Thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks—
Thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks—
Launch Week, Signed Copies, A Very Witchy Reading, & Book Two!
Hello, old friends—
(And welcome, new subscribers, for those of you who signed up to receive this newsletter during the preorder campaign!)
As of today, The Book of Gothel has been out for a week! I’ve been touched by everyone who has reached out to chat about the book, wish me well, or send me a snapshot of it in a bookstore. It’s been inspiring to hear from readers who want to talk about Haelewise’s story. If you are so moved, feel free reply to this email, comment on the web, or find me on Instagram or Twitter.
I have a few things I’d like to share before I disappear for a while from your inboxes to work on my next project…
Signed Copies Are En Route, If You Ordered Them
I did my first-ever book signing this past Saturday at the wonderful Virginia Highland Books in Atlanta!
I had fun meeting everyone and writing personalized inscriptions for those who preordered from Virginia Highlands Books. If you ordered a personalized signed copy from VaHi Books, it should get to you soon! If you’re in the Atlanta area but missed the signing, you can still walk into Virginia Highlands Bookstore and buy a signed copy while supplies last; I signed the few books that were left.
If you’re not in Atlanta, check out the link below for the virtual launch event I’ll be doing this week through Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville. I signed twenty copies for them last week, and at the link below, you can order one; the top paragraph on the page has instructions.
We Hereby Invite You to a Very Witchy Reading
I’m doing a virtual event this Thursday through Malaprop’s bookstore in Asheville:
Here is the flyer!
The reading and discussion is this Thursday, 6pm EDT / 5pm CT! Joining me will be Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, the author of an exciting new historical fantasy novel about another witch from folklore, The Witch and the Tsar—a Baba Yaga retelling set during the time of Ivan the Terrible, which will be out from Penguin Random House in September. (I read an early copy, and it’s so good!) Olesya and I will talk a little about our books, read from them, and then do a Q&A. It should be fun!
The event will be live-streamed from Zoom to YouTube. If you want to watch/listen while you’re doing something else, you can drop in or leave anytime, and you won’t need a camera on because we’re streaming to YouTube. The Q&A will take place via chat.
The event is free but registration is required. If you sign up, the bookstore will send you the link via email and a reminder on the day of the event:
We look forward to answering your questions during the Q&A!
A Fond Farewell… For Now
This will probably be the last email you’ll get from me for a while as I get back to work on my next project—and to taking care of my son, who turns three months old today.
Before I go, I want to say thank you to everyone who has shared information about The Book of Gothel, read it, reviewed it, posted about it online, preordered, or told a friend. I sincerely appreciate everything you have done to help Haelewise make her way into the world! Launch week was magical.
If you enjoy the book, please consider reviewing it on Amazon or Goodreads, where the number of reviews affects the algorithm that controls how many people see the book while browsing. You no longer have to buy from Amazon to leave a review there, and even ratings without text help sales (which, in turn, buy me time to keep writing!)
I’m working on mailing the preorder incentives to everyone who signed up now. I can’t wait to send those of you who preordered a material thank you, and I’m excited for you to receive the mailing with everything I’ve put together to celebrate Haelewise! Your enthusiasm for The Book of Gothel has been so inspiring.
I will be holding it in my heart while I get back to work on my second novel, a book I’ve been dreaming of writing since my early twenties, which sold at the same time as Gothel last year. I’m about 25,000 words in. The working title of the book is Mistress, and it will be the magic-infused story of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady from her own perspective!
I’m excited to get back to it!
Thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks—
Mary