Thanks for your interest in having a listing at Ralan's LitBoost.

Someone wrote and asked about promoting a book at Ralan.com. This isn't the first time that's happened, and before this I always just said, "I'm not set up for this." But this person made a good point and I started to think about it. I decided to put the idea out there: a novel/nonfiction/comics/graphic novel/art/poetry/novella/novelette/short story/whatever Book Promotion page right here on the Ralan.com web site. Authors will get the benefit of the number of unique visitors I get (10,368 in January 2013). Listings would be limited to the genres I normally cover, sf/f/h and humor. And I, of course, reserve the right to turn down anything I deem inappropriate. Your book listing would include a book cover with a size of 350 x 484, a back cover pitch, a short bio, some blurbs, links to excerpts (I'll host up to two chapters if you cannot), and links to places to buy your book. The listings would cost $5-$25, depending on length and the type of work (a short story being the bottom and a full length hard cover novel being the top) and would stay up for a year. There may actually be three pages, one with new listings being added at the top and older ones moving down, one with a random placing, and one with an alphabetized, genre categorized list of titles. If you are selling a book right now and this sounds interesting to you contact me at my usual e-mail address (please don't send a Facebook message!). If you have any thoughts that would enhance this idea, please send them along.

To help me get your print, POD, or ePub novel, nonfiction book, comic, graphic novel, art, poetry, novella, novelette, chapbook, short story, or whatever listed on my promotion page here on the Ralan.com web site please send me (in this order please) in an ATTACHED .TXT FILE ONLY:

1. a book cover shaped graphic (.JPG file, size 150 pixels wide, length may vary)
2. the full title of the work
3. the author's name and web site
4. the publisher and year of publication
5. the ISBN number (if it has one)
6. the genre you want your work listed as
7. the page count and what form to call your work (novel, nonfiction book, novella, etc.)
8. a very short plot description (100 words max—basically your back cover pitch)
9. a very short bio (max 40 words)
10. max of 2 very short blurbs you have from big name authors, editors, critics, etc. (these will have to be verified), otherwise I can link to your Amazon and/or Goodreads review pages.
11. the lowest price for your work in each format (paperback, Kindle, audio etc.)
12. links to excerpts (or if you need me to host this send 1 or 2 chapters as a .TXT file only; be sure to remove all Word "curly" quotes and apostrophies*!; single line space; double line space between paragraphs; scene breaks with single line space, indent a asterisk (*), and single line space; format italics inside the HTML code ; bold inside ; do not underline.)
13. links to places where your work can be purchased

* A word about curly quotes (and apostrophes, ellipses, em-dashes, etc.). No. That's the word. In other words don't send them to me. The makers of MSWord believe they are prettier, so they make them default. But there are many problems with the fact that they don't translate well to other programs and they absolutely will not be shown correctly online. Editors must go through and change them to plain quotes (and other things) before posting on your work on the web. It's a pain. And one thing we authors need not to be is a pain to editors, making them sour and cranky. So, do yourself a favor and reset your MS Word program not to use these prettified characters. And don't send them to me! I'll send them back with a note to change them.

Other thoughts:

• I'm planning for the listing to cost from $5-$25 (depending on length and price) and would stay up for a year
• Payment will be through PayPal only
• New listings may be added at the top, so older ones move down, but I'll supply a genre category list so any title will be easy to find
• Another method I'm looking into is a way to make the placement of listings completely random
• At first all types will be lumped together, but if needed they may be placed on different pages (novels, nonfiction, comics, short stories, etc.)
• Listings are limited to the genres I normally cover at Ralan.com, sf/f/h and humor
• I reserve the right to turn down anything I deem inappropriate for any reason

--Ralan