Getting Ready For School

The month of August hasn't exactly been unfolding as I anticipated. I have the next book in my series due to the publisher (my self-imposed deadline), and I'm thinking about the next book I'm going to write. But am I doing any of that? NO! Instead, I'm spending the month of August writing guest blog spots.

This is an important part of the business of being an author. It's not enough anymore to merely write a book. Merely? Who am I kidding? I meet people all the time who say 'I've always wanted to write a book." But how many actually do? It's tougher than you can imagine. And then to get it published requires an historic effort, along with perseverance, fortitude and a thick skin.

But, I digress. The business of being an author means you have to find new readers, one at a time, at least in the early years. This means blogging on various sites in hopes of enticing just one more person to be intrigued enough by what you have to say to buy and read your book. And hopefully, to leave a nice review. I have a release in September. September 9 to be exact. The Tempestuous Debutante, fourth book in the Cotillion Ball Series, is going to be released to the general public on that date. It's like sending your child off to school for the first time. You've done everything you can to get your child ready. The editors at the publishing house have helped you get your baby properly clothed and polished up. You put said child on the bus (in this case, the Amazon bus), and cross your fingers that someone will be intrigued enough by the outward appearance to invite your child into their homes for a play date.

An important part of this process involves reaching out to a potential audience in the form of guest blogs. In my experience, I've found people aren't so much interested in me, the author, and what my quirks are. They'd rather read about how I come up with my ideas for stories and characters, how I use my life's experiences to create memorable plot lines, that type of thing. So, in this spirit, I've had to come up with unique content for each guest appearance I'm doing in September and October, to promote the book. It's difficult
to come up with a whole lot of ideas, which is why I am trying to space them out. An off-hand comment, a workshop, a conversation between me and a sibling--all are put into the cauldron of ideas and stirred around. I have two more posts to write before I'm done with my current obligations. I'm sitting here hoping for two more brilliant ideas to pop into my head this weekend, so I can mark "write guest blogs" off my list and get back to the magic of writing an actual story.