Wednesday, September 09, 2009

On Birthdays, Pregnant Publicists, and Websites

My very first published novel, Night in Eden, came out twelve years ago this month, on my birthday. You see, publishers tend to release books on the last Tuesday of the month before their official publication date. So since Eden was an “October release” and my late-September birthday just happened to fall on a Tuesday that year, the planets aligned to give me one of the nicest birthday presents I have ever received.

Well, the planets have aligned again this year: my second thriller, The Solomon Effect, is due to be released on my birthday. But I’m not so sure this is a good omen. You see, my publicist went on maternity leave just when she should have been sending out review copies and press releases and such, and Solomon basically fell through the cracks. Fortunately my agent and I eventually realized what was happening and the folks at HarperCollins have worked really hard to salvage some things. But there will be no Publishers Weekly review, and the Romantic Times review won’t appear until their December issue. The Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews are also iffy. If this sounds like the kiss of death for a book, believe me, it is.

That said, I’ve updated the C.S. Graham website and added a new feature, A Pictorial Tour of the World of The Solomon Effect. You can see it here.

15 comments:

Lainey said...

That irks me. Too much ineptitude in publishing these days. The Archangel Project was a fantastic read. Your follow-up novel should have been heavily promoted in advance. Perhaps you have author friends who could promote it on their blogs? Am I understanding that there are no ARCs at all?

cs harris said...

That's right, Lainey; no ARCs. At all.

Sisker said...

Sorry to see Solomon falling through the publishing cracks. OTOH, Night in Eden is a book I recommend to get non-romance readers onto the bright side. That said, I'm very careful with the loaning of my copy.

cs harris said...

Sisker, I have to admit to buying copies of Eden on Ebay! That's the only way I ever got the hardcover book club edition.

Steve Malley said...

Setbacks like this suck, I know. (My American distributor solicited my second graphic novel in September 2001-- everything was going great up until about the 10th!) I predicted last year that you're on the verge of a mega-breakout, and I stand by it.

This one book won't stop you-- you're headed for BIG things!

orannia said...

I'm so sorry to hear that. Hmmmm...I echo Lainey's suggestion about blog traffic...

And it seems very weird that there aren't any ARCs. Did your publisher say why? And if there are no ARCs, then can they not provide a small number of published books so that they could be sent out to various people?

Good luck!

cs harris said...

Steve, let me tell you about the manuscript I overnighted to New York on September 10... Thanks for your vote of confidence; I hope you're right!

Orannia, hundreds of copies of the book and a press release went out to blog sites this week. It'll be interesting to see what kind of an effect that has.

Lainey said...

Good news!

Another author that I follow was shafted by her publisher late in the game on her last release. But she was able to make a respectable showing on the NYT list (#20) through her network of author bloggers and faithful reader fans.

Charles Gramlich said...

Hum, sounds like some communication should have gone on. I hope it won't damage the book's chances too much.

Barbara Martin said...

Excellent pictoral tour, Candy. Trakhener horses are the best all purpose horse for European warmbloods.

As for a timely review for when the book is due to come out, I would be pleased to write one for you. Is a PDF available? Angry Robot Books, a HarperCollins imprint sends these before the ARCs are available.

cs harris said...

Lainey, I can always hope.

Charles, definite lack of communication. It's bound to damage it; those review copies are an important part of creating a prepub buzz. It's just a matter of how much.

Barbara, Thank you. I think they were sending out PDFs. I'll see what I can do.

orannia said...

Orannia, hundreds of copies of the book and a press release went out to blog sites this week.

YAH! *crossing fingers*

FMGolden said...

I must say that I picked up three of the St Cyr Mysteries and am sold on any book you write. My husband and I read about two or three books a week, so we will get The Archangel Project and watch for the Solomon Project, publicity or not!

By the way, my undergrad degree was from Midwestern State, I am sure several years before you were there.

FMGolden said...

Solomon Effect- sorry it will help to get the name of the book right when I buy it!

cs harris said...

FMGolden, thank you. That's funny about Midwestern. The concept of six degrees of separation is often 4 too many!