Category: Promotion

Working off the clock

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As I am rapidly discovering, publishing a book is a lot of hard work–even after the book is published.

You don’t just release the book like a dove at a wedding and expect it to fly. You’ve got to keep promoting, keep looking for influential people to read and (hopefully) review it, keep seeking opportunities to speak publicly about the book, keep going, going, going.

I’m am eternally grateful for the time and attention that RhetAskew Publishing gives to its authors. I’d be floundering without a clue if they weren’t willing to listen to my frustrations and explain things to me, and even on occasion provide a bit of help. Don’t get me wrong: they don’t do all the work for me. I’ve got to take responsibility in getting this ship off the ground.

So far I’ve contacted probably ten or twelve different authors, bloggers, podcasts, and others to offer them copies of the book to read or offer an interview about the book or what have you. Not many bites, but that’s okay. I’m a no-name author at the moment; my fifteen minutes hasn’t come up yet. That’s okay, though. As the meme says,

Yep, that’s my master plan. Sell the books, become famous, and live a life of luxury.

Ha! Just kidding. I just want my story read. The fame and (ideally) fortune are just pleasant side effects of that story being read.

One five-star review on Amazon so far, with another one pending (Amazon takes a couple days to approve reviews, but this person sought me out to tell me they posted a review). Not too terribly shabby.

Yeah, the bad reviews will inevitably come as well. It happens. But I will just hold my head high, chalk it up to differences in taste, and keep on truckin’.

And keep on searching for influencers, and keep on contacting them, and keep on offering copies, and keep on suggesting interviews, and….

Well, back to work!

And then there were three…

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Yep, Book 2 is in sleeper mode while I wait for alpha readers to be ready (the one I’ve found so far wants to read Abnormal first, and I don’t blame him), so it’s on to preliminary notes for Book 3. I have at least four to five books total from Clare’s point of view brewing (counting Abnormal and Book 2), with more to come from….well, spoilers. 😉

With Book 2 drafted, edited, revised, and resting, I can now focus on what I want to happen in Book 3. Of course, with the nature of writing, sometimes the characters end up making things happen that you didn’t originally want. That’s why I’m a quasi-pantser; I kindamaybesorta outline a bit, but basically I’m winging it. Let the characters do what they do, and just try to keep up with them.

Once the sun comes up (which will be quite some time away yet), I’ll have SCA illumination assignments to work on. I’ve procrastinated enough with all this book work, and I can’t just wait until the last minute. A couple of scrolls to trace and paint, then I can get back to whatever I was doing. Living in the past, writing in the future. It’s how I roll.

The book release parties went pretty well. Despite few interactions on the “virtual” party, the numbers for my Facebook author page skyrocketed. I need to work on a plan of action to keep those numbers up and to keep my followers engaged–and to have more people following.

Twitter has taken off as well, with more followers, more likes, and more comments. Several people have expressed interest in reading Abnormal, which has me beyond excited because the majority of my Twitter followers are people I don’t personally know. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate it when friends and family are willing to buy or support the book, but when strangers do it it’s kind of invigorating. Gets the ol’ writer’s blood pumping.

My first review is up, and so far I’m at five out of five stars. The reviewer friended me on Facebook earlier to tell me how much he enjoyed Abnormal, so I knew I’d be getting a good review, but still it’s nice to see those five yellow stars all lined up in a pretty row.

Off to work on Book 3 now, because an author’s work is rarely truly done. 😉

Live and direct

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The link for the paperback is live at Barnes and Noble!

That’s right, booksmellers, your chance to own Abnormal is up for online order! So far (and it is still early in the day) it’s just for the paperback, but the hardcover link will be available soon.

I am beyond excited. I want to thank the crew at RhetAskew Publishing for their help, encouragement, support, and confidence in this project. Emma, Mandy, and Dusty are amazing!

I’d gush more, but I’m starving and it’s almost breakfast time. More to come as I get more info!

