Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Crazy Cozy Countdown


SIX DAYS!!!

Hear that? In six days I will be a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! I am so excited. And there is a TON of exciting build up stuff happening.

My Barnes & Noble spy has given me the number of MY books in HER warehouse and if I do a little math, that is MEGA lotta books out there! Holy CRAP! (I adore having a spy, by the way... it makes me feel powerful, and honestly, life is a little hard right now—hubby's health, plus an aunt with some trouble—so it is SO NICE to have a positive!)

Yesterday I posted on Facebook that I had a week and asked people to like my page, and people responded in DROVES! (35 new likes, I think?  Seemed big for one request, at least compared to the past, but I think it is because it is LOOMING!!! I felt so warm and fuzzy! So I thought I'd bring it in here...

My PLEAS for how you might help me out: (because you know... can't hurt to ask, ne?)

Like me on Facebook: Alyse Carlson
Add me on Goodreads (to read)
Like my BOOK on Amazon: The Azalea Assault (hint: you can like both the paperback and Kindle versions *shifty* though there is also a book there that isn't mine... but you can like that, too, if you like...)

I have a confession. I've already started checking my Amazon ranking. I make up elaborate tales for why it sometimes drops then goes back up (dropping is good, as #1 is best). I know it's calculated daily and I THINK ties are broken by previous sales (obviously these are all pre-order) but my lowest number has been about 50,000 (though I've been #25 in Cozy Mystery, so I have that going for me)

I've ALSO has a couple shout outs in Blogs and on Facebook and the comments of strangers are SO NICE—I love seeing that people are excited to read!

And look at this!  Elizabeth just alerted me to this video featuring June's cozy mysteries:  http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2012/05/june-mysteries-from-penguins-berkley.html


And here is the biggie, but I think I should clarify a bit.

Crazy Cozy Blogfest:  June 5th

We would LOVE it if you could participate in our release date event.  I think we've given the impression this is harder than it is. We are NOT asking you to write a Cozy mystery. We are asking you to pitch an IDEA FOR a cozy mystery: an elevator pitch with a few details.

This should be SUPER fun—zany silliness in ideas shared—just some good laughs all around, and a chance to win BOTH Elizabeth's and my book (2 winners win both)


Include:
1)  Sleuth (age, occupation, maybe a little family info)
2)  Sidekick (either friend or foil, but someone who always seems to be around)
3)  Setting (town, city, or other sort of place)
4)  Theme (go nuts)
5)  Twist (be as creative as you like)

Write it up in 150-250 words (so short)--for the blogfest portion anyway—we want people to be able to read a bunch of these without too much burden. Keep the traditions in mind, but we are judging on entertainment value--which we enjoy most, not how realistic it is to make a best seller. We want people to laugh.  WE want to laugh. (so consider those rules more like guidelines, really)

And then we ask you either include a little info about our books, or a link to this page so people can find it for themselves: http://waterytart23.blogspot.com/2012/04/crazy-cozy-blogfest.html



20 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Six Days?!?! WOW!! Should be renamed Most Naked-est Day ever! Or Down with pants day! yay!!! So so so so excited for you!! Yay!! Take care
x

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hart, your world is about to change! Get excited. Yes, even more excited.
Liking a book on Amazon? Damn, things I never think to ask of people...

Unknown said...

Got your back girl :)Wrote my entry for your blogfest already, but seriously? Not much one can do other than a teaser with so few words. Good luck, I am excited about your book too!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

So excited for you! And saw you on Lesa's book talk, too: http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2012/05/june-mysteries-from-penguins-berkley.html

Looking forward to the blogfest!

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I'm so excited for you! I love it, love it, love it.

Teresa

Hart Johnson said...

Kitt-VERY good idea! June 5th is NAKEDEST Day!

Alex-how do I GET more excited!?

Siv-thank you so much!!!

Elizabeth-HEY! Thank you for that link! (and the next book DOES have a cat on the cover--Emily specifically asked me to add a cat because the art department wanted one--how funny is that?

Teresa- THANK YOU!

jaybird said...

I am so excited for you Hart! Six days to publication..I don't think there would be any living with me, I would be bouncing off the rails.

Best of luck! Wishing/praying for your husband; I hope he makes a speedy recovery, so he can partake in all of this excitement with you! :)

Tina said...

1) Like you on fb (well, I like you, period. But you probably knew that)

2) tried to like on amazon, but maybe you need to buy before liking, which I will be doing next week. Pesky medical bills...

3) would love to join blogfest as Best and I already cooked up a pretty good idea (in our opinion at least), but I couldn't find date - does that mean it's ongoing?

4) I'm so excited for you!!!!!!!! I feel like a friend is having a baby...


Tina @ Life is Good

Jen said...

Congrats! So exciting! Will do whatever I can to help spread the word.

Hart Johnson said...

Jaybird-Yeah, I am a bit schizophrenic, actually--the highs are high, the lows are low, but I can definitely be hard to live with.

Tina-DOH! June 5th--added that. Sorry! So glad you are participating! And it is a lot like giving birth, though hopefully without 18 years of work work work to follow (a year, sure... all good... but then onto the next book)

Jen, thank you!

I Must Be Off said...

Yay! Excited for you! Will post about it.

Sarah Ahiers said...

WOO HOO! I can't believe how quickly this has come up! It seems like just yesterday you were announcing the title.

Maurice Mitchell said...

Congrats Hart. Whoop-whoop-Whoop!
- Maurice Mitchell
The Geek Twins | Film Sketchr
@thegeektwins | @mauricem1972

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I can't wait to read Azalea Assault. It sounds like a great book. Looking forward to your release :)

Liwi said...

So exciting! Congratulations! I'm gonna have to read that! :)

Johanna Garth said...

Will like and buy book! Is it going to be at Powell's? You know how I like my local faux indie bookstore ;)

Helena said...

I'm signed up for the blogfest, which is great, but now I gotta start plotting my shortie cozy pitch. Oh, the pressure!

I'm so happy for you're impending bestseller success, Hart darlin'!

Elana Johnson said...

Yay for a June 5 release day! We should party together! But you already have tons of party going on. Congrats!!

Sue said...

Congratulations Hart, you've worked so damned hard for this. I'll do a little tapdance and raise a glass of bubbly :)
Sue

Cherie Reich said...

I think I've "liked" you and your book about everywhere. :) I can't wait to read it.