Book Launch Recap
Well, it’s official: a second book launch is just as exciting as the first. 
Once again we had a fabulous turnout (in spite of the Ottawa Senators’ playoff game!), great food and wine, and a wonderful venue. I was utterly thrilled to meet readers who didn’t know me personally, but who came simply because they’d read and loved the first book — and by the return of Carmel from Rabid Reads and Julie from Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks (Julie brought me this lovely balloon bouquet):
For all the people who couldn’t be in Ottawa for the occasion last night, I want to share the same words with you as I did with those who turned out — because they pertain to you as well:
Writing is usually thought of as a solitary profession. And if you don’t count the voices in a writer’s head, it can certainly seem that way sometimes. But the truth is, most writers have an entire village around them on their journes. We have writer friends who lead us by example; critique partners and beta readers who offer advice and much-needed feedback. We have personal friends who listen to our dreams ad nauseum without pointing out the massive potholes in the road we’ve chosen to follow. We have agents and editors who take a chance on us, and copyeditors, artists, proofreaders, and dozens of other behind-the-scenes supporters who ensure our work is the best it can be. We have families who endure our mood swings, absentmindedness, and outright neglect, all the while believing in us even when we fail to believe in ourselves. And we have readers. Readers who buy our books, follow us into the worlds we’ve created, and share their enthusiasm so generously with both us and with other readers.
Tonight, I would like to thank my village. Friends, family, readers, booksellers. Each of you has played a role in my standing here now with not one but two books launched into the world. I couldn’t have done it without you, and I am deeply, eternally grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you all so much for your support!
How I Prepare for Book Launch Day
So today is book launch day in Ottawa for Sins of the Son! Woot!
I can’t tell you how excited I am to be celebrating my second book to hit bookstore shelves. How awesomely cool is that?
One would think that I’d be in celebratory mode all day, because this is truly a BIG EVENT in my life. So how am going to celebrate, you ask? I’m going to clean house, of course. Yeah, seriously. Having done little more than give the place a lick and a promise for the last two weeks, it really needs work. Especially since we’re having our two oldest daughters and their significant others over for dinner before the launch and one of those SOs has nasty allergies to dust and pets (you know about my mini zoo, right?).
Speaking of dinner, I’ll be making that, too. And not just any dinner, but a fairly fancy one as we weren’t able to have Easter dinner last weekend (exam time for one daughter) and I promised to do one this weekend. (Yes, I may be slightly off my rocker.)
I also need to: do a manicure to eradicate signs of this week’s gardening efforts, do laundry so I have something to wear, shower & get ready, run to the store for paper plates & napkins, pick up the cheese & antipasto trays, and be at the launch for 6:30 to set up.
But how hard can it be when I’ll be walking on air all day? 
Happy weekend, everyone!
Linda
A Writer’s Guide to Book Blogger Etiquette
In the course of two book releases over the last six months, I have been privileged to ‘meet’ many wonderful book bloggers who have reviewed my books, allowed me to guest post, interviewed me, and participated in my online book tours. Did the blogger always like my book and give me a positive review? No. But regardless of his/her opinion, I have always, always, always remained professional. Sadly, not all writers can make this claim…and the negative review problem isn’t the only complaint that book bloggers have with us.
In fact, the number of author issues raised by bloggers on my Twitter feed is staggering—and I’m not talking petty nit-picking here, I’m talking serious (and sometimes mind-boggling) faux-pas. I don’t know if it has to do with the anonymity offered by the Internet, plain bad manners, or honest ignorance, but there are an awful lot of authors out there who seem to need a quick course in proper etiquette when dealing with book bloggers. So pay attention, because here goes:
- Book bloggers are not paid to review your book. Offering to pay them is an insult. They will see it as an attempt to buy them and they will consign you to their spam folders. Rightfully so. (There are some paid review sites out there; if you’re comfortable with using that kind of service, the choice is yours.)
- Not all book bloggers review all books. Before you contact a blogger for a review, take the time to see if they’re interested in your genre (the information is on their Policy page). Asking sci-fi or non-fiction bloggers to review your erotic romance novel will not get you a favorable response and you will land in their spam folders. Again, rightfully so.
- First impressions count.
