The Porch Swing Chronicles: Book-By-Book, Part 1

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my writing -- the books I've published and the ones I still hope to publish. Nothing dramatic or morbid -- just one of those contemplative periods that I hope will help me put things in perspective and establish new directions.

One thing I'm terrible at is self-promotion. Aside from book launches, "getting the word out" is not my best thing and, based on the post below from 2009, this is not new.

Stumbling across this particular post was a sort of synchronicity. Not only was it a bit nostalgic (and a reminder that some things don't seem to change much), but also because it gave me a great starting point for something I've been wanting to do: a book-by-book feature of my published works. So, to kick off this particular blog grouping, I give you my first two books.

Because both of them were published by the same educational publisher (which has since been absorbed by another publisher), I decided to keep them lumped together as they were in the original post. Looking back on these books, I'm still proud of the work I did, and convinced that life is often, if not always, the best source of book material.

In December 2009, a good friend and colleague chided me -- gently, but with good reason -- about letting my published books wither on the vine. I had two books out at the time: Acting Assertively (published in 1999) and Diverse Divorce (published in 2004). Both were intended primarily for educators and copies sold mostly through the publisher's catalog. When the books first came out, I did the press releases and post cards but after a while, I was content to sit back and let them sell.

Or not.

Acting Assertively was the full-length victory lap. I'd been writing articles for a while, and was ready to make the leap and this book was the perfect bridge. The book grew out of classroom lessons I taught to my fourth and fifth graders and, though it was published in 1999, the principles are "evergreen" -- still sound for adults and kids alike. It was a great starting point because it provided an excellent model of an author (content)/editor (format) collaboration.

Diverse Divorce similarly arose from my work in schools, this time from a desire to create materials that could be used in the small groups I ran for children of divorce. The scenarios in the book represented a variety of family perspectives that adults could share with children to use as a discussion starter. The author/editor collaboration was less smooth on this one, which actually turned out to be a good thing; material that I'd originally intended for Diverse Divorce but that ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak, sparked my first fiction projects.

Fortunately, my wake-up call from my friend arose from opportune circumstances: she had taken a seasonal job at Borders and had made it her personal quest to get my books into our local store. I was so grateful for her interest and persistence that it occurred to me only belatedly that perhaps I should have tried harder to champion my own work in the same way. It wasn't as though I hadn't made similar attempts, targeting mostly independent booksellers, but I'd had very limited success. Most of the time, I came away disappointed and disillusioned, and so I retreated into my safe little cave, putting book information on my website and adding copies to giveaway baskets and library collections.

While no one wants be around an author who's always pushing the merchandise, it's still important to find ways to get the word out. Over time, new opportunities arise, and a wise author always keeps her eyes open.