moving onto part deux

Right now, I’m betwixt and between things. Doomed Queens has finally gone on press as of last week (so I’ve heard). Aside from strong pre-sales (so I’ve been told), it was also picked up by Costco and the QPB Club.

I’ve just received the final cover proof. (Doomed Queens has french flaps and endpapers though it’s a paperback. Broadway is planning a beautiful production job!) This is also probably on press right now too. After more than a year of solid labor, it’s a strange feeling to not have anything more to do on the book itself.

So where does this leave me? Do I simply more onto the next publication? Well not exactly, though I do have a few backburnered projects that I can now turn back to. Publishing a book is a bit more complicated than that. After all, writing, designing and illustrating is only part one of bringing a book to life. Part two is assuring that the book actually finds its way in the world — that it sells well, wins appropriate attention, and gets well reviewed. All this is a job onto itself.

So here’s my “to-do” list for Doomed Queens, part deux:

1. Finish finetuning my kriswaldherr.com website. I’ve still lots of Doomed Queens content to roll out as publication date approaches. Publication is set for October 28th.

2. Need to finish my press kit Q&A. I’m taking this quite seriously since it’s a very important tool for the media to learn about my book. Am doing my best to be pithy, witty, and wise.

3. Prepare for the launch party. There will be two, one at a private club and one at my gallery, which will include an exhibition of the original art from Doomed Queens.

4. Confer with marketing at my publisher. We have lots of ideas for publicizing the book. Now we need to decide on how to proceed. For example, there’s been talk of a Youtube video, which I think is a fantastic idea. I’d also like to design a Facebook application.

5. And so much more. What I’ve listed here just scratches the surface and doesn’t even include all the labors of the good people at Broadway Books. For example, I know they’ve already sent out galleys for reviews. Once the book is published, there will probably be a big mouth mailing, to stir up support from halo’ed quarters.

As for myself, well, I just feel tired. I’m glad to have finished part one of my labors. I’d love to take a break, a mental margarita if you will. But I know I have many miles to go before I sleep. And now is not the time to lose my focus.

• 2 Responses
• Leave a comment...
• Comment Feeds