- Do not request an interview/review via Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter. If you’re about to ask someone to take the time to read your book, at least take the time to visit their blog (therein making sure you see what they review per #2 above) and follow their contact protocol (email or form). Most bloggers also give their names on their About pages…visit those, too, and address them by name in your email.
- Do not ask the blogger to become your beta reader, find other reviewers for you who might be interested in your book, and/or provide free editing. Especially not all in the same introductory email. You wouldn’t walk up to a complete stranger on the street and ask him/her to do any of those things, and you shouldn’t ask a stranger-to-you blogger, either. If you build a relationship with a blogger over time, he/she may be willing to help out with more than just a review—the key words here are time and relationship.
- On the topic of asking reviewers for things, do not swamp them with emails asking them to hurry up with your review. Or asking them when the review will go up. Or what their rating will be. Or if they liked your book. Or for any other reason. Patience is a virtue. Practice it. Most reviewers have day jobs just like most authors do. And lives. Harassing them will not endear you to them, and multiple requests for anything will count as harassment.
- Book bloggers are not free PR sources. If you want to know how to run a blog tour, Google it. If you want to know what other blogs to contact, do your own research. Most blogs have a list of other blogs they follow or that follow them; this is a good place to start.
- Never, ever, ever badmouth bloggers (or other authors/editors/publishing houses/agents) on social media. This isn’t just bad manners, it’s stupid…and it will come back to bite you in the butt. No, really. It will.
- That last point holds true even if a blogger has given you a negative review. The hard truth is that not everyone is going to like your book and if you want to be a professional author, you’d better learn to deal with that. Do not ask a reviewer to take down a negative review. Do not comment on it. Do not try to change the reviewer’s mind. And do not ask to preview a review before it goes live. Cry on your best friend’s shoulder, whine to your writer’s group, scream into your pillow if you must, but do not respond to the review no matter how wrong you think it is. To reiterate: Not everyone is going to like your book. Now is the time to learn to turn the other cheek—or, as my sister likes to say, ”Suck it up, buttercup, and put your big girl panties on.”
- On the very touchy subject of whether or not to thank a reviewer, I say tread lightly. Opinions on this vary even among the reviewers themselves. Many appreciate a “thanks for your time” note even if their review was less than positive, others don’t want to hear from authors at all, even if their review was positive. If you decide to go the route of acknowledging a review, keep it simple: “Thank you for your kind words” for a positive one, “thank you for taking the time to read and review” for a negative one.
In short, fellow writers, a little courtesy goes a long way. Be polite. Think twice before you hit “send” (or “post” or “tweet”): have you done your research? Presented yourself positively? Remembered that the blogger on the receiving end is a person? Good. Now you’re a professional.
Addendum (added April 13, 2012): If you’re a blogger, check out today’s post from Wicked Little Pixie on the other side of the story, A Book Blogger’s Guide to Etiquette.
Back on track
Those of you who follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook know that I’ve been flat out with the flu this week. Yup, my Sins of the Son release week and I’ve spent it wrapped in duvets, using up several trees worth of tissues, downing bottles of cough syrup, and dreaming that I was caught in a blizzard (which didn’t do a thing for my chills). It was not my idea of fun. 
The good news, however, is that I feel much better today. I can once again appreciate the fact that I’m breathing instead of dreading doing so through lungs filled with what felt like wet feathers. I was able to wash my hair, get dressed, put on makeup and leave the house (for the first time in five days). And my poor neglected dog got a much needed run at the dog park (far preferable to having my house into a racetrack again because of pent-up energy O.O).
I think I can officially declare myself well enough to get my life and my writing back on track.
So here’s a quick update on what’s going on with Sins of the Son:
1. Some great reviews have come in from I Smell Sheep, Yummy Men & Kick-Ass Chicks, Rabid Reads, The Qwillery, Seeing Night Reviews, A Book Obsession, Night Owl Reviews, and http://books-forlife.blogspot.ca/2012/03/arc-review-sins-of-son-linda-poitevin.html#comment-form.
