July 2008

Guerrilla Marketing: Beyond 101
By Lettie Prell

I had the opportunity to chat over the phone with Michael Larsen this year. Larsen is a literary agent and co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Writers, along with Jay Conrad Levinson and Rick Frishman (Writer's Digest Books, 2001). To say Larsen is energetic is putting it mildly. Talking to him is like having a dialogue with a machine gun. I asked a single question, and was instantly bombarded with a dozen ideas, rapid-fire. I came away with the sense that enthusiasm, combined with lots of energy and practical, unceasing actions, can make anyone with a good book a literary success. Guerrilla Marketing for Writers and its "100 weapons for selling your work" is the written version of my conversation with Larsen, only with more information. Some of the one hundred ideas I had already heard of, but I bet no one who hasn't already read the book knows them all. It's worth the money, not just for the ideas, but for the pep talk.

Did you know that as of this writing, the Broadsheet's Sell section archive contains thirty-three articles on selling your work (or the related topic of writing as a career)? Over the years, many knowledgeable and notable people have contributed, including editors, successful writers, journalists, and a podcast producer. What's great about the archive is that it's mainly geared to the sf/f/h genres—although many of the tips are equally useful for other kinds of writers as well. Check out, just for starters, "To Tour or Not to Tour," "Is This Agent for Me?," and "Virtual Promotion." There are also five articles in our own "Guerilla Marketing 101" series—with one "r", mind you—that go beyond the 100 excellent tips in the best-selling Guerrilla book (and shouldn't a book about marketing be able to boast over a million books sold?).

Guerrilla Marketing for Writers' first three weapons in the marketing arsenal are you, your books, and your networks. That might sound trite, but they're actually among the most powerful weapons a writer has. I count Broad Universe among my most powerful networks, and I'm pleased to help provide the information in the Broadsheet and its archives for the benefit of everyone who finds this site.