The Post-Publication Hangover

Publishing a full-length book is a momentous project that often takes years to complete. So when publication date finally arrives, it’s certainly cause for celebration, not to mention some relief. For me, acknowledging release day might involve a dinner out, a book launch, a library reading, or perhaps just a special glass of wine at the end of the day.

After a book’s release, I always feel somewhat discombobulated (I love that word). I have trouble sleeping, feel a bit anxious, lethargic, and can’t fully concentrate on anything for long. I start second-guessing myself as to whether the book should have been published. It’s the kind of niggling that I suspect most creative people suffer.

This has been happening a lot these past two weeks, so I’m not jumping into marketing and promotion tasks with great gusto at the moment. There’s a long list of things that need to be done…approaching libraries, bloggers, and reviewers, for starters. I haven’t had the incentive to do any of those things, which tells me two things. One is that it’s time let my mind and body relax. The other is that old post-publication habits might not work anymore.

So, I’m now engaging in a little TLC. I read an article a couple days back about self care (you can find it HERE) and there were good tips on inexpensive ways to look after ourselves, and don’t we all need more of that in what’s proving to be a rather stressful 2020?

Until recently, I drank four cups of coffee every morning, which pretty much took all morning. After lunch, it was caffeinated tea right until supper time. It’s no surprise that I recently began to feel like I was carrying a large, hot rock in my gut. I’ve now cut back significantly on caffeine and it’s helped a lot.

I’m also managing to keep to a regular gym routine this month, combining resistance and cardio workouts with core strengthening. Some of the other tips mentioned in the article include meditation, reducing social media time, eating more vegetables, and so forth. I’ve been doing most of the above except meditation, but I keep forgetting about the importance of deep breathing.

The author also offers another great tip called checking in with yourself. For me this means putting writing, publishing, and promotion into perspective. Although writing is hugely important in my life, this type of work doesn’t deal with actual life and death matters. I’m not a surgeon, or a search-and-rescue patrol person, or a soldier, or a cop. I’m an author who isn’t perfect, but who keeps striving to do a little better with every single sentence. And I’m trying real hard not to be a perfectionist but, oh boy, it’s a battle.

The Blade Man is available at:

Amazon: mybook.to/TheBladeMan

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-blade-man

Apple books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1495092401

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/3LDre1

Cover Reveal for The Blade Man

Today’s the day! I’m delighted to reveal the cover for Casey Holland Mystery #6,The Blade Man. Once again the designers at Deranged Doctor Design have done a terrific job.

Some of you know that this series features the personal and professional life of transit security officer, Casey Holland, so every cover has some sort of transit theme. This cover captures the noir feel of this story.

The book will be launched on Wednesday February 12^th, and goes to the printer this week. I’m still in the midst of preparing the ebook version but it will be done before this month is over for pre-orders. Meanwhile, here’s the back cover blurb:

Who is the Blade Man and why has this mysterious loner been attacking Mainland Public Transport bus drivers? And who is trying to burn MPT down? The company’s president suspects an inside job and orders security officer Casey Holland to launch an internal investigation or face termination.

Convinced that she’s being set up to fail, Casey feels the pressure. With her and Lou’s wedding only weeks away, Casey desperately needs answers, but anger at work and on the streets thwart her efforts. Nor do the police welcome her help.

More employees are attacked, and the president forces Casey to take deeper risks. But how much is too much? How far must she go before facing off with him and MPT’s enemies? Find out in this explosive sixth installment of Casey Holland transit mysteries.

Stay tuned!

The Opposite of Dark, Free Dec. 31!

A quick update to let you know that my BookBub Feature for my first Casey Holland mystery, The Opposite of Dark, is today! I had a few tense moments yesterday when I went to check my links and discovered that the change from $4.99 to Free hadn’t been made on Kobo.

A fast email to Draft 2 Digital (D2D) who format and distribute my ebooks through Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, etc. told me that I didn’t override territorial pricing, so outlets outside the U.S. wouldn’t have picked up on the sale. Obviously, I had no idea I was supposed to do this, but live and learn, right?

The support person advised me to cancel my D2D promo right away and create a new one, which I did. Within two hours, the Kobo link had been changed to Free. I also let Amazon know about the free book on competing sites and they immediately price matched. So all of my links should show that the book is free.

Whew! Given that this is the holiday season, I wasn’t sure if I’d get a timely response, but both D2D and Amazon came through, for which I’m grateful.

Here’s the promo I’m doing on Facebook and Instagram: There’s a slightly different version for BookBub:

FREE on Dec. 31^st : 1st Casey Holland mystery, THE OPPOSITE OF DARK. When the cops tell Casey that her father was murdered the previous night, Casey doesn’t believe them. After all, she buried her dad three years earlier…or did she?

Amazon: myBook.to/TheOppositeofDark

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-opposite-of-dark-2

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1151714413

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/opposite-of-dark-debra-purdy-kong/1101958680?ean=2940153393650

I’ll let you know how this turns out, but perhaps not right away. If readers are interested in purchasing the other four books in the series, it might not happen this week. We’ll see what the month of January brings. Right now, I’m just glad that I did what I needed to and learned something in the process. Not a bad way to end the year.

