Preparing for a Book Signing

Fatal Descent, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series starring whitewater river ranger/rafting guide Mandy Tanner, will be released on June 8th. I have scheduled eight book signings to occur in the six weeks after the release date. I have a busy summer coming up!

The first signing will actually be on Saturday, June 8th, at the Next Page Bookstore in Frisco, Colorado, from 3 to 5 PM. (Hint: if you want to order an autographed copy to be mailed to you, place an order with Next Page before the event or with Black Cat Books (click on the Fatal Descent link above for info), my official bookstore supplier for autographed copies.)

Scheduling a signing, though, is not all there is to it! First comes the selection of an ideal date and time for that venue. In the case of Next Page Bookstore, this signing will take place on the same weekend as the Ten Mile Creek whitewater kayaking events in Frisco, Colorado, including a One Mile Race, Rodeo, and Best Trick competitions. And, the signing is timed to end well before the first kayaking event. Coincidence? Nope!

Second task is inviting a whole gang of folks to come. In the case of this event, it will be a fundraiser for the Gore Range chapter of Trout Unlimited, with the store donating 10% of the proceeds to the chapter. That means the event will be included in the chapter newsletter going out to all of the members. Also, I will create a virtual event for the booksigning on Facebook and Goodreads and invite all of my virtual friends on those sites who live nearby to come. I'll also send a special mailing to my email newsletter subscribers who live nearby, asking them to come.

Third is arranging for local media coverage. Both a Trout Unlimited representative and I have contacted the local newspaper, the Summit Daily News, and the Midnight Ink publicist has mailed a review copy of the book to the Arts and Entertainment editor. A feature article to appear in the newspaper the day before the event is planned.

Fourth is doing whatever else you can to assure the success of the event. I will email an invite to my book club. Also, I've arranged for a copy of the book to be given out as a door prize at the Breckenridge Resort Chamber mixer tonight, and the details of the June 8th signing will be announced along with that.

So, you can see that a "simple" book signing is not as simple as it seems and actually entails a lot of work on many people's part!

Multitasking on Books

With my current production schedule, I no longer have the luxury of focusing on one book at a time. I still only write the rough draft manuscript of one book at a time, but I'm having to overlap most of the other phases of book production. Thank goodness I've always been a multitasker and I used to be a project manager! As an example, here's what's going on this week with my various books:

Deadly Currents, the first book in the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series, released March 8th:

I'm in the promotion phase for this book. This week I finalized a future signing, sent out event notices & invitations for two signings I'll conduct this weekend, arranged a future book club visit, and tomorrow I'll mail a copy to a conference committee to use as a prize.

A Real Basket Case, the first book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, to be re-released in trade paperback and ebook November 8th:

My husband and I worked today on producing a new headshot for this book, and I sent an updated biography to the copy editor.

Wicked Eddies, the second book in the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series, to be released next May:

Anytime now, I'm expecting to receive the copy-edited manuscript for this book to review and revise. Also, I'm expecting to see a mockup of the cover art soon.

Basketful of Troubles (tentative title), the third book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series:

I'm editing chapters 17 and 18 based on critique group feedback, and they have the last two chapters, 19 and 20, to review for our next meeting. Also, I sent some scenes involving immigration issues to an immigration lawyer to get his expert opinion on them.

Cataract Canyon (tentative title), third book in the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series:

I'm developing the initial concept, throwing ideas for characters, setting, scenes, etc. into a file, so I can construct a detailed outline in June and begin writing the rough draft of that book this summer.

All this, and I signed a short story publication contract, went to my son's college graduation, and hosted my daughter and her boyfriend for a visit! And, of course, there's the on-going social networking.

Today's Mystery Author Guest: Dorothy St. James

As promised yesterday, fellow mystery author Dorothy St. James is visiting my blog today. To read her bio and see her photo, please page down to yesterday's post. Above is the cover photo for her May 3rd release from Berkley Prime Crime, Flowerbed of State.

In the book, Cassandra "Casey" Calhoun's passion for gardening has carried her to President's Park on which sits the White House. But when she finds a dead body in a trash can, Casey has to root out a killer before she ends up planted herself.

