different demographics.
I used to be scared of what people might think of me – I wanted people to like me. I still do, if I’m being honest. I was terrified my book wouldn’t be well received, but the responses I’ve gathered indicate otherwise. And, the best is I’m not scared of reaching out to media, bookstores, or writers, anymore. All they can say is “no”, and the “no” is not a reflection on me or my book. It’s just a “no” for now. Soon, there will be a “yes”.
Here’s an example of what I outlined for a media kit and how it grew:
MORGAN BAKER MEDIA KIT 2023
Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes
RESOURCES
– Website and Social media links
– Bios (short and long)
– Book description (short and long)
– Praise for book (endorsements)
– Events
– Articles
WEBSITE
SOCIAL MEDIA
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morgan.baker.737
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mmorgbb/
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-baker-01446aa/
PUBLISHER: https://www.ten16press.com/product-page/emptying-the-nest-getting-better-at-goodbyes
EDUCATION: BA Vassar College ’80; MA Cum Laude Emerson College ‘86
AWARD: Family/Relationship Category
BIO –Morgan Baker
SHORT
Morgan Baker writes about family, mental health, dogs, change, and identity in her award-winning memoir Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Good-byes (Ten16 Press). Other work can be found in the Boston Globe Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Grown & Flown, Motherwell, and the Brevity Blog, among others. She is a professor at Emerson College and managing editor of The Bucket. She is the mother of two adult daughters and lives with her husband and two Portuguese water dogs in Cambridge, MA. She is an avid quilter and baker.
PARAGRAPH
MORGAN BAKER is an award-winning writer and professor at Emerson College. Her memoir Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes (Ten16 Press) is about reinventing yourself, learning how to handle loss, and emerging from depression and was honored with the Memoir Magazine’s award for Family/Relationship category. Other work is featured in The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, Motherwell, The Brevity Blog, The Boston Parents’ Paper, Dorothy Parket’s Ashes, Talking Writing, The Bark, Cognoscenti, among many regional and national publications. She is managing editor of The Bucket. She is the mother of two adult daughters, and lives with her husband and two dogs in Cambridge, where she also quilts and bakes.
LONG
MORGAN BAKER is an award-winning writer and professor at Emerson College. Her memoir Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes (Ten16 Press) is about reinventing yourself, learning how to handle loss, and emerging from depression and was honored with the Memoir Magazine’s award for Family/Relationship category. She is a frequent media contributor with essays and interviews published in The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, The Brevity Blog, Talking Writing, The Bark, Motherwell, Cognoscenti, The Bucket, and Hippocampus. Morgan is managing editor of The Bucket, and wrote for many other publications including The Boston Parents Paper, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Business Journal, The Boston Globe, and numerous alumni magazines.
Her honors and awards include: Finalist for Wow Women on Writing; Alan L. Stanzler Award for Excellence in Teaching; Finalist for Writer’s Advice; 3rd Place for WritingitReal Writing Contest; Gold Award for Feature Writing from Parenting Publications of America; Honors Program Outstanding Thesis/Project Advisor Award.
Morgan loves quilting, baking, and taking long walks with her dogs and husband Matt Brelis with whom she lives in Cambridge, MA.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
SHORT
The award-winning Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes is about reinventing yourself, learning how to handle loss, and emerging from depression. When Morgan’s daughter, Maggie, left for college and Morgan also parted with nine puppies from a litter the family raised, she collapsed into a deep depression. Eventually climbed out of her hole and adjusted. and, with a lot of help, did better when her younger daughter left for school, and Maggie and her boyfriend moved to the west coast. Her identity had shifted. She was more than a mother.
LONG
Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes, is about is about reinventing yourself, learning how to handle loss, and emerging from depression. During her older daughter’s last year of high school, the family takes on an adventure of breeding their kind and gentle Portuguese Water Dog, Spray, and raising her ten puppies. They find loving homes for nine of the pups, and keep one, Ezzie. At the end of the year, Maggie, Morgan’s oldest, heads off for her own adventure at college. All these goodbyes don’t sit well with Morgan and she falls into a depression.
What she learns from climbing out of the depression, is life continually changes. Her dogs and children teach her lessons on living in the moment and embracing change, instead of running from it. Morgan’s identity shifts during the years after her kids leave the house. She discovers she’s more than a mother.
PRAISE for Emptying the Nest
“Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes is a testament to the human spirit both to learn that we can experience loss and recover from it … and, in turn, grow more compassionate toward ourselves in the process.”
-Martha’s Vineyard Times
“When the reliable world wobbles and spins off its axis, when change upends our lives, the journey to grasping the new reality and one’s own new purpose in it is painful, confusing, and long. In Getting Better at Goodbyes, Morgan Baker has gone into that confusion and pain and left us a trail from bewilderment and sadness to clarity and renewal, from dissolution to resolution. This book is balm and encouragement for all unsettled by their losses, stunned by how much they hurt, surprised by intractable sorrow.
-Richard Hoffman, author of Love & Fury
“How do we frame the story of our lives, measuring the past, and finding our way forward just as our worst fears seem to be on the horizon—especially the departures of those we love most? In this forthright, courageous, reflective, and funny memoir, Morgan Baker shows the way. No sugar-coating or glossing from her for the lessons of love, sadness, joy, and change that are the real deal, and appear from some surprising corners, like the litter of ten puppies born at her home. Who can’t learn something from a seemingly dead newborn who comes to life in your husband’s hands? A tender, beautifully written, and life-affirming guide!”
