Turns Out Interesting

So, Saturday was my first ever Library book signing. I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it was being announced as a “talk” but I wasn’t sure if that meant I actually had to give some sort of speech or just talk to people as they walked by wherever I was stationed.
….Turns out I had to give a speech…. :)
When I arrived I was promptly directed to a back room with a few rows of chairs set up along with a podium. Yes, a podium. The only problem was it was almost as tall as I am so I had to stand in front of it. Lol.
When we realized in the upcoming minutes that I might actually have to give some sort of presentation my family suggested I test run standing up and talking. But I sat down instead. ;)
Honestly, over the past year and a half since my book came out one thing that has changed about me is the way I face stuff like this. I just don’t face it until I absolutely have to. LOL And by then it’s sink or swim so I just swim (by the grace of God, I assure you ;).
There is a verse in the Bible that talks about not preparing what you’re planning on saying a head of time and I sometimes feel like that’s my motto. Oh, I do run through a few things about what the book is about beforehand, but by and large I don’t think new situations like this through too much. It’s weird in a sense because I don’t get as excited about stuff as I use to, but I also don’t get as nervous. :)
So in the end it turned out fine. Groups of people sort of moved in and out of the room. I talked for a little while about the book and the writing process then they asked questions and I answered. :) Often I was speaking with people one on one.
I actually didn’t sell many books, but that’s okay because I think the experience was good overall. Plus we got chocolate chip cookies!!
One really interesting situation arose due to the way the event was advertised, but I think that calls for a little more in depth post. So, I’ll save that one for next Monday. (Sound interesting?)
Have a good week all! I’ve got one more week of job training to go, so hopefully by next week I'll have a little more time to cyber-visit. ;)

The Author Paradox

I’ve decided that “author” is one of the most paradoxical careers someone can possibly have. Think about it. We start out spending all our time happily in front of a computer or notebook, writing out our stories. It is a quiet profession, characterized by long hours of peacefully plotting and editing…until you go from hopefully writer to published author. Then all of a sudden you have to turn into a salesman! You have to be out and about, pitching your story to everyone, calling newspapers in hopes that they’ll mention you book, writing things entirely unrelated to your story because you’re looking for new ways to get your name out there, and generally spending time you once used to write on hoping people will now buy your writing. It’s enough to send someone into culture shock!
Yes, this particular post formulated during a short conversation I had with a woman at my book signing this weekend. It was one of those “um, interesting” book signings. :P For the first hour to hour and a half I didn’t sell a single book. The managers were even starting to feel sorry for me. It was enough to make me wonder if I was going to go home that night and reconsider my career choice. But happily, traffic started picking up and peopled started making eye-contact with me. By the time it came to a close the stack of books on my table was reduced to one short pile which the manager had me sign and put out in the autograph copy section. (Praise God and deep sigh of relief) But still, one can’t help but stop and think about the emotional rollercoaster that is also known as authorhood. ;)
All and all, I really did enjoy talking with the people who were brave enough to approach my table. I got to meet a family of bibliophiles, several young writers, and a lot of sweet people who were willing to buy the book just because they knew it is my first. And there are those entertaining moments. I had one woman act like the book was literally singeing her fingers when she found out I write Christian fiction (a very strange “drop and run” maneuver followed). The last woman who came by was so excited to find out it was Christian based she bought several to give to others. That’s what I really like to hear. I didn’t write the book just to be an entertaining mystery. I’ve always hoped it would inspire people to think about the question, “What does it mean to say ‘I believe in God’?” I can hope and pray! :)

Do happy endings really exist?

