To take advantage of an unexpected date hook, historical novelist Barbara Crane hired historical novel publicist Stephanie Barko. Their goal was to produce a virtual tour that revitalized sales for Barbara’s 2016 release. 

LA pueblo map, 1850

The date hook was Southern California’s drought, resulting in Barbara’s historical fiction becoming more newsworthy. Through Barbara’s novel, When Water Was Everywhere , readers experience life in Los Angeles before concrete and rebar covered the land. Additionally, readers learn about the importance of the Los Angeles River in the growth of the region. And finally, readers experience the tumultuous years prior to California’s statehood.

Virtual Tour for Historical Novel

Barbara had this to say about her experience of participating in the virtual tour that historical novel publicist Stephanie Barko produced for her:

“Stephanie organized and executed a successful blog tour for my historical novel. In addition to painstakingly researching and lining up well-chosen bloggers for my guest blogs, she used her extensive contacts and knowledge to put my name and book forward in every possible social media venue. Very important to me, she kept me up to date on everything she was doing, guiding and directing me. She followed up with each blogger and venue, and made sure everything was correct, making certain there were no glitches. She tirelessly promoted my virtual tour stops on all her social media and taught me how to do the same.”

“Writing gives meaning and purpose to my life.”

Barbara Crane has always lived off her skills with the written word — as a freelance journalist, business writer, corporate trainer, consultant and technical writer. After leaving a successful career in education in the late 1970s, she co-created CraneMorley, a Long Beach training company. CraneMorley grew to encompass a large client base, including major automakers in Southern California and Fortune 500 companies. Later she focused on news, magazine and corporate writing assignments as well as teaching writing within corporations.

Barbara Crane

“Writing gives meaning and purpose to my life,” Barbara says, as evidenced in her two novels, The Oldest Things in the World (2001) and When Water Was Everywhere (2016).

Learn more about Barbara and her work at these three sites:

www.barbaraecrane.com
www.whenwaterwaseverywhere.com
www.lagoonhousepress.com/about-us/

Beverly Hills Book Award