Well, my book cover is, anyway. And well-deserved, if you ask my completely biased opinion. TRAVELER is just gorgeous and a definite eye-catcher, so I was pleased but not outrageously surprised to see it on MTV UK’s list of 20 Of The Most Beautiful Books In The World.
Of course, all I did was write the story. This magnificent design credit goes to Kathleen Breitenfeld and Rich Deas in the art department at Macmillian, and I owe them the world for giving me a stunning YA debut!
I really hate writing goals down because they make you accountable. It’s a good thing, but still – I cringe. I need to do this for me, though, and if I don’t hit them all, so be it.
I’m prioritizing (of course) any of my YA books because they’re contracted items and those deadlines will be met. The rest is wishful thinking and hopefully a lot of careful executing.
Here we go: Continue reading
A friend messaged me on Facebook the other day to send me a screen shot of this advertisement:
Yep. That’s my book. I even saw it on a shelf in Target once! And I usually find it in Barnes & Noble, and at the great indy store that hosted my book launch – and they’ve had to reorder boxes of it twice now! How cool is that??
Guys, I’m officially a published author. I really am. I know it’s been nearly a year now, but I still pinch myself. And I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you all!
I’ve actually got a career background in marketing and sales courtesy of various day jobs over the years, and that’s really come in handy with the writer stuff. But it’s also a complete pain in the ass.
Part of the reason I don’t work in marketing and sales anymore is that while I was really good at it, I. Hate. It. Continue reading
Today is an auspicious day! TRAVELER now has 50 reviews on Amazon! Cue the confetti! This is it, the world is my oyster!!
Actually, it just means I have one more review on Amazon than 49, but I’ll take it. I have well over a hundred on Goodreads now, and scattered reviews across other bookseller sites, and so far (knock wood) they’re predominately good.
But that doesn’t mean I disregard or shrug off the bad ones – and there have been a few. Continue reading
One of the biggest plusses you have as an author is the advent of social media.
Unfortunately, it’s also one of an author’s biggest minuses.
Here’s the thing: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and my blog enable me to interact with readers and would-be readers from all over, to extend my reach beyond my friends, family and neighbors, and most of it without spending much (or any) money.
What it does cost me is time, and when you’re a single working mother, that time is oh-so-precious. Every hour I have to spend scheduling tweets and posts, or taking pretty pictures of books, or coming up with blog content is time I’m not spending on my writing. Which is not ideal. Continue reading
I’m two weeks and three days from my book launch!
Do you know what that means?
WORK. Continue reading
I was at a party over the weekend, at the home of some writing friends. I met the two of them when we were all three competing in a global writing contest and discovered we only lived twenty minutes from each other. It’s not often that online friendships turn into real-life friendships, and when they do, it’s gold.
But anyway….
I was at the party, and since I met these people on the internet and not in a social circle, neighborhood or workplace, I didn’t really know anyone else who was there. So we made some small talk, getting to know each other, and they asked me how I knew our hosts and we started talking writing and one of the hosts mentioned that I just landed a book deal.
So of course, the next question was “What is your book about?”
Part of being a successful writer – like it or loathe it – is being a successful salesperson. In the old days that meant cultivating your contacts with local newspapers, putting out a press release, shaking a lot of hands and heading to every local bookstore you could find with a copy of your book tucked under your arm.
Nowadays, the bookstores are fewer and further between, and long before your book comes out, you need to get yourself established in social media. I’m luckier than a lot of first-time authors in that I already have a platform due to my blogging and activism, but I’m not an instantly-known name by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m also not known at all (yet!) in the YA community. Continue reading
