Small world--and Let Us Know

My favorite restaurant is named for a famous Beatles landmark. I go there at least once a week to eat and write. The waitstaff put my order in when I walk through the door.

Recently, a new waitress was being trained. We were being friendly, chatting about various things, when the senior waitress said--"Elizabeth is an author." The new waitress smiled and nodded and went away to check on my order.

When she returned, we had this conversation.

HER: are you Julia Day?
ME: yes, that's one of my pen names.
HER: you're my niece's favorite author.
ME: Wow, that's great.
HER: I took her to B&N and told her to pick out any book she wanted. So she got yours because she loved the cover. She took it home and read it and now she loves your books.
ME: Do you know which book? One came out just a few days ago.
HER: she's read both. She had her mother order the next one immediately.

I'm sharing this story for two reasons.

One, because that's just frickin' cool. Talk about a small world! I'm not that well-known. My author career has had only modest success (extremely modest.) Knowing that someone reads and loves your books is fuel to write more.

Two, it reminds me to encourage readers to speak up. Whenever you meet your favorite authors, tell us you enjoy our books. Send us an email; we all have contact forms on our websites. Leave us reviews (like Amazon), especially for the modestly successful authors. Let us know that you're enjoying what we write!

Best gifts you can give an author

Have you ever wondered what you as a reader can do to give back to your favorite authors? There are plenty of things you can do to say thank you--and most of them are completely free; they only cost a little time.

1. Buy our books (okay, so this one isn't free)
2. Leave a review
3. Tell your friends
4. Send fan mail
5. Request our books at the library
6. Resist "download for free" sites

We love when you buy our books, of course. But we also love it when libraries buy them--so please ask your library to carry your favorite books.

Please leave reviews, especially with online-retailers. For less-well-known authors, it is hard to get promo if we don't have 30+ reviews on Amazon. I'm facing this issue with my book I WISH. I'd like to buy an advertisement, but it's not likely to happen because I WISH doesn't have enough reviews on Amazon.

Recommend your favorite authors and books to friends, family, the twitterverse.

Send fan mail.  Trust me, we love for readers to contact us. Writing is a hard and sometimes lonely business.  Knowing that readers are enjoying a book and loving the characters as much as we do is amazing.

Please don't download from "free sites."  That is stealing from the author. Only 15% of authors earn enough from book sales to be able to write full time. I can't afford to quit my day job. (Plus, just a warning, a lot of those sites will drop malware on your computer.)

I'm at the beach with 5 other writers this weekend. We're working on our next books and brainstorming with each other.  Here's a photo of the view from the deck!

Great review of I WISH from School Library Journal

I'm so proud of this review from School Library Journal for I Wish. For an author, it's great when a reader--especially a librarian--enjoys and "gets" my book.

Gr 9 Up—You wouldn't wish Lacey Linden's life on anyone. She races between school, work, home, and the flea market where she hawks her valuables just to pay the bills. While at the market one day, Lacey buys a music box for herself in a rare moment of indulgence. She soon discovers that the music box holds an unexpected surprise: a "Benevolent Supernatural Being" named Grant. The genie offers her one wish per day for a month, but the wishes must be humanly possible. 

Langston wisely limits the power of wishes, so there can be no easy fixes to complex problems. Lacey cannot simply wish away her debt or her mother's trauma. This allows the story to remain grounded in the everyday struggles and relationships of Lacey, her friends, and her family. It is all the better for it, putting the focus on the compelling and sympathetic characters. Lacey's narration alternates with brief status reports from Grant, a clever device that gives readers insight into the enigmatic being's motivations. 

While Lacey and Grant's burgeoning romance is predictable at times, the denouement offers enough twists and unresolved questions to have readers wishing the next book was already available.—Tony Hirt, Hennepin County Library, MN 

Google alerts

I get google alerts, to let me know when my books are being mentioned in cyberspace.

Sometimes the news is good. Sometimes not. A lot of the time, I learn about piracy sites. Those book pirates are clever people. Creepy, but clever.

Worth noting: Whispers from the Past is not available. It releases October 7th. Unless you get an ARC from me (and I don't have any), you cannot read it yet. Piracy sites don't have copies. Don't click on their links. (Well, you shouldn't anyway--'cause it's illegal, unethical, and you'll get malware.)

This past week, I have a nice review from a youth services librarian in West Virginia.  I also had an author-friend, Hope Ramsay, mention Whisper Falls as a good summer read.

Those two alerts are the kind I like best!

BEA 2014

Are you going to Book Expo America in New York City last weekend in May?  If so, I'll be there Thursday (May 29).

You'll have two opportunities to meet me.

