What a whirlwind of activity it’s been in the lead up to the launch of Skipping Stones, and the actual launch week itself!
Six weeks ago I was signing off on cover art and interior layouts, buying ISBN numbers, finalizing pricing and uploading files to publishers. At the same time, I was frantically building my marketing plan and trying to entice potential readers to see Skipping Stones as a book they wanted to read this summer.
It’s funny. When I published Another Glass of Tea back in 2022, I was equally excited and terrified. It was my first book. What if I wasn’t as good as I thought it was? What if I was putting myself out there only to be criticized and ridiculed? Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, but still, I worried.
This time around, I have more confidence. I’ve learned a lot and I know that not only is Skipping Stone good, it’s better than my first. It’s stronger and has more of a point of view. That’s exciting.
And so when it officially went live last week, there was a true sense of satisfaction, knowing I’d put my best out there. While it didn’t make the Globe & Mail‘s Summer Books Preview this weekend, I think you’ll like it! As people crack open the cover, I now have to hope enough of you will leave reviews (Amazon and Goodreads are the best places, hint hint!) to help feed the algorithm that ensures Skipping Stones gets online visibility.
I had my first quasi-review by text – within two days of Skipping Stones, a colleague told me his wife couldn’t put it down. I’ll take that! It’s been exciting, too, to see the book climb up some of Amazon’s rankings. It got as high as #8 Canadian women authors and cracked the top 50 small town romances. It’s been a pretty good week!
To celebrate, this weekend I put my feet up and took a breather, enjoying another author’s writing. And while that was a nice change of pace, I kept finding that plotlines for the next Silver Lake Story kept intruding. Maybe I’ll be putting them on paper sooner than I’d thought!
Next steps? I’m trying to finalize some book signing events and am planning a launch party in a few weeks. If you’re close to Burlington, please drop by – details below.
