As a shy person, I've always tried to blend into the walls and avoid notice. With The Year We Were Famous coming out in 115 days, however, I have become a brazen self-promoter and promotion has sucked up the time I should be working on the next book. My excuse is if the first book doesn't do well, no publisher will pick up the second book. And so the draft of that second book builds up another layer of cat hair and dust.
I'm up until 11:30 every night trolling the internet for simpatico bloggers who might be willing to review my book, sampling royalty-free music that might work as a backdrop to my trailer, figuring out Facebook, keeping up with the 50 emails a day from the Class of 2k11, planning ahead to the class visit to Book Expo America, deciding where to send a limited number of advance reader's copies of my book to get the best exposure, emailing bloggers and organizations to build a network of supporters, sewing lace on Victorian drawers to take on the road for show and tell, and trying to decipher the ads for my book in Japanese. (My publisher, Clarion, has an amazing marketing reach!)
New regime. I'll see how long it lasts. Get off the internet, check email only three times a day, and write!
