72–Book Launch Update–Separation of Faith

Book Launch Party–September 23, 2010

Thanks so much to everyone who took time from their busy lives to attend my Book Launch Party for Separation of Faith–available on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Separation-Faith-Novel-Cheri-Laser/dp/1450232191/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1286991323&sr=1-1), as well as all other online and traditional book retailers—on Thursday evening. We had a great time, rolled out the novel in fine fashion, and had some fun raffles for T-shirts, book bags, lunch with me, and then a special 50-50 for my Rotary club’s scholarship fund.

I’m including a few highlight photos–setting up, mingling, signing, etc. You’ll also note one photo with an elderly gentleman and a small girl. That’s my father Jim (who will be 90 in February) and my granddaughter Natalia (who is three), representing the opposite ends of four generations in our family. Pretty amazing for me.

For those of you who are visiting this blog for the first time, the whole mission of the blog since the launch on November 4, 2009, was to follow the progess of Separation of Faith, through the last stages of the writing, through all of the editing and revision phases, through all of the publishing steps and missteps, and now into the promotional phase. Eventually, this blog will become a book too, chronicling the how’s and how-not-to’s of bringing a novel into the world. There are all sorts of tips and links throughout the postings that I’m told are proving helpful to other writers pursuing their own dreams. So if you’re visiting for the first time, I’d love to hear from you.

Amazon Stats–Separation of Faith

This has been sort of a kick so far. For a brief time yesterday morning (about five minutes), the paperback version of Separation of Faith was ranked 95,000 in Amazon. After checking the graphs I’m able to see as an author, I’m also noticing that the hard cover version is actually ranked higher than the soft cover version, which means that more people are opting to buy the hard cover (an absolutely beautiful product, if I do say so myself 🙂 …). Overall, both versions are consistently hovering in the 100,000s and 200,000s, creeping up higher periodically. The numbers have stayed well under 1 million to date, a range that at least keeps me on the playing field.

I don’t know (and won’t know until the end of next quarter) exactly how many copies this all translates into, and there are other factors involved with Amazon’s rankings, such as how well other books are doing that compete with Separation of Faith. But overall, I’m pretty excited about what’s happening up to this point. Now I just need to keep getting the word out. Thanks so much to all of you who’ve already taken a chance on the novel. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, although I would love to hear from you one way or another.

Cinnamon Update

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the final Cinnamon galley proofing should be completed this weekend. Hopefully that will mean the newly edited Second Edition version of my first novel, The Truth About Cinnamon, should be available for purchase sometime next month (October). I feel like I’ve been talking about this (and working on it) for a millenium, and I’ll be so very happy when it’s ready for you. You’ll know as soon as I do when that moment arrives. Meanwhile, the original version (which will soon become a First Edition) is still available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/TRUTH-ABOUT-CINNAMON-Novel/dp/0595299733/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285426568&sr=1-1).

Thank you all again for continuing to be a part of this Journey and for letting me be a part of yours. Have a wonderful weekend!