It's surprising the number of things that need to be done after you're done writing a book to give it a good shot in the market. There's a lot of supplementary writing to do, and, nowadays, a whole lot of marketing effort that authors need to be put in too with things like making a website, newsletter, social media post and things like that. And I've done all of that and continue to do so for my novel "Under THe Full and Crescent Moon"
October is Islamic History Month or so I'm told and what better way to celebrate than picking up my novel that's based on Islamic history!
So it's been a week since my book "Under The Full and Crescent Moon" launched and the question becomes, What's next?
So I'm a plotter, as a writer. Which means for my upcoming novel, "Under The Full And Crescent Moon", I had a very clear outline of what I wanted the story to be.
As seems to be tradition, I am writing this a day late. In less than a month my book comes out. I wish I could focus on just that amidst the devastation of the world.
But I kind of did yesterday!
If you're looking for a story that engages both the mind and the heart in equal measure than I highly recommend Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park.
Let's get the disclaimers out of the way
Yesterday, the book was two months away from launching in Canada. Today it is one day less than that.
I might be a day late again with this update, but that's not too bad and, even though I'll never be satisfied by how much work I have been able to put into marketing "Under The Full and Crescent Moon", I have to be kind to myself and realize I did quite a lot this week, and this month overall.
And of course, meanwhile, the people of Gaza are starving to death and I am helpless in the face of it because of the leaders of the 'free world'.
Publishing a book is an incredibly new experience for me and the number of things that I had to do after signing the publishing contract was really quite astounding. One that I was absolutely not looking forward to was asking for blurbs. Just the idea of reaching out to established authors and asking them to read a debut novel from someone they didn't know was terrifying, let alone getting them to say something nice. So I steeled myself for rejection and started sending out requests.
I think I prepared myself for rejection so well that it was surprising when people accepted, and even ore when blurbs started to come in. I have a hard time accepting praise and I certainly am feeling that way with the kind words that came in for "Under the Full and Crescent Moon". I think going over the blurbs and talking about how they make me feel is going to help me process these emotions.
The three month countdown to the book launch officially began two days ago and I wish I had more in the hours in the day to do the novel justice in my marketing efforts. Still it is what it is and Alhamdulillah there is so much that I was able to do in this month.
Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park is an incredibly satisfying combination of spy intrigue and rumination on the struggle immigrants face with finding identity and meaning while navigating different cultures.