Back in the Office

I took a short break this week to visit my parents, since my dad's birthday was on Memorial Day and I hadn't been for a visit since Christmas. But now I'm back in the office and frantically working on the finishing touches of the new web site, which I plan/hope to unveil tomorrow. I just have about seven more pages to put together and then I have to go through and double check all the links, file names, etc. This site isn't going to be too drastically different from the old site, just in a new layout and with the info updated. I may add new features going forward, but for now this is just to get the new info out there.

I'm seeing more differences between traditional publishing and the digital world in the way the timeline works. In the traditional world, you have your publication date for months. Here, I know we're aiming for July, but I don't have a set release date yet. Previously, I'd have been near panic in preparing for a release so soon, but I've already got the web site mostly done, and I'm not sure what PR I can really do. I'm not part of any of the blogging groups I used to be in, and I'm not sure any of them were a great fit for me anymore. I suppose I should try to scare up some blog tour opportunities. Mostly, I just need to be sure the word gets out to readers that there's another book in the series. If you're involved in any book-related Internet forums, like on Goodreads or on the Amazon forums, help spread the word (especially after the new web site launches). I do want to have to choreograph that victory dance.

Heck, maybe I'll even come up with some kind of thing where if the book hits a national bestseller list, I'll do the victory dance, get someone to record it, and put it online. Mind you, this isn't a promise yet. I wonder what song would be best for the dance of "Ha! Told you!" Any suggestions? Remember that I'm a ballet dancer and am terrible at anything more modern (or rhythmic), so it would need to be something you could choreograph ballet to.

And just to make the run up to the new release more crazy, I'm going to be out of town for a week next month, as I somehow had a fit of madness and agreed to chaperone the youth choir mission trip. I never got to go on one of these when I was a teen (we didn't have anything like it), so I guess I'll get to go as an adult. I have to admit that the thought of it is rather daunting, but you only really grow as a person by doing things that are out of your comfort zone. I imagine I will garner a lot of blog fodder along the way, and it will be great research for writing young adult books.