Sunday, January 15, 2006

Holding it in my hands

The books I ordered for my motorcycle buddies arrived Friday. I eagerly ripped into the box and tossed aside the packaging, and there it was. My book, all shiny and pretty and new. I picked up the top copy and gazed lovingly at it, opened the cover and saw the exerpt, flipped through the pages and saw the story I'd taken so many hours, days, weeks and months to write (and rewrite and rewrite...).

Wow.

It's real.

A beautiful, hard-bound book with a shiny paper cover. And in the box were two stacks of them!

I swooned. Then I giggled. Then I sat down to sign them as requested and realized -- I hadn't practiced signing my pseudonym. Gads. I needed to be careful not to sign my regular name. hee hee!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Let the sales begin

Dun duh-nuh NUH! My fantasy novel, The Kinshield Legacy (ISBN# 1-59507-116-4), is now available to order! The first six chapters are posted on the publisher's web site as a sampler. Just follow the link below to whet your appetite.

If you're interested, you can order directly from the publisher at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/KL/KLDesc.htm by clicking the red "ArcheBooks Direct" button at the top left. You'll get it at 25% off the retail price by buying from the publisher. Even with shipping, it's less expensive than full retail at the store. You should get it in 7-10 days after you order.

If you prefer to order from a store, it should appear in the distributors' catalogs in about two weeks (until then, the bookstore won't find it in their computers).

Now that it's available, I need to notify everyone I've ever known and tell them how and where to get it. Many people are eagerly awaiting it, and in fact, my motorcycle buddies have already sent me their money to do a "group buy!"

I'm working on the flash video for my web site to use the book's cover. Using Adobe Photoshop Elements, I've removed the lettering and left just the "cave shot" minus the sword. Next, I'll redo the words using the same font as on the cover, and at the end as the cover picture fades into view, I'll have the book title shrink and move into the same position it appears on the cover. If I get it like I'm envisioning, it'll end up looking like the cover of the book as printed.

I'm also going to have business cards printed up with the cover on one side, and ordering info on the other. I'll also print up the bookmarks, but instead of using my author's photo on them like others my publisher has done, I'm going to add the "review" quotes. Then, with permission from bookstore managers, I'll slip them into fantasy novels on the bookstore shelves as mini (functional) advertisements.

Next, I need to schedule my first bookstore signing. That alone makes my stomach knot up. Probably after doing it a few times, it'll be not quite so nerve-racking.

[deep breath]