• Book-signing: I'll be signing copies of my November release, I Wish, at 1:00 pm in the Spencer Hill Booth.  Join me and fellow author Jennifer Murgia.
• Bookblogger Breakfast: You can join me and fellow authors Jennifer Armentrout, and A. R. Kahler for breakfast and conversation at 7:30 am Thursday morning.  To purchase or win tickets for one of the limited seats:
  
  • Tickets may be purchased for $15 each and will include breakfast and swag goodie bags.  Tickets will be on a first come-first served basis, but they can be purchased at any time from NOW until 11:59 PM MONDAY, MAY 26 (Memorial Day). Send your name from an email that can take replies to breakfast@spencerhillpress.com and say that you want to attend the Thursday breakfast!
  • Spencer Hill Press will confirm your reservation for up to two seats with instructions on how to pay via PayPal. Payments must be received within 24 hours of the confirmation. They will also maintain a wait-list.
  • To WIN tickets, entrants should send their names to breakfast@spencerhillpress.com from email addresses that can receive replies. Two (2) individual, single-seat winners will be chosen from all requests. Send your name to breakfast@spencerhillpress.com from 12:01 AM until 11:59 PM on FRIDAY, MAY 16. All winners of free tickets will be chosen through random.org and informed within 24 hours of the raffle's close.  Reservation confirmations may take up to 72 hours from email notice of receipt for confirmation to ensure payment completion.

Book in review

"I picked it up because I know you; I kept reading because it was good."

I often hear that phrase (or something like it) from friends and co-workers. But what about readers who don't know me—those who picked up the book simply because the premise sounded interesting? I'm happy to report that, to date, the reviews for Whisper Falls have all been good.

I thought I would share a few of the quotes that have been posted on goodreads, amazon, or on book review blogs.

Let's start with two quotes from teen readers:

• "Whisper Falls is bound to get you hooked, I know I was. From sentence one, I was instantly intrigued and had to find out more about Susanna and Mark's world. Intensity snowballs through Whisper Falls, making it unputdownable." [AD from Texas]
• "I loved it, absolutely sweet. I... gah I don't even know how to explain." [IL from California]

Several of the comments come from readers who generally don't read this type of book. As an author, I love it when readers enjoy my book, but it can be especially exciting when someone who wasn't sure if they would like it claims that they couldn't put it down.


From readers who rarely read Young Adult, fantasy/supernatural, or historical fiction:

• "Whisper Falls is a very impressive debut novel by Elizabeth Langston. It has about everything I like in my escape. Time travel, fantasy, romance and even though I don't usually read historical, I found this one to be exceptionally interesting." [winterhaven books]
• "Whisper Falls is captivating! The themes of love and hate in its many forms and nuances are timeless and will appeal to all generations... I usually don't care for fantasy but the time-travel in Whisper Falls is done gently and simply... I had a hard time putting this book down until I had savored the last page." [MK Ward]
• "If I'm being perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book when I first saw it because I'm not big on historical novels. But I got an ARC ... and I'm really glad I did because the story pulled me in from the first page." [YAbound]

And we'll wrap up with a couple of comments that...well, these quotes capture my thoughts exactly about the book and its main characters, Mark and Susanna:

• "I haven't read many YA novels that featured the late 1700's as a time period. In addition, the lives of indentured servants doesn't typically make it into novels. I often find myself gravitating towards the stories of those whose stories have not been told previously. I was excited to learn more about this time period, indentured servitude, and women's issues." [reading lark]
• "And the writing, did I mention the writing? It was wonderful! As a history major, I saw the amount of research Langston had to perform to get everything just right. I never once questioned if it was possible or think that she had some historical reference incorrect. It was as if she’s really been to visit Susanna in the past. Excellent read!"  [adventures in writers land]
• "Susanna is a sweet and humble girl who has a beautiful heart. She's brave and caring and tougher then one would expect. Mark is good people. He's like your everyday teenager with family issues and girl problems, but he's dedicated to his sport and always tries to be a good person... This is the kind of love story that I want to hug. It's not about lust or want, it's simply about caring about a person so deeply that you would do anything, even walk through centuries, to save her. And it was beautifully done." [winterhaven books] 

Whisper Falls Blog Tour - Day 5

It's the fifth day of the Whisper Falls Blog Tour.

Today's stop includes a review of my book at Letters in the Sand.

Counting down - 28 days

Whisper Falls releases in 28 days. Four weeks. One month.

Here are two giveaways to enter!

(1) My author-friend Katie McGarry is giving away the last ARC of her next book, Crash  Into You.  She's using rafflecopter--and you win chances to enter when you like/follow two debut authors (me and Colette Ballard) on facebook, goodreads, or twitter.

(2) I'm sponsoring a giveway on goodreads! If you'd like a chance to win a free (signed) ARC of Whisper Falls (and you live in USA or Canada), please enter!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Whisper Falls

by Elizabeth Langston

Giveaway ends November 07, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

So, what else happened in the past week?

• I sent my brother a copy of the book. He's in Afghanistan, so he'll have it by release day, if he's lucky.
• A blogger/book-reviewer asked me for an interview on November 1st. I've returned the questions to her now. (Hint: There will be a giveaway.)
• Book 3 (Whispers From the Past) is in first-round revisions. My editors said that it didn't need many changes.  Apparently, my editors and I do not define "many" the same way.
• My freelance editor, Laura, now has a signed copy of the book. She deserves a lot of the credit. So do my publishing house editors. It really takes a village to make a good book...
• The local library system now has 13 copies of the book to lend. There is already a waitlist.  That is seriously cool. (I plan to donate one more copy. Generous, I know :)
• I have two more book reviews. I probably should dread reviews, but I don't. Of course, here's hoping that all of them are as lovely as the two I've received recently. 

 

All right, it's back to Track Changes in WORD. Book 3 is not changing itself.

See you next week, countdown...