Ahem – I have an announcement: My book launch is June 4
We authors tend to be an introverted lot. Who but an introvert would choose to spend years living in her own head writing pages that may never be read?
Eventually, though, you have to finish what you’re doing (if you’re serious about publication). And, if you publish, you must promote, which means finding your inner extrovert (an oxymoron?).
My inner extrovert needs a lot of coaxing. Just ask my husband, Mark, a natural extrovert. He will confirm that I’m really really bad at selling myself. I find it really really uncomfortable.
But books are like ships. You must launch them, ideally with much fanfare. Which brings me to repeat an announcement you might have missed because it was at the end of a long blog about the death last month of my mother.
I have a launch date for Shade of Wings, my speculative young-adult novel about a family of crows fighting for survival amidst the deadly outbreak of West Nile virus in New York City.
(insert trumpets)
It will be Thursday, June 4, at 7 p.m. at Third Place Book Ravenna. The address is 6504 20th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98115
I will be giving a half-hour presentation/reading followed by 20 minutes of Q and A.
And, yes, I’m already getting nervous despite being an active member of Toastmasters since the launch of my first book, The Leaving Year, in 2018. I joined Toastmasters to get over my glossophobia or fear of public speaking. And, by and large, it’s worked. I no longer feel like I might throw up if I get in front of an audience of more than three people.
That first launch was a huge success. Thanks to Mark’s promotional efforts, we packed the front area of Third Place Ravenna (I love this bookstore!) with friends and family, some of whom I hadn’t seen since childhood. I signed more than 60 copies of Leaving Year that evening, outselling Crazy Rich Asians in that store for that month (August).
After my launch, I did more events, which got progressively less nerve-wracking. For me, the book launch is like that first open-water swim of the season. You get in, and it’s a shock that takes your breath away. But, with more talks and more readings, your heart and breathing calm down as your body gets used to the water. Eventually, you find your rhythm.
I’m very much looking forward to post launch. That said, I hope to see some folks there on June 4. My husband would roll his eyes at the modesty of that last sentence.
