Finalist in an awards ceremony! And marketing ideas

Today was a fun day: I was a finalist in a local awards Ceremony!

I brought a copy of my book, just in case.

As we all know by now, I get nervous around people, but I enjoy this event. This was my second year as a finalist (Braving the Storm was a finalist last year), and I love the crowd. They're really nice, and some of them are delightfully quirky (as writers are want to do). There's an author, Dede Rittman, who brings a stuffed rabbit everywhere she goes. She's so animated and excited and just so happy to be there that her enthusiasm is infectious. She just makes me smile. 

Plus there's dinner, and it was delicious; butternut squash ravioli + alfredo sauce = happy Jen.
 

I got third place in the ceremony, of which I am very proud. There were some people there who hadn't gotten finalist, so I was quite honored to receive even that. Though I often worry my books don't compare to my peers, it's moments like this that make it all worth it. Plus now by book has a new sticker adorning it:
 

My book's going to run out of room on the cover soon! :)

The hubby also got a decent picture of me with my certificate and book:

I am a very proud author!

The best part of the event was the panel of authors. The panel's theme was marketing, and I got a few really good tips. One of them was that, in order to gain exposure, it's important to talk about a topic related in some way to your book (but not directly involved with your book) so that people can get interested in it. For example, one of the authors wrote a book about a small town outside of Pittsburgh, and the book had little league baseball as one of the major themes. Because of this, he's spoken in events about little league baseball, and he's spoken in other events about the town. He then links his book into the subject. This has helped him get more exposure as people show up to hear about the topics, and its snowballed from there.

I love this idea. Since my books revolve around emergency preparedness, I think I could use that as a marketing strategy. I want people to learn about being prepared without necessarily becoming a full-on prepper; it's just important to have some sort of plan, especially when a family is involved. With everything going on in Puerto Rico right now, its citizens struggling to get food and water, it's more important right now than ever. With the right water filter stored away for emergencies (or knowing how to make a simple one with charcoal and sand), finding a water source would be a *little* less of a concern. If you have a basic idea of your region's edible wild plants--or how to fish/hunt/etc.--you'll have a much better chance of having something to nibble on.

I'm nowhere near an expert in emergency preparedness, but I can use my learning process to teach others as well. I can point out the little hints I make in my books to important plants and strategies. I've always sought to help others gain these skills; this could be a great way to do that.

I'll have my work cut out for me with the basics, but it should be worth it. With as much as I geek out when I start talking about disaster preparation, it might also be the best way to get me out of my shell.