SOCIAL NETWORKING TIME

July 27, 2012

I met with Michael at Phoenix Books in Essex Junction, Vermont yesterday and three staff members: wine expert Kelly, store manager Colleen, and events planner Kristen.  All of them savvy, and enthusiastic.  My bookstore launch will be on September 27th at 7 p.m. There will be a champagne bar and cheese for purchase.  Their other bookstore is on Bank Street in Burlington, but Michael has a wine license at the Essex Junction one. How cool is that!

To top off the day, I arrived home to five large cartons containing my novel. My first glance at the finished product.  It was a "gasper...as in, OMG!"  My rescue toy poodle got excited and started barking when I exclaimed. It was a party for two!  The cover looks great, and now that I'm calm, I'll sit and figure out what will work at readings. 

On August 11th the Waitsfield Wine Shop is hosting a tasting and signing; and on August 23 I'll sign books at CORK in Waterbury.  Please keep checking my calendar on this site for new dates.

Now that my webpage is complete, I'm rushing to update my profile on various sites.   A good friend who has just graduatead from college in Media Studies is coming early August to work wtih me. I'm sending out an email soon to all my contacts about the publication of the book, and shamelessly asking people to help me out by purchasing and by writing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.  By the end of the week with with Carson, I'll have an author page on Amazon, on Facebook, on Goodreads, and on LibraryThing. Plus I'm tweeting at least once a day.  

I've just been reminded by a social networking expert to decide to devote a certain amount of time each day to it, and let it go.  One writer asked at a social networking media event in New York, when are we supposed to write?

I look at it this way. The publishing world is changing rapidly, just as the music industry did. Quite frankly, I'm enjoying being in touch with professionals who ten years ago would never have had an opportunity to get in touch. I found wonderful advisors for my novel in England and in France through their blog pages that I happened upon. There is magic in that. 

That's it for today. I said that I'd speak about how champagne is made, but maybe I can get Kelly from Phoenix Books to write a guest blog here. 

Thank you for coming to my website. Please, please leave messages, make comments...and buy my book! I'm highly recommending Phoenix Books (www.phoenixbooks.biz) as a place to buy books. Check out their website, or go their stores (they just opened a new door on Bank Street in Burlington) Another change is that some publishers like mine (Poisoned Pen Press) are bringing their books out in hard cover, paperback, and ebook simultaneously. Easier on everyone's pocketbooks, and surely sells more books.

Thank you for stopping by, Janet