Publication Means Promotion

On the home front, the weather has turned cold. Yesterday morning there was a brief but effective snowstorm. It's amazing how fast the ground turns white.

However, the sun came out, things warmed and melted, and since our daughter is visiting from Northern Ireland, we thought we might try out the new brew pub down in Woodland Park. And we're glad we did! Today, temps are hovering at the freezing point, so daughter and I tested a new recipe that might end up in one of my books. It's already ended up in my 'make this again' file.

As for writing:
Writing the book isn't enough. Unless you write for a large publishing house, odds are, a good chunk, if not all, of the promotion and marketing efforts are going to be dumped into your lap. Some of us, myself included, really don't like the time it takes, or feel comfortable having to constantly hawk ones wares. There's also the dilemma of finding the right demographic. Right now, there are still lines between print book readers and those who read e-books, although they're beginning to blur.

I try to avoid too many sales pitches on this blog, but since marketing is now part of the writing process, and I share all aspects of my writing, there will be those occasional posts that look more like sales pitches. Today's post isn't intended as a promotional piece, but I did want to share what I recently discovered.

A surprise phone call, and moving along

What I'm reading: The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

What I'm writing: Chapter 15 Almost at the 50,000 word mark.

I had the happiest moment yesterday when one of the techs at my eye doctor's office called to tell me how much she enjoyed Finding Sarah. Normally, I get a positive reaction from people I know who have bought my books, but that's face to face, and you never really know what they're really thinking. But for someone to take time at work to make a phone call -- well, that's not something they're under any obligation or pressure to do, so it means so much.

I've got a few days in solitary while my husband travels, and I'm (once again) working on all that organizational stuff, from the little things like remembering it's garbage day and since I'm alone this week, I have to schlep the trash and recycling to the curb and bring up the empties to the more significant, like paying the quarterly installment on our income taxes, and everything in between.

Milestones: I turned in the manuscript for When Danger Calls to the publisher at Five Star. Now it's a matter of waiting until I hear from an editor.

I'm still waiting on edits for Hurricane Breeze from The Wild Rose Press.

Only a few weeks until the panel discussion and signing at Urban Think Bookstore



On October 30th, I'll be doing a session on Point of View at the Barnes & Noble in Altamonte Mall as part of a kickoff series on writing that culminates in a mega holiday booksigning on November 3rd.

I'm doing a book signing on February 9th at an Orlando Barnes & Noble

My workshop proposal on e-publishing was accepted by the Southern Lights Conference so I'll be in Jacksonville in March. I still get tingles when I see my book cover on the same page as Suzanne Brockmann's, even if hers is first and mine is last.


Check the "Find Me" link on my website for more information.