Indie publishing poses a special challenge: how the heck do you let people know about your book?

In mainstream publishing, it’s all taken care of by the publishing house — for better or worse. At their best, they can turn an unknown author into a superstar — such as what happened to a certain young English gal living in Scotland with a tale of a young magician wizard. But obviously, that doesn’t happen to everyone.

To that end, I set out with my publicist, Angela “the maven,” on an adventure-filled tour of the Castro for some tried-and-true “guerrilla marketing.” No, this didn’t involve donning fatigues and tromping through the jungles of Nicaragua; rather, it meant having a whole bunch of promotional postcards printed up, then sticking them in visible shops, pubs, and other spots all around the Castro/Market/18th Street shopping district.

We began our quest where the book reading & signing is set to happen next Tuesday — at A Different Light Bookstore. I was nearly bowled over when I stumbled upon my book on the shelves — then saw it again on display in the window. Way to go for promoting a local author, guys!

To tell the truth, the whole experience was a bit overwhelming to a humble techie like myself, accustomed to driving a desk for the past decade-plus. If anything cements the notion that “you are an author,” this has to be it.

With these notions we set to test out the local market. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a very receptive crowd of local merchants and customers; one woman said she found the story fascinating, and planned to purchase an autographed copy for her brother; another shared with me her own mother’s travails waiting for a liver transplant, including the possibility that she herself would become a donor, just as I was to my partner a few years back.

This is the Castro, however, and the usual tropes were on display: one leather-daddy-centric store wasn’t sure the postcards would fit in with their theme — Country & Western only; another bar had a poster I simply had to pose in front of (at right); and a local wine bar catapulted into the ranks of contender for the “afterparty” we’re planning to host.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be San Francisco’s gay ‘hood without running into someone you know — in my case, my friend Steven, back from his own month-long odyssey in Buenos Aires on the heels of a recent breakup. Now that sounds familiar!

All in all, a very successful evening, capped off with a dinner meeting at Bisou. There we planned, plotted and strategized the impending event next week… and feasted on some tasty French appetizers and entrees that distantly evoked my time in Paris… right down to the visiting French family chatting away a couple of tables over.

For you local Bay Area-ites… it’s T-minus five days until the big shindig; I look forward to seeing you there!

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