Thank you

I’m not going to lie, this book launch has been tough. The pandemic slowed down the process of writing and revising this book to the point that it took me a good eight to ten months longer than I intended. Before this all started, I thought we’d be celebrating the release of Book 5 right about now. But here we are, after a year of mask wearing and staying at home, away from extended family, playing the human school bell. It was hard some days to keep writing or revising. 

 There were two things that kept me going. One is the fact that through all of this these characters still talk to me. Sarah still cries on my shoulder, and Dermot still takes up space in my mind, usually brooding in a corner somewhere. They still have mountains to climb, caves to feel their way through and emotional swamps to navigate. 

 The other thing is that I knew you all were waiting for it. You’ve been emailing me and messaging me and talking to me asking about it, telling me that you can’t wait for it. It has meant so much to me. It always does. Even on the days when I’m beating myself up about not writing faster (and I do), or when I’m wondering if I’ll ever sell another book because people just aren’t reading as much as you’d think they would when they’re stuck at home, or when I can’t manage to string two words together, I know that someone is waiting for it. And that makes it worth pushing my way through the self-doubt and the recriminations.

 In the midst of all of that the week before this book launch, there was some family drama that I won’t get into. But it meant that shouting/pushing/selling books was not really at the top of my mind for the last couple of weeks. I couldn’t delay the launch, because it had already been delayed too long. I went ahead even though my mind was not as focused as I would have liked. In spite of all that, this was my best book launch yet. 

 So, thank you.

 Thank you to my alpha reader/cheerleader/therapist/husband. You know all that you do, and I couldn’t do any of this without you.

 Thank you to my reader/friends. Whether we met through my books or our love of someone else’s books, or we knew each other before you are my soul sisters. You’re the ones who always show up for signings, buy me coffee, check in, give me hugs when I need them even if they’re just virtual. You are all amazing, and it’s hard even for me to put into words how much your friendship means to me.

 Thank you to my beta readers who have given me encouragement and criticism. I’m a one-woman shop, and I need other eyes on my work before it goes to market. Your feedback makes the books better.

 Thank you to my ARC team. Your reviews have made a great start to getting the new book on the boards and helping anyone on the fence about whether they should give the series more of their time. 

 Thank you to everyone who has written a review. Just like post engagement, the more reviews and/or ratings a book has, the more book sellers’ algorithms will suggest them. 

 Thank you to anyone who preordered the book and to anyone who has bought it. Book sales are like a snowball. The most people who buy them, the more people will see them and then even more will buy them. That preorder boost on launch day helps start that snowball rolling downhill.

 Thank you to everyone who has tweeted, messaged, commented on my posts about the books. This is a lonely business, and this year it was even lonelier, but your messages and encouragement keep me going. Beyond that, the more engagement authors get on our posts, the more people the algorithms show those posts to. And that makes our books more discoverable. 

 Thank you to everyone who has retweeted, shared, told a friend to check them out. Word of mouth is the most effective way to sell books. Yeah, reviews help, ads help, but nothing works like telling a friend.

 Thank you to the designers of the apps that enabled me to schedule posts early and automate things. So that even when my mind is elsewhere because this year has been full of distractions, I’m still posting about my books, and building my platform. Also, it’s so much fun to see my husband’s face when I am sitting next to him drinking my morning coffee or out for a walk and he gets a notification that I’ve tweeted. Then he turns to me with wide eyes and asks how I can be tweeting when my phone is in my pocket. I just shrug and say, “Magic.”

 And as always, thank you to my grandmother for giving me a love of stories, and for teaching me that everyone no matter who they are has a story worth telling.