Vicki Constantine Croke, author of ELEPHANT COMPANY: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
“In Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes, Morgan Baker weaves together big emotions and life’s minutiae in a way that reminds us that a full life is in the details. Emptying the Nest speaks openly of loss and depression while also celebrating the importance of love, family, and self-care to move past the hard times. It is a heartfelt testament to the value of being compassionate with oneself, even in one’s darkest moments.”
–Myriam Steinberg, author of award-winning graphic memoir, Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of (In)fertility
“Not only is this inspiring and courageous memoir filled with love, but its sentences are also infused with wisdom, warmth and wit. What began as a fun family thing to do—breeding her beloved dog, Spray—turns into a road to self-discovery for Morgan Baker.”
–Delia Cabe, author of Storied Bars of New York; Senior Affiliated Faculty of Writing, Literature & Publishing at Emerson College
“As a mother of one daughter (who is also getting ready to start college and who also suffers from anxiety and depression), this memoir is both beautiful and deeply touching. Also, as a veterinarian and fur-mom to six cats and one golden retriever, this is the absolute embodiment of what I adore about Morgan and about dog-people! Morgan’s writing is so personal and poignant. This book fills one with the joy of human and fur motherhood, and with the beauty and heartbreak that can be present in loss and change. It is so full of love and hope! I absolutely devoured this book and was very deeply touched by its pages!”
–Dawn Binder, VMD, mother and veterinarian
“As Morgan moves through transitions that necessitate goodbyes, creates quilts to mark those transitions, and navigates the depression that strikes her as her dog and human families change shape, I relived my own family’s transitional years in a deeply emotional way. Morgan’s narrative moves back and forth through time, each of her memories a thread connecting to the next, each so filled with heart and often sadness.”
–Betsy Leahy Morton, teacher
“Morgan Baker’s Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes is an honest and captivating story of a family — the challenges, triumphs, and losses that occur; and the redemptive power of love, of both humans and dogs, that provides the necessary foundation for reimagining our utures when confronted with inevitable change.”
–Deborah Conrad
“I can’t remember the last time I read a memoir so quickly. Morgan Baker’s Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes was a page-turner you couldn’t pry out of my hands until the very last word. Baker candidly addresses her battles with depression as she takes the reader on the raw emotional journey of sending her daughter to school and parting with a litter of puppies her dog birthed at home. As the mother of a college freshman and a dog lover, I was captivated by the author’s journey. I love how she weaves the experiences of her daughter and the puppies into a rich account of her internal struggle to say goodbye and handle change.”
–Jennifer Lovy, blogger and freelance writer
“Morgan Baker’s sparkling debut, Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes, is a candid, woven-with-love account of mothers, daughters, family, and quilting. Morgan effortlessly weaves themes of love, loss, and separation between mothers and daughters as her girls work to fly the nest, and she works to survive it. Both heartwarming and wry, Morgan’s prose is authentic and resonant, her story a field guide to next chapters in life.”
–Jacquelin Winter, writer and Pushcart nominee
If you are a parent, woman, or dog lover, Emptying the Nest is a fun, casual read for you. Morgan writes in such detail, you feel you are in her home or with her pups. Life can be challenging; however, Morgan discusses how the love of dogs can help with transitions and hard times. For all the parents of graduating teens, grab this book, you will enjoy it!
-Tammy Nunes, Certified Pet Dog Trainer
EVENTS
Past Events:
April 27- Tim Gager’s Dire Lit Series
April 29 – Independent Bookstore Day – Molly’s Bookstore – Melrose
May 10 – Porter Square Books, Cambridge (In conversation with Rebecca Steinitz)
May 24 – Tidepool Bookshop, Worcester (with Karen Fine)
July 20 – The West Tisbury Library, West Tisbury – Reading
Aug 12 – The Chatham Book Store, Chatham NY – Reading with Abigail Thomas
Sept 7 – Paper Cuts, Jamaica Plain – Night Market with E.B. Bartels
Sept 9 – Virtual – Moon Tide Press – with Rebecca Evans – Mother of all Reading
Series (4 events)
Sept 14- Virtual – Vassar College Reading
Sept 23 – Virtual – Moon Tide Press – With Rebecca Evans
Oct. 11 – Virtual – Rediscovered Books – With Rebecca Evans (3rd in 4 part series)
Nov. 8- Virtual – Rediscovered Books – With Rebecca Evans
Future Events:
Nov. 29 Maxim Gift and Bookstore, Lexington MA wth Anna Ross, author of Flutter, Kick
January ‘24 – Stoneham Library with Allison Lane
ARTICLES by Morgan and about Morgan
Boston Parents Paper – May 2023 (see attached)
Hippocampus – May 2023
PODCASTS and VIRTUAL
collegefinancialprep.com (podcast)
The Mother of all Reading Series with Rebecca Evans, author of Tangled by Blood, a memoir in verse. Four-part series.
Moms Don’t Have Time To Read Books Podcast with Zibby Owens
Coming:
Talking Memoir with Ronit Plank