On The Road Again

One of the most enjoyable activities in marketing my novels is going on the road visiting independent bookstores. The people who own and run these stores are always happy to support local writers like me, taking my books on consignment. Having my novels on the shelves in these beautiful bookstores is no less than a dream come true.

Besides Amazon, A Better Life and The Price of Secrets can be found at lala books in Lowell, MA; Andover Bookstore in Andover, MA; Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH; Main Street Bookends in Warner, NH; Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, NH; and Henniker Book Farm and Gifts in Henniker, NH. If you have an opportunity to visit any of these amazing bookstores, you are in for a treat.

Releasing my novels into the world is life-changing. Finishing such a long and involved project so close to my heart is not only incredibly exciting, but a bit traumatic. The people of my novels become part of my life, part of me, and it feels like I lose a little of myself when I let them go. For a couple of weeks, even with the excitement of publishing The Price of Secrets, I felt a little down. I had trouble focusing on my new novel, which is not a great feeling for a writer. Then my brother bought me a coloring book.

When I open to a new, pristine coloring page, there is a sense of newness, not unlike a blank page in a notebook. And there are decisions to make. Where to start? What color/tone to use? As with writing, I just begin. It doesn’t matter where I start, as long as I start. Start filling in the blank spaces and a picture gradually emerges. Not so different from writing. Creating a scene, a conversation, a character’s observations, coloring in a space, big or small, all add to the complete picture.

The more I think about losing part of myself by sending my work into the world, the more I realize it’s just a transition. It’s huge, but simply writing this post helps me know I am still here and I am whole. I will keep showing up to the page every day with faith and persistence. Keep getting words down, keep coloring in the story.

Joy

The Price of Secrets has come to exist over the past five years: written, revised, edited, formatted, covered, published, printed and bound and delivered. And now, more than a hundred copies are in the hands of readers.

I had ordered 65 copies for the book launch to make sure I had enough. I have two left. And 42 have been sold on Amazon, as well as eight of my first novel, A Better Life. I am amazed and proud and so grateful.

The book launch two days ago came together quickly. The books were magically delivered sooner than expected, the venue (Mt. Pleasant Golf Club) was available. No reason not to do it. Then a flurry of Emails, Facebook posts, word of mouth and it was happening. The launch was a wonderful night and a joyous opportunity for me to share some of the story, share some of my writing process, and share the joy. Everyone shared the joy.

To all of you who bought a book, thank you so very much. I hope you enjoy the story and pass it along to other readers. I would love to hear how you felt about the book, whether through a review on Amazon or Goodreads, an email, or an invitation to your book club–all are much appreciated.

Wishing you a healthy, joyful year ahead.

Turning Points and Transitions

It’s the last day of August, fall coming on just a little too quickly, but welcome just the same.

A major focus for the past nine months has been on marketing and promoting A Better Life. What in my mind was a necessary evil became a joyful, enlightening and rewarding experience. The book launch, the book clubs, the press release, the readings and book signings, getting the book into independent bookstores, the newspaper and radio interviews, were all more than I ever thought I could do and more enjoyable than I ever anticipated. Now it is time to step back from promotion and return my energy and focus to my new novel.

The working title right now is A Thousand Secrets. It is too young, too early to talk about the story yet. There is a lot of work to be done and much to discover. It will take time. My goal is to have it published by December 2020. Whether I will find an agent willing to represent me and my work or whether I publish independently again remains to be seen.

It feels like just the right time for a transition. It feels like a new start. It feels like I have accomplished exactly what I had hoped for with A Better Life, to have people reading it and talking about it. I am so grateful to be on this journey of writing to publishing to marketing and back. Just like our four seasons, it is a cycle, and with the end of this season comes the beginning of another.

Publicity

When the press release for A Better Life was sent out by Beth D’Ovidio at the New Hampshire Writers Project, it was picked up and published by The Eagle Times in Claremont, as well as The Concord Monitor, and also resulted in an interview and article in HippoPress. Having such support and assistance with marketing from the NHWP almost makes me feel like I have an agent. There was also a wonderful feature article this past week published by my local newspaper, The Lowell Sun. All this publicity is not only exciting, but has resulted in a number of encouraging things: a bump in sales, some wonderful Facebook reactions and posts, phone calls and texts of congratulations. The biggest impact so far, though, has been on this site, with a dramatic increase in visits and views. It didn’t take much reflection to realize I need to increase my own participation and drive in promotion and publicity, not just of my work, but of myself as a writer.

After an 8-day trip to Ireland and a conscious decision to step away from the new novel for that time and look at it with fresh eyes when I returned, I am at the lake once again immersed in the story. I am also determined to finish and publish this post and make some plans and goals for further promotion.

When I return to Lowell tomorrow, I will begin reaching out to libraries to ask not only if they would carry my book, but about arranging readings and book signings. I also plan to work more diligently on this site, posting more frequently and finding ways to increase my followers. And in the back of my mind, there’s Twitter, something I have been avoiding for a number of reasons. I still don’t feel quite ready to dive into that yet. Every step I take on this journey, no matter how small it may seem, is an accomplishment to be celebrated.

Motivation

When I began teaching, I was thrilled at how intrinsically motivated my third-graders were. They were excited about learning new things and I did my best to nurture their passion. There was a lot of discussion and controversy at the time about giving rewards to students for learning and how it could affect them in the future. It seemed to me as a novice teacher that rewarding students with prizes or parties could diminish their natural, intrinsic motivation and they would learn and work hard only if there was some kind of tangible reward.

As a new author with my first published book out in the world and working on my second, I am finding that rewards go a long way in motivating me to work even harder — on my writing, my marketing, virtually my whole writing career. My granddaughter Leah recently asked me if I was going to get rich from my book. I smiled and told her no, and explained that wasn’t why I wrote and published, that I love writing and telling a story and am just happy people are reading my book. The rewards that motivate me are not as tangible as money.

I was contacted recently by Prudence Brighton, a freelance writer who wanted to interview me for a feature article in The Lowell Sun. This was my first interview as an author. Yesterday, I had a telephone interview with Angie Sykeny, a reporter from HippoPress, a New Hampshire weekly. Discussing and answering questions about A Better Life, talking about the story, the characters, my writing process, my background, was an incredibly motivating reward.

I am forever grateful to and motivated by everyone who takes the time to read and discuss my novel, my blog, and the articles that will soon appear in The Lowell Sun and HippoPress, with hopefully more to come. I was wrong all those years ago when I believed motivation had to come totally from within. There can be a beautiful balance.