How Can I Get Me Some Word of Mouth?

I heard about your book through word of mouth. The nine words a new author -- or any author, frankly -- aspires to.  That strange phrase that makes me think of the mouths of elephants and rhinos and giraffes, why I don't know -- is the one we're all chasing after.

Word of mouth, frankly, is how books sell.  We all know it. We all know it's a magical thing, this word of mouth, and it's hard to find.  We try what we can to grab it -- we blog endlessly and we tweet about everything and nothing and we beg friends to spread the word and we try to be witty on Facebook. We offer to do readings and come to book clubs (Admittedly, the book clubs and the readings are just plain fun) and we tell the people who liked our book to please review it online and tell their friends and....

In the end, it's hard to know if any of it works.  Or maybe it does.  Why do some books get Word of Mouth when others don't? Perfectly fine books, excellent, page turner, gripping books don't. And then books that I found rather meh get talked about and talked about. Why?

Whoever can figure out the magic potion -- if you do x plus y you will get z -- will surely become a millionaire after she sells it for a small fee to every author out there. But that's not going to happen. Because it's impossible to know. And for the books that are successful, the author, or editor, or publicist, or publishing house will insist it was this or it was that, when really, it could be anything. If they tell you they know, they are lying. They don't.

Still, I would like some word of mouth, please. So I beg the people who've read my book and loved it to please write reviews and tell their friends, I blog (I like reaching out, really, I promise), I tweet, and I Facebook.  I try to say witty things (though, frankly, most other people seem to be far more clever than I am).  

Things I will not do:  I never ask for false reviews. I tell anyone who reads it to review it honestly and fairly and if they didn't like it, that's okay. I will not tell my friends to give it five stars on Amazon.  I will not bully people into buying it. I will not make people feel bad if they didn't like it.  

We're authors. We just want people to read our work, and for some to love it.  I get a thrill every time someone tells me she enjoyed it.  I made someone happy, I made someone think, I made someone feel.  That's the thing about being an author that I love. But word of mouth....sure,that would be nice, too.

Tagging two more authors!

Last week I was tagged by the lovely Candace Hammond. http://www.candacehammond.com/ Candy is the author of The Best Worst Year (2012, Kindle) which I loved. It was so kind of her to tag me!  Tagging gives blog readers a chance to get to know authors a bit better by asking them to answer ten questions.  The first five are about the author's Work-in-Progress, the second five are about the author's last book published. Here are my questions and answers:

1: What is the working title of your work in progress?

The Opposite of Normal

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

I like to write about issues that I've personally experienced or have a great interest in. I'm Jewish, and I've struggled with what it means to be Jewish my entire life, so I decided to start there.

3: What genre does your book come under?

General Fiction leaning towards Women's.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I am never good at casting, so I'll leave that to the professionals!

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Rabbi Mark Friedlander and his teenage children are still reeling, two years later, from the death of their wife and mother from cancer.

6: Is your current book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

My agent is Erica Silverman at Trident Media Group, and together we published my first book, Child of Mine, through Trident's ebook division, on March 12, just a little over a week ago! It can be found on Kindle, Nook, itunes, and anywhere else ebooks are sold.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It only takes me three to four months to write a first draft. It's the editing and revising that take a long time!

8: What other books would you compare this story in your current book to within your genre?

Child of Mine has been compared to Jodi Picoult's work, which blows my mind, because I could never imagine being as good as she is.

9: Who or what inspired you to write your current book?

Child of Mine was written in response to my battle with infertility.  I struggled through infertility treatment to have both my daughters, now ages 18 and 15, and I still remember how difficult a time that was.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

My main character is not only infertile, but a midwife, to boot, so she spends her days torn between treatment for her infertility and delivering other people's babies.

