Blog Tour: Jennifer Gilmour on Publication Day
Today I am taking part in a blog tour for Isolation Junction written by Jennifer Gilmour. Although I have not had the chance to read it yet, I plan to read it soon! Today, Jennifer will be discussing what publication day for Isolation Junction was like for her.
Purchase Isolation Junction:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Description of Isolation Junction:
Rose is the mother of two young children, and finds herself living a robotic life with an abusive and controlling husband. While she struggles to maintain a calm front for the sake of her children, inside Rose is dying and trapped in ‘Isolation Junction’.
She runs an online business from home, because Darren won’t let her work outside the house. Through this, she meets other mums and finds courage to attend networking events, while Darren is at work, to promote her business.
It’s at one of these events that Rose meets Tim, a sympathetic, dark-haired stranger who unwittingly becomes an important part of her survival.
After years of emotional abuse, of doubting her future and losing all self-confidence, Rose takes a stand. Finding herself distraught, alone and helpless, Rose wonders how she’ll ever escape with her sanity and her children. With 100 reasons to leave and 1,000 reasons she can’t, will she be able to do it?
Will Tim help her? Will Rose find peace and the happiness she deserves? Can Rose break free from this spiralling life she so desperately wants to change?
JRR (Jessica’s Reading Room): What did you do the night before publication?
Jennifer: I spent the evening preparing for publication day, but despite doing this I simply did not sleep that night due to a mixture of nervousness and excitement. I needed to be organised especially as publication day was a Saturday with all its inherent difficulties for a parent i.e. children off school and weekend classes and activities to attend.
I didn’t feel as nervous I thought I would be, I was more excited that the day was finally approaching and that an important message was about to be launched to the world. I did have anxious thoughts about the response I may get from my abuser as I knew it would open a door so to speak and allow him to comment. This has indeed happened. I do not think that at the time I had anticipated that the comments would not focus on the contents of my story but would form a personal attack and that I would not only have to be ready for this but prepared and able to defend myself.
JRR: That definitely gives you something to think about. I can imagine the nervousness you faced knowing that your abuser may and actually did comment. That can be a scary thing. Now, what did you spend publication day doing?
Jennifer: The actual publication day was all virtual and as I had run a successful Kickstarter Campaign and crowd funded my campaign, I wanted to give something back to my followers. The day had a unique event which I ran from my Facebook page. Throughout the day I posted the all important links about where to buy the paperback version (as the Kindle version was released a week later). There were links to information on domestic abuse and even help lines, personal posts and I also decided to do a live video chat to thank everyone for their support. I didn’t know what to expect as a response but those who had supported the Kickstarter campaign had started to receive their copies of Isolation Junction and rewards from the campaign on the day of publication (I sent them out the day before). People were so supportive and started taking selfies of themselves with the book and posting them on Facebook and it became obvious as the day progressed that people were starting to read the book.
I didn’t spend all day online online though. I delivered copies of the book to local supporters myself and handed over their rewards in person. I have to admit I had fun doing it and I had my husband and 3 children in the car as well so it was quite a family occasion.
In the evening, my husband and I decided to do a Facebook Live video on my personal profile (which is just for family and friends). I was super excited and I convinced my husband to join in. Finally we popped open a bottle of champagne and virtually shared bubbly with everyone. A few family and friends posted photos of themselves having a glass of champagne as well so even though we didn’t have a venue the launch was well supported, attended and talked about virtually. It didn’t feel as if we were alone at all. Certainly I believe this is a modern way of launching a publication.
I have to admit the level of support and the positive comments made me feel emotional and I admit that I shed a few ‘happy tears’. I felt a great sense of achievement and satisfaction that I had achieved what I had set out to do.
JRR: That sounds like a fabulous publication day! I love how you delivered copies of Isolation Junction and the rewards to those that were local to you and helped with your Kickstarter campaign!
What was the morning of publication day like for you?
Jennifer: The morning was very busy and in some ways a mad rush. I was so keen to get started and the internet felt so slow (unless that’s what it’s normally like and on that day it felt like it was worse). I hadn’t changed the morning routine with the family and so we all ventured down to the swimming baths so that our elder 2 children could have their swimming lesson. Thankfully the lesson is early in the morning so it wasn’t too crazy trying to juggle social media and getting them ready. It was also nice to have that routine and normality in the day. I was so busy it stopped me from worrying.
JRR: A little bit of normalcy for that day must have been a little relaxing. Who were you with the rest of the day?
Jennifer: I was with my husband and three children for the day. My husband was very supportive of the day and we all celebrated with pretend fizz for the children and champagne for us.
JRR: Is publication day 1 the same as publication day 2? And so on?
Jennifer: I had another day launch for the Kindle version of Isolation Junction a week later. I didn’t push this as heavily as the official launch as to some extent I had marketed this as part of the original launch. It still got some great feedback and coverage though. It was worth the time spent on preparing and getting everything as right as possible beforehand.
You certainly have to carry on marketing the book and can’t expect to simply get sales because it’s on Amazon or for sale in other places. These things simply don’t just sell themselves and the ongoing attention needed to keep a publication in the public eye is almost more time consuming than actually writing the book itself! There are different ways in which you can market your book and exploring what works for the topic/theme of your book is part of the research you need to do. I am happy with the results it has gained so far and the impact it has made. Having people talk about it and spread the word certainly makes the effort worthwhile. I appreciate anyone spending the time to read the book and then writing a review, as well as bloggers who spend time writing a critique opinion or putting you in their schedule, to fit you in for a question and answer session or to guest post.
However, it is probably worth mentioning that you have to be prepared for the negative as well as the positive. When you write a book, whether it be fiction or non fiction, not everyone will agree with you and you have to be prepared for this and prepared to defend your point of view.
JRR: These are all very good points that not every author thinks about.
**Thank you so much for your time Jennifer!
WIN Isolation Junction!