Happy Happy, Joy Joy!

by Marsha Ward

I've had a busy May. Not because I have children finishing up school, since I'm beyond that in my stage of life. It's because of the craziness related to having a new book come out, plus life in general. You can read about some of my adventures last week here or here.

Um, about that last link. Yes, I've taken on another blog. I've been asked to be a perma blogger at The Millennial Star. The Administrator joked about nepotism, since my nephew, Ben Pratt, already blogs there, but I don't think Ben lobbied to get me the post.

On Sunday evening I got word that a review of Trail of Storms had been posted on LDS Fiction Review. To my great delight, "Erin" (all the reviewers on the site are anonymous) gave me 4 1/2 Stars. The awesome thing about that is she doesn't even like historical fiction. Besides that, it's the highest rating she's given since she joined the site! The news made this week a very happy one.

Book Signing Fun

First, a shout out to Cy Tymony, who commented on my last post. Thanks! Six books in the series!

Next, I had a solo book signing yesterday at the local library. It was four hours of fun talking to folks, checking my email, tweeting a bit, and selling a few books. Am I disappointed that the book sales were in the single digits?

NO!

Many authors mistakenly think book signings are about selling loads of books. Wrong. Book signings are about making contacts, sharing smiles, building friendships, directing people to the restroom, and getting to know the personnel in the location--in this case, librarians. They are about networking, building your brand, and reaching out to people to encourage them to read.

Too many people these days don't, you know. Read, that is. Too many other activities whirl them away in this fast-paced life of ours. They don't have time to sit down and relish living another life, perhaps another time, within the pages of a book.

That's really too bad, very sad. Humans need the recharging time, the relaxation and getting outside their own troubles for a while. I recommend reading for that respite.

Next time you see an author at a book signing, share a smile with them, even if you don't buy their book. They may not yet know that you can be friends for that brief moment, that they can enjoy the process of getting their name and their books known.

Promoting a Book

by Marsha Ward

Since I received 12 cartons/packages full of my novels--Trail of Storms, The Man from Shenandoah, and Ride to Raton--this week, I'm keenly interested in moving them out of my 740-square-foot trailer.

What am I doing to help that happen?

First of all, I've let the entire contents of my email address book know that autographed copies of my new book are now available. This includes numerous Yahoo groups.

I'm letting my social networks know, as well. Events kind of snuck up on me, so I didn't have all of those in place previously, but now I've joined Goodreads, and Twitter is in the works for later today.

I'm sending out review copies of Trail of Storms. Conventional wisdom says you have to get reviews out before your novel is published. Indeed, many review sites won't take a book that has already been published. However, ARCs don't come with the iUniverse process. There are sites that will do reviews on already-published books. Since my book doesn't depend on a limited bookstore shelflife, I can get reviews from here on out for continued sales.

I'm planning a blog tour to publicize my new novel. If you want to be involved, please contact me here.

I've posted a book trailer on YouTube.com. I know of at least one book sale that will come from that.

I'm attending an obscene number of conferences and conventions this year, books in tow.

I hand out business cards to everyone I meet. These are specially prepared, with my novel's cover and information on how to obtain it. I print them from my computer.

I update my website and blog frequently.

I carry books with me wherever I go.

I hope it helps! =)

How I Spent My Weekend

by Marsha Ward

Some of you know that I've been intimately connected with American Night Writers Association (ANWA) for many years. Maybe you know that I'm the founder. Anyway, it's always a thrill to meet other members at our annual Writers Conference.

We held this year's event last saturday at a school in Gilbert, Arizona. That's in what is called the East Valley portion of the Phoenix metro area. Our keynote speaker was Kathryn Jenkins, managing editor of Covenant Communications.

I first met Kathy on Friday at a lunch attended by some of the presenters and members of the ANWA Board. I found her to be a very interesting woman of vast experience. Her keynote address and class the next day increased my respect for her.

Also at the lunch were my dear friends Kerry Blair and Tristi Pinkston. I enjoyed their classes so much. Heather Madder and Jon Lewis were not at the lunch, but I've known Heather for a couple of years, and found her class to be insightful. I didn't get to attend Jon's class, but from all accounts, those who attended appreciated his presentation.

Saturday was exhausting but exhilarating, and I sold a few books. I hope my trip to Southern Arizona in a couple of weeks is as rewarding.

Busy Month--Weather Nerves

by Marsha Ward

March is going to be awesomely busy. I'm a bit nervous, though.

I'm going to attend two Writers Conferences (one in Gilbert, Arizona, and one in Sandy, Utah) and a Book Fair where I'm going to sign and sell books in Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Arizona. That means lots of traveling this month.

The first conference is this weekend. The weather forecast looks good, so I'm not agonizing about driving down to the valley.

But then, on the 14th, I'm driving from the middle of Arizona to the bottom, and I have no idea what the weather will be. Since I'll be going through the more temperate (some say hot) parts of the state, I shouldn't have to worry about snow storms. Rain may be another story. At least there shouldn't be dust storms to concern me. They are a summer event. Besides, Southern Arizona has been getting a lot of rain in the past weeks, so that should keep down any dust.

