Author as Sales Help

Yesterday I bought nine copies of Ceremony of Innocence from Crux, wrapped them lovingly in bubble wrap and stuffed them in a wheeled suitcase. Off I went with my babies, bumpity bumpity bump.

This morning has been largely give over to shameless book promotion, and I will be interviewed by Salt + Light this afternoon, interview to be aired on Saturday. I also wrote this for IP Novels, inspiring myself to call my old high school afterwards. So far the head of English has not called me back, but I live in hope. It would be so cool if literary-minded girls from my Alma Mater showed up at my book launch. Or Mrs C, my favourite English teacher. (Hmm, must check Facebook.)

Networks, girls. Networks! If we want to promote great Catholic literature, and make the world safe for all the budding Chestertons, Goddens and Waughs out there, we have to get out there, meeting authors of all kinds, buying each other's books, promoting each other, seeing and being seen. If you are a published writer, you can't sit back and expect your publisher's sales team to get out big crowds for you. Chances are, they can't. As I say in my IP Novels blog post, it's not just who you know, it's how many you know.

Personally I love to spend the whole day indoors writing happily away, but I realize I have been remiss. Every year when I go home to Edinburgh I sulk and say, "In Catholic Toronto people know me, and in Catholic Krakow people know me, but in the United Kingdom, I'm invisible." Well, who's fault is that, eh? Mine, all mine. I will have to get cracking in future. In fact, I think I will have to start going west to Glasgow and south to London to meet and support and promote other Catholic writers, like the excellent Fiorella de Maria.

Incidentally, I bought Deb Gyapong's The Defilers over my new tablet today. It's about Boston; I'm looking forward to reading it. (Although maybe I should save it for next week's plane--it's a thriller, and I love thrillers on planes.) I'll see if I can recognize my old stomping grounds.