It's been a hectic week. Blossom is in St. Louis for a few days for her day job so I'm holding down the Big Apple fort for us here. While she's been away, I was fortunate enough to receive some nice emails from other chicklit authors including Dona Sarkar-Mishra, who is a writer of ethnic chicklit. It turns out that she's also friends with many of our other book cronies including the cool "Fashionably Late" author Nadine Dajani, whose book will hit bookstores in the spring of 2007. I tell ya, the world is small, but if it keeps meaning that we meet new and great people like them, there are no complaints.

My crazy week, thus far, included a fishing feature I did for my day job on NY1 News. It's apparently fluke season around here and I fished around trolling for flukes at Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island with the Atlantis Princess fishing charter. Holding up a large, slimy, semi-dead, fluke through its throat for my standup was probably one of the most adventurous things I did this month. Speaking of exciting adventures, I got a message from my wonderful editor Diana Szu on my way back from my shoot, saying that our China Dolls galleys have finallly arrived. Yay! We're absolutely just dying to see them!

As I mentioned to you in my first blog, we're currently working on a marketing project for China Dolls with our lovely friends at Ling Skincare. It's been an exciting process that involves learning so much about the beauty and publicity world. Here are some thoughts that I have gathered:

1. You absolutely MUST believe in your own product. Many people feel that they don't want to come off sounding pretentious or conceited when talking about their book and how great it is. Well, if you don't think it's great, why would anyone else in the world want to think so or care?

2. Publicity is SO important. I met someone a few months ago who told me they deeply regretted not trying to do more publicizing their book before it launched. And once this person's book came out, it was too late for them. The damage had already been done.

3. Wherever you live, you can find some way to market your book. Whether it'd be a local bookstore or a local boutique shop, go and talk to them about your plans. The worst answer they could ever give you is no. If there's no blood shed, there's no harm done. Afterall, the motto does goes "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" right?

Okay, it's been a long morning for me already. I didn't get too many hours of sleep last night as I went partying with my old friend Mikey.  I knew him when he was just an intern at College Sports Television but now he's all grown up and a star sports reporter on Sirius. He even managed to shock me by shedding some of his thoughts on publicity and being a first time homeowner. Sorry we couldn't sing at my buddy Peter's karaoke birthday party! Too long of a day ahead for me!

Today includes a big meeting with the Ling Skincare entourage and my St. Martin's publicist and editor. It should be a good one!

Stay classy out there!

 

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