Three

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Three more days! Abnormal will be available for Kindle download and to order for paperback and hardcover on Amazon and in bookstores in three days! (Kindle preorder link right now is mybook.to/abnormal if you want to preorder it now.)

I’ve recovered from last night’s embarrassment of not comprehending what exactly a “release date” entailed, and I’ve decided to go ahead with both the private and virtual release day parties…I just have to rethink how I’m going to do them. I obviously can’t do signings that day, so that part’s out. I can’t go visit bookstores and take selfies with the book on the shelf in the background. Those will have to wait. But I can still have some friends and family over for snacks and drinks and a good time.

It’s been a long journey these past two and a half years or so since I started writing Abnormal. When I wrote the first words I had no idea that I’d end up with a series on my hands, and I just assumed I’d have to self publish. I even started sketching a rough cover design mockup on my Wacom tablet. (RhetAskew Publishing came up with a much better cover. Lol)

To the writers out there keep dreaming. Keep writing. Keep at it. It might take a while, but it’ll come. Just keep going.

Naive

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Well, don’t I just feel about ten shades of stupid.

So Abnormal is my first traditionally published book. The only other novel I’ve published was self published through Amazon Kindle and a print-on-demand company called Createspace (which I think is also an Amazon company). With Kindle, my book was available the second it was approved by Amazon. Upload the file, wait a few hours, boom! Instant ebook. The Createspace file took longer to approve, so it was maybe a day or two before it was available for order.

That is not how release dates work in the traditional publishing world.

So here’s how it works: the release date is the date when the ebook goes live, but it is NOT the date when the book is in stores. 

It’s the date when stores can order the book. That’s it.

I guess I’ll have to eat a big ole plate of crow and share this post everywhere I’ve said that Abnormal will be in stores September 1. Except Kindle–it’ll really be available for Kindle. Just orderable in stores.

Sorry for any…I don’t know. I’m probably the one most upset about this realization.

Long and short of it: be patient. Abnormal still will be downloadable on Kindle September 1. And you can go to the bookstore and order the physical book September 1. You just have to wait a few days for that new-book smell.

Four

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Four. More. Days. This post originally said five, but somebody may have gotten slightly distracted by her work on Book 2 yesterday and neglected to post that day’s countdown. Or for some reason, it didn’t actually post to the site until this morning. Regardless (barring another snag in posting), it’s four days until Abnormal’s release.

Hey, look, I made it bigger than Sunday! Yay for small victories in figuring out how to post on this new site. Lol

I’d say I’m super excited, but right now it doesn’t feel “real.” I feel like, I don’t know, like four days is forever away. I mean, I’ve got a mostly-full work week, I’ve got Book 2 revisions in full swing, and I’ve got a few pressing embroidery projects that have to get done. It’s so surreal.

This is happening. This is really happening. I’ve written a book, it’s being published, and people who don’t know me want to read it. They want to read it, and they want to read the book I’m working on now.

Mind. Blown.

Six

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 Six days until this gorgeous book can be in your hands! Whether you preodered through Kindle or whether you requested your physical copy from your local bookstore, Saturday is the day.

I’ve been trying to rev up interest, and all day Saturday I’ll be running a virtual release party from my Facebook page — there will be guest authors, live snippets of my day, potential selfies at bookstores (depends on if I get time to run around and see who has it), and a chance to win an autographed paperback, courtesy of RhetAskew Publishing. 

I also found out today that I’ll have access to merchandise soon. Pens and stuff–I don’t exactly know what yet–so I’ll soon have my own giveaways and maybe some grab bags of sorts for whatever. I’ll figure it out.

Today I have a few hours to myself, so I’ll be revising Book 2 according to my mind mapping and whatever else comes to me as I go. I have until November to get Book 2 submitted to my publisher, so I’ve got to get cracking. It’s not all fun and games, kiddos, there’s work to it. Revisions, edits, more revisions based on what you found in the edits, alpha reads, etc etc etc. So it’s nose to the grindstone today. A little alternative music on in the background, not too loud, and some intermittent laundry and kitchen cleanup breaks.

