Publishing News

Hello friends,

Thank you for the warm response to my publishing news. As my reader and writer friends, you’ve all been part of my journey to publication. Especially during this unsettling time, I appreciate every text and message that you’ve taken time to send. Most of all, I hope that each of you is healthy and well. Now more than ever, I believe that writers can change the world, through the stories we tell, the empathy we inspire, and the joy we bring.

Within my storytelling world, I’m excited to share that my publisher and I have aligned on a book title. My contemporary novel, Goodbye, Orchid will launch on October 1^st, 2020. 

With the pub date six months away, I’ve been drafting launch plans. As you may have seen on FB, my publisher and I are collaborating on a cover design brief. In case you’d like to follow my marketing insights there, here is a link: www.fb.me/CarolVanDenHendeAuthor

Excitingly, I’ve been considering which innovations to activate. Specifically, I’m energized by these ideas:

·      Animated e-covers. As with many things, it’s not about the technology but the application. I prefer a light touch, like Hugh Howey’s Wool, in which hot lava sprinkles across the moving cover, but doesn’t outshine the title or author name:  amzn.to/WoolAnimatedCover

·      Recording your own audiobook. The rationale to pursue this is not just the growth in audiobooks, but also the idea that an author’s recording builds intimacy with readers, provides creative control, and gives you a chance to catch any last edits. The equipment to get high-quality audio doesn’t have to be expensive. Fun tip: rather than a studio, you can use a walk-in closet, because clothes will muffle unwanted reverberations. Joanna Penn and Derek Doepker chat about the topic in this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgI-Ohd38A0

·      A Mighty Blaze. Novelists Caroline Leavitt and Jenna Blum have partnered to help launch titles whose book tours have been disrupted by the coronavirus. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the momentum they’re building across FB, Twitter and Insta: bit.ly/PWMightyBlaze

Please let me know if you’ve experimented with any of these tactics, or if this has generated ideas for you. As always, feel free to share the insights in this newsletter. 

Happy spring holidays, and happy writing,