L is for Launch

I am in the enviable, but scary, position of getting to plan launch parties--virtual and RT (real-time)--for two novels coming out this year from two different small presses! Yikes!

For those who are not authors, you may wonder what in the heck a launch party is and how it can be RT and Virtual. Here’s is your quicky guide for when your own books are unleashed on the world on their way to the New York Times Best Seller List!

A launch party happens when the book is first available for purchase, and you want to introduce it with as big a splash as possible.

Here’s how I planned my book RT launches (I will cover my virtual book launches at my two blogs later):

1)   Id themes that run through the book and specific locations mentioned. Is there any connection between the two?

2)   List venues that are compatible with themes, locations, or both.

3)   Create a budget for the event.

4)   Plan events, giveaways, activities, speakers.

5)   Make a list of who to invite/inform (media, guests).

6)   Get permission to hold the event from someone with authority. That includes sharing what you want to happen, when, and for how long.

7)   Invite media and other guests and have a great time!

For Mission Impastable (culinary mystery, Oak Tree Press), the launch is scheduled for a kitchen store in my local mall. I’ll demo pasta-related gadgets (to connect to the title and recipes in the novel), guest will solve mini-mysteries, and I will offer to sign books after I talk a bit about how wonderful it is! I am distributing postcards with book info/cover on one side and a recipe from the book on the other. I can’t cook and serve food at the mall since I don’t have insurance, license, blah blah. Sigh.

The launch for Streetwalker (erotic romance, Sizzler Editions) is scheduled in my home for a smaller number of guests. The Pure Romance consultant (sex toys, lingerie, etc.) will present info about sexual health and issues as well as intro her products. I will intro my book. Guests are asked to wear glam clothes (to simulate Harlan’s x-rated prom dress look in his salon). I will serve food with a sexual overtone (cupcakes that look like nipples with nipple rings, for example). We’ll have cocktails and conversation. Since it is an e-book, I need to share a link for purchase. I am giving away a bookmark with book cover and purchase info on one side and “Carrie’s Top Ten Sex Tips” on the other.

I’m excited about doing a book launch (never done it before, of course!) for two books. I’m bound to get one of them right. Right? Launch away! Share your book launch ideas in the comments section.

A is for Anticipation

Today’s letter should be “C” for CRAZY! Am I crazy to do this A-Z blog challenge? Twenty-sex, er, -six blog posts in April??? Yes, probably, but that would be no surprise to friends and family!

But today is the beginning of the blogging, and beginnings mean anticipation. I love starting things (not so good on the finishing if I get bored along the way). So today is Anticipation.

Remember the Carly Simon song that includes these words?

“Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin' “

I am filled with anticipation. My cup runneth over with anticipation.

For what, you ask? (another “a” word, by the way)

Looking forward to 25 more blog posts? Well, not so much. No, I am anticipating the publication of two novels. I have been a full-time writer for four years. And this year is my breakout year. This is the year I am officially validated--in my eyes--as a professional writer.

I’ll be telling you more about what’s coming up, but for now, let me say that I an anticipating publication of my first erotic romance. Streetwalker (first book in the “Sex Sells” series) will be out an an e-book this spring from Sizzler Editions (an imprint of Renaissance E Books).

A very different book is anticipated for publication from another small press (to be named later). Mission Impastable is the first book in the culinary mystery series, “Dinner is Served”. If you like you mysteries in a sort of cookbook, you’ll love this one.

What are you anticipating? Both the large and the small engender a shiver of delight. Revel in your anticipations.

The Case for Eclectic

Recently, a FaceBook group I belong to, Chick Lit Goddesses, asked us to use one word to describe our writing style. There were wonderful answers: “quirky”, “snappy”, “clean” (!), “sassy”, “true”, and so on.

I didn’t know what to write.

So, I “walked away” from the FB question and did other stuff. Meanwhile, the question of what one word describes my writing kept percolating in my brain. I just had to wait for it to be brewed.

I went back later and typed in my word, hit the return, and sent it out to my group trepiditiously (Is that a word??? Who cares. I am a neologist.).

My word? “Eclectic”. I even got one Like from someone.

So why eclectic? Though that does help explain why I couldn’t think of a word--I write in so many styles the tone and impact I want to create changes with the genre.

Some writing critique group partners have urged me to not write in so many genres. If I stuck with one, they argue, I might be able to get really good with it instead of being only okay in a half dozen. I kinda do get it, but the stories bang at my head, demanding to be written and written in a specific way.

So I write historical fiction, comedic plays, short stories, culinary mysteries, erotica, paranormal romcom, and women’s fiction. Eclectic, yes?

The good news about eclectic is you may never get proficient in one genre, but you for sure never get bored or writer’s block. There’s always another piece waiting if one story line won’t play nicely.

So do I write “Romance”, well, yeah. But I don’t know that I set out to do it. The story dictates how much relationship stuff is included. It’s a secondary story line in Mission Impastable, my culinary mystery, but in Streetwalker (erotica) and Lucinda, historical fiction, the romance/sex/love predominate.

How do you describe YOUR writing style or the style of your favorite novelist? Leave a comment below and let’s chat about it.