Ending the Year With a Promo Bang

I’d planned to end the year quietly and work on production for Casey Holland mystery #6, The Blade Man, but then I got inspired to do some tasks (thanks for your tips Jacqui Murray,). I then learned that BookBub will be featuring my first Casey Holland mystery, The Opposite of Dark, for free on December 31^st.

Back on April 3^rd’s blog, I pondered the pros and cons of investing a fair bit of money in their promotion site, and after weighing varying opinions, I decided to submit my book. Colleagues warned me that it’s very difficult to get in and would take a while but to keep trying. So, I applied every month only to face rejection. I stopped in September, as the fall was so busy that I forgot about submitting. I remembered again in early December and was shocked to find that I’d been accepted to be featured on Dec. 31st. I told the BookBub contact person that given that this was the last day of year, it should be interesting, and she responded that BookBub’s stats showed little difference between this or regular days. We’ll see.

I’ve extended the offer for an extra day on either side, to ensure the price change is in place by the 31^st, so again, it’s a matter of waiting to see the results. I probably won’t know if this is a good investment or not for a while. If readers want to buy subsequent books in the series, it likely won’t happen the same day, but possibly throughout the month of January or even further on.

I also finally took the plunge and joined Instagram just before Christmas, and am currently following just a small number of people as I get a feel for the site. Instagram is different than I expected and I’m not sure how to make the most of it yet, but I’ll figure it out. Someone advised me to have a stash of hashtags ready to use, so I’m working on that. Meanwhile, I’m linking this blog to my account, so we’ll see what happens. If you have any great tips, I’d love to know what they are. You can find me HERE. If you send me your link, I’d be happy to follow you!

I think that’s enough busy-ness for the last week of 2019 and into 2020. Oh, and I have another big announcement, but this one will have to wait until the new year!! Meanwhile Happy New Year!

So Many Head-Spinning Images

As I wrote the first draft of this week’s blog on Monday, the TV was filled with images of two mass-shootings. This is Wednesday and the images are still capturing attention here in Canada and around the world, I expect, as they should. While I try to stick to writing-related things on my blog, it’s sometimes impossible not to acknowledge tragedy in its many forms. My heart hurts for all those who are suffering right now.

The world of fiction is not only my passion and my profession, but let’s face it, it’s also escapism from real-life frustration, sadness, and tragedy. When you’re a professional writer, escapism and reality, however, have a funny way of merging.

Now that the production process of The Blade Man is underway, I find myself becoming immersed in pre-production issues. Aside from the final edits, which are almost finished, I’ve been in touch with my jacket designer, who wisely requires clients to complete a detailed 4-page form about cover specifics. It’s a crucial part of the production process that takes a fair bit of time. My form isn’t due until mid-November, so I’m glad I’m starting now. This will give me many weekends to work on it a little bit at a time.

One of the things I’ve started to look at are the stock images offered on a couple of sites that my designer uses. Because my mystery series focuses on my protagonist’s work on buses, the covers typically portray a public transport theme. Today, I’m discovering that there are thousands of bus images out there, nearly 6,000 on Shutterstock alone, yet most of them don’t fit my needs for The Blade Man’s cover.

There are school buses, double-decker buses, blue buses, damaged buses, bus interiors with smiling faces, empty buses, and so on. It’s mind boggling, but as I search, ideas and visions for what I’d like to see are starting to form.

Book production is a journey. There are a number of steps and decisions to make. The process reminds me of when we renovated our kitchen a few years back. The initial ideas and decisions were fun, but as more was required of us and the process was well underway, our mindset slowly became, come on, let’s make a final decision already, without blowing the budget. I want this thing finished!

Productions of any kind require patience, perseverance, some creativity, and serious budgeting. So, back to the image browsing, to see what I can come up with.

The Edits Are Back and It’s Go Time

It feels like a long time since I released my fifth Casey Holland mystery Knock Knock, in November 2017, but a heck of a lot has happened since then. Through it all, I’ve been slowly editing draft after draft of the next installment, The Blade Man.

I reached a point in May where I felt that I’d completed as many drafts as I could, and it was time to send the manuscript to my editor. I was in no rush, but as it happened, my editor had a sudden opening in her schedule, and she finished the edits by mid-June.

Last week, I began making the editorial changes. I’ve also acquired ISBNs for the print and ebook, and have contacted my designer, who’s slotted me in for December. I don’t have an exact launch date yet and probably won’t for a while. There’s plenty of prep work to do in the meantime and when it is published, I will celebrate.

This book has been a long time in the making. I remember first meeting the person (over a coffee at Starbucks) who became my technical advisor on bus-driving issues. That was over seven years ago. At that time, my publisher was working on bringing out book #3, Beneath the Bleak New Moon. Book #4, The Deep End, was probably on its fourth or fifth draft, and Knock Knock was still in its early stages.

I therefore knew it would be quite some time before this book would be published, but finally that date is on my radar.

A Casey Holland novella won’t be too far behind (I hope) which will be completely unlike any Casey story I’ve written. It explores the lighter side of her transit security work in all it’s raunchy, awkward, and humorous glory. But I’m getting ahead of myself…stay tuned!