Countdown to a Book 17: Blast Off!

I share a certain trait with the character of Angela in my debut, The Art of Falling—a propensity for celebration. Maybe you caught on to that when I announced my book deal here a year-and-a-half ago.  The countdown to its publication is now complete, and I recently celebrated with more than a hundred writing friends at my hometown launch at the Doylestown (PA) Bookshop, and at an after-party at the historic, newly renovated Doylestown Inn.

Like that first joyous entry, I’m going to let pictures tell the bulk of the story, while tying in some of the topics I’ve visited in this series.

Some of my Wegman's writing group

While writing is a solo sport, in my first post I suggested that you join hands with other writers. Here I am pictured with several of the writing friends I meet with once a week at a local grocery store, laptops side by side, all of us working on our various projects.

Because we should spend all our time writing, shouldn’t we? Not fritter away time networking? Hmm…

You may recall that my publisher's extensive marketing questionnaire got me thinking about all sorts of people in my life who might comprise an audience for my work. In or just outside the frame of this picture are relatives (even my brother who flew in from Denmark!), neighbors, my former auto mechanic, my former pastor, my massage therapist, writing group members, marketing collective members, members from book clubs I’ve led, Facebook friends I’m meeting face-to face for the first time, my best friends from Ohio, writing students and editing clients, fellow board members…the list goes on and on.

A special guest was my agent Katie Shea Boutillier from the Donald Maass Literary Agency. I shared how I got an agent here.

Katie also had celebrating to do. While this was her third book published, it was also her first launch party! Obviously we both believed the developmental edit we went through together was well worth the effort.

In one post I told you about the care I took getting a good author photo and am I glad I did! Who knew how many places that photo would end up?

Doylestown Bookshop display

On signing table in Doylestown

American Library Association Mid-Winter Convention

Willow Grove, PA Barnes and Noble

...you get the picture.

Now that I have gone from writer to author, I write a lot more in longhand:

Not that I mind!

While I was acting like a rock star, over on the counter and the shelves, my book—no longer a manuscript—had what it takes to sell itself.

An emotional story of an incredible second chance...

My bookstore was really happy with the number of pre-sales I drove to it. While everyone else headed to the party, they brought me a couple stacks of pre-ordered books to sign.

But eventually I got to the launch party. There wasn't any food left but they showed me this picture—proof!—and I got plenty of cake, made by my talented cousin. That lovely "falling" flower arrangement was made by my sister.

But the real fun was still to come: the surprise I had in store for everyone else. Turns out I wasn't so ready to leave my dancing roots in the past. With the help of students from the Bucks County School of the Performing Arts, I was able to incorporate it into the launch party while making another dream come true—my own flash mob!

Thanks for taking this countdown ride with me, and I hope you learned as much as I have along the way. If you missed any, here is the full list of Countdown to a Book posts.

Click here for the evolving list of my signing, speaking, and blog tour events. You can request a signed, personalized copy from the Doylestown Bookshop and they'll ship it to you—or if you already have a copy, contact me for a signed custom bookplate!

Now—back to writing the next book, which they say is the best way to sell your last one!

Kathryn Craft is a developmental editor at Writing-Partner.com, an independent manuscript evaluation and line editing service. Her women's fiction and memoir are represented by Katie Shea at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. Her monthly series, "Countdown to a Book," details the traditional publication of her debut novel, The Art of Falling, by Sourcebooks in January 2014. Connect with Kathryn at her Facebook Author Page and Twitter.