It’s been five short days since Secrets of a Proper Countess hit the stores.
It’s my debut novel, so you can imagine how excited I was, for oh, about a year and half before that day, waiting for the moment when my book would be on the shelves alongside the novels of some of my favorite writers. For months, I’ve been going to the bookstore regularly, just to find the spot on the shelf where my book will be stocked. When I got my coverflats, I folded one and tried it out in the space. It looked magnificent! A dream come true. Almost.
On release day, which was last Tuesday, I got up at 5:30, too excited to sleep any later. The closest bookstore didn’t open until 10:00, so I vacuumed the house, since I was too nervous to do anything else. Actually, I was  vacuuming the day I got ‘the call’ from my agent in November 2009, too, telling me Avon wanted the book.
No, vacuuming is not an obsession of mine, or a hobby! Far from it. I look at it as a necessary evil that has to be done every now and then, but housework is very calming in the sheer mind-numbingness of it.
I spent some time on-line, posting on Twitter and Facebook that today was Release Day. In a recent Avon survey, over 70% of those surveyed said they find out about new books on Facebook (an astounding number of people when you think about it). I don’t mind telling you that getting set up with a fan page on Facebook was a very challenging thing for me, but it was an essential part of my publicity plan, so I learned how to use it.
I walked in to my local Chapter’s around 10:30 (I wanted to give them time to have a cup of coffee and get the book on the shelves after they unlocked the doors). It wasn’t there! Disappointment circled around me like buzzards, and I started to wonder if I’d dreamed this whole published author thing. Fortunately, there were seven copies in the stockroom, and an excited staff member got them out and asked me to sign them (my first booksigning!) I bought three copies and gave them to the staff, who promised to hand sell the rest and reorder more books. The staff also checked the computer for me, and discovered that although every store in the city had Secrets of a Proper Countess on order, only six were actually out on the shelves. it takes several days, he said, to get new stock out.
Still, I held my book in my hand, signed it, watched people’s eyes light up as I handed it over. It was magical.
Family celebrations for the release will be delayed for a short time. I received roses from my husband, but both my children are out of the country. My son is at university in Russia, and won’t be home until July, and my daughter is in Europe for spring break, on tour with her high school. So, sometime in July, we’ll all go out to our favorite restaurant, drink champagne, and celebrate Secrets of a Proper Countess, the start of a brand new career.
Then I’ll start the waiting all over again, for the second book, and count the days until it joins Secrets of a Proper Countess on the shelves.
Do you have any questions about the book, or the process, or anything else you’d like to ask? I’ll be dropping in throughout the day, so ask away!
0 COMMENTS
Tarah Scott
13 years agoROFL. Sounds like it was great fun all the way around. Just think, a few years from now, you’ll be a real pro.
Lecia Cornwall
13 years ago AUTHORit was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime day!