Well, it’s almost 11am on Saturday morning which means I’ve been daydreaming up what to write today, I’ve combed through the news and fun blogs, I’ve checked message boards and now there’s nothing else to do but work on Book 2. And so I blog 🙂
Not much to report. Although I have had the phrase “Just keep swimming” as said/sung by Dori in Finding Nemo in my head since my last post. “Just keep swimming…. just keep swimming…” It’s so cheery though that I don’t mind 🙂
As I was sitting here this morning I heard a terrible cat-fight on the next couch over. It was clearly JP’s cat screaming so I figured it must be my cat being a bully. Nope. She’d gotten her own claw stuck in her own tail and was furious about the audacity of having a claw in her tail! She spun around a few times, and then fell off the couch, running away from her vile tormentor. Of course my cat ran in to see the commotion, as did the dog. Which led to both cats ganging up on the dog. I don’t think he realizes that he’s 70 pounds and a DOG. He just puts his head down and takes his lickings. The whole scene, hardest I’ve laughed in quite a while!
I’d like to say that I’m loving Book 2 right now (because I am), but I’m superstitious so I won’t. I’ve heard from the publicist I’ll be working with at RHCB and I think we’re talking next week (which I’m super super excited about!!). I’m trying to come up with questions other than “tell me everything you know that I need to know.”
I don’t think I ever really paid attention to the publicity/marketing side of things before I sold. From being involved in RWA I knew that a lot of authors made bookmarks and magnets and pens, etc. But I don’t think I ever paid attention to all the other behind the scenes stuff — the stuff the publisher can do.
It’s interesting because I know some authors who are leery of just how much of an impact an author can have in their own sales and I know other authors who are firm believers that the author can really impact sales. It’s hard to figure out where to stand in that spectrum. Generally, when I don’t know where to stand I do lots of research so if y’all have any thoughts, bring ’em on! In the end, I’ll probably take the same approach as I did to revising — wanting to know that at the end of the day I did everything in my power to give my little book the best chance I could.
Congrats to Diana Peterfreund on the new addition to the family! Speaking of puppies, mine is trying to crawl into my lap right now…. off to work!
Happy saturday, Carrie! Not to insinuate anything, but do you ever get worried about a “sophomore slump”? I imagine it’d be really nerve-wrecking writing the second book (or third, or fourth, etc), but hey, everyone deals with this stuff differently.
Anyhow, good luck in everything!
Steph
Hey Carrie,
Here’s my take on some of your publicity woes: as a reviewer and person who spends way too much time on the web, I’ve noticed that authors with a strong “web presence” tend to be more popular among teens. Teens like to be able to connect with you, so having a blog can really get readers interested.
Also, being open to book bloggers can really get the word out. You don’t have to give every blogger a book to review, but just be available for interviews or answering their questions. Many even have a list of things that they are willing to to do to get the word out that cost nothing at all.
Also, get a MySpace and Facebook (or even a Twitter) and befriend away. And then use them too. You don’t have to update or get on every other day, but once a week or so. Just doing a few of these things will really help get your name and title out to loads of teens, and the sooner you do it, the more hype you’ll build up. There are loads of people out there who are more than willing to help you build buzz–it’s our hobby.
You can do a lot on your own, and the best part is, you won’t be alone!
Cheers,
Tirzah
Hi Carrie:
Just saw what you were up to in class notes, and wanted to say congrats for getting a book published. That’s WONDERFUL! I will look forward to reading it.
Leah (your junior year suitemate)
Hey Steph — great question! I think I’m going to have to think about that one and answer it in a future blog post 🙂
Great thoughts, Tirzah and thanks for sharing! Here’s my question about Twitter — do you ever think that could backfire, could be too much information? I started with Twitter but then realized… I’m boring – haha!
LEAH!!!! YAY! So good to hear from you! What have you been up to!?!
Carrie,
I understand what you mean. I suppose so. I do know authors who are very private and aren’t into Twittering and blogging daily, but I guess it’s always fun to see what you have to say. But then again, I’m a bit of a MySpace/Blogger/Facebook/Twitter stalker! Just do whatever feels natural–you can always tell when someone is trying too hard to be funny/entertaining in blogs and stuff like that.
Tirzah