Here's the thing. In the fourth week, I'm heading for Utah. They've been getting a lot of snow. Will it all be gone and done with before I try to get over the mountain passes? Maybe I'll have to go through Las Vegas instead of trying Utah State Highway 20 from the US 89 to I-15. I know that the 20 is sometimes closed due to snow.

There's no short way to get to Las Vegas from here. It involves miles and miles of driving through the desert. I can go down to Phoenix and head out through Wickenburg on US 93. That's the long, fair-weather route. Or I can chance taking mountainous US 87 toward wintry Flagstaff, where I'd take I-40 west to Kingman and thence up the 93 to Las Vegas, where I'd hook onto I-15. Sigh.

Where can I get a long-range weather forecast? Anyone? Anyone?

How about some advice from you Utahns out there?

Happy New Writers Conference Year

by Marsha Ward

I'm starting out the year with slightly scratched corneas, but I expect the situation to get better, eventually. I just need to rest my eyes, which means, of course, not working on the computer. I'll go take a nap when I'm finished here.

American Night Writers Association (aka ANWA) is holding a writers conference on March 1. I'm the web mistress, and I overdid it yesterday working on the event's webpage. Because our web host changed their platform recently (I know this makes no sense to a lot of you, but bear with me!), there were a lot of little differences to contend with, and installing the page and making sure it worked right took far longer than it should have. Now I'm paying the consequences of drying out my eyes with too many computer hours. Boo hoo, right?

At any rate, this is a wonderful conference with terrific speakers, charging barely enough to cover costs so that the average person can attend. If you're an author, you can take part in the book signing at a minimal cost, too. Please consider attending. I'd be so grateful, and will feel that the sacrifice of my vision meant something. Really! I mean it! Come see us in lovely Gilbert, Arizona, on March 1.

My Weekend: Comedy/Tragedy

By Tamra Norton

Why is it in life that when something fun and good happens, it seems that something sucky and rotten is lurking around the corner? Okay, I'm not always a pessimist. Actually, I tend to be a half-full kind-of gal. But this weekend, with the fun and good, definitely came the sucky and rotten!

First I'll write about Friday night--for the most part, fun and good!

Friday night after a nice early dinner out with my hubby, I dropped him off at home to watch a shoot-'em-up video with our teenage son, while I ventured into the heart of Houston with the three little guys and their friend to attend a much anticipated event--the book signing of Obert Skye, author of the Leven Thumps series, published by Shadow Mountain. I was especially excited to attend this book signing because a few of my author friends, James Dashner and Jeff Savage each have a fantasy series of books coming out with this same publisher, and I wanted to see what my friends have to look forward to in their near future (and, of course, I have to dream that I'll be there too some day!) Also, before "Mr. Skye"--a pen name--became famous for his Leven Thumps series, he was an author for the LDS market...just like me! We're practically cousins, right?

So after 45 minutes of driving through Houston traffic, we arrive (thank goodness for car DVD players). The signing had been in full swing for an hour already. The Garleia B&N was buzzin'! A line of crazed kids and dazed parents wound around the interior of the lower level of the store. We bought our books and found our spot in line...and waited. And waited. At some point during all this waiting, my 9-year-old son's name was called over the store's PA system. He'd won a Leven Thumps 2008 Tour t-shirt (as seen in picture--the little guy on the left). On the back of the black t-shirt was listed several dozen cities--your basic rock concert t-shirt. How cool is that?

Finally, after an hour trying to keep four kids from tearing up the B&N, we made it to the front of the line and our two minutes with Obert Skye. Not wanting to appear the schmuck, I first introduced my kids--the real reason we were here, right? Mr. Skye was gracious and shook each of their hands, asked their names, chatted a bit and commenced the signing process. In the middle of his scribbling, it was a quiet moment, so I figured now was my chance. The author bonding would begin.

"I write for the LDS market," I squeaked.

"How do you spell your last name?" He was still writing.

"N-O-R-T-O-N" I replied (He was signing, "To the Norton Kids.")

When he finished signing, Mr. Skye looked up at me, extended his hand, and said, "It was so nice meeting you." And turned his attention to the next anxious kid in line.

What?! No, exuberant exclamation upon encountering another fellow author? But our roots were planted in the same LDS market soil. We both even wrote humorous stories. Surely he felt the connection!

But no. No trace of exuberance. No hint of connection. I'm honestly not sure he even heard a word I said about writing for the LDS market. I was the bazillionth parent he'd encountered that night. I might as well have said, "I like to eat fried Spam," and his reaction would have been the same. It had been a long night for Mr. Skye--I could tell by the slightly glazed look in his eyes--from exhaustion, no doubt. So I forgive him and will let him off the hook. This once. He was great with the kids and in the end, that's all that matters, right? (sniff)

We went home, and that night started reading our new book.... And I'll admit--that night when I went to bed I had dreams of B&N lines, crazed kids, dazed parents, concert t-shirts, and perhaps my own slightly glazed eyes at the end of yet another long night signing books. (sigh)

This was my Friday night, and this post is already too long. I'll write about my Saturday sucky-and-rotten night next week. You won't want to miss it--even though I wish I'd been spared from it's total suckiness.