Today’s not only Friday, my usual posting day, but 24 hours before the official (read: party) launch of THE KING’S JAR. The books haven’t arrived at Book Passage, the hand decorated French chocolates have gone missing within Fed Ex’s system, and I’m having a bad hair day. In other words, all normal.
The rushing around, guest blog essays, convention attending, and social media demands of the last two months have made me wonder about this business of writing fiction. How much of success is writing and how much is waving and blowing whistles to imprint your book in readers’ heads? I know writers who excel at promotional work and have sales that would seem to validate their efforts. I know others who rarely come out of their cubbies and who also have good sales and wonderful reviews. Obviously, you have to write a good book for starters, and it may help to have an agent, a publisher, and a publicist. But I’ve heard it a hundred times. In this environment, the author has to do a lot of self-promotion, and for most of us, it’s uncomfortable, time-consuming, and hard to prove as effective.
What I really want to do, especially after getting some lovely reviews, is dive back into my study and work on the next three projects. Leaving any of them in an unfinished state is chewing away at my concentration on tablecloths, plastic glasses, and the need to be present on Twitter.
So, I’ll stop no. Must figure out Plan B for refreshments, check in with bookstore, and sit quietly to figure out what I want to talk about at the launch party.
By the way, you’re invited: Saturday, May 18, 1 p.m. at Book Passage in Marin County. I still promise bubbly and chocolate…
