The first step in releasing Wayward Patriot: Preserving the Vote to the public was taken three days ago on April 1. I had arranged with an independent bookstore in Colorado Springs to hold a book signing event prior to the release of the book. For them, it might bring new faces into their store and would give them an exclusive to sell my book for nearly three weeks before it went public. For me, it provided an opportunity to tell my Colorado Springs friends of the book’s availability in the event they might like to pick it up before it was released online.
The bookstore, Hooked on Books, chose the date and time for the event land promoted it on its Facebook page. They also indicated that they would send out a press release to advertise it as well. I sent emails to those in the area that I thought might be interested in attending.
We had over 30 people come in to listen to my brief talk about how I came to begin my first novel at 65 years of age. I also read a page from the book, intending to provide a hook to those not sure if they were interested in buying the book. Barbara, my wife, was a great help to me. She passed out books, helped organize the actual signing of books, and visited with those who came to the event.
Was it a success? It felt like it to me, but I had never done this before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. The organizer at the bookstore said she always thinks it’s great if a new author sells 5 books. We sold 28 books in the three hours that we were there.
The next step will be on April 19, Patriots’ Day, when the book goes live on Amazon.com
We are keeping our expectations in check, but we hope that some of the early readers will take the time to place a review on Amazon on release day. That will be very helpful in the promotional effort.
It’s all a new experience for me but an enjoyable one. I am looking forward to getting the release behind me so I can spend a lot more time working on my next book in the series.
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