You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2008.
I have two tentative events coming up and as soon as I know the details, I’ll add them to the Events page.
This afternoon I met with a woman at my local Barnes & Noble about book signings. She couldn’t have been nicer, and let me know that sometime between the spring and fall she will be organizing a night for local, self-published authors to display their books and hold signings. She also gave me a handout on how to contact Barnes & Noble itself for possible sales. At the end of the conversation she congratulated me for taking this step forward. That meant a lot; this truly is a leap of faith.
Last week I was contacted about giving a Meet the Author class through Broome Community College sometime in the fall. It would be a two-hour session that includes a reading, discussion and book signing. Sounds like fun.
And the first person to review my book is… {drum roll} Valerie Zehl. You can find her review on my Amazon.com page as well as on the Reviews page in this blog. Remember, if you want me to post your review on this blog, send an e-mail to 1MaeveKenny@gmail.com.
I’m starting to receive feedback from readers. Thanks so much for letting me know your views, especially because they’ll help me to grow as a writer. I appreciate you taking the time to get back to me.
I’ve heard The Cyber Miracles is a fast read. One reader in Ithaca takes first place for this — she read it within hours of receiving the book in the mail yesterday! A reader in Binghamton called it “a good, fast, compelling read.” Another Binghamton reader wants the sequel — now!
On the menu above you can see pages marked Q&A and Cast Notes. I’ve updated these both with reader feedback. If any of you readers want to send me your Reviews of the book, e-mail them to me at 1MaeveKenny@gmail.com.
There is an addition to my book page over at Amazon.com. Now you can take a sneak peek inside The Cyber Miracles.
If you scroll down the page you’ll see other cool features. You can input tags that you think describe the book so as to link it with related books. You can rate the book from 1 star (I hate it) to 5 stars (I love it). You can write (or even videotape!) your review of the novel. There’s also a forum for discussing The Cyber Miracles. Pretty cool stuff.
Want to enhance your experience of reading The Cyber Miracles? Why not fix yourself a Bloody-Good Martini like Brídgeen does before you sit down with the story. Gnosh on organic black cherry salsa as you read about the Casa de Sonrisa opening. Take a dinner break and grill some chicken spiedies (as Andy would say, you carnivorous one!). Brew up your own special blend of java, take a bite out of a half moon cookie and determine what your future holds. You’ll find the recipes through the link on the menu above.
The Cyber Miracles contains some phrases in Gaeilge, the Irish language. When one learns the Irish language, it comes with an expectation that you will share it with others to keep this beautiful old Celtic language alive.
With that in mind, I’ve added a page devoted to the language, see the Gaeilge link above.
Today I posted some proverbs, toasts and greetings that you can use during the coming St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Cleachtadh a dhéanann máistreacht (that is, practice makes perfect).
I’ve added a couple of new features to the Web site. On the top bar you will find two new pages, one where I’ll list bookstores that carry The Cyber Miracles and the other provides a sample of Chapter One: TabloidTruth.
Got my first feedback from a new reader of the book today, my former co-worker Valerie Zehl. She writes:
“Circles under my eyes … in a fog this morning … YOUR fault, because I couldn’t put your book down last night!!!!”
Thanks, Val. Sorry to keep you awake :^)
In other news, I’ve been contacted for another book signing sometime in the fall (I’ll post it on the events page once it is confirmed) and I’m shipping out a copy of the book tomorrow to a bookstore in Ireland that has expressed interest.
My blog traffic has been crazy this week. I had been averaging around 15 hits a day. By Saturday my total reached 400. As of this moment, I’m at 816.
The lead character in my novel, Maeve Kenny, works for Clú Public Relations in Manhattan. (Clú means renown in Irish.) I feel like I’m morphing into Maeve right now. After all the waiting and expectation of finally holding the published book in my hands, I’ve got to get down to the work of promoting it.
Today I Googled Irish organizations across the country for addresses to send press releases to, so I could get the word out to one of my target audiences.
In the afternoon I took some promo pix of myself, trying not to look like I was taking a MySpace mug shot. Not an easy task. I got my hair cut yesterday for the photo shoot (shout out to Kirk from Idaho!) and played my own stylist this afternoon. Is this how Beyoncé started out? Anyway, you can see the results on the About the Author page.
The first orders for my book began arriving today to readers’ homes. Now the reviews nerves set in. Will I get the Paula Abdul feedback or the Simon Cowell feedback? Stay tuned…
I just checked and the Amazon.com page for the novel has just gone live.
You can access it HERE.
Just a quick note to clear up some confusion. My book will be available at the Amazon.com bookstore sometime between now and March 3, by my estimate.
The book is available now at my CreateSpace (a division of Amazon.com) E-Store.
Yesterday I sent out the first announcement about my novel to family, friends and business acquaintances. It was great to get back words of encouragement from so many people. And the icing on the cake — my first book orders came in. Already! I’m so very grateful. Thank you for believing in me. I hope you will enjoy the book.
Over the next few weeks and months I’ll be sending out press releases and arranging book signing events. Hopefully by then I will have met up with some readers. This book has several layers that I hope will appeal to different audiences: fans of Irish culture and language, journalists, techies and residents of Greater Binghamton.
Rod Serling called this his hometown. John Gardner headed the creative writing program at Binghamton University. So there is a wonderful tradition of storytelling that precedes me in this valley.
What will carry this novel is word of mouth. It is my hope that the story will move you to tell others about it or point them in the direction of this blog. And if you’re willing to give your review of The Cyber Miracles, send it to me at 1MaeveKenny@gmail.com.
Again, I am very touched by your support.
The Cyber Miracles 
Recent Comments