Below is Dorothy's guest article:

Thank you, Beth, for inviting me to your blog. I’m excited to be here. Writing a book is a long process and, amazingly it’s not over even after the book has been published. Some may even say that that’s when the real work starts. Promotion.

Why, oh, why isn’t “promotion” a four-letter word? It leaves a foul taste in my mouth. I’d much rather get a root canal—another should-be four-letter word—than try to convince someone to buy my book.

The only job I’d ever been fired from was a telemarketing position. I didn’t even last a full day before being asked to leave.

Writers spend most of their lives tucked away in front of a computer screen, listening only to the whispering voices in our heads. And then we’re expected to burst from that safe, comfortable cocoon as an experienced marketing maven fluttering around like social butterflies.

Not fair. Not fair.


I’ve never longed to be a butterfly. Their lives, while beautiful, are too dang short.

But I digress. I DO have a book out this month, a book that I’m mighty proud of. So I’m not even going to blush (much) as I tell you a little bit about it.

Flowerbed of State (Berkley Prime Crime), a lighthearted adventure at the White House, is the first book in the White House Gardener Mysteries. Casey Calhoun’s passion for organic gardening and an eye for detail have carried her into the most important patch of land in America—the President's Park, on which sits the most important home in America: the White House where she stumbles into a plot that has nothing to do with gardening and everything to do with murder.

I promise you, it’s more fun to read than a tax bill. The book’s even garnered some blush-inducing reviews (see my bio below).

Now, it’s time for me to beat the drum and stand on the highest mountain, shouting into the wind that “Flowerbed of State came out this month!” To that end, I’ve been visiting every blog where I can inveigle an invitation. In addition, I have a website, a Facebook page, a Twitter presence. But that’s not enough.

I’ve also:
1. Placed ads on reader-oriented websites, such as The Romance Reviews.
2. Talked about my book with newspaper editors/reviewers.
3. Mailed out bookmarks.
4. Visited online book chats.

But is that enough?

If you’re a writer, what do you do to get the word out about your books? If you’re a reader, how do you find out about new books?


Okay, everyone, please chime in with your answers. And, if you have a question for Dorothy, please ask it. Lastly, if you've read her book and want to lavish praise on her about it, I'm sure she'd appreciate it!

Tomorrow's Guest: Dorothy St. James

Tomorrow fellow mystery author Dorothy St. James will be a guest on my blog. Dorothy St. James was born in New York but raised in South Carolina. She makes her home on an artsy island community in South Carolina with her husband, tiny little dog and fluffy cat. A wildlife biologist and paper pusher, Dorothy is the author of the White House Gardener Mysteries with Berkley Prime Crime. The first book in the series, Flowerbed of State, has been called "spunky" (Library Journal), "fast-paced" (Publishers Weekly), and "it quite simply blew me away" (Criminal Element).

In her guest post tomorrow, she'll compare promotion to getting a root canal! She has questions for you, my readers, about promotion, and I hope you'll tune in tomorrow and provide some answers. Plus, feel free to ask some questions of your own.

Tagging Books on Amazon

If you go to the Articles page of my website, the first article there is "How to Help the Author You Love". It lists ways in which you can help the author you love find new readers, and conversely, ways you can introduce readers you love to an author you think they'd enjoy. The article doesn't cover easy, free ways you can spread the word about your favorite author that are available in the new world of social networks (such as using the "recommend it" feature on the author's book page on Goodreads to recommend the book to your Goodreads friends).

One easy, free way to help the author you love on-line is to "tag" his/her books on Amazon. You can assign search terms called tags to the book. Then if someone uses the "Products Tagged With" option in the Amazon search window, then types in one of the tags, your favorite author's book will be included in the books shown.

Smart authors put their own suggested tags on their books, so all you need to do is to click on those tags to agree with them. For instance, I've put tags on the trade paperback and Kindle versions of my upcoming release, Deadly Currents, on Amazon. To support me, all you need to do is click on these two links, page down to where the tags are listed and click on each one. Easy peasy! The more times people click on tags such as "adventure," "mystery," "colorado," "women sleuths," or "whitewater rafting," the higher up on the list Deadly Currents will appear when someone searches for Products Tagged With one of these terms.

So, have some fun with it! Search for your favorite books on Amazon and click on their tags. Or, search for Products Tagged With a search term that best describes the kind of books you like to read. Then find books you like and click on their tags so they come up higher on the list. And, if you decide to tag my books, I'd really appreciate it!

A Day in the Life of an Author in the Promotion Phase

Yesterday was a cold, blustery, snowy day that never got above 10 degrees. Perfect for sitting in front of the computer and getting stuff done. But, since the release date for my Deadly Currents book is just one month away (March 8th), that "stuff" wasn't writing or editing fiction. Instead, here's what I did:

- Confirmed plans for a blogtalk radio show (Dellani's Tea Time) I'm participating in on Valentines Day and made sure I knew what phone number to call when.

- Wrote a guest post for one of the blog stops on my upcoming Virtual Book Tour and found and attached photos to that post and two others.

- Finalized dates/times for two signing events and almost a third, talked to the CRM (Community Relations Manager) of the Citadel Mall Barnes & Noble store in Colorado Springs where I'm doing my launch event on March 17th to make sure balloons and cookies are okay, and pushed a few more event plans down the road toward confirmation.

- Wrote up questions and directions for my fellow panelists on my "Murder in the Great Outdoors" panel at the Left Coast Crime conference in March since I'm the moderator. Our panel is from 11:30 to 12:15 on Friday, followed by a signing. If you're going to be at the conference, please come! We've got some great surprises in store for you.

- Made final arrangements for a two-car carpool to drive from Colorado Springs to Denver for the February meeting of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of MWA Thursday.

- Took a break to shovel the driveway, planning to go out and run some errands, then changed my mind because it was too danged cold!

- Wrote and scheduled two posts for my own blog, sent review quotes to Mystery Lovers Corner for the Deadly Currents book page there, and sent my bio in to the author liaison for the local Pikes Peak Library District's Mountain of Authors event (mark your calendar for this free event on April 2nd!).

-Skimmed through hundreds of yahoogroup, DorothyL, etc. emails and responded to some, did the same with hundreds of Facebook status updates, and caught up with my friend requests on Facebook and Goodreads.

- Oh yeah, I did do some fiction writing work. I sent synopses on my two 2012 books (Wicked Eddies and the paperback/e-book version of To Hell in a Handbasket) to my editor at Midnight Ink. And, I got word from my agent that the acceptance advance check for Wicked Eddies arrived and she'd be sending it to me shortly. Yee haw! That's my Left Coast Crime traveling money. ;-)

A Teleconference with my Publicist

Yesterday I had an energizing teleconference with my Midnight Ink publicist, and I'm tickled pink by all the things her department is doing for my book. I'm used to minimal promotion support from Five Star, so this was a pleasant and welcome change. Not only is Midnight Ink sending review copies to the traditional book review publications and the mystery publications, they are also targeting outdoor-oriented and whitewater rafting magazines. Also, they accepted a list of Colorado media contacts and recommended online reviewers from me and may select some of them to receive review copies.

For someone who is used to arranging all my own appearances, it was nice to hear that the publicist will help arrange my launch signings. I'll still take care of the vast majority of my event arrangements, but it's nice to have some help.

Today I will be talking to the Deputy VP of Resource Development at American Rivers (a favorite cause of mine), and I will have some good news for him. Along with me arranging a fundraiser booksigning event for the nonprofit, Midnight Ink will donate some copies of Deadly Currents for them to use in silent auctions and as donor incentives. I hope this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between American Rivers and me. I plan to use my RM Outdoor Adventures series as a way to make more people aware of their good work.

I have many other promotion plans in the works, including a Goodreads giveaway or two, a blog book tour, possibly a book trailer, appearances at Colorado whitewater festivals, and so on. And, keep your fingers crossed for me! I think I've convinced the Publicity Manager that participating in the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show, at least in a small way, is a good thing.