KEVIN!!!!

The Author One Month Before Publication

This was me when I woke up this morning:

Because I just realized it’s exactly one month before The Windsor Affair publishes.

This is my ninth historical novel, so it’s not my first time at this particular rodeo! I know the drill; the month before is a nail-biting time. You start to panic that you haven’t done enough to promote the book yourself, you start to panic that certain reviews haven’t come in, or you haven’t made some of the “lists” you’d like to make, or preorders might not be what you want, or…or….or…

What’s different this time around, though, is how very much the publishing landscape has changed in just the last 3-4 years. I won’t bore you with the details (but suffice it to say I’ve had 3-hour long phone calls with some of my writer friends lately as we help each other try to navigate a stark new reality that isn’t friendly to many writers, even those who’ve had some big successes in the not-so-distant past).

But it’s different, that’s for sure. For example – book tours. I’m not going on the traditional tour for this book, because publishers are not sending authors out like they used to. For sure some authors are still toured but the majority of authors these days either put together their own tours on their own dime, or they stay home. And with the rising costs of transportation right now, it’s even tougher.

I am putting together some events – you can always look for info on my webpage, here – and am working on some things later this summer, early fall. And if your local bookstore or library would like me to visit, please have them email me. If I can’t travel in person maybe we can work something out virtually!

Then there’s the social media aspect – am I posting enough? What’s my engagement? Nobody thinks social media actually sells books anymore but given the lack of options out there for book discovery, everyone still tries.

Anyhoo, all this is to say – I have so much to do!!! I have to write content for my website – I have a really cool “The World of…” page for each of my books where I share more of the history and photos about the people and events I’ve written about. I need to put that together for The Windsor Affair. Plus I have to create some content for the preorder gift and the book club kit. I have some interviews I need to respond to and I’m appearing on some podcasts (I’ll be sharing when all these air later on). And I’m in the midst of emailing bookstores and libraries to remind them that I exist! And that maybe they should have my book on their shelves!

I would very much appreciate it if you, my dearest readers, would also ask your local bookstores and libraries to carry the book. That would be a huge help!

The problem these days is there are so many books, many indie authors, lots of AI dreck, as well as traditionally-published books. There are fewer and fewer places that cover or carry books (my friend Elizabeth Letts and I were reminiscing, fondly, about the good old days at Target when our books were regularly featured and chosen for their book clubs. And the good old days of Costco, too. Sigh.)

So the problem is one of discovery, which falls more and more on the author, which makes them look like this when they awaken one month before publication:

Pray for my husband, for these are perilous times.

PS – I just read two amazing books I need to share! First up is Priya Parmar’s firebrand of a novel about Katharine Hepburn, called The Original. It was just out a week ago.

And then I just finished my friend Elizabeth Letts’s new novel, Fallen for France. It’s out in August so preorder now. (We are working on doing some events together when it comes out, so stay tuned!) I loved it and even gave it an endorsement:

“Elizabeth Letts astonishes in this sweeping World War I saga. From the early scenes set in pre-war Morocco, she has given us an evocatively drawn cast of characters, including a pampered Arabian mare, who find themselves hurtled into the center of war-torn France. Paths intersect and destinies are forged and foiled, but love and forgiveness can’t be defeated. Letts depicts, beautifully, the quietly noble moments of a life, and how they triumph even in the midst of battle.”