Launch Day Madness: Picture Proof

Dude, holy bar coded cows! Yesterday was amazing. So many blog comments. So many twitter messages. I knew that if I didn't consciously decide to stay offline, I would feel this great need to respond to them all.

So I decided to stay offline for the most part. I appreciate the book birthday wishes and all the comments and everything. I did read them all.

Today, I present you with picture proof of what actually happens on your typical launch day.

Up first: tennis. Bright and early at 7 AM. This is me afterward, in my unshowered condition.

Next: breakfast. My husband with his hot chocolate. He was all like, "Take my picture with my face covered with cream." #keeper

Wha? It's BACON.

Yum.

After eating: the bookstore. In the window, at the local Barnes & Noble.

On the shelf at the local Barnes & Noble. It took a few minutes to find them, and I was seriously getting nervous. But there they are!! I didn't cry, for the record.

Off the shelf at the local Barnes & Noble. I thought, "They have SIX copies! Yay!"

We shopped a bit, and were going up to buy the books, and I stopped short and said, "OH MY HECK, THAT'S MY BOOK." There was a whole display at the front of the store!! We'd walked right by it coming in. (We were focused on the Nook, in our defense.)

The whole family. My husband sold a copy to the girls taking our picture. I signed it. :)

After that, I went to the spa to get a hot stone pedicure. I got blue polish and butterfly decals!

Then: Dinner with writer friends!! Christine Fonseca, me, Jamie Harrington. One word: epic.

And my favorite: A card from my six-year-old daughter. I get a little teary when I see it, and I'm currently using it as a bookmark. <3

Tonight, I'm participating in the launch party of amazingness. There will be prize packages and talking and music and cookies. If you're in the area, please come! It's at The King's English (1511 S. 1500 E. in Salt Lake City). If you're not in the area, mark your calendars for the virtual launch party, which will take place on my fansite (www.insidetheresistance.com) on Thursday, June 16. All day, so be prepared!

Thank you again for all the well-wishes and whatnot. I swear I won't be blogging about my book forever.

Also, planning a release day takes time. What will you do on yours? Because you will have one. Oh, yes, you will.

Author Success Story: Jamie Harrington

This week I'm bringing in the big guns: People who've traveled down this long and winding road toward publication. Some of them already have book deals. Some have agents. Some have both. They've "made" it.

I want to spotlight someone each day this week to hopefully inspire you, provide a beam of hope along your way, and really prove that you CAN succeed in this crazy business.

But I'm not the only one on-board this positivity wagon. Join us this week for 75 (yes 75!) success stories! Then dream big. Go forth and query. Conquer.

Click here for more inspiration: Lisa and Laura Roecker, Beth Revis, Leah Clifford, Victoria Schwab, Kirsten Hubbard, Susan Adrian, Dawn Metcalf, Kim Harrington, Carrie Harris, Amy Holder, Kathy McCullough, Suzette Saxton and Bethany Wiggins, Gretchen McNeil and Tiffany Schmidt.

I will be featured on Lisa and Laura Roecker's blog this Friday (and just so you know, I asked LiLa to do an interview and they had the idea to spread it across the Interwebz. They are genius personified. So yeah). Please go check out all the posts this week, because you never know who's going to say exactly what you need to hear to keep moving forward.

Today? The amazing Jamie Harrington.

SKETCH MCGEE in a tweet: Sketch McGee's a 16yo SuperVillain that changes the future w/ her drawings. But, she's also a band geek in love. Watch those worlds collide.

(And, I may or may not have spent extra time getting that to equal exactly 140 characters just to prove I am the ultimate twitter queen, but whatevs.)

Was there ever a time you felt like giving up? Why didn't you?

So many, many times Elana. In fact, let me illustrate this with a handy dandy little time line:

Yeah, it’s pretty much like that. The thing is, I kind of feel like if there weren’t times I wanted to give up, then the wins and successes wouldn’t matter as much, ya know? [Elana interrupts to say that Jamie received like, five offers from agents. She is repped by Victoria Horn at Liza Dawson Associates.]

What has been the hardest part of your road to publication so far? And why?

I don’t even have to think about this one. It’s the waiting. That’s hands down, without a doubt the hardest part. It’s worse than rejection, it’s worse than wrestling with a difficult chapter, it’s worse than running out of snacks mid-edit, it’s the WORST.

What's your best advice to aspiring authors?

I wordled them for you! (ALWAYS put your book through wordle--it’s the bomb!)

Super Secret: If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

I want to say something profound here, really I do—but I think I’m going with the Ask A Ninja Guy:



Find Jamie online:
Jamie's blog
Jamie tweets!
Read Jamie's journey--and her query letter--on QT.