When to let go of your book...and what that really means for a writing career.

On February 6, 2014, my second novel, THE SOUND OF LETTING GO hit the shelves. It got lovely reviews and sold better than the first novel, AUDITION. Now, on the brink of July, the book hovers above the Amazon rankings million mark. Despite great feedback from teens, librarians and adult readers, it hasn't made lists, YALSA or otherwise. My Google alerts (I know, turn them off) begin with free download links so, thanks internet. I'm doing a Goodreads giveaway to remind people I exist and have spent wasted $50 on a Goodreads ad. And I've been toying with some summer promo. But maybe it's time to let go. I've done all I can and the time has come to focus on the next manuscript. That's logical, right?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends August 09, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Here's the catch in terms of a baseball metaphor in honor of my 8yo son: The odds of continuing a writing career after two base hits but no home runs are worse than the odds of the Mariners winning the World Series. You can write the book of your heart. It can be fantastic and beautiful. But you're tainted goods. You've been tried in the big leagues and come up short. Publishers, like ball club managers, now weigh the odds of betting on you a third time (heck, a few seasons of experience probably HAVE made you a better writer) or signing a fresh-faced, sales-figure-unblemished rookie debut novelist too green to realize the marketing department is ignoring them. OR they could pass on you AND somebody else and sign a sexy nerd superstar like Neil Gaiman or John Green or Andrew Smith who you will never be due to your enormous knockers (your welcome, hubs!) (and yes, that is me being a touch cynical & bitter).

What to do? Give up this business? Realize it's a chew-you-up-spit-you-out endeavor and even many editors wind up bailing so writers are likely to finish as casualties? Self-pub, try to monetize your blog, write swill for hire for the insurance industry? Realize you rolled the dice, lost and it's time to leave the table? Go back to school for your teaching certificate or an MBA?  Focus of marriage, parenting, friendships, communities less focused on word counts?

I know this isn't pretty. It's not meant to be a downer, either. However, I have met many wonderful writers in this business and, as we "grow up" together, these are the endgame questions for most of us. Prescriptives? Suggestions? Writing prompt for the week? Nah. But I'll leave with this fact:

Me? I'm still writing. So my Twitter description must be right. I am SLIGHTLY CRAZY! 

Win the first signed hardcover of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO!

In celebration of Two-Weeks-Until-Pub-Day (because THAT's a holiday?!), I'm feeling gifty...

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends February 01, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Last few hours to enter THE SOUND OF LETTING GO Goodreads

This is for a signed, annotated advance review copy (arc) of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO. Comes with a pack of TSoLG sticky notes and a signed postcard, too!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends December 01, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Before going on TURKEY HIATUS WEEKEND...

just a quick reminder that, once I've recovered from my tryptophan coma, I'll be spending some time annotating a copy of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO for one lucky winner!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends December 01, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Contest ends soon, so click if you want to win a gravy-stained arc (just kidding, it'll be a pumpkin
pie-stained arc!).

Business on Tuesday: AUTHOR SHAMING EXPERIMENT RESULTS

On November 4th, I proposed a week-long experiment here on my blog. I also emailed a group of my author friends about what I was proposing and asked that they tweet about it to help spread the word.

Here are the results:

• My AMAZON ranking moved up from the dark, depressing 4 millions to the 137,000s. At last check it had wended its way back down to the 900,000ks.
• On the GOODREADS YA BOOKS of 2014 list, I traveled up from 137 up to a peak of 109 and is now at 110. There was a small uptick in additions to peoples' "to read" lists and a few other nods. On the GR February 2014 list, TSoLG remained solidly at #69. No additional votes.
• Not enough blog comments to do a giveaway.
• The needle did move but the absolute numbers (additional GR votes, additional pre-orders or whatever changes your Amazon score?!) were small.

IN SUM:
The aforementioned needle is very sensitive to even the slightest motion. Therefore, aside from the top and bottom outliers, these rankings are pretty insignificant.

QUESTION:
Were the results worth the time, effort and imposition on friends' goodwill the required? Not really (but thanks everybody!). In fact, the more the needle moved, the more I realized its insignificance for a midlist writer such as myself.

TAKEAWAY:
If your stats really bother you, you can probably just as easily move your Goodreads/Amazon stats by getting people like your mother-in-law to pre-order your book and your neighbors to click on your Goodreads links.  Or, see if somebody like Dr. Who can morph you into Cassandra Clare.  Either way ;)

Still running this, though...

