I have to plan what?

Me and a supportive friend

Hi there! It’s so exciting to be here. Happily Ever After Thoughts has added Kayce Lassiter (waving hello) to every other Friday, and I get to fill in the Fridays she doesn’t have you rolling around in stitches. Seriously, did you see her blog post on “Love” last week. I had tears in my eyes :-) I cannot compete with Kayce when it comes to laughing out loud, but I sure do give her a run for her money when it comes to enthusiasm. At least, I think I do :-}

I am a brand new published author. Yup, after years (I won’t say how many) I published my first book with Ellora’s Cave. It’s titled Masque. I have to say despite everything I learned about the writing business before I was published, it still didn’t prepare me for being a published author. Talk about a learning curve!

So with my first book, I needed to have a “Release Party.” At least that is what I discovered based on what I saw others on facebook doing and what I read about in books and heard in workshops on marketing. No problem. I can throw a party (with my husband’s help). How hard can it be?  OMG there were so many details! Where, when, what to give away, what to read, what to eat, who to invite, where to send press releases, etc. Trust me, throwing a Christmas party as we do every year is a lot easier (well for me it is because my husband does all the cooking).

Anyway, I decided to have my release party at a beach bar because I live on a Caribbean island and it is an erotic ebook, no print books . . . yet. I thought a little alcohol would make it more fun, besides, a bookstore seemed a bit stuffy for an erotic romance and the bookstore on island was in the other town while Coconuts on the Beach was right down the road :-) I let my husband order the food since that is his expertise, and I ordered the masks, lots of them. Everyone who came got a mask with a number, and I pulled door prizes. Then of all those who bought Masque we pulled a winner to win this beautiful Venetian mask made in Italy.

Then came time for the reading <gulp>. I asked if the group (34 people) wanted to hear a PG portion or an X-rated portion of the story.  Just my luck, they wanted only X. Now, this is a beach bar and wide open, so I had to speak up really loud. I read what my audience wanted to hear and when I stopped, it was dead silent. Oh sugar, they hate it. Then they broke out into loud applause. That’s when I blushed. They really liked it! It was so amazing!

I think I did okay for my first venture into promoting my book. Everyone had a good time and that is what means the most to me. Wish you could have been there :-)

Always,

Lexi