So sweet it will give you cavities...
Here it is. My first romance in thirteen years. Over those years, romance fans have asked (begged) me to write another romance. I wasn't sure I had another one in me, and then I came up with a concept for a trilogy. My old agent read about 20 pages and passed on it. Another agent agreed to look at the same pages and said it was the weirdest thing she'd ever read. Pass. But I've always loved this idea, so I decided to publish it myself. Maybe they were right. Maybe this book is awful. But maybe it's not. I don't know. The books that have been the hardest to get past the gatekeepers ended up being my biggest successes, so you just don't know. But do I still have what it takes to write romance? That's the question. Not sure I do, because I've never been a romantic person. And now that I'm a curmudgeon...
Blurb:
A romance about a girl and her cat...
For cat lovers everywhere, this sweet, quirky, and delightful romance is about a young woman and her matchmaking cat.
A little bit of mystery, a whole lot of whimsy.
When a matchmaking cat takes it upon himself to find his young mistress a new mate, he accidentally stirs up memories better left forgotten.
Melody’s husband was murdered by what seemed a random act of violence. Two years later, the killer hasn’t been caught, and Melody is coping in unhealthy ways. During the day she’s a mild-mannered children’s librarian, but at night she’s a party girl, hanging out in bars, drinking with new friends, and often bringing home strange men. Although acquaintances have tried to keep in touch, Melody has cut herself off from most of the people in her old life. Max, her eccentric cat, doesn’t approve of her new friends, he’s tired of the parade of losers, and he’s finally taken it upon himself to find Melody a new man.
Setting:
Saint Paul, Minnesota
This book is 30,000 words, which equates to about 150 print pages.
The inspiration for the trilogy has been gone a year. You can read about him here.
I hope you don't mind a marketing question -- free free to ignore this, if you do! There's no link in the post to a place to buy and the book's not available on Amazon yet. Is there a value in promoting the book before people can buy it?
ReplyDelete(I don't intend that question critically, I'm just curious. I've never worked directly in marketing but as a self-publisher, I'm interested in figuring out why other authors make the marketing and promotion choices they make. Well, and how effective they are, but you obviously can't tell that until the book's really for sale!)
i don't really consider my blog marketing. it's a bit of marketing, but mostly socializing and letting people know what i'm up to. (i've been talking about this book for years. :D) that said, i think it's a good thing to talk about a book quite a while before it comes out. not years though. heh. it's good to generate interest ahead of time. but it's too bad amazon isn't set up for preorders!
ReplyDeletetheresa
This has got to be the cutest cover ever :)
ReplyDeleteIt would be lovely if Amazon could do pre-orders, but I bet a lot of self-publishers would be selling books they hadn't finished writing yet. :) Thanks for answering my question!
ReplyDeletePerfect!
ReplyDeleteJ.A.: I am SO happy with this cover. I spent 6 weeks looking for an image.
ReplyDeleteWyndes: good point. I never thought about that!! About people selling books that weren't finished.
L.K.: :)
Theresa