Where to send ARCs? After the usual suspects like PW, each book should have it's own very specialized list. It's easy to fall back on the top 50 newspapers or "best mystery bloggers" but I'd suggest -- if you have control over your own stock of ARCs -- that you spent time really researching the best places (and people) to receive your precious copies. Make the list varied and imaginative. Think outside the box.
I love book giveaways. Love them. If at all possible, when my clients do radio or TV interviews, I ask the show if they would like a few books to giveaway. This means that the book will be mentioned again ("the next caller ....") and often posted on the show's web site. Cheap no frills PR. And I encourage clients to do limited giveaways on their blogs of autographed copies. I don't know that you can monetize giveaways but at the very least they build good will and help get the word out.
I love book giveaways. Love them. If at all possible, when my clients do radio or TV interviews, I ask the show if they would like a few books to giveaway. This means that the book will be mentioned again ("the next caller ....") and often posted on the show's web site. Cheap no frills PR. And I encourage clients to do limited giveaways on their blogs of autographed copies. I don't know that you can monetize giveaways but at the very least they build good will and help get the word out.
Comments
Lucinda's right about personal contact being key. I've done the one-for-you-and-one-for-a-friend contest, too, and have been involved with a site that allows a readers group to all win copies. I also speak to book clubs when practical. Afterward, they tend to think of you as "their offer."
Besides that, I get to meet neat people. And there are usually cupcakes. :)
They were thrilled to get the free stuff, and I know I have fans for life.