Starlight and Cinnamon Book Signing and Encouraging Words from Kirkus Reviews!
I have so much to tell you, I’m going to get right into it:
It’s hard out here for an indie author. I haven’t made a name for myself, I don’t have much of a following (hello you, I see you and appreciate you!), my networking skills are garbage (hello to you too, autism), and I would say that technology and marketing might as well be quantum physics except I UNDERSTAND QUANTUM PHYSICS BETTER THAN I UNDERSTAND TECHNOLOGY AND MARKETING.
I keep thinking of an interview with Red Sox player David Ortiz, maybe twenty years ago, when he said, “I just want to hit the ball.” Well, I just want to write the book. But if I want people to read the book, I also have to do things I have less skill for, even with practice. So if you see a formatting error (honestly, my arch nemesis, it gets me *every* *time*) or something else that’s out of place that isn’t plot or character or mood, know that I tried my best, me alone over here, trying to figure out how to add a title page in Atticus or get IngramSpark to accept the latest upload of my manuscript or set up my business email.
But yes, marketing. Not my strong suit. That’s where Kirkus Reviews comes in. I might not have clout yet, but Kirkus Reviews has been around for almost a century, and getting an honest review from them is a major boost in letting people know that I wrote a legitimate book and not some AI slop. I will never use AI to write my books or come up with ideas, even if I’m stuck, and I’ll never use it for cover art, or for audiobooks if I ever get to make audiobooks for these novels. Why would I bother to read something that somebody couldn’t bother to write? Writing is the fun part!
I’ve derailed myself, but this was an important aside. No AI. Ever. I won’t argue about it, either. Back to the review.
Getting a Kirkus Reviews is a great way for an indie author like myself to gain a bit of respectability. And I can quote the review in my marketing materials. I’ve included the link to the review HERE because I’m just so happy with it.
If you haven’t yet, I would love for you to ask your local library to carry it. If you plan to buy it, you can pre-order basically anywhere you would normally buy your books. Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. If you want to support me even more, you can ask your local indie bookshop to order it for you. If two different people order my book from the same bookshop, the store will usually buy a couple extra copies. Y’all, this is how we trick them into buying my book, lol. Nah, no trickery here, these books will find their people.
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In fact, perhaps they will find each other at the BOOK SIGNING I’m doing on September 9! I’m going to be at Bell, Book & Comic in Dayton, OH around 6:30pm. Super casual, just me and my books and a few friends and maybe some goodies and you can pick up a physical copy of my book and I can sign it right in front of you. Bell Book has been my comics and nerd-stuff go-to since I moved here oh so many years ago, and my spouse has been going there since before we even met. When I told our friend and proprietor Pete three years ago that I was writing a book, the first thing he said was, “Let me know when it comes out and we’ll do a signing event here.” Y’all. The book wasn’t even written yet. But this is the kind of support and community they’ve always shown and is one of the few ways I’ve felt at home here. Come to support me, and come to support my favorite comic shop.
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I know we’ve covered a lot today, so let’s recap with some links!
Read all the nice things Kirkus Reviews has to say about Starlight and Cinnamon here!
Pre-Order Starlight and Cinnamon here! (If you can’t make it to my signing!)
Come to my book signing at Bell, Book & Comic on September 9 at 6:30pm. You can check out their Facebook here!