Promotional Poster Part Deux

I can create book covers, but I am not too talented in the computer graphics department.  Thus, my lovely husband created a much nicer promotional poster for me:

I like the way it keeps the theme of the cover art without everything being in all the same places.  Like.

I made a promotional poster for my book.  It's not fancy schmanzy because I am not a graphic designer.  But it'll have to do, and I think it's attractive enough because the book cover apparently attracts attention.  At least that's what I've been told.  But it matters less what I think than what you think... what do you all think?

Give Up? No... not yet

I finally have the idea for my next novel quite solidly outlined.  As I start to write, the rejection letters for other things I've queried have come in.  I hear a lot of "you are an excellent writer, but I didn't fall in love with the characters," or "your writing is solid, but the story is not for me".  Either this stuff is generic rejection stuff (in some cases, it doesn't seem to be based on other stuff in the letters), or I'm JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.  And I think to myself, will this next novel be "good enough" for an agent to bite?  And then for a publisher to bite?  Or will it also be close but not quite there.  One agent has asked to see my next novel, which is encouraging.  But it's a lot of work to write a book, and I wonder if I should be spending my time this way or if there are more constructive things I could be doing.

The answer?  OF COURSE there are more constructive things I could be doing, but my problem is that I write because I can't help myself.  And if I give up, I'll never, ever know if I could do this, write a book good enough and sale-able enough that someone would want to publish it.

And this stream-of-consciousness blog post answers the question of what success means to a writer:  getting published by a publisher.  Not because they are the final word, but because they have a gazillion contacts that I do not have.  Newspapers and radio stations and magazines aren't interested in my book because I published it myself, which unofficially means that it is not good enough for them.

But there are rays of light in these dark thoughts.  A lot of people have read my book, loved it, and written positive reviews.  A lot of people have recommended it to their friends.  And at the end of the day, I feel confident that I did, in fact, write a really good book.  A book I would have wanted to read when I was 16.  I'm recording the audio book now (SLOW process, as slow as writing!), and I am truly enjoying it because - surprise - it's a fun story, with some very funny, sweet, poignant moments.

So it's not really true that I define my talent through the eyes of agents and publishers.  The truth is that I just want to get my story out there, and it's a frustratingly difficult thing to do all on my own.

So I guess I'll just keep on writing, at least for now.  My deadline is the end of December because I want to enter my new book in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.  So here goes...

I have a business card

And here is a picture of it, backwards.

People I've never met before

I feel like I have some new penpals lately.  I "met" Ann Martin, a paper-art expert and blogger extraordinaire of All Things Paper, when I commented on one of her posts about quilling.  I asked her how best to photograph my quilled book cover, so that the white background wouldn't come out gray.  She kindly responded, and we started a correspondence.  A few months later, she offered to feature my book cover on her blog.  This is all very exciting for me, because not only do I have a new friend in Deleware, but I have a connection with someone who does a type of artwork that I am just getting into and reading her blog inspires me to keep it up.  We've all read countless articles (or at least headlines) about how the internet is degrading our personal relationships, but in my case, it's helping me form them.  I'm at home a lot because I am a "stay at home mom" and have small children (and a husband) to care for.  But the internet allows me to be a part of a community in spite of that.  Thank you, Ann!  (And thank-you, internet).

Here's the posting: http://www.allthingspaper.net/2011/10/two-new-books-for-young-readers.html

Comment on it or on this posting - I'll see both :)

What I'm looking forward to...

Now that my book is available on Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, etc..., BN.com, Kindle, etc..., I have started publicizing it to people other than friends and family.  Two days ago, I began sending press releases by e-mail to Turkish cultural organizations in the US, Canada, and Britain, soon to be followed by any Turkish cultural association I can find, anywhere.  I've also sent the release to two newspapers and Expatwomen.com.  In addition to about fifteen bounced messages, I received a very kind e-mail from the president (?) of a Turkish organization in Chicago, who said that the book sounded interesting and that she'd forward the press release to her organization.  She also said she'd read my book, and that I should contact her if I went to Chicago.  Now, I don't know if she meant any of that, but it made me feel really good!

Today, I tried to find the updated e-mail addresses of the organizations whose e-mails bounced back, and re-sent them.  I found the original addresses on the website of the US Embassy in Turkey - if they are reading this, they should note that their information is not current!

Now, I need to be patient.  I know that newspapers are not dying to interview me.  But I might cold-call The Olympian, just because the main character in my novel is from Olympia, and because I used to live there.  I think they must be able to publish a little article about my book, don't you?

What I am really looking forward to, with regards to this book, is for feedback from people I do NOT know, who have actually bought the book and read it.  Maybe it's what all authors want?  But of course, the first step will be for them to buy the book.... until then, all I can do is keep trying to send out the press release, and cross my fingers....

What word describes how I feel?

