Looking Forward To Launch

Not the space shuttle, but the second book. The “advanced reader copies” or ARCs for She Returns are heading out of the printer this week. I’m scrambling to make summer plans for places to stay for June and July mini-trips, as well as fall plans for readings in multiple cities – at least Portland, OR and Cincinnati, OH for sure.

I was thinking and wondering what I’d be doing differently this time around with my second book, what I’d learned from the first book, that might be useful to you all. Here are some things I learned:

–Since my last book came out, things like Facebook and Twitter have been invented. Crazy how technology changes in six years (and that’s not even touching the e-book issue.) It’s true that in some ways it is easier to get the word out about projects…but you’re also competing with lots of other people who are also virtually shouting at the top of their lungs about their own projects. Take advantage of new media, but don’t spam people to death.

–Do as much ahead of time as possible. I didn’t know what to expect with the first book, but this time, I asked my publisher a lot of questions about how I could make this easier on them, what I could give them that might be helpful to promote the book, and started asking for readings six months ahead of the book’s launch. FYI: Six months is still probably not enough lead time. (Or readings are harder to get now than they were in 2006.)

–Do not go bankrupt trying to promote a poetry book all across the USA. This means being excited – but judicious – about reading in other cities. Think about where you have a good audience, maybe family or friends, places you might like to visit, conferences that might be worth attending, and pick a handful. Do not try to hit five cities in five days for readings unless you have an immune system (AND nerves) of steel; know your limits. Traveling for readings can be tough and expensive. It’s hard to sell enough books to make an overnight trip pay for itself, but everything within driving distance is worth doing. You never know if you might meet a new friend, or find out about a magazine/great bookstore/awesome co-reader. I personally get a huge kick from visiting high school classes and college classes, so those, for me, are always worth doing.

–I know some things are out of my control. I can send out review copies, but that doesn’t guarantee a review; and I know now that even if you get a review, it doesn’t guarantee anything about book sales. I can’t control who likes or doesn’t like the book. I can’t control if it gets picked for an award or something like Poetry Daily or Garrison Keillor or a big anthology or other people’s college classes. Those things would be great, but all you can do is put your book out there and hope it gets into the hands of people who will be kind to it. (The corollary of this: don’t freak out too much about a bad review on Goodreads or Amazon. It is not the end of the world. )

–Be gracious, be grateful, and enjoy the good. In the larger scheme of the world, my little poetry book is not that big a deal. I will try to enjoy the little things as much as I can and try to be kind along the way. (Also, avoid obsessing over Amazon ranking or etc.) I will try to return as much love as possible to my publisher, Kitsune Books, who has championed my quirky manuscript and made me things like bookmarks and is kind enough to send out my book to reviewers.

Please post your own wisdom in the comments! I’d love to hear from folks what they’ve learned (from their first, second, third, fourth…books) and their suggestions!