8 pm and 77 degrees.
Back in February I had a contest. Remember? It was "GIVE ME THE BEST RETORT FOR A BACK HANDED COMPLIMENT"
The prize was an ARC of LOTTERY.
Well I anticipated my ARCs to be arriving sooner than they did (my mistake!) so it may be rather anticlimactic BUT
(drum roll please)
THE WINNER IS...
(I pause to heighten the suspense... This is a very useful tool in genre mysteries, thrillers, and many other novels that can be best described as literary fiction)
MILLHOUSETHECAT blogging from THE LITTER BOX!!!!!!!!!!
(Yeah!!! Cheers!!! Whoopee!!!)
OK people. Quiet down.
You there. In the back. Put down that chair.
Millhousethecat has emailed me the correct password and given me her address so a signed ARC of LOTTERY will be flying on its way to her doorstep by either winged monkey or the postal service whichever is cheaper.
(Okay there's nothing to see here. Move along.)
I adore contests. I must have another one.
What will it be? I have to decide what I will make you all do. Something embarrassing. Demeaning.
Mua ha ha!!!!
I have to think. Consider. But it will likely be in May. That much I will tell you. Maybe it will be the person who makes the most comments? But then I would have to count and that is such a bummer and you need numbers for that.
Well I'll have to get back to you with the details.
Any ideas?
Toss them out.
On another note.
I went to a bookstore the other day. Looking for a book of course. A particular book. It was hard. There were so MANY. In stacks. On shelves. Then it hit me.
How can you make YOUR book stand out. When there are so many deserving ones. I saw a table of "PUBLISHER REMAINDERS" Now granted 99% were celebrity autobiographies.
NOTE: How do you write your autobiography if you are only like 20 years old? I mean REALLY?
THAT got me thinking too. It all got me thinking. How do you make your book look different? How do you persuade people to pick your book up, maybe read a couple pages, take it to the counter and buy it? And then more to the point. Read it and enjoy it?
How?
It may not be enough to write a good book.
It takes people reading it and loving it.
It takes people telling their friends,"I read the most AMAZING book!"
It takes word of mouth.
So think about that while you're writing your book.
How will it stand out?
How will your readers find it?
Something to think about.
That's all.
WATCH THE RELEASE DATE COUNTDOWN CHANGE TO TWO DIGITS TOMORROW AFTER 9 AM HST!!! HOOHA!!
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13 comments:
I totally used that line on my brother the other day. I had been waiting and waiting for that perfect moment (and now for the life of me I can't remember just what he said) and I whipped out the winner respondse!
It was SO satisfying!!!!:)
So Pat, there's an hour and 40 minutes left on my counter.:) Yea! But it got me thinking . . . I'm due before your book comes out (a month before actually) which means I only have something like 65 days!!! Whooo-hooo!! You totally just made my day with that. . . On accident of course.:)
And how do you get you book to stand out? . . . (another long pause which you fogot to mention is also very useful in blog comments) . . . .
You Give It A Red Cover!!!
Buh-dum-bum!
:)
P.S. Is is just me or are your word verifications getting longer?
Crap . . . I meant you give it a red spine. (D'oh!)
This is totally OFF topic, but I LMAO at your comment on Kristen Nelson's blog from yesterday :) Too funny. You must be very excited about Lottery coming out - best wishes!
Pat, you're right, all of us writers need to think of ways to make our books stand out. It doesn't matter if we're trying to stand out in the slush pile or on the shelf! Great post!:*)
Yup, well....
I was working on a chapter before I have to leave for work. The doorbell rang, the dog went wild. It was the FedEx man, and see what he brought
to me and the others!
Whoo hooo!
Now, back to our regularly programmed mayhem.
"how to make your book stand out" you need an army of people going around the nation facing your book out, slipping it onto the "new & hot" table and putting it in shopping cars of unsuspecting shoppers.
Seriously. It's tough out there but I'm sure Lottery will fly off the shelves :)
Well, there was the time at 11:30 pm when I was shopping at Ralphs (supermarket) and over the PA system I hear, "This is John Grisham. I've just written....." I thought it was brilliant. I looked around and there his book was at the checkstand.I almost forgot all about the milk and eggs I was there to buy.
Well, when one of my glorious works becomes novel shaped, I intend to stop in at every book store htat I happen to walk past. I will pick up my book, hold it up to my grinning face, and say in a choked voice, "That's me. It is. It's meeeeee. I wrote this. And then I sent letters to agents for two years and then two years after that it got turned it this so buy it pllllleeeeeeeeaaase!!!!"
At this point the nice men in white coats will load me into the nice van. Once the reporters clear out I betcha everybody will buy that book! mwa hahahaha!
I just wanted to say that I was SOOOOO super excited to see an email in my box yesterday telling me I'd won!
It was almost like Ed McMahon had shown up at my door.
All right, not quite the same, but you get my point.
I am very anxious to read my ARC (!!!!) copy of The Lottery and will post a review of it on my blog after I've finished. (I often post movie and book reviews, so this will not be out of the ordinary.)
My readership isn't huge, but it might help a bit, Pat! And anything I can do to perpetuate what I anticipate to be a marvelous book --- I'm thrilled to do!
Hooray! I can't wait!
Sherry (aka millhousethecat)
Let's see, humiliating things that you want us to do...
My first thought was embarrassing date stories, but then I considered writing-related stuff. So... How about you request tales of the worst word blunder we've made? Or perhaps evil plot bunnies we've actually tried to use?
"How to make your book stand out?"
Always the BIG question for any author, isn't it?
Other than physically moving all your books to the front of the store (which I did in two Chicago book stores when I was there reading *lol*), there are lots of new and evolving and accessible ways to communicate with readers (blogging being one of them), signing up for speakerphone chats with book clubs, etc.
But it IS an ongoing battle, especially for new writers who aren't well known yet. Ah, well.
Write on.
I like Heidi's twisted, nefarious plot...lol
OK so my friend dragged me to Bikram yoga (I've never done Bikram let alone yoga before).
I AM WASTED!!!!!!
hmmmm
Worst query letter mistake?
WORST SENTENCE?????
Hmmmm
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