Amy Fellner Dominy, Award-Winning Author of Tween/Teen Novels
Amy Fellner Dominy, Award-Winning Author of Tween/Teen Novels
Have I got a blog for you to read…and no, it’s not mine.
A couple of weeks ago Barbara Krasner, who writes a great blog called The Whole Megillah, came up with an interesting idea: a triple interview.
It all started after she read OyMG and posted a very wonderful review. From there, Barbara suggested an in-depth look at how a book is written and sold–told from the perspective of the three people involved: The author, the agent and the editor.
Remodeling my kitchen is beginning to feel like writing a book.
Maybe this is an occupational hazard– everything reminds me of writing a book. Or maybe remodeling is as much as pain in the butt as starting a first draft.
Don’t get me wrong–I’m very happy that we’re doing the remodel and I’ll love my updated kitchen when it’s done. What I don’t love…in fact, what it’s safe to say I DESPISE…are the choices.
Counters. Cabinets. Back splash. Paint. Materials. Textures. Colors. Stains.
Mix and match my options and there are a million ways to go. Wrong.
Apparently I’m not a multi-tasker.
For years and years, I concentrated 100% on writing. I’m not saying that was easy–many stressed-filled nights of waking up at 2:00a.m. and realizing I’d taken a wrong turn in my story–usually 10,000 words ago. But at least my total focus was on the story.
Then, I sold my first book. In preparation for the launch, I concentrated 100% on marketing for the past few months. I prepared materials, spoke to schools, wrote blog interviews, tweeted, facebooked, planned launch events and a signing trip to New York. And yeah, it was stressful–many nights of waking up at 2:00a.m. and wondering if I’d sell more than the five copies I’d buy myself.
The timing couldn’t have been better…or worse. I left Phoenix, Arizona and headed to New York on May 22nd. My debut teen book, OyMG, officially released May 10th, just two weeks earlier. Life was insane. My book hadn’t been out long enough to have a readership, and although my trip coincided with BEA week, my publisher, Walker Books, wouldn’t be featuring OyMG because they generally use BEA to promote fall releases. But I had one thing going for me.
In my deepest, darkest most private thoughts, I’ve been bemoaning the shift from actual books in bookstores to online discount sellers or ebooks. For me, bookstores are hallowed places. It makes me sad to see one after another closing doors, laying off staff, going smaller. But after this past week, I have a new perspective on things.
What changed? My book, OyMG, hit the shelves. As it turned out, more figuratively than literally. About 10 days after launch, one Indy bookstore is sold out and two nearby bookstores have yet to receive their first copies.
And that’s the good news.
A week ago, I unveiled the book trailer for OyMG. I’ve been asked if authors are asked or expected to make their own trailers. The answer, in my case, is no. This falls under the general category of “ThisIsMyFirstBookAndIWantToTryEverythingPossible.” Will it be worth it? Like most other things debut authors do, I’m not really sure.
POSITIVES: *I show it at schools when I visit and kids love that *There are tons of places to post videos now, including youtube, schooltube, teachertube, Amazon, etc. That means extra exposure. *I attached a copy to my book launch evite and got great feedback from that.
