Sunday, August 24, 2014

On The Cutting Edge

My latest entry into the Cotillion Ball Series will be unveiled on September 1. That's only one week away!

The Duplicitous Debutante is the sixth book in the Fitzpatrick family saga. And it features some
goodies that don't appear anywhere else. What, you might ask? How about a family tree? On the advice of my good friend, I used my own genealogy software to create a family tree for the Fitzpatricks. I was having problems remembering who among the children was having babies and when, so laying it all out on paper was a good exercise. And the tree looked quite impressive. I sent it to my publisher, who thought the idea had merit. So, the first version of the family tree will appear in The Duplicitous Debutante, and will be updated in each of the remaining books in the series.

While we were piecing together the tree, the publisher asked if I had titles yet for the remaining three books. I had a title for the next book in the series, and synopses for the two after that, but no titles yet.  A quick check in with the brain trust (me, my best friend, my sister, and my writing partner) and I had my titles. Book 7--Expressly Yours, Samantha, is about the Pony Express and will make its appearance in March, 2015. It features the last boy in the family, Valerian. Book 8 is The Widow's Salvation, due out in October, 2015. It takes place a year after the Civil War begins and features Pepper. Her husband has been killed at Ft. Sumter, leaving her alone with three young boys. She volunteers at an Army hospital and meets a doctor. Book 9 will finish off the series by featuring Saffron, the youngest Fitzpatrick. She's entered her teenage years during the Civil War, and all the men who would have been suitors are off fighting the war. She's The Forgotten Debutante. It is scheduled for release in March, 2016. My publisher and I also realized we were missing the story of Charlotte and George's courtship, so I wrote a novella, Charlotte's Unconventional Courtship, as a prequel to the series. No release date yet on that one.

I'm also trying some new things to promote the book. I've got two blog tours lined up--one for September and one in October, something I've never tried before. I've got ads scheduled for September in Eye On Romance and The Romance Reviews. I'm also a participant in The Romance Review's blog hop during September, and appearing on several other blogs as a guest. I'll try to keep everyone informed on when and where I'll be. I'm also attempting something new, using social media. It's called Thunderclap. I need to line up 100 volunteers to join me in putting a message out on social media on September 1. You don't even need to think about it beyond offering your support by signing up here: http://thndr.it/1lXOcXX Thunderclap does the work on September 1.

Will all this effort work? I'm hoping it will, but there are a lot of things being tried for the first time, so I don't know. I want to always be shaking things up with my promotional efforts, and trying new things. I've been looking for the magic bullet that will vault my books to the tops of Amazon's charts, but, just when I think I'm starting to get a handle on things, the floor shifts once again.

I'll keep trying.



12 comments:

  1. Your book is already on pre-order. I'll do what I can to help you. Did you get your 100? Looks like you have a good handle on the rest of the series. Are you going to feel withdrawal when you write THE END on Saffron's book?

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  2. Good question, Barb. I feel now like the Fitzpatricks are my other family, since I've been with them for years. I've already got ideas for the stories of some of the secondary characters who have shown up in one or the other books, but I think I'll take a breather before I do that.

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  3. Good luck on your Thunderclap campaign. I am in awe of your organizational skills and the ability to think so far ahead in your series. That's awesome. :)

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  4. Thanks, Jennifer. I reached my goal for the Thunderclap campaign. Now, I get to see if it works.

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  5. You're quite a role model--but you set the bar awfully high! I love the titles.

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  6. Thanks, Carol. I already had the synopses done for the last three books, so it didn't really take long to come up with titles. I love the way the family tree looks, and think it will add a lot to the series.

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  7. I've just been reading posts on marketing and you are doing an amazing job, Becky. The new titles are excellent. Look forward to release of Duplicitous Debutante!

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  8. Thanks so much, Joanna. I've had extra time to promote this one, so I hope it pays off. Fingers crossed.

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  9. I love your titles! Things are looking great for you.

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  10. Sounds very interesting, Becky! I'm sure it's taken a lot of work to keep everything straight and a family tree seems like an excellent tool to do so.

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  11. You are an inspiration. The family tree is great. I am a huge fan of Lyn Kurland and I use the family trees in her books all the time.
    Can't wait to see how the Thunderclap works.

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  12. Thanks, everyone, for dropping by and taking time to leave a comment. The Family Tree will definitely help me, and anyone who reads my books, keep the stories straight.

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