The Day Cometh, Ready or Not
Great news, nonsense, and gratitude. The Deepest Lake pubs May 7.
Here’s the best news I got this week.
Amazon chose The Deepest Lake as an Editors’ pick for May!
See that little dark flag near the top, “Editors’ pick?” As I told my husband Brian, I now have something to tell family and friends who ask me how the book launch is going. I have a solid, undeniable piece of good news to report, rather than the anxious ramble during which I recount various highs, lows, vague forecasts, and premonitory signs detected in clouds and coffee grounds.
I didn’t realize it was solid news when I first saw it. I was sitting on the couch at 11:30 pm, doing some weird number crunching. (Okay, I was seeing how few hours I had bicycled this year compared to 2023 and forlornly wondering if there was any way I could make up for months of relative inactivity.)
So there I was, looking for hope. In numbers. Which is where I too often look.
As a break from worrying and wondering about fitness, I decided to worry and wonder about my Amazon page. Since my book isn’t out yet, there isn’t a lot to see, but I wanted to check whether my publisher had added my latest review to the book description.
I didn’t see my latest review (shown at bottom). But wait, what were those two words. Editors’ pick? EDITORS’ PICK?
Holy Moses (yes, this was just hours after Passover ended), could it be true that my little book—the one that took over four years to publish since initial inspiration—the same one I wrote over and over until it became two versions so different I had to choose between them—had become a Book of the Month on Amazon? That’s only happened once before, with my 2016 novel Behave. It doesn’t translate into huge sales, necessarily, but it sure helps people discover the book.
It also felt like a little tap on the shoulder, which I needed. Someone out there was saying, “Yes, you did it. You jumped genres, you tried something new, and you wrote something that can make a ‘best of’ mystery/thriller/suspense list. You can stop fretting now and get back to the work of writing.”
(To which I’d say. “Writing, yes! End of fretting, possibly not yet!”)
I posted about the Editors’ pick on Instagram, while alternately smiling and grimacing, thinking how embarrassed I’d be if I discovered it really was just an Amazon technical error. Wouldn’t that be so funny? Hahahahahahahahahhaaaa.
By the way, did you know that a UK publishing house once accidentally wired $20,000 to my bank account and then had to ask for it back? And wasn’t it fun to tell the young male employee at the end of the line, “But… I already went and bought the sportscar.” Which he believed for a moment! You should have heard him stammer!
So, these things happen.
Anyway, on May 1, the morning after posting about my Amazon news on social media, where my editor probably saw it and was convinced that I spend WAY too much time checking my own Amazon page, I got two emails from my publishers, making the news official. Not an error. Phewwwwwww!
And here’s the nice trade review (full here, clip below), my third.
You may know that The Deepest Lake is set at an upscale writer’s retreat in Guatemala. You may not know that it is a touching mother-daughter story, perfect for Mother’s Day! Several reviewers/interviewers, including people I did not bribe, have said so!
Someday, if any of you are curious (leave a comment), I will talk about the different pre-pub experience of writing a genre book (mystery/suspense) as versus literary. I have found them to be very different beasts, indeed, in terms of reviews, online buzz, early reader ratings, and so on.
Nonsense (and non-nonsense)
I set my hopes on getting 10,000 Goodreads people to put TDL on their “want to read shelf.” When that number was reached, I set my hopes on 20,000! And I think we might get there!
By contrast, my last book only had 3,600 “want to read” shelfers. People put books on shelves either to enter a giveaway or to simply remind themselves later that they intend to read a book.
Does this number suggest a higher conversion to actual reads and sales? One can hope. (Enter the giveaway that runs until May 7 and you will help that number tick upward, plus have a chance to win a free copy.)
The fact that I’m tracking this so closely, which makes zero difference to the numbers themselves, is the nonsense part.
But the numbers themselves aren’t nonsense. It helps a lot when readers:
Buy a pre-order copy… anywhere!
Put a book on hold at their library (or order it if it hasn’t been ordered)
Leave an early Goodreads rating or review, even if it doesn’t include many words. You really don’t have to rehash the plot. (I’m actually confused when people do that. Am I the only one?) What people want to hear is your thoughts and feelings. Or just a numerical rating!
Leave an Amazon rating/review once the book is published, whether or not you bought the book from Amazon
Gratitude
If you need a hug, here's a hug.
I, personally, need some hugs. Book launch time is so stressful!
I took this photo in Sept 2021 at the Mesa, Arizona DIY writer’s retreat (in an Airbnb) where I did one of my biggest revisions. I remember wishing this little book would get published and preparing myself to accept if it never happened, because I was loving the process. I was learning so much. I was making myself laugh and maybe just cry a little. (I’m telling you, this is a mother-daughter book with some cry-ey parts!)
To those of you who have been part of the process—talking about the story, reading drafts, pre-ordering copies!—thank you so so so so much.
Mark your calendars for May 13!
This is my first online event and I may not have many others because this ain’t 2021, baby! (Soo many online events during the early pandemic. Whereas this time around, I will see the occasional reader in person.)
Sign up here if you’d like to hear me try to get a word in because these are some heavy hitters! I’m honored to be included. You can also have books shipped directly from this very cool Madison, WI bookstore.
Thanks again, everybody. I appreciate your attention, your comments, and your private replies.
I cannot wait to read it!
Yay! So happy to see all this good news :)