Now, if I could only tear myself away from the Internet for the above listed chores….

To the bookstore!

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I got an amazing selfie from a friend of mine yesterday who had just ordered a few copies of Abnormal from our local bookstore!

How cool is that? Look at that huge grin on her face as she went to order her copies of Abnormal! That could be you looking that happy! Just go to the closest bookstore and ask them to order it 😉

Yesterday was a long and draining day. This photo was my highlight, and it kept me going when I just wanted to go home. I tried to post this from my phone, but my phone was having none of my shenanigans last night. Luckily the draft saved, so here you go: one happy customer.

Incoming

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The weekend is upon us, and it’s Crown Tourney weekend for those SCA folks in Atenveldt. That means lots of fighting and fun–except there was a minor major hiccup with the site, which means I suddenly have lots of houseguests incoming. 

I don’t mind being hospitable to our chosen family (especially since our guests include my husband’s Peer and his belt brother/sister), but I’m wondering how the ol’ social anxiety will hold up for the weekend. I can handle people over at my house for a little while, but these people won’t be going home until Sunday. Two whole days of people in my house. Mine. I know, I know, it’s not the invasion of the Huns–it’s just a weekend. Still, the animal brain inside my head is in defend-my-territory mode, and I need to find a way to calm it down.

I also need to find a way to get this place presentable this afternoon. I’m skipping the contemplation hafla (drum and dance party) because A – I don’t dance and B – I don’t know the person being elevated. I’m going to be tired after work, and I’d rather have a smidge more time to myself before chaos reigns.

There’s laundry still to do, plus the aforementioned cleaning, plus figuring out what-all I’m going to wear this weekend, plus hostessing, plus plus plus. Oh yeah, and I have to keep up the work on doing my marketing workshop assignments, which means finding time to blog/tweet/Instagram/Facebook etc etc. Eight more days until Abnormal‘s release! Tick-tock, man, tick-tock.

Livin' for the deadline

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Yep, it’s another early morning for me, and now that I’ve been social on most of the medias, it’s time to get cracking on Book 2’s revisions. I’ve got a good idea of where I’m going with them, but it’s a matter of actually sitting down and getting from A to B. Then, once I’ve gotten the manuscript where it needs to be, it’s edit, edit, edit before I send it off for submission. RhetAskew Publishing has given me an early November deadline for submission, so I have some time but not, like, oodles. There’s a lot of life going on in those months…Abnormal‘s release, SCA events about every other weekend or more, book signing, work, more work, new certification for work…Yeah. All that and a bag of chips. Or something. I have no one to blame but myself, really….I asked my Editor-in-Chief when she’d like the manuscript, and she gave me a time frame.
The other day I had a mini major meltdown about Abnormal‘s release. That was fun (not). You see, as I’m revving up and getting ready for the release, I’m also taking a marketing workshop led by my Editor-in-Chief at RhetAskew. This workshop is pretty intense, and it’s left me feeling overwhelmed. There are things I’ve been doing that I guess are no-nos when it comes to marketing, and there are other things I haven’t done yet that are very, very important. I know that since Abnormal is the first in a series I have time to build my audience, but I was feeling an immense sense of urgency and anxiety that I’d never get all the things done before the release. Some part of my bipolar brain decided that I had to do every single workshop assignment ASAP to be ready for release date, and when I realized I was in overload I lost it. I’m talking red-faced, puffy-eyed, snot-nosed ugly crying. I was a hot mess.
I’m better about it now. I think I just needed to get it out of my system. Reached my boiling point, spilled over, and now I’m all good. Mostly…I still feel some anxiety, but nothing like the other day.
Well, guess it’s time to put the blog down and pick up my mind mapping. Gotta stay cool, calm, and collected as the countdown to Abnormal ticks down….9 days now. Single digits.