Category: bittersweet

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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With so much going on, with so many possibilities, and very limited resources, I am factoring a huge thing into all decisions Miranda and I make: “HOW DO YOU WANT TO FEEL?”

Miranda mentioned this in her newsletter this morning regarding her choice to not be the voice of her audiobook:

“I briefly flirted with the idea of wanting to record Bittersweet, but decided that it would exhaust me right when I need to be gathering strength in advance of publication.”

Likewise, we had “the chat” this week: which of the many giveaway ideas that we brainstormed will we actually execute on? The number of options was truly overwhelming. So how I framed this for our chat:

“I think that for the giveaways, this is about whittling down to one idea that seems fun. That’s it. Do one idea really well.

To me, I tried to factor in how I want Miranda and I to feel for the next 8 weeks. Do we want to feel harried and like she is left with the responsibility of saying “BUY MY BOOK BUY MY BOOK BUY MY BOOK” in 1,000 different ways every single day?

Ugh. No.

So the idea we landed with is very different than that. Still fleshing out details today and Monday, but we will share specifics when we can. But two questions we tried to infuse into this are:

• How can this feel fun?
• How can this feel generous?

Thanks!
-Dan

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Argh! I’ve reached chicken-with-head-cut-off mode! Trying to stay focused and calm in the realization that my book publishes two months from tomorrow! In the meantime, I’ve been working on some exciting cool ideas which I can’t wait to share with you! Can you tell I’m busy from all my exclamation points?!

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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Miranda Beverly-Whittemore and Dan Blank[/caption]With the launch date of Bittersweet coming up in May, Miranda and I have been chatting more and more, and really trying to determine: “what else” we can do, and which ideas we have to let go of. In that vein, we started a list of ideas to re-approach in June – things that we absolutely don’t have time for before then, but that could be fun ways to extend the conversation with readers through the summer and fall.

Miranda recently posted about “coming to terms with missed opportunities,” a topic we discussed on Friday that also proved there is an unending list of metaphors for what it means to launch a book. The new metaphor I introduced was ‘how a book launch is like your wedding’ – that even if you LOVED the food you have chosen for the wedding meal, you realize that forever more, it will not be filled with limitless potential, that in the end, it was “chicken.” Not filet mignon, not salmon, but chicken. That’s it.

As a result, part of the posture one can take just prior to book launch is a defensive posture – protecting yourself from the probability that you will receive some negative reviews; that some opportunities won’t pan out as planned; and that you will wake up someday soon with the book launch behind you. And suddenly, everyone around you will ask: “so, what is your NEXT book about.” This relates to that wedding metaphor as well, as it’s not uncommon for the MOMENT your wedding ends to have friends and family immediately say, “So, when are you having a kid?” You can seemingly never just enjoy the moment, it is a constant flux of expectations, both internal and external.

Miranda and I have tried to be very organized about our process together, and the downside of that is that paranoia about missing something. Perhaps it is a missed opportunity, as Miranda mentioned, or an idea to help ensure success of something we are already doing. We have a marketing plan spreadsheet with nearly 100 rows on it, and yet there is always that nagging feeling of “what’s missing here?” in the back of my mind.

From my experience, many creative professionals forget to ever celebrate their successes. They are so wrapped up trying to create momentum, trying to protect themselves from disappointment, trying to think about the next 10 things to do, that to pause and celebrate a good review, an email from a reader, or even the fact that they finished the book, often gets overlooked – STEAMROLLED – by fear and paranoia.

So one thing I am trying to infuse into our process is taking moments to celebrate small successes. Because, if for no other reason, Miranda deserves it.

Thanks.
-Dan

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

I’d forgotten this feeling: two months out from publication, and the doors are starting to close. It’s silly, isn’t it, to think that two months before a book comes out, it can already feel like doors are closing, but the truth is, all the long lead magazines have shut their doors on their May issues. That’s just one small example, and of course, there are plenty of other ways for the word to get out about Bittersweet and other books like it. But that truth speaks to this next phase in the book publication process- the moment when you move from the dreamy sense of endless possibilities to the reality of what’s actually going to happen.

I recently read about a study somewhere that measured peoples’ happiness levels when they were planning a vacation, on a vacation, and then returned home from the vacation. You know when their seratonin levels were highest? In the planning phase. Even higher than their levels when they were on the actual vacation (and don’t get me started on how major their seratonin dips were when they got back home)!

This is a perfect framework to think about launching a book. It’s why I’m already working on my next book (because I know that I’m going to have to wake up in June and have something to look forward to). It’s why I’ve had so much fun over the course of this last year (planning, scheming, dreaming, working). And it’s why this particular phase of the game- the “vacation” itself- is so uncomfortable.

Because there are going to be missed opportunities- that’s just a reality. There are going to be friends who work at a magazine who you overlooked on your galley list, and then email you saying, “oh no! I should have made sure you sent me a galley! Now the May issue is closed!” (a paraphrase, yes, but that was the hard truth I faced when opening my email this morning). Of course that’s my responsibility. I should have doublechecked that my friend was on that list, and I just plain didn’t, and I spent a couple hours this morning feeling grumpy with myself and disappointed and generally moody. Walking around grumbling and forgetting about all the good stuff that is already coming my way.

And then I had to give myself a good dose of: there will be missed opportunities. You’ll forget something. You’ll overlook it because you’re human. That’s okay. Have a cup of tea, figure out two or three things you still have the power to do, and move on.

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

I’ve been sitting on my hands, waiting to share this exciting news with you. Kirkus, one of the most influential reviewers in the book world, has given Bittersweet a starred review. Here’s the link, but you can also read it here:

“As a young woman struggles to read Paradise Lost, she faces her own temptation. Is she brave enough to choose good over evil?

“Mabel Dagmar, a scholarship student at an East Coast college, is mismatched as roommate to the glamorous, privileged Genevra “Ev” Winslow. For months they lead separate lives, until Ev’s mother invites Mabel to Ev’s 18th birthday party—held at the school’s museum, where Ev has just donated a Degas. Despite their seemingly insurmountable social differences, Ev and Mabel become friends, and Mabel is invited to spend the summer at the Winslows’ summer estate on Lake Champlain, made up of cabins ranging from rustic to luxurious and a communal dining hall. She’s eager to go, especially given that the alternative is working at her parents’ dry cleaners, silently observing her mother’s bruises and enduring her disapproval. Mabel and Ev keep house together in Bittersweet cottage, while Ev’s domineering parents, Birch and Tilde, rule from Trillium House. Ev’s oldest brother, Athol, arrives with his tall, athletic, refined family. Second son Banning is close behind with his more disheveled brood. The third son, Galway, is an enigma. Up only on weekends, he keeps his distance, but his eyes rest on Mabel. After a chance meeting with Ev’s eccentric aunt Indo, Mabel is plunged into mysteries. What does Indo think she can find amid the old Winslow documents? Why did Ev’s cousin Jackson kill himself? Why is Ev hiding her romance with John, who works on the estate? And why are so many doors locked with heavy bolts? As she uncovers evidence of dastardly deeds—some deliciously improbable—Mabel comes face to face with her own secrets.

“Beverly-Whittemore (Set Me Free, 2007, etc.) has crafted a page-turner riddled with stubborn clues, a twisty plot and beguiling characters.”

Huzzah!!!