'Tis Launched!

'Tis Launched!

This week I officially launched my first children's novel. It was rather an odd experience. The first half hour saw me rushing from new arrival to new arrival like a frantic bee flitting from flower to flower. I wanted to make sure I had welcomed everyone individually. Then I gave my speech and the short reading - I am an English teacher and love performing so this was just fun. Then I was positioned at a small table with a pen and a very long queue of people with books to sign. By the time that job was finished and the last book dedicated and my name added to it, the event was over and everything packed away. There were so many people there that I wanted to sit with and talk to, and it was over.

The numbers who turned up overwhelmed me, so to them all a huge vote of thanks. We sold lots of books, and I think that is part of the point. People there had a good time and went away enthusiastic about the book. I met some 'buisness' people and have a few appointments arranged to further promote 'The Chess Piece Magician'. So the night has to be seen as a big success. But at the end of the event I was exhausted.

Last Saturday the Edinburgh Evening News gave a full page over to me and the book - embarrassingly more of the article was about me than the book. There was a publicity shot, but I haven't seen any of it yet.

And a few weeks ago I gave a ten minute talk as part of a bigger event at The Scottish Book Trust to an audience of head teachers and librarians and acquitted myself well enough to have sold some books then and to have pencilled in some visits to schools to further promote the book.

The Scottish Museum shop has taken copies and want me to go in to sign then. My village book shop will do a special display of my book for Christmas. And Scotia Books (a book distributing company in Scotland) reports that 80% of High Schools in Scoland have already taken a copy of the book.

Having nothing to compare any of this to, it feels like a good start.