One week after publication

 

It’s now been over a week since A State of Jane was officially released. Fortunately, my office was closed on the publication date, Monday, September 17th, for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I had it all planned out – I would wake up early (but not too early since it was my day off), I would send out all of the announcements, via blog post, Facebook, Twitter, email my friends, my book club, my various chick lit writer’s groups, attaching all of the buy links. Once those tasks were completed, I would go for a run and by the time I came back, I assumed I would have a few congratulatory messages to respond to before I jumped in the shower. Then, I would send out another tweet or two and jet over to my hair salon to get my hair done. I had an appointment for a haircut and highlights – a 3 hour process that I would have preferred to not do the same day my book was coming out. Since I had a busy week ahead of me though, it was the only time I could squeeze in three hours, plus commuting time.

That was the plan.

In actuality, I woke up on Monday morning to find that my ebooks had not actually been uploaded onto Amazon or Barnes & Noble due a communication glitch – the person in charge of doing the upload didn’t realize that the official launch date was the 17th and so while he immediately uploaded the books upon being made aware, it takes 12-24 hours for the books to show up in search results and as a result, I did not have any buy-links to share with the exception of the paperback on Amazon. Since I wanted to announce the availability of the book in all formats at the same time, I sort of had a break down. My plans went up in smoke and I felt as if the day off from my day job was wasted since I wouldn’t be able to use the time to promote. I was also a tad embarrassed since a few of my Twitter friends had already congratulated me for the release on Twitter but commented that they were not able to find links. After crying for a few minutes and sending frustrated texts to my sister, boyfriend and boss, I took a walk to get coffee and something to eat. When I got home, I saw that my publisher had sent me a box of 25 paperback copies of A State of Jane . Seeing an entire box of my book in print practically had me in tears of pride and joy and virtually melted away my earlier frustrations. I uploaded pictures on Facebook and enjoyed the comments I received that the cover was awesome. (It is!) I also took to heart the texts I received from my sister and boyfriend that it was just a slight hiccup and wasn’t the end of the world. Later, I went for a run and when I came home, my doorman told me I received flowers from my boyfriend in honor of the publication. This also helped me put everything else in perspective.

Although the book was still not showing up in search results by the time I headed out to get my hair done, I was a much happier person. That afternoon, while I sat with my hair in foils nursing a glass of red wine, I felt even happier when, after searching Amazon about ten times, the Kindle version of the book finally showed up in the search results, followed shortly by Barnes & Noble. As soon as I got home, me and my awesomely highlighted hair got busy sending out all the emails, tweets and Facebook posts and I spent the next few hours completely touched by all of my friends who not only posted that they had either downloaded the book or ordered a paperback but they also shared the release of A State of Jane with their friends as well and some of their friends posted that they had also purchased the book. I went to bed happy that night, although when I write “bed”, I don’t mean “sleep” – I couldn’t fall asleep for hours! I was too excited 🙂

Despite the snafu, the release eventually went through and I am officially an author of two published books! But the work is not over, not by a long shot. Now comes the promoting, which most authors will agree, is extremely hard work. I have scheduled interviews and guest posts with various bloggers over the next couple of weeks and I have sent the book out for review. Although my official blog tour through Chick Lit Plus and the amazingly organized Samantha is not scheduled until January 2nd, several bloggers/reviewers have the book in their hands and I wait with baited breath and chewed fingernails to see what they think of A State of Jane – so far the feedback has pleased me but it doesn’t mean I don’t pull my hair out of my scalp with anxiety whenever someone new posts her opinion. On a far less stressful note, I have a launch party scheduled for early October. If anyone plans to be in New York City on October 5th and wants to come, let me know. The location is so-far being kept from me by my friends but I can put you into contact with my fabulous party planners.

On another note, a draft of my third novel is currently with my first beta reader, who happens to be my sister. Once I get her comments, I will send it along to a few other people and eventually to Diana Spechler, one of my favorite authors who has provided her “book-doctor” services to me with both Just Friends with Benefits and A State of Jane and without whose guidance, I am afraid I could never comfortably submit my book to my publisher.

One end note and a slight confession – I am really exhausted! I have spent the last year writing a 3rd novel, editing a second, posting reviews for every book I read and almost every bar/restaurant I frequent and all while working a very busy full-time job. Something has to give. In the coming months, I know I will be answering countless interview questions and wracking my brain for topics for guest posts and I think, at least for now, I need to concentrate on those since they are directly related to the promotion of A State of Jane. For those of who you appreciate my book reviews and possibly even follow me on Yelp, you might be seeing less of me for a while I decompress. I need it!

Buy links:

http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=a%20state%20of%20jane

8 Comments

  1. Natalie on September 25, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Congratulations on pub week! I would be so exhausted too – why can’t this stuff ever be easy?

    Enjoy decompression – you have earned it!

    P.S. can’t wait to read #3!

    • Meredith on September 26, 2012 at 1:37 pm

      I guess if it was easy, we wouldn’t appreciate the good parts as much? Nah! That’s just what I tell myself to feel better 🙂 Good to know at least one person is excited about my 3rd book 🙂

  2. Tracie Banister on September 25, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    This whole publishing thing is an emotional rollercoaster, isn’t it? Thank goodness everything worked out okay last week and you only had the one minor setback. Now it’s full steam ahead to A State of Jane becoming a bestseller!

    Wishing you the best of luck with Book #2! You should be really proud of yourself and all you’ve accomplished on the writing/publishing front in the last few years.

    • Meredith on September 26, 2012 at 1:35 pm

      Thanks, Tracie!

  3. Michelle on September 25, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    Congratulations!! Luckily it was only a slight snafu and you are good to go now! I signed up for your blog tour, at Samantha’s invitation, so you have to wait for your review from me. But suffice to say, I LOVED A State of Jane!

    • Meredith on September 26, 2012 at 1:35 pm

      I hate waiting but at least I can breathe easy in the knowledge that you loved the book!

  4. Katherine Pym on September 25, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    It’s nice you have a publisher that sends you 25 books. Free? To get books from my pub, I must purchase them. (Sigh)

    • Meredith on September 26, 2012 at 1:35 pm

      Katherine, my publisher gives you 10 paperbacks for free. The others are treated as an advance.

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