Monday, February 7, 2011

Read a Romance. Celebrate Valentine’s Day With a Celebration of Love for Books and Reading.

There's more to Valentine's Day  than flowers and candy.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner why not take advantage of the holiday known for celebrating love and romance and use it promote our books. It’s not too late to help people select the perfect gift.
Florida Romance Writers (FRW) has done just that.
On Saturday, 2/05 I attended a panel at my local library. FRW purposely chose the day because of its closeness to Valentine’s Day. On Saturday, 2/12 a huge panel of 17 FRW writers will be speaking at the Boca Raton library. Again, the date was chosen because it’s 2 days before Valentine’s Day.

You don’t have to be part of a panel. How nice if a glossy magazine were to do a profile on you and your books. Some FRW authors were lucky enough to have such an article written. Boca Raton Observer - Boca Raton's favorite magazine

Walk in to any bookstore this month and right next to the latest bestsellers is a table of colorful books for Valentine’s Day: 52 Ways to Kiss, 100 Special Evenings, Romantic Poetry. Not far away from the display is the Romance section. Imagine a big red heart announcing – Read a Romance. Celebrate this day with a celebration of love for books and reading.

Maybe it’s too late to set up a panel or be featured in a February magazine, but you can still put yourself out there. Come up with a twist on Valentine’s Day and blog about it. Post something on facebook. Draw attention to yourself for this romantic holiday. Post an excerpt on your website.

We can all remind readers to visit this blog. Let them choose a story that evokes a romantic memory. A scene or a character can have special meaning for a couple in love. That’s how I fell in love. That’s how I remember my first kiss.

Too many men wait until the last minute to buy gifts. There’s still time to help them along.

What are you giving your special Valentine?    

Visit my website:
www.zeldabenjamin.com 

7 comments:

Mary Ricksen said...

My DH came home with a pair of earrings for me yesterday. He's never, ever, done anything like that. So, I'm wondering if it's an early valentine present, or has he done something he's afraid to tell me about. HA!

Zelda Benjamin said...

Very sweet, Mary. I'm sure he was thinking of you when he saw them. This could be the beginning of another jewelry story.

Beate Boeker said...

My latest novel by Avalon has the perfect cover for Valentine - a heart right in the center. Only drawback - it'll come out two months too late - or ten months too early . . . but there'll be Mother's Day to look forward to! :-) Thank you for posting, Zelda!

Alyssa Maxwell said...

Valentines day is also my daughter's birthday, so it's much more about her than about my husband and me. I don't mind, and I'm sure we'll fit in a nice dinner just for the two of us sometime over the weekend.

Sandy Cody said...

Nice post, Zelda. As for what I'm giving my special Valentine - no idea. I usually end up making him an apple pie or something else he really, really likes. Men are SO hard to shop for. I doubt he'd be very receptive to a romance novel as a Valentine gift.

Zelda Benjamin said...

You're so right the cover is perfect. Start promoting it for Mother's Day, Beate.
Sandy, I think pie is perfect gift for any occasion. We should all have it for our BDs instead of cake.

Joselyn Vaughn said...

My DH and I don't do anything for Valentine's Day, but I do like the idea of promoting romance books as the perfect gift. I'm doing a giveaway on Goodreads of my latest release. Feb 14 is the last day to sign up.

Have a good one, Joselyn.