promotion – Susan Koefod

Full size cover On the eve of NAMING THE STAR’s book birthday – appropriately on Labor Day – here are the top 10 ways I plan to survive NAMING THE STARS launch tomorrow.

10) Exhale: the long process of publishing a book — everything that happened after signing the publishing contract, and the months of getting it all ready– is over.

9) Pat myself on the back, not just for sitting my butt down in the chair and writing hundreds of pages, but for all the years and years of starting and stopping projects, listening to others’ feedback, the disappointments, the self-loathing for not getting anything done. Also a pat on the back for members of the family who put up with all of the drama that comes with living with a writer.

8) Begone any remaining inner critical thoughts. It’s out there now, in the hands of readers. That is a very different place from where it was when it lived in my mind, then on my computer screen.

7) Take a hike any worries about how the world is going to react to the work. I have no control over readers’ minds and hearts. I plan on reading their reactions without reacting (as best as I can). “That’s interesting,” is as much as I plan on saying, even if a reviewer says – “THIS BOOK SUCKS”.

6) Take the next step. I did my darnedest to put my creative vision into words. But like any creative work, it’s just another step on my artistic journey. I want to take what I learned from this exercise, and then decide what my next experiment is.

5) Make no comparisons to what’s happening with any other writer’s book sales, rankings, and reviews. That’s their journey, not mine. Best of luck to everyone.

4) Say thanks to my editor and publisher and everyone at Curiosity Quills Press. Thank you for finding my book a home and living with me and my questions.

3) Say thanks wonderful world of the Twin Cities writing community – the multitude of venues for witnessing creativity and learning from it. There are so many of you who invited me to attend or read or publish me here. Hamline University’s MFA program. The Loft. The Saint Paul Almanac. Writers Reading at the University Club. You continue to nurture me.

2) Say thanks especially to the Loft-McKnight Fellowship Program. I have never stopped feeling like I’m on cloud 9, writing wise. You gave me such a boost and though the fellowship, I was encourage to experiment, take risks, and write the book that will be born tomorrow.

1) Celebrate! I’ve earned at least one five-star review, so I gave myself one on Goodreads. “That’s interesting,” wouldn’t you say?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Crowing About Myself….Yet Again….

Heart sinks. Feeling behind on writer marketing and publicity tasks for the novel coming out this fall. Yes, I have good (actually unhappy so they are bad) excuses! But maybe the work I need to complete is not so terrible? After all:

Events are scheduled.
The book is finished.
Sure, maybe I could get my promotional materials (bookmarks, etc.) updated.
There’s that McKnight stuff to keep me going. A plan that will commence in a few short weeks. Still floating from the validation.

What has me a bit on edge is what happens now that the advance copies of Burnt Out are out in the world. Will they be cherished? Reviled? Ignored? I’ve had all three types of responses. The first response is wonderful for the writer’s ego and sales.

The second – well, we try hard to just forget about those. Bad opinions happen to good writers all the time. Everyone has their opinion. But when the right people have the wrong opinion about your book….well, you can figure it out. Aside from the ego bust, these are not particularly good for sales.

The third? At least it’s not the second response.

And my thoughts about writing have entered this new phase. I’m eager to jump into it, go beyond everything I’ve done so far. I wish Albert Park would find a publishing home and am working hard on making that happen. But in my writing brain — I’m in that new era of the next book I’m working on. The published work (i.e., the mysteries) are almost a distant past to where I am now. Don’t get me wrong — I love Arvo and Christine and I know you are gonna love Burnt Out, but the present ‘state’ of my creative mind is in travel mode. Arvo and Christine are still there in my writer’s hometown, but I’ve already passed through Albert Park and am off exploring places in the Big Cheesy novel (note that this last link concerns writing done half a year ago already! — much more has happened in the Big Cheesy novel not posted here).

Writing – from creation to publishing – is a longer journey than you’d believe. There are lots of rest stops, detours, Uturns, round-a-bouts and traffic jams. (Many, many traffic jams as there are so many writers with wonderful works on the same road I am.)

Deep breath. Dig in. OK, I will stop whining now.