There must be a word that describes how I feel, but I can't seem to find it.  Maybe the word doesn't exist in English.  Here's the situation: I convinced myself that I didn't need something (because it seemed that it didn't need me), and now it has appeared and told me that it might, indeed, be interested in me.  What is this thing?  "It" is an agent.  I have been sending queries off and on for about two years now, and while there have been a few that expressed interest, most have not.  My most recent round of querying was the most disappointing, with rejection after form rejection.  It was disheartening enough to encourage me to explore the self-publishing route.  As I started the process, the rejections continued to trickle in, and they didn't hurt as badly as the ones that had come before I considered self-publishing as an option.  I had the publishing process of my book in my control.  I got to design my cover, choose the font, and select the spine color.  I started this blog, and wrote about how much I liked self-publishing more than I would have liked going the route of traditional agent-represented publishing.

Well, last night at around 11pm, I checked my e-mail one last time before heading off to bed.  There was an e-mail with Re: Query in the subject line.  Another rejection, I assumed.  I opened the e-mail and was really shocked to read that it was not a rejection.  An actual agent, one I had hand-picked as a good match for this book, was interested in seeing the full manuscript.  Meredith Barnes of Lowenstein Associates wanted to see more.  Now, I know that this is not an offer of representation, but it could lead to that.

What is it called when you convince yourself that you don't want something because you can't get it, and then it becomes possible and you aren't sure if you really don't want it or if you were just consoling yourself because you couldn't get it?  If there is not a word for that, there should be.

And that is how I feel right now.  I feel ambivalent.  I admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed parts of the self-publishing experience.  I am putting a lot of effort into promoting my book, and I think that I will ultimately reach the correct audience for it.  But when it comes to getting it into actual bookstores, I am more helpless, especially given that my book is in English and I don't live in an English-speaking country.  I don't have a big publisher on my side, helping out with its connections and glossy promotional materials.  I don't have many connections in the foreign-rights department, even though I think my book would do really well in translation, particularly in Turkey and in parts of Europe with lots of Turkish immigrants (Germany, Austria, etc...).

I'm going to write back to Ms. Barnes and send my manuscript, per her request.  But I will also tell her that I'm on the eve of the official release of my book - I have a large list of addresses to which I'll send my press release as soon as the e-book appears on Apple iBooks.  (Dear Apple, if you're listening, you shouldn't bother allowing self-publishing if you make it so darn difficult for us to upload our content.  We own two apple computers but they are too old, in your opinion, to let me upload my content.  So my dear brother is tearing his hair out trying to do it for me on his newer Apple.  I'm not sure that is going to create user loyalty.)  Ms. Barnes may immediately lose interest in my manuscript, once I've told her that I have self-published it.  If she does, I guess I'll have to continue trying to convince myself that self-publishing is what I really want...

Check your links and blue cake

The day I announced to my friends and family that my paper book was available for purchase, I had a few things on my mind.  First, I had to make a cake for my son's at-school birthday celebration.  I don't know how it works in the US or elsewhere in the world because I didn't have kids when I lived there, but here in Germany, it is totally ok to bring homemade cakes to school.  So I had cake on my mind when I wrote the announcement e-mail and insterted the CreateSpace and Lulu links.  I chose around 150 friends and family to send the e-mail to, and clicked send.  Yahoo immediately identified me as a spammer and wouldn't let me send the message.  After chatting (online) with a Yahoo rep, I learned that you can only send 50 e-mails per hour to Yahoo addresses and 50 to non-Yahoo addresses, and that having links in the e-mail can also id you as a spammer.  So I removed the links by typing them in manually and deleting the links I had copy-pasted into the e-mail.  I didn't do what my computer expert husband would have done - I didn't check the urls before sending the message.

A few hours later, when the US woke up, I started getting e-mails from friends and family, telling me that the CreateSpace url wasn't working.  I had somehow inserted an unnecessary "0" somewhere, and so the link was broken.  At least I could tell who was actually trying to look at the site, right?

That was pretty frustrating. And I was not about to e-mail 150 friends and family to let them know that I had sent a broken link.  I'm only telling them if they e-mail me back.  The correct link is https://www.createspace.com/3656029.  Of this, I am sure.

The cake was more of a success.  It was blue.  As in blue cake, not blue frosting.  If you dye a yellow cake blue and bake it, the baked part on the outside becomes brown.  It is extremely ugly.  But then you can frost it and cover it with a layer of marzipan.  And make green marzipan mice to decorate it.  And then you get thanked 10 times by your son for his mouse cake.  And then you don't feel so bad about the bad link, because the blue cake was definitely the bigger (and more important) success of the day.

Promoting Secrets of a Summer Village

I will not have the luxury of having any help from a publishing house to help me promote my novel. I will have to rely on my friends, family, and social/professional network. So far, here's who I will contact. Do you have any additional suggestions?

1. Facebook Friends
2. Friends and family via e-mail announcements
3. TACAWA and other Turkish-American associations... and maybe also the Turkish associations in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa...
4. My high school and universities
5. My brothers' high school
6. CIEE, EF and similar study-abroad programs and organizations
7. The Olympian and Seattle Times newspapers (the main character in the book is from Olympia), The Gazette Telegraph of Colorado Springs (because my mother lives there), The Denver Post (because my father lives there)
8. My EFL contacts at Turkish Universities - perhaps the book could be good reading material for students studying English?