Celebrate!

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Get out the noise makers and the party hats.  Shove down the nerves and the feelings of inadequacy and party like there is no tomorrow.  (Okay the nerves and inadequacy part is all me, but hey!  It needed to be said.)  Last Tuesday, I celebrated a new book.  SKATING ON THE EDGE hit shelves on October second.   And to top off the celebration, the paperback edition of SKATING AROUND THE LAW came out on Monday, which made the first week of October pretty special in my house!

A new book is a funny thing.  All of us writer types peck away at our keyboards hoping that someone will think what we have written is interesting enough to read.  We agonize over plot, character development and each word choice, turn the book in to our editors, rework it and then wait for it to hit shelves.  During that wait, we do what writers do—we write something new.  So by the time the new book comes out, we’ve moved onto something else.

For me, that process is always odd because while I love the book that has just come out, I’ve often written the next installment in the lives of those characters.  I know where they are going, but I have to remember that my readers don’t. I know if Pop has had his heart broken (or more likely if he’s broken someone's heart) or if Rebecca has made a choice that changes what she wants out of her life.  But I have to block that out and remember that those things haven’t technically happened yet and that readers are just discovering the choices they have made in this story.

And I LOVE this story.  SKATING ON THE EDGE is my favorite of the Rebecca Robbins novels thus far.  I guess as writers we’re all supposed to love the most recent book, and perhaps we always do, but I really think this is the best of the books.  I love the choices my characters make to move their lives forward and the derby girls who are so full of life and loyalty and fun.  They are wonderful characters to write and infuse the story with excitement.  And, of course, Lionel and Sean continue to make Rebecca’s life interesting.  Lionel can’t help but want her to stay in town and fall in love with him and Sean…well, you’ll see.

In order to celebrate the release of both SKATING ON THE EDGE and the paperback of SKATING AROUND THE LAW, I am happy to give away one copy of each to a commenter.  Please leave your name and e-mail address so I can get a hold of you!  I will draw the winning names on Friday evening, so you have lots of time to stuff the ballot box.

Crap shoot

by: Joelle Charbonneau

Skating On The Edge launches a week from today.  EEK!  A book launch brings with it lots of excitement and nail biting.  Before I started writing, I thought book tours sounded so glamorous.  The idea of people standing in line for hours waiting to get a book signed by an author was pretty cool.  Of course, that is before I got to know the business a bit better and learned that those lines are the exception to the rule.  More often than not, an author on tour hopes he or she won’t be sitting alone in the bookstore when the signing starts.  You hope someone – anyone – will come, talk to you and hopefully buy a copy of your book.  If not – well, that’s the way it goes sometimes.  Even for the big names.  Some days the line is around the block.  Other days there are crickets.

The same can be said for blog tours.  You write posts and hope that people who have no idea who you are read them.  Sometimes they do.  Other times it’s just your mother and other members of your family who click on the link and comment on what you say.

I admit that when I was just a reader, I never even considered how difficult it was for a book to make it into the hands of a reader.  I assumed a book was written, bought, edited and then every store in the country carried it.

Yeah—I was silly back then.

Getting a bookseller to carry your book even if it is published by a big publisher is a trick.  Some bookstores or chains don’t like carrying books by authors who don’t have a strong sales history with them.  Well, if you are a debut, or in my case a sophomore, author you haven’t had a lot of time to develop a sales history.  They only have so much shelf space.  They want it dedicated to books that will sell.  If you don’t have a sales history or you don’t live in the region – they don’t trust it will sell.

Tricky, right? 

So paying a visit to the stores, meeting the booksellers and letting them know you are more than a name on a page is important.  Since you can’t do this for every story in the country you have to pick your battles and know that most of the battles will never be fought.  You can only hope that a reader who wants your book will go into those unknown stores, ask for your book and order it thereby getting your name in front of the person who places the orders for stock.  Maybe they’ll decide to look your book up, think it sounds like something their other readers might like and order a few extra copies. 

Or not.

E-books are just as tricky.  There are price adjustments, free days, the hope that some miracle of marketing will help the book land on a list that will attract new readers since there isn’t a physical shelf to browse.

Face it—it’s all a crap shoot.  Physical touring, blog tours, advertising, tweeting, Facebook posts and everything else done to promote books are all crap shoots.  Some might work some of the time.  Others might not work at all.  And no one can tell you when and where those things will work for you.  Fun right?

That’s what’s nice about this blog where I can ask you—what works for you?  How do you find new books to read?  Do you pay attention to Amazon’s suggestions?  Do you take recommendations off of Twitter, this blog and Facebook posts?  Do you go into bookstores and look for the cover that attracts your eye?  What works for you?  I’m dying to know

SKATING ON THE EDGE - ARC Giveaway

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Happy Tuesday!

If you’re like me, you’re amazed that the summer months have flown by so quickly.  How can August already be next week?  I mean…didn’t the summer just begin.  Yes, I know that summer technically ends in September, but really, the beginning of school marks the end of the summer experience even if the calendar doesn’t technically agree.  Face it--I’m not ready to see back-to-school supplies in the stores and everything that implies.  The end of summer means the beginning of my son’s first 5 day a week school adventure.  It also means 2 different book deadlines for me (eek!) and lots of work with my high school senior voice students as we get them ready for college auditions.

Those are all good things, but I am not ready for any of them to happen.  I am in a total state of denial.

However, one thing that I am eagerly anticipating after summer’s end is the release of the next Rebecca Robbins novel!  (I also need to finish writing the 4^th Rebecca Robbins book…but I’m not going to think about that.  Today, I am the queen of denial!)  Since I’ve always felt that Rebecca and company are great beach reads, I am going to celebrate the fact we still have several weeks of summer left by giving away an ARC of SKATING ON THE EDGE.  It is the third Rebecca book, features the Toe Stop roller derby team, EstroGenocide, and thus far is my favorite in the series.  (Although, I might say the same when I’m done with Skating Under The Wire.  Only time will tell.)

So….here’s the deal.  If you would like to celebrate summer with a signed advance reader copy of SKATING ON THE EDGE, leave a comment on this post.  Next Monday, I’ll draw a winner and ship off the copy of Skating On The Edge to the winner so they can find a patch of sand, rub on some suntan oil and enjoy the last days of summer with Rebecca and friends.

SKATING ON THE EDGE

(Oct. 2nd, Minotaur Books)

 

 Rebecca Robbins, owner of the Toe Stop roller-skating rink, is back, this time joined by a tough and sassy roller derby team, and she has a new puzzling murder to solve.

It’s Native American Summer Days in Indian Falls, and Rebecca is roped into taking a turn in the Senior Center dunk tank. That is, until her rhinestone-studded grandfather, Pop, needs help setting up his Elvis act. Minutes from climbing into the tank, Rebecca has to find a replacement, and roller derby girl Sherlene-n-Mean is delighted to fit the bill---until she’s dunked, electrocuted, and killed. It’s obvious that this was no accident. Someone rigged the tank, but who was the intended target? Sherlene-n-Mean or Rebecca?

With a list of suspects in hand and Pop cheering her on, Rebecca starts asking questions. Who disliked Sherlene-n-Mean enough to kill her? Could a father really be capable of murdering his own daughter for money? Why has the bowling alley owner suddenly decided to call a truce and offer Rebecca his assistance? Who was Sherlene-n-Mean? Did her mysterious past catch up with her and get her killed or was she a victim of circumstance? Aided by a trio of self-appointed bodyguard derby girls and caught between Deputy Sean and her sometimes-boyfriend Lionel, Rebecca digs for answers, dodges bullets, and races to find a killer before the killer strikes again.