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The Power of Promoting
With the use of guerrilla marketing, the help of word-of-mouth, and of course the divine intervention of God, Sorority Sisters and The Desires of a Woman eventually caught on. Also, I busied myself with a promo tour to various colleges and universities, conferences, and bookstores spreading the word about both books, including University of Maryland - College Park, Columbia University, Clark Atlanta University.
I had book signings at all four African American National Sorority Conventions, The National Black Arts Festival, Congressional Black Caucus, Black MBA Conference, and American Business Women's Association. I also promoted at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival and The Essence Festival.
While attending the Book Expo America in 1999 I was on the second printing of both books and was ready to reach a broader audience. God agreed because I approached Random House's Associate Publisher, Mary Bahr, and gave her a copy of Sorority Sisters and a press kit. When Mary returned to New York she gave the book to Melody Guy, an associate editor specializing in African-American fiction. Fortunately, Melody Guy saw the market potential and within a month Villard Books, a division of Random House, made me an offer.
Tid bit: When I first
began shopping Sorority Sisters to independent bookstores most booksellers
rejected the book, it wasn't until I went and found my own audience that booksellers
began to take notice.