I’m writing this after having a fantastic weekend celebrating the launch of my book with friends and family. It was a lovely, happy weekend and I still feel like I’m flying!
On Saturday evening, I went over to one of our local independent bookshops, the fabulous Drake the Bookshop in Stockton-on-Tees. They generously gave me the space to host my launch event and even stayed open late for it (thank you!).
My tactic for the launch was to involve some of my brilliant and talented friends and make the event more interesting than it would have been if it was just me talking! The singer-songwriter Elaine Palmer performed some of her songs acoustic style, followed by poetry from the lovely Lisette Auton. They’re both such talented performers and I was very lucky to have them there.
After that I read an extract from my novel and then Lisette and I sat down for a chat about the book. Talking about it conversation style felt more natural and was a lot of fun.
Plus, my oldest friend Lucy made me a cake inspired by the cover art of my book – that is not a book in the picture but an edible version made of icing and rice crispies. Yum!
The cake went down well with the guests, although I felt a little guilty about the crumbs all over the floor!
Publishing my book has been quite an emotional experience. I put a lot of myself into it, working long hours through the editorial process and then promoting it ahead of the launch and in the weeks after release. I hadn’t realised just how much energy I was using, but it definitely caught up with me and after the initial buzz of publication wore off, I’ve been feeling low.
But this launch was just what I needed. I wasn’t sure how it would work out, but I had so much fun and it was lovely to see so many friends, family and more come out to support me.
While I was there, I found that that my book is also in the current issue of The Bookseller magazine as part of an article on Northern Powerhouse reads. How amazing! And my publisher were running a promo offer that day too, so The Disappeared ended up at #2 in Political Fiction on Amazon and #3 in Dystopian Fiction, just behind The Handmaid’s Tale. I didn’t quite make it to that orange bestseller banner, but it was amazing to have all this happen on the same day and feel like the book was having a little moment.
So if you’re writing a book or dreaming about being published, keep going, because sometimes dreams come true and you get to celebrate with wonderful people like a real-life author!
And a huge, enormous, happy thank you to everyone who came to help me celebrate.