Thank you, Candace Hammond, for tagging me! I'm now tagging the amazingly talented Therese Fowler, http://thereseannefowler.wordpress.com/ whose next book, Z, comes out in just a few weeks, and the fabulous Caroline Leavitt,http://www.carolineleavitt.com/home.htm whose next book, Is this Tomorrow, comes out in May!

The Day After....

Yesterday was the big day! Child of Mine made its debut into the world.

Overall, it was a very exciting and busy day. I received much Facebook and Twitter love, was taken to lunch by my parents and daughter, and made several sales.  But I still had regular every day stuff to do, too. Like editing my next book.  Like taking my daughter clothes shopping. And new stuff, like a guest spot on a radio show.  All in all, a great day.

But what happens the day after the book comes out?  I'm already checking to see if I have any reviews, though I do know it normally takes people more than one day to read a book!  I just spent part of my morning editing some more, and now, obviously, I'm writing my blog. Later I'll go for a walk on this bright, almost-spring shiny day, and then I'm going to try to find the location where I will be doing a Book Talk one evening next week. (Note: I am terrible with directions, even ones given to me by my faithful GPS, so I try to find important locations in advance, preferably in the daylight.) So I'm back to normal.

I'd wondered if I would feel different the-day-it-happened or the-day-after. But no, I really don't. Unlike actual childbirth, where the next day (and for several days and weeks after that, even, I felt like I'd been run over by a Mack truck), I feel pretty normal.  And unlike bringing a baby home, which threw my entire household into a tailspin (the first time) and a semi-tailspin (the second time) things were pretty smooth last night after all of the broo ha ha.  Except for the pizza we had for dinner instead of me making it (and I admit that we have pizza for dinner quite a bit, anyway, when I'm too tired or sick of cooking) everything proceeded as usual.  I watched Wheel of Fortune, and my husband and I watched a DVR'd Good Wife. (Love that show!)  He packed for a business trip.  My daughter and I enjoyed some ice cream before bed. See? Same stuff.

I'm no different than I was on Monday, when I wasn't a published author.  And I doubt my life will be any different going forward. Except, I hope, that people will write to me to tell me what they thought of my book, good or bad.  And I'll be on the radio some more. (Check my web site, www.judymollenwalters.com, for information about my radio tour if you are interested) In the end, though, I'll still be here, in my pajamas, writing and editing, hoping to hear from you.

My Baby is About to Go Out into the World!

In six days, Child of Mine will be out in the world. Like with my own children, I've been protective of my baby, and at the same time, have had to force myself to let it go.

I've easily revised this novel fifteen times, probably more.  Each time I sit down to read through it, I think I'm not going to find anything else to fix. And each time, I do.  As readers, you may find some things you would do differently.  You might find a typo or two -- though I hope not -- or you may be the kind of reader who just happily reads, enjoying the story, not noticing slight slip ups or areas you think could have been done better. I'm thankful and grateful for all of you, no matter what kind of readers you are!

While Child of Mine hits Kindle, Nook, and a bunch of other etailers next Tuesday, I'm also working on a new book.  Last week, I finished the first draft, and I'm excited about it. It's the story of a widowed Rabbi and his two children, dealing with the loss of their wife and mother as they try to figure out how to live without her, what they want from life, and who they really are.  It's a subject completely different from Child of Mine, yet it's just as important to me.  I write what I know, and since I'm Jewish, I wanted to explore a Jewish family.  There are also story lines in this new novel dealing with adoption and teen pregnancy. You can't get me to stray too far from subjects like pregnancy, birth, and adoption. Those are what I enjoy writing about most!

I feel like I'm about to jump off a very high platform over a very deep lake.  I have to dive straight into the center to avoid the shallow area, I have to make sure I jump out far enough to avoid the jagged rocks just below me, I have to hope that my jump will not end in serious injury. But at the same time, if I can get up the courage to jump (which, let's face it, I already have, since Child of Mine is going to be published no matter what!) I could have the most exciting, beautiful experience of my life.  I'm taking a chance here. But isn't that what it's all about?