I read an interesting book this weekend that asked the question, “Is there really such a thing as a happy ending?” You know, the type that takes place at the end of a book or movie.
Guy meets girl, they marry: happy ending.
Or, creative genius reaches his goal, his work is recognized: happy ending.
Well, the answer to that question is simply, NO. (Hold on with me her for a second.)
The answer is no because life goes on! Well, in the real world it does. Life doesn’t just stop in a blissful glow because we’ve reached a goal. There’s still work to do!
Trust me, getting a book published wasn’t the end of the story for me. In fact, it’s just a step on a path that still leaves me feeling out of breath sometimes. :-) But I’m still glad I’m here.
The point of this short post? Don’t think of happy endings as endings. They are in fact new beginnings.
In a sense, aren’t you glad that’s the way it goes?

By the way, if you’re looking for a good little book to spend a day or two on, I can recommend Beth Pattillo’s Jane Austen Ruined My Life.
I love that title. :)

My Misprint Saga Comes To A Climax

Okay, this weekend can official be classified as strange…and amusing.
You might have read in previous posts about the occasional misprints which have occurred with my book’s cover. Once it came out an interesting alien green and another time a definitive pink. I’ve blogged about it and laughed about it with my friends and family, but it was never a big deal. I just assumed mishaps were part of the process.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, I received a call from one of the managers at my publisher. He quickly began apologizing for the misprints….I’ve never mentioned it to my publisher!
Here’s where it begins to get weird.
Apparently, someone in the graphic art department of my publishers just happened upon my blog and then stumbled onto the most recent post I put up about the “pink edition.”
Horrified, she immediately called the manager, who in turned called me to discuss the issue. I told him I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but he was quite disturbed by the idea. It seems this has only happened once before in the history of my publisher, and in that case the cover was much like mine in subtle color tones. So how are they going to fix this problem?
Instead of running off small batches of my book per request of the distributor or bookstores, they are going to print 500 copies of my book in one shot. Yes, 500 copies! Apparently, running large batches lessens the chance of misprints.
So, Only Angels Are Bulletproof has entered it’s very first large printing run…all because of a little too much pink and a little too much green.
Well, all I know for sure is this is a good time to start ordering books because the distribution time will be cut down by a few weeks.
….I’m thinking this is a good thing… :)

And They Did It Again...

So, my publisher’s printer has brought a new dimension to my book’s cover once more. In a previous post I told you all about how I opened the newest box of my books only to discover the printer had tinged the cover green, leaving my angel looking distinctly alien like.
Well, they’ve come up with a new one for the most recent run. A pink tint. Yes, pink. o_O
Maybe we’ll call this the girl power edition. What do you think? A friend of mine, who just happened to end up with a copy from this particular printing, is calling this the “magenta series.” Perhaps I’ll have a “blue period” next.



What? The pink just made me want to add a little more girliness.
And to think, my graphic artist and I worked so hard to get a really ethereal atmosphere on the cover as well as touch on specific points in the story. Who know we just needed a littl more pinkness?

My First Interview (Would you like to see?)

I found out the local TV station that gave me an interview put the video on their website, so I thought I’d put it up on here. :)
It turned out to be a lot of fun. First I was led to the “green room”…I’d say it was sort of a minty green.
Then we were led to an open newsroom/set. My brother, dad, and I all sat there, trying not to cough or talk too loud.
Then at last I was sitting at the news table with a microphone woven into my jacket. I just told myself “Don’t look at the camera. Just look at the people.” About six minutes later it was over. The funny thing is I didn’t start shaking until it was all over and I was walking back to the car.
The show was actually on air about an hour before I came on, so I was watching it as I got ready to go. The anchor had a copy of my book and every time they would go to a commercial break she would say “I’m going back to reading this great book!” and open it up. :)
At one point someone on the set yelled out, “Are there any vampires?” Lol. Happily, the anchor had read enough that she could say no and tell them what the book was about.
Have a look. By the grace of God I didn’t go blank or cough or anything like that. ;) It still feels a bit surreal.
(sorry, you will have to sit through a short commercial)

I'm Scared and other Announcements

Gasp! You are never going to believe this. It hasn’t completely sunk into my brain yet.
Right out of the blue I got an e-mail from a television station, asking me if I would be available to do an interview on their local morning show. Yes, me…on live TV! Gasp!
At this point I’m actually trying not to think too much about it because I’m pretty sure I would panic if I did.

