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I did something scary!

I went live... on Facebook... for an HOUR!! All by myself. Talking about me, my books, my writing process... all the things that readers want to ask authors but we don't always get the chance.


"But Rosie, how did this come about?"

Great Question. I'd love to tell you. (And thank you Elyse Meyers for this utterly perfect transition phrase!)


Backstory

At the start of the year, I happened to come across Ariana St. Claire on Facebook. Don't ask me how. The Fates intervened and sent her my way. She was running a promo opportunity for authors to write a story with a specific "Theme." I was not selected for that opportunity, but I honestly believe in open windows for closed doors.


See... because I didn't get that, I had some free time after finishing Man Coverage. How ever would I fill it before I needed to start my next "big book"?


Well... Romance Hockey League to the rescue!


Romance Hockey League

In June, I participated in a Power Play Giveaway event that RHL hosted. I shared a hockey-related word that the followers then had to enter into a form, along with the words from all the other authors. The winner was randomly selected.


So... an event that didn't require more from me than simply sharing a graphic with a word? Readers finding out about me and sharing comments/posts in my group? Heck yeah! Even I can do that.


See, in June there was a lot of menty-not-greatness going on. I was struggling with feeling like I was dropping all the balls. The plates were crashing. Insert your preferred metaphor for failing and that's about how I felt. So when Pepper Knight reached into my DMs about that project and telling me how much the readers loved it, I got a mini boost to keep going.


Sometimes those mini-boosts are more like TNT under your chair.


Why else would I go from "I can post a graphic with a word" to "Let me talk live for an hour on the internet"?


Hockey Night in Romance Land

The group shared another opportunity for authors to do a LIVE Virtual Book signing. A way for readers to get together without the stress of traveling or tickets. I'd never done a book signing-- at all! Not in person and sure as shit not virtually! But Pepper told me I could. She had faith in me.


A stranger, someone I'd never met and had only worked with for a very limited time, saw potential in me. When I told her just "how indie" I am, she gave a proverbial shrug--I'm assuming she shrugged. I wasn't there with her. But she sounded like she shrugged. If shrugging has a sound, she definitely made it! She told me that I could have someone on with me at the same time if I wanted. I told her "YES! PLEASE!"


The Lead Up

A few weeks before the event, I noticed I was not to be sharing time with someone.

Uhm... excusa-me?

Pepper told me I could definitely ask someone, or she would, but she felt like I could do it.

Dang it, Pepper! There you go having more faith in me than I did in myself. How was I going to let her down? And make her job harder by having to reorganize the event just because I was a big ole baby? The obliger-side of my Upholder-Obliger self was not about to do that to her or Jessa or Jenna, the other hosts.


Now it was time to get "supplies."

  • I ordered copies of my books. All of them. The entire collection of the Dropped Puck Series -- including the Dropped Season omnibus books! -- as well as Playing Hooky and Full Court Press.

  • Stickers. I wanted to have them in various sizes. Different quotes and images. Some clear and some with the solid white backgrounds.

  • Bookmarks.

  • Keychains.

  • Boxes large enough to hold the books and swag. Plus mailers (bubble-bags) in case the winner wanted eBooks and I was just to send swag.

  • Markers for signing.

  • Thank you cards.

  • Filler paper and tissue paper. I want these things to look NICE!

  • Beads. Did I mention that I wanted to start making friendship bracelets based around my books? No? Oh well, that's a thing my daughter and I will be working on so I had to order all the beads and stuff for those because we are way late to that game!


Prepwork

"But wait... wasn't all that above prep work?"

That was part of it. The other part was organizing, like-- EVERYTHING!


I had to organize posts and templates. Create pre-order forms and make them accessible to readers. I had to figure out where I would go live from in my house. What time would work best because I do work night shifts and didn't want to look like a zombie. There would potentially be new-to-me readers and they deserved someone who took time on themselves for them.


There were actually a few documents that I needed to review. Like a prep sheet that the hosts prepared for us. They had a lot of tips and tricks and hacks., things I would never have thought of. Honestly, those three ladies were a godsend.


I ended up rearranging my entire office so that the feed would look nice when I went live. I love it and so happy with the change; it also forced me to go through the piles that were accumulating everywhere. I filed papers that needed it. Tossed crap I'd held on to for no real reason. I even rearranged my bookshelves so that I'd have room for my books when they came in!


I did a run-through with Jessa the week before around the same time my live was scheduled for. That way I'd have a fairly good idea of what the lighting would be and could adjust accordingly. I mean, little things like that kept popping up but I was able to work through them all.


