Release Week Madness

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 10^th 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