GOODREADS ARC GIVEAWAY FUN!  Ready...set...click!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends December 01, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY: A signed, annotated arc of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO

Goodreads arc giveaway fun. Ready...set...click!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends December 01, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Author Shaming via Goodreads & Amazon--and a GAME with prizes

Should I care where my novel
ranks on Goodreads'
Most Popular Books of February 2014 list,
or the longer
YA NOVELS of 2014?
Should I wonder how many pre-sold copies moves a book from Amazon's millions ranks to the lofty 10,000s? Well, I do.  It's rough getting incessant statistical confirmation of your midlist status.
It's like officially getting NOT ASKED to homecoming in public! As I draft this post, the #1 slot on GR's 2014 roster is Cassie Clare's latest (47k+ votes). My book sits at #164.

Here's a game:  Wanna try to help move my baby up the charts? Click & vote via one of the two BIG links above. I'll Tweet and Facebook stats daily through next Sunday, so other struggling authors out there can get data about this effort. If you start a similar experiment on your site, please leave a comment below so I can stop by and click my gratitude right back to you!

Also: If you PREORDER THE SOUND OF LETTING GO ON AMAZON during this week, send proof (a screenshot of your Amazon preorder confirmation) in the body of an email, along with your address (US/CANADA only) to stasiakehoe (AT) msn (DOT) com and I will mail you a signed postcard and pack of super-pretty TSoLG sticky notes by way of thanks.

AND: If I have at least 15 comments, I will give away a signed copy of my first novel, AUDITION. All commenters will be automatically entered to win. This one IS open to international addresses! (Details: Deadline for entry 12:01 AM Pacific Time on 11 November 2013. Winner (drawn at random) will be announced on the blog by the end of the same day (11/11/13) and must contact me by 12:01 AM Pacific Time on Friday, November 15, 2013 to claim the prize.)

Finally (long post)...a Goodreads giveaway for a signed, annotated Advance Review Copy of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO begins on 11/10.  So, the gifty fun will continue!

Melissa Etheridge, Angelina Jolie and other things I shouldn't talk about...

So, it's been a crazy few weeks. My eldest graduated high school and got a new girlfriend. My
youngest finished first grade. My middle two are performing, partying and adjusting to summer. And me...?

Well, I've been dealing with some health stuff. It's all good and I'm fine but it's been one of those "biopsy springs." TMI?  Probably. And I'm generally the kind of blogger who doesn't get personal, talk politics or badmouth anybody. But it's interesting what a few weeks of fear-of-mortality will do for one's attitude.

With no further ado, a few opinions I've been swallowing...

1. Removal of body parts. Recently, rocker and breast cancer survivor Melissa Etheridge weighed in on Angelina Jolie's dramatic health decision, suggesting that she was "fearful" and that many people with the dangerous gene just try to "not stress" and it all works out. So, um, first, it ain't Ms. Etheridge's business. And, second, after having gone through the "tests" process more than once, I am not certain that every person could live with the uncertainty Ms. Jolie faces and "not stress" for the rest of her life. Even if the outcomes have been, like mine, unpleasant but benign. (Rhyming is sometimes impossible to resist.) Should Angelina have told the world about her choice? Her body, her bully pulpit, so fine by me. I just don't really think outsiders should judge. Even if they do still blame her for breaking up Brad and Jen. ALSO, that line between what uncertainty we can survive and what can break us is THE STUFF OF NOVELS--it's the space in which we writers create. So, yeah, think about it!

2. Goodreads. So, I could pretend to be all Melissa-Etheridge-zen about this but, yeah, I look at my ratings (and kudos to those of you who manage not to). And yeah, I know they're pretty much baloney and some people love the power of giving one star to stuff and other people just give five stars to everything (which is fine with me because, while not particularly useful, it is does not seem malicious). HOWEVER, for some reason (and again, I've had a rough spring), I got kind of pissed yesterday when I saw a 4-star rating for my new book. WHY? Because there is no way this international blogger could have gotten her hands on a copy. The arcs are NOT PRINTED YET. And a four seemed weird. I guess she didn't think it was a five-star title? Whatever. Honestly, I think such weird random ratings devalue Goodreads (a site I truly enjoy) even more than whatever Amazon plans to do with it. ALSO, would it be so hard for people to have the minimal honor system of at least not RATING a book without reading it? I mean, fine, vote for it on lists, mark as to-read, leave a comment, but RATING without reading? SO. VERY. LAME.

3. My kitchen. I am EXTREMELY JAZZED by the new tile in my kitchen. Here's a picture. Look closely. See the bunnies and turtles? They're scattered all along the walls. My 12yo loves turtles; my 7yo loves bunnies; and I love the two of them. My kitchen tells you so. You should see the rest of my house ;)

QUESTIONS FOR YOU...

1. Have I deeply offended you? Shocked you? Surprised you?
2. How do you feel about Goodreads?
3. Do you like my new tile?

Back to nice-girl tomorrow. I think. Well, maybe...

Goodreads Giveaway: Annotated Arc of AUDITION!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Audition

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends September 17, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win