This week has actually turned out to be completely insane, but in a very good way.
-I just got back from a local Jr./Highschool where I had my own table at their Career Day event. It turned out to be a lot of fun. The love of books and writing is a universal language whether you are 12 or 26.
-Then on Friday I’ll be at the local Fox station at 8:40AM. (Amazing :)
-And finally I will have my very first Christmas Book signing on Saturday. Which reminds me, if you are going to be in the Fresno area, or know someone who will be, please come on over to the Borders Books in the River Park shopping center. I’d love to meet you. See my EVENTS page for all the details.
-Oh, don’t forget, you have just one more month to enter my contest. Check out my Contest Blog.

I have to say, to all my friends with whom I correspond, please forgive me if I don’t get back to you until next week. I hate doing that, but you probably don’t want me this week. I’m a little scattered. ;)
At the moment, I’ve got to go find something to wear on Friday. I was told I cannot wear red, patterns, stripes, or too much white or black. I think that eliminates the majority of my wardrobe. Lol.

Worth It

A card from a little old lady, whom I probably won’t ever get a chance to meet, telling me how much she liked my book and how excited she was to see it was an autographed copy is more important than the words of any professional reviewer.
~Enough said.

How Book Signing #3 Turned Into The Most Amazing Of All.

Last Saturday was my third official book signing. I have to say, this will probably be the one I remember the most for two major reasons.
I showed up around 1:30 to find a table already set up and a large stack of my books in front of it. Much to my surprise, the manager had order more than twice the number of books than stores usually do. That seemed like a very good sign.
….But two hours later, as the signing drew to a close, that stack of books was practically the same size. I’d only sold 5 books. And I knew unsold books were always returned to the distributor, which looks very bad when the end of year tally happens.
The funny thing is the first thought that came to my mind when I woke-up that morning was, “What if I don’t sell very many books?” I know there is only one answer to that question. “I will still praise God.”
So, as 4:00 neared half my brain was screaming, “This is bad! This is very, very bad!” and the other half was calmly saying, “This just happens sometimes. Everyone has bad days. God is still good and it will all work out.” Frankly, the smile I was had on was a trial.
Then all of a sudden the manager walked over, looked at the stacks of my books and the other authors' and without hesitation said, “Go ahead and sign them all. I’ll put up a local author display,” and then walked away.
Sign them all? That means he can’t return them. Which means the distributor counts them as already sold! HOW GOOD IS OUR GOD?! Somebody smile wildly with me!
As we walked back to the car my mom said, “I’m sorry you didn’t sell very much.” I had to say, I was glad it worked out the way it did. I got to see God show up and politely tell me He is much better at selling books than I am. Agreed!
That was the first part of this amazing day. The second part was the people I was surrounded by. Sitting next to me at that table was Denise Dieser and Terry O’Leary, authors of Prayer Chain Ministry. Terry was my Sunday school teacher when I was ten years old. I kid you not. :) A few feet down was Doug Hansen, author of Mother Goose in California. Doug was my art teacher when I was twelve years old. Does anyone hear, “It’s a small world after all,” playing in the back ground?
And then out of the blue, two of my dearest friends, Karen and Katherine Meinicke, who live way down in Southern California, walked in. I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped a bit. They stayed the whole day and even helped me pass out some of my cards. (One of the more amusing moments occurred when a woman carrying Richard Dawkins’ latest book refused the card.)
You know, I sold very well during my last signing, but I came home exhausted. This time I came home on the top of my energy scale. :)

Me, Denise Dieser, Terry O’Leary, Doug Hansen, and Kim Gruenenfelder.

Terry and I at the “official author table.”

Terry’s Book (We had a good laugh over the fact that I kept introducing her as “Mrs. O’Leary".)

Doug Hansen’s book. This is one of the most beautifully illustrated books I’ve ever seen.

