By Kristi Belcamino
I expected this post to be all about post pub partum (a term
I cribbed from Lisa Alber!) And I’m sure that is going to come, but nearly a
week after my book was released into the whole wide world, I’m still flying
high on cloud nine.
Here is my release week in a nutshell:
Highlights/Recap
* Waking up the morning of June 10th and having
my husband call the kids into the room and say, “Does your mother look any
different today? Well now she’s a published author.” That and the dozen red
roses he gave me really made the day seem special.
(I spent the entire day doing Italian mama things with my
kids, playdates, doctor’s appointments, double-header soccer game —although I
did have a beer—I really didn’t do anything special so it was nice my husband
made such a big deal.)
* Getting reviews from PEOPLE I DON’T KNOW. Who are not
related to me and who don’t even know someone I know.
This has been amazing. To see total strangers love my book and take the time to
put a review on Amazon or a website. So dang cool.
(I am bracing myself for the bad reviews. I know it happens
to every author. I’m always amazed when my favorite authors get bad
reviews. But I’ll deal with that when it comes.)
* Having my favorite author in the whole world, Lisa Unger,
tweet this:
“If you haven’t read @alafairburke @Slaughterauthor
@LindaCastillo11 @KristiBelcamino @jennifermcmahon @hank_phillipi start today! #lovethem.”
Best. Tweet. Ever.
For so many reasons. Simply being mentioned in the same
tweet as those other authors is mindboggling to me. But having Lisa mention my name?
Wow. Thanks, Lisa. You are a class act.
* My first media interview. For the first time, I was on the
other side of the table being interviewed by a newspaper reporter. The book
editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press was so wonderful and kind that it was
painless, but still an odd experience. I hope I didn’t say anything stupid.
(Babysitter fell through that morning so I dragged my two
kids along on the interview. It went surprising well in spite of that.)
*The day after my book release, I escaped to the beach for
the afternoon with friends. We sat and watched our kids swim and play and I
didn’t check my Amazon ranking or respond to comments on Twitter and Facebook
for a few hours.
(I had spent most of the previous day on social media – despite a
good friend’s advice to avoid it – thanking people who liked my book or bought
it, and, yes, I admit, looking for new reviews on Amazon and how the book was
ranking in sales.)
*Appearing on websites of so many wonderful people: The
Reading Café, Dru’s Musings, Chuck Wendig, Jenny Milchman. These visits were
super fun and I tried really hard to interact with anyone who took the time to
read the posts and comment.
(Again, it’s amazing to meet people this way who are excited
about my book.)
So, all in all, I had an amazing release week for Blessedare the Dead. I didn’t have any expectations for what it would be like and I think
that was probably the right thing to do because I was pleasantly surprised by
how exciting and fun it was. And the fun isn’t over yet. The paperback comes
out next month and I’m going to have a big party to celebrate at my favorite
mystery bookstore, Once Upon A Crime.
So thank you to everyone who made my release week so wonderful!
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment