What a book launch looks like

Book Launch

Authors Mike Nettleton and Carolyn J. Rose

Saturday, Mike Nettleton and Carolyn J. Rose (part of the Deadly Duo Mysteries team) launched two books; a co-written YA book, Drum Warrior, by both Carolyn and Mike, and Carolyn's mystery Through a Yellow Wood, which is the sequel to Hemlock Lake.  It was held at Cover to Cover Books and Espresso, on St. Johns, in Vancouver, from 4 to 6 PM, and it included wine.  Cake, wine, and coffee always seems to draw out the writer and reader community.  

Carolyn and Mike found a place that would put their book covers on the cakes, which looked so fabulous I almost didn't want to cut the first slice.  


I was in charge of the chocolate cake. 

Amanda, the bookstore owner's niece, was in charge of the carrot cake.  Snacks also were set out, and even a few healthy items such as carrots and cherry tomatoes.  Mel, the bookstore owner whipped up one latte' after another, with a mocha tossed in now and then. 

Carolyn's Books

Carol Doane, a Vancouver social media expert, whom celebrities always want to meet, greeted people at the door, and tweeted the event. 

Deadly Duo Books

Smedley the bookstore service animal oversaw the book sales.

Mike Nettleton giving a reading

During the afternoon, Mike did a couple of readings from Drum Warrior, alternating with Carolyn reading from Through a Yellow Wood.

Carolyn J. Rose autographing books.

Throughout the event, the cash register whirred as books were purchased and autographed by the authors.

Authors Mike Nettleton and Carolyn J. Rose

It was a successful event.  I have to say, sitting at the cake table during the event, Amanda and I drew almost as much attention as the authors.    What can I say.  It was hard work, but someone had to do it (the taste test).

I hope to have my own book launch someday.  This was fun.

Traditional vs. Self Publishing

Carolyn J. Rose has a new book out, Through a Yellow Wood.  It is the sequel to the traditionally published Hemlock Lake, but now she is self publishing, and much happier.   Her book launch is at Cover to Cover Books this Saturday from 4 to 6 PM.  Without further chatter from me, may I present Carolyn, talking about traditional vs. self publishing.

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GUEST BLOG:    Then and Now.

BY:  Carolyn J. Rose

Two years and four books ago I was a basket case. If you looked up “stressed out” in the dictionary, you would have seen a picture of me or even a short video clip.

Two years ago I was tugging at my hair, chewing on my fingernails, making lists, writing guest blogs, updating my website, querying reviewers, addressing postcards, mailing out advance copies of Hemlock Lake, and hoping to win enough readers to convince my publisher to offer me a contract for a second book. I was buying goodies for book launch events, color-coordinating plates and napkins with the book cover, and ordering way too much cake.

I was thrilled about having a book released as a hardcover, but I was concerned because that hardcover was priced at $25.95. Economic experts weren’t telling the public to get out there and buy books to boost the nation out of the recession and I had less name recognition than an obscure subspecies of garden slug.

I was also concerned because my publisher catered mostly to the library trade. It would be up to me to wedge Hemlock Lake onto shelves at bookstores. And the window of opportunity was tiny—the book would be “fresh” for only a few weeks.

As it turned out, despite a lot of effort, I was able to line up very few bookstore events. And, despite all those guest blogs and hours logged on social media, Hemlock Lake didn’t sell enough copies to make the publisher ask, “What else do you have for us?”

Stress turned into distress which led to self-doubt. Self-doubt threatened to morph into depression.

But then the e-version of Hemlock Lake (which I retained the rights to because e-versions weren’t included in the contract I signed on the cusp of the e-publishing revolution) picked up steam. Over the course of a year, it went from selling just a few copies a month to selling more than a hundred, then more than two hundred.

Distress morphed into delight and I got to work on manuscripts languishing in my computer waiting for a publisher to want them.

I published the next book—An Uncertain Refuge—on my own in May of 2011. Four months later I published another—A Place of Forgetting. In December I released No Substitute for Murder. A few days ago, Through a Yellow Wood, the sequel to Hemlock Lake, went up on Kindle and Nook.      

I’m having a launch party for it at Cover to Cover Books in Vancouver on Saturday, July 21^st. I’m buying goodies, trying to color-coordinate plates and napkins, and I’ll probably order way too much cake. That part hasn’t changed.

And I still make lists—hey, I’m a Virgo and I love the feeling of checking off what I’ve accomplished—but the lists are much shorter.

But the big difference is that I’m not stressed out.

Because most of my sales come from e-books, I have a long-game strategy now. E-books stay on the virtual shelves where I put them. They aren’t remaindered and aren’t shuttled to the back room. My promotional window of opportunity doesn’t slam shut after a few weeks.

I still guest blog, but I space out those posts instead of cramming them all within a few days of the publication date. And, instead of blogging about my latest book, I write about other topics, like the dogs I’ve owned, the difficulty of finding clothes I like that also fit, and whether books with creepy characters should have a separate rating system.

Query Reviewers

I still query reviewers, but I space those queries out as well. I don’t know if it helps sales, but it feels good to see a new review pop up every few weeks.

I no longer worry about my books being priced too high because I have control over that. I can raise or lower prices whenever I want. Three of my books are just 99 cents in e-form. Two of them will probably stay that way for years.

I no longer worry about selling enough to make the publisher want another title because I’m the publisher. When it comes to questions about whether I should publish a book or eat more jumbo salted cashews, my comment to myself will be, “Go for it!”

Carolyn J. Rose

Sure, some titles have sold better than others—No Substitute for Murder, a light cozy, sold about 20,000 e-books in its first six months while An Uncertain Refuge, a more serious suspense novel, sold 14,000 in 13 months. But I won’t reject my next manuscript or rush to write a sequel based on those numbers.

The bottom line is that two years down the road from a traditionally published book, I’m much more relaxed. When we cut into that cake on July 21^st, my stomach won’t be tied in knots. Heck, I might even be able to swallow a few bites, especially if Melanie cuts me a corner piece with lots of icing.

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Carolyn is giving away a copy of her book, either paperback or e-form (no overseas mailings, please), leave a charming comment for Carolyn, say which format you would prefer, give an email address or your twitter name so we can let the lucky winner know.  

You can click here to go to Amazon to purchase her books.

The (Many) Things that Divide Us

If you have ever been a substitute teacher, been taught by one, or heard of one,

No Substitute for Murder will have you laughing.

It is time for another guest post from Carolyn J. Rose. She has outdone herself on her latest book, No Substitute for Murder which had me snorting water through my nose at a restaurant when I got to one particular scene where the protagonist is as close to being a fly-on-the-wall as you can get, at her ex-husband's biggest embarrassment. Even covering my mouth with my hands couldn't withhold the guffaws from sneaking through my fingers. Leave a comment to be entered into the drawing to win a copy of this fabulous book.

Without further ado, here is:

Carolyn J. Rose

The (Many) Things that Divide Us

During the political season—which lately seems to be 24/7 and year-round—the beliefs, opinions, prejudices, and preferences that divide this nation are clear. Often they’re not only clear, they’re magnified or blown out of proportion by one side or the other.

But these “big things” aren’t all that separate us into groups and set our diverse agendas. Every time I check into a hotel, twirl the radio dial to a particular station, drive on the freeway, or select a sandwich spread, I make a choice that defines me or act according to one I made in the past.

Every day, every one of us makes choices that set us apart from others—choices that may be so ingrained and automatic we can’t remember when the opinion was formed or who influenced it or when it turned into a way of life or even—in extreme cases—came to be a symbol of our Constitutional right to certain freedoms.

I can almost hear you asking: “What the heck does she mean by that?”

Well, imagine you’re checking into a hotel and you don’t get a choice between smoking or non-smoking rooms. You could end up with the room you wanted, or you could be forced to breathe third-hand smoke or go outside to light up.

Chances are, you wouldn’t be happy about that. In fact, you might be furious. You might rage against the hotel and “that other group of people.”

Or let’s say you visit your aunt Matilda and she makes you a BLT but, instead of mayonnaise, she uses another spread. If you’re firmly in the mayo-is-best camp, it will be tough to choke down that sandwich.

Now suppose your aunt tells you to stop being so picky because “there’s no difference between mayo and the other stuff.”

Is she serious?

That’s like saying there’s no difference between black and white, summer and winter. Sheesh.

The Great Sandwich Spread Skirmish could turn you against your aunt if she refuses to budge on the issue and admit that there is a difference and you have a right to your preference. The dispute could even escalate, dividing your family and turning you against anyone who doesn’t agree mayonnaise is the right stuff. You might take to picketing stores that carry other spreads and even (gasp!) allow them to mingle with the mayo on the shelves.

From there, it’s a short hop to setting up gated all-mayo communities and working to pass laws to outlaw other spreads. And it’s another short hop to taking aim at other divisive issues:

• Dark vs. Milk Chocolate
• Coffee vs. Tea
• Dogs vs. Cats
• Classic Rock vs. Rap
• Cheese Puffs vs. Corn Chips
• Dieters vs. Those who can eat all they want
• Neatniks vs. Slobs
• Procrastinators vs. Get-there-on-timers
• Speeders vs. Slow-pokes-who-drive-the-limit
• Shaken vs. Stirred
• Well-cooked vs. Rare (or even raw)
• Toilet Seat Up vs. Toilet Seat Down

Fortunately, most of us will never get that worked up. And for many of us, the lines of opinion blur and we slip back and forth across them in the course of our lives. We learn to appreciate things we didn’t like when we were young—types of music, kinds of food, the need to be more organized, the reasoning behind posted speed limits.

But if you’re like me, there are lines you’ll never cross, opinions you’ll never compromise on until and unless you’re forced to. That’s why I’ll make a sandwich my way until I scrape the last smear of mayonnaise from the bottom of the last jar on earth.

What are the division lines in your life? What are you willing to be flexible about and what would you never give an inch on? Leave a comment and get your name in the drawing for a copy of No Substitute for Murder.

Bio:

Carolyn J. Rose is the author of a number of novels, including recent titles A Place of Forgetting, An Uncertain Refuge, No Substitute for Murder, and Hemlock Lake. She and her husband, Mike Nettleton, penned two cozy mysteries, The Big Grabowski and Sometimes a Great Commotion.

She grew up in New York’s Catskill Mountains, graduated from the University of Arizona, logged two years in Arkansas with Volunteers in Service to America, and spent 25 years as a television news researcher, writer, producer, and assignment editor in Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. She lives in Vancouver, Washington, and founded the Vancouver Writers’ Mixers. Her interests are reading, gardening, and not cooking.

Thanks to the following authors

Thanks

It is important to acknowledge people who have made a difference in our lives. It is also important to acknowledge people who have made a difference to our blogs. I’d like to thank the following people.

1. Lilith Saintcrow

Lilith is the New York Times Best-Selling author of a number of urban fantasy and young adult books and is a fabulous, caring person. I don’t have to tell you she is a fabulous writer, because you don’t get on the NYT best-selling list if you can’t string two sentences together to make a reader laugh, cry, or fidget on the edge of their seats. When she talks, people listen. And when she tells people they should read a blog, they do. Immediately. She is the reason “Confessions of a Seven-Year-Old” and "It may seem as though I don't like Christmas" are on my ten most popular blogs list.

Check out her books here.

2. Bill Cameron

Bill is a clever murder mystery writer, who tortures his protagonist with great cunning, while incorporating fabulous bits of Portland into the book. He wrote a guest-blog on here, A Dream to Some, A Nightmare to Others, which remains on my top ten blog list. He is one of the sweetest men I know. On twitter he told of his ukulele lessons, and I asked him to post a video of it, which he did. It was endearingly pitiful. Reminded me of when I took piano lessons in second grade. Oh, no, he was much better than that, come to think of it. Throughout the video, I smiled.

Check out his books here.

3. Linda Collision

I found Linda Collision when I was researching The Pirates’ Reckoning. She writes nautical fiction with a female protagonist and does a ship-shape job of it. Although I’ve never met her, she has been very helpful and encouraging, even agreeing to write a guest-post, Tension and Conflict on the High Seas, which also remains on my top ten blog list. If you liked Master and Commander, or the Horatio Hornblower books, you’ll enjoy her books. Word of warning, however, is to refrain from reading about the surgeon's mate’s shipboard surgery while eating your lunch. It’s enough to make you queasy.

Check out her books here.

4. Carolyn J. Rose

I want to thank Carolyn J. Rose for the awesome guest posts she did for me, Coping with Rejection and Self-torture Techniques for Writers. Besides being a good friend, Carolyn has taught me how to not be a bad writer. Now all I have to do is put into practice all she has taught to become a good writer. Carolyn writes great novels, well worth the read, from love stories set in the 1960s to murder mysteries involving the entire bizarre population of a fictional coastal town in Oregon. Both of Carolyn's guest blogs are in my top ten blog posts, but you'll notice the self-torture one is #1. Why? Because people from all over the world enter "self-torture techniques" into their search engine. Who knew?

Check out her books here.

Art in the Heart, Vancouver USA

Writers are strange people. Nothing is as it should be, nothing is certain. Just when you think you know what is happening with a writer there is a new twist, a dip in air pressure, a gust of wind.

I knew Carolyn J. Rose would be there, at Vancouver, Washington's Art in the Heart festival, promoting her book Hemlock Lake. But secretly I wanted to go meet Bill Cameron, with whom I'd been conversing on twitter for nearly a year. I wanted to buy one of his books, but I wanted it to be autographed. I wanted it to be personalized. I wanted it to have meaning. Most of all, I wanted it to make me feel like I belonged in the inner circle of published writers (even though I'm not). Bill has three books published and another to come out in June of next year. He is witty and charming and amusing on twitter as @bcmystery and I hoped he'd be the same in person. He did not disappoint.

He sat at a table outside Angst Gallery beside Carolyn J. Rose, an awning shading them from the glinting August sun (yes, we do get sun in Washington, for crying out loud), with stacks of Lost Dog, his first, Chasing Smoke, his second, and Day One, his third. He even had a few copies of an anthology, Portland Noir, in which he had a contribution.

"Hi, I'm @Scupperlout," I told him. He didn't back away in horror. This was a good sign. He even stood and shook my hand (I shall never wash it). He knew who I was, he'd read my blog, and still he smiled. What a gentleman.

"Which book shall I start with?" I asked.

He pointed to Lost Dog. "Well, I would start with Lost Dog," he began.

"I don't want to start with Lost Dog." Although I've nothing against Lost Dog, I didn't want to start with it.

Without missing a beat, Bill said, "Or you can start with Chasing Smoke, or Day One," jabbing a finger to each with just the slightest hint of trepidation. I snatched up Chasing Smoke. I think that is the one I wanted all along just because I'm in love with the title.

"You'll autograph this, won't you?"

He smiled graciously. So graciously in fact, that I got brave and reiterated my offer (okay I was begging, I admit it) to have him do a guest blog here. He said he'd consider it.

Then I noticed Ann Littlewood sitting beside Bill. Her first book, Night Kill, takes place at a zoo. Ann spent years working at the Oregon Zoo in Portland so she knows the "behind the scenes" stories the general public could never know...until now. She had given a talk at the Vancouver Writer's Mixer last year and read an excerpt of Night Kill that was so intense I still get goosebumps when I think of it. Although it was her first, and she had copies of her second, Did Not Survive on the table, I had to get the first just to read that scene myself, and savor the chills.

I introduced myself to Ann and asked her if she would autograph her book. "Certainly," she said, her expression deadpan, "what name would you like me to use?"

Besides her own? Johnny Depp? Just a thought.

Bill did, indeed, autograph my book. He wrote, "Melanie. Thanks for saving my life in Vietnam. Bill Cameron"

It was nothing, Bill. Really. Nothing.

Ann wrote, "Melanie. Keep your fingers out of the cages. Ann Littlewood, aka Johnny Depp" I mean, honestly, it almost looks like his signature. Only prettier, like her own.

How did she know about the times I stuck my fingers in the cages at Knowland Park Zoo in Oakland, California?