One Reminder. One Announcement.

Okay, let’s do the reminder first. :)
Don’t forget, I have a book signing coming up! October 10th at the Barns and Nobles in Fresno California. Just ten more days. (flutter of nerves) You can find all the details on the EVENTS page of my website.

Now for the announcement.
I got a Christmas book signing! (woohoo!) Yes, I know, you guys are going to get tired of me getting excited about every book signing I announce. Let’s just say that I have to get up a lot of nerve to call bookstores and ask, so I celebrate these moments as a victory. ;)
Anyway, I’m going to be at the Borders Books in Fresno California on December 5th. More details will be posted later, but I’m still just happy to get one during the Christmas season. God is good.
So, if you’re going to be the Central Valley area of CA during either of these events, please come see me or send anybody you know in the area over. I’d love to meet you.

If you would like a signed book, but can’t get to signing, just send me a message at emilyannbenedict@gmail.com.

Have a great week. :)

Visit my Contest Blog to learn how to win Barns and Nobles and iTunes gift cards.

Off-Kilter

Have you ever had something end up just a little bit off in a glaring way? I had that moment when I opened the last box of books my publisher sent me.
I always keep a small stock of books on hand because a lot of people like to buy directly from me. So I regularly receive 30 book shipments from my publisher. When I opened the last box they sent me I immediately realized something was wrong with the cover. It somehow looked different…greener.
I grabbed a copy from the previous shipment and put it next to the new books. Sure enough then new ones had been tinted green, almost as if there was a green neon light somewhere in the distance, casting it’s eerie glow on my angel.
I held it up in front of my family and suggested that my angel has been abducted by aliens. (Hm, I don’t think Only Aliens Are Bulletproof would sound as good.) Then my sister did something I hadn’t thought of yet.
She turned the book over, pointed to the picture of me (which I was never particularly pleased with), and declared, “You look like you’re going to be sick.” Sure enough, I too had been tinted green. I looked positively ill. :P
There really wasn’t anything I could do except hope nobody noticed and if they did try to convince them they were getting a rare edition. (Can’t you just see “Off-Color Edition of Only Angels Are Bulletproof” showing up on eBay one of these days?)
Ah well, I happy to say I just received a new box and my angel has returned a lovely stone complexion and I once again have color in my cheeks…okay, so I’m actually a little pale, but at least I’m not green!

Say Yay With Me!

Why? At loooong last my book is available on Audible.com and through iTunes. Please join me in jumping for joy. My publisher and I have been trying for months and months and then for a few months to accomplish this.

The Audio book process was probably the hardest part of the entire publishing experience for me. The voice actor was a very nice man, but I kept thinking, “He doesn’t sound like Scott.” Of course I had to come to terms with the fact that the voice I have in my head for my character probably doesn’t really exist. (Ooo, did I just admit to hearing voices in my head ;)
The voice actor was from the Midwest, though, so I did have to explained to him how a character who grew up in California would pronounce certain things…like Los Angeles. :)

Ah, well. For the lovers of audio books, check out your iTunes or Audible.com . Scott would love to tell you all about the most startling thing he ever saw.

What is in a POV?

I’m noticing a really amusing pattern among people who knew me for a considerable amount of time prior to finding out that I am a writer. They were of course surprised to hear that I’d published a novel, but according to person after person that is not the most surprising thing. It seems they picked the book up, expecting to read a story from my point of view, and instead found that the whole story is written from the point of view of a 35 year old male FBI agent. Many times now I have had friends say, “It works, but why did you do that?”