2. My first-ever video interview went up here (with thanks again to Julie for meeting with me to do that!).
3. My blog tour is well under way — the schedule is posted here if you’d like to check out some of the interviews and posts so far. Many of the giveaways run until the end of the tour, so you can still enter if you’ve missed one…and remember that all winners will be entered into a grand prize giveaway for this:
4. I have a brand new book trailer — with a twist! — debuting today on Rabid Reads.
6. My new website is inching its way toward completion (I know I keep saying this, but really it is! ).
7. My Ottawa launch is only two weeks away!!!
8. And last, but far from least, the next book in the series, Sins of the Righteous, has FOUR complete chapters!!! (After 17 versions of Chapter One, this progress makes me very, very happy. )
That’s it, my friends, apart from wishing you all a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend. Take care and stay healthy (trust me on that last part!).
Linda
It’s Release Day!!!
Sins of the Son hits bookstore shelves today and there aren’t words nearly adequate enough to describe how thrilled I am. Two years ago, the idea of publication was still a dream for me…and now here I am, with my second book releasing. Frankly, it still feels a little like a dream…but a really, really exciting one.
It’s also a dream I never could have achieved without an awful lot of people believing in me even when I found it hard to believe in myself. So before we head off to celebrate, I’d just like to say thank you to my family and friends, my critique partners, my agent, my editor, and especially you, my readers. Thank you for taking a chance on me, a debut author, and buying my book. Thank you for venturing with me into the world of Alexandra and Aramael and the One; and thank you for your enthusiasm, your support, and the many notes you sent telling me that my story kept you up late into the night (I’ve kept every single one ). Thank you all so much…and I truly hope you enjoy Sins of the Son!
And now it’s party time!!! Julie at Yummy Men & Kick-Ass Chicks (such an awesome blog name ) is very kindly hosting my release day celebration today, complete with a face-to-face video interview, confetti, and a great INTERNATIONAL giveaway. (More giveaways happening throughout the day on Twitter…follow me @lindapoitevin for those.) Come join us for some insight into the writing of The Grigori Legacy series, and for your chance to win!
Keep on swimming…
I have officially reached the OMG-release-is-three-days-away-I-still-have-so-much-to-do!!! frenzy.
Sigh.
What is it about big events in your life that no matter how carefully you plan your time, no matter how much attention you pay to detail, everything still manages to spin out of control? In my case, it’s inevitably a matter of underestimating the impact the rest of my life will have on my plans…I mean, really, people still expect me to run a house, drive them places, keep appointments, and remember to do things like pay bills?!?
Despite my current somewhat frazzled state, however, I have managed to pull myself together at least a little bit. The blog tour is up and running (with many thanks to Parajunkee for getting it that way and keeping me on track), and I’ll hand in the last of my guest posts for that next week. Woot! (You can check out today’s stop at I Smell Sheep — be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of Sins of the Son and this.)
Work continues on my new website, but it’s taking longer than I’d hoped and it doesn’t look like it will make it up onto the Internet in time for release. I can’t complain, however, because it’s coming along great, it’s being done for me for free, and it will be amazing once finished.
On other fronts, I’m working on book 3, doing a massive mail-out campaign to promote both Sins of the Angels and Sins of the Son, scheduling signings (so far just in Ottawa, but Toronto and Montreal are both on my list as well), getting a start on some much needed yard work (so I can plant my garden on time for a change), occasionally remembering to buy groceries, and just generally trying to follow the advice of Dory from Finding Nemo to “keep on swimming.” 
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and happy swimming in your own ponds!
Linda
Blog Tour Kick-off!
Good morning, everyone!
I don’t know what it’s like in your corners of the world, but here it is sunny, warm, and just generally gorgeous for the second day in a row. Birds are singing, snow is melting, geese are returning…it’s a quintessential day of new beginnings.
And speaking of new beginnings (note that very sly segue…pretty good, no? ), this is the week I kick off the Sins of the Son blog tour because release day is only a week away!!! I have a fabulous list of bloggers who will be hosting me between now and the end of April, with a variety of guest posts, interviews, and some great giveaways…including a grand prize draw from all winners’ names at the end of the tour for the first-ever Wings of the Warrior necklace from Cemetery Cat Designs:
(There’s actually a set of earrings to go with it, but I haven’t received those yet…I’ll post another picture when I do!) So be sure to follow the tour and enter often for your chance to win — you can start with today’s guest post at Book Briefs.
Spring…new beginnings…new release…I think I like the direction this is taking.