Day Of Shenanigans

The even went live on Thursday Night (Oct. 3rd) at 5pm EST but I wasn't scheduled until Friday at noon (EST). That morning, I got my kids up, ready, and on the bus. I tidied my house -- nothing like a bit of nervous cleaning! Pepper checked in with me a bit before to make sure I was good. My ADD self told her all about how my belly was flipping and flopping!


I know what you're asking now: "How'd it go?"

Welp. My books didn't show up until 3:30pm EST. Two hours AFTER my event ended! Of course, right? I had planned to sign a few books while I was live, so clearly that couldn't happen and I had to pivot.


My dog wanted pets and treats and attention more than normal, like he knew something was going on and needed in on the action.


We were getting some residual weather from the hurricane, meaning that the skies were DARK when I'd planned on decent natural light. I have a massive aversion to overhead lights when I can avoid them, so I had to figure out another option.


And...


I had a blast!


It wasn't perfect. No where near perfect. I repeated myself a lot. I went on some random AF tangents. I ended up needing more reader questions than I had intended so I spent time sorting through the ones we'd been seeing asked a lot.


I also got to talk about so many things that I want to share all the time and never feel like I can.

I talked about my Facebook Group, sharing that with some of the readers. So now they can see what's going on in my world a bit more often.

I talked about Final Shot a lot. It's coming up on its one year anniversary and Halloween is a big part of the book, so it was fun to share that book in particular with the viewers. I read them two scenes, ones that I felt really "made" the book. Scenes like their text banters; sharing that this is something I pulled from my real life as my family is constantly going on joke-rampages.


I talked about the upcoming anthology project that I'm working on; Naughty & Nice is a collection of shorts from 10 authors.

*Side story: Last year I set a goal for 2024 to participate in an anthology similar to the ManCandy Christmas anthology. But then the government got involved and suddenly the old model wasn't something we could do. I spent months searching out ways to still accomplish my goal. What I found is that I can host a BookFunnel Group Promo.

So that's what I did. Ten authors will be giving away a short story that takes place between Thanksgiving and New Years. They aren't necessarily "holiday" romances-- mine, for example, is not holiday based, but more winter-based. The Naughty and Nice event will go from Nov. 4th, 2024 to Jan. 31st, 2025. The stories will be exclusive to the group during that time. After that, each author will be given the rights back to their story and can share them as they want.

My story is a Dropped Puck Series origins prequel. It's clean; similar to how Overtime was written. Other stories will have various levels of spice so there's definitely something for every romance reader!

I talked about my website and the plans I have for it moving forward.


I even got to share my bookshelves with the viewers! I am so proud of them. They were a birthday/ Anniversary/ Mother's Day gift from Babe. I designed them exactly how I wanted and we had a family member build them for me. I love everything about them and it was so kind to see the love they got.


And, because I am someone who hates gatekeeping, I brought out old copies of my books. Ones where the covers are formatted totally wrong and talked about the lesson(s) I learned from that experience.


Did you miss it?

No worries! For the next few weeks, the live is available in the Romance Hockey League FB Group. I've included the link, but I'm not too sure if you have to be a member of that group to view it. Either way, you can check it out and see exactly the fun that was had.



Would I do it again?

Abso-FREAKING-Lutely!


Honestly, it was the most incredible experience. And yes, I admit at the end that my belly never really stopped with the whole "riding a rollercoaster" feeling, but that was excitement. I have to remind myself that the body doesn't really recognize the difference between fear and excitement; so, when those flutters pop up, I just tell myself how excited I am.


Futures Events?

As of right now, I don't have anything lined up. I was so incredibly lucky to be given this chance, and I know that. I saw the line up. These authors are the ones that I'm out here gobbling up their works. It felt a bit like when you see a kid dressed up in their costume and they run into their character in real life. Yeah. It was a lot like that.


I would love to get out there and do more of these. I found out about a few conventions near(ish) me that I might be able to attend as a reader at first. And there will be chances later on where I can go as an attending author.


The biggest thing I gained from this?

I love my bookish community. I'm sure there are lemons out there. Duds of people who spoil the thing we love so much. But I haven't run into them. In fact, of the hundreds of views I got and that the even as a whole got, not one person was negative. There was so much sharing. So much hyping people up. Authors popped into other author's lives with questions and comments--and were met with joy and excitement in return.


So, while I can logically know not everyone will act like those I got to talk to; there are enough incredible souls in this community we've built that I can mentally block them. Because, at the end of the day, the good rises to the top in this instance.

 
 
 

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