The answer: IT WORKS! (lol)

I had a story to tell and found that the best way to tell it was through the eyes of a 13 year veteran FBI agent named Scott Malkin (who is entirely fictional, just in case you are wondering). Hey, as long as my narrator works I will always be amused by the reactions I sometimes get. ;)

Backmatter

For those of you out there who do not think that is a word, it is! Backmatter: The words on the back of a book. For some reason I find them extremely important and entertaining. I am a self-confessed backmatter lover. Yes, I will buy books solely on the basis of the backmatter. There are times when I go into the bookstore without any idea of what I’m going to buy. I just want to walk around and read backmatters. (We all have our own ways of being adventurous.)
But the love of backmatters does not merely center on buying books. I just like reading them for the fun of it. Even if it’s a book I know I’m never going to read, I like to see what’s out there, what authors are coming up with, what sells and doesn’t sell. Ask any member of my family and they’ll tell you that if we walk by a shelf of books in any store they are probably going to lose me.
I don’t know why, but it’s sort of recreational for me. I don’t care if that sounds weird. ;)
But having said that, I’m sure you’ll at least understand what I mean when I said I agonized over what went on the back of my book. It took me weeks of writing and then going back and forth with my editor before I had one that I was satisfied with. At one point she sent me her ideas to which I had to reply, “Um, you just gave the whole mystery away…” lol
Ah, well. You’ll just have read my backmatter and decide for yourself whether it sounds interesting.
http://www.emilyannbenedict.com/books.html
As for me, I know I’m going to Sam’s Club later this week and I know there’s a large shelf of books waiting for me to turn them over and read. :D

How it went...

Whew, Saturday’s book signing was certainly an interesting one. For the first hour or so only a few books were sold. Frankly, my family and I were starting to get a little nervous. It was SO hot and icky we were beginning to think that maybe people just weren’t going to show up in large numbers…but then God showed up. :D By the time my dad came over at 4:00pm to cautiously ask how many books I’d sold I was gratefully able to say, 34! Yep, grand total, 34 books!
Several friends were able to come and visit for a while. That was so sweet. Many of them bought books to hand out as gifts. An employee of a local school came in to buy supplies and ended up buying several copies for students and one for the library. A sister of a friend of mine even drove in from another city to have me sign a copy she already owned. :D All made for a really good day. Near the end one of the managers came over and said , “You are the only author we’ve ever had who stood the whole time.” (lol) All I can say is thank God for people who understand that shoes need to be cute and comfortable. ;)
…and now if any of you would like to see pictures…



This is when I start praying that I can remember how to spell my name. Don't laugh. I have messed that one up before. :P

Me in a dress. (Something that has not occured in nerely 10 years.)

Yes, that is a line in front of my table. A line!

My friend Candi signing my guestbook. :D Thanks everyone!

The Local Papers and Tomorrow's Book Signing

Trying to get the local papers to announce tomorrow’s book signing has been an interesting experience, but today my mom and I had a good laugh about how it turned out.
It took me a couple of days to get up the nerve to call the paper, but once I did finally get a hold of someone they promised to put an announcement in their “calendar” today. To be honest, I don’t read the paper so I didn’t have any idea what that meant.
Well, today my mom and I went out and bought a paper, then spent several minutes looking for my name. We found the section on events and scanned page after page of events in town this weekend, but could not find mine. Then just as I started searching another section I heard my mom say, “Here you are.”
It was just a basic, two sentence notice listing the time and place, which was what we expected. But what made us laugh was the section it was in. My book signing was listed under “Etc.” Yep, I’m officially an etcetera. Lol.
I was notified on Wednesday that I was mentioned in the Sunday paper as well, but that one went a little awry. For some reason they listed me as the “author and illustrator” of Only Angels Are Bulletproof. Uh…well, I helped pick out the cover shot. :P I guess we’ll see how many people show up expecting to see a children’s book author.
Ah, where would we be without the media. :)

Hope I get a chance to see you there! Check out the EVENTS page on my website for all the details. http://www.emilyannbenedict.com/

Beyond Weird

Lol, so, what do I do when a major, bestselling author sort of inadvertently copies my book cover?
For a moment I was afraid that mine might be a copy, because his book was originally released in the late '80s. Then we suddenly remembered that we have a copy of this book and it had a different cover. After I recovered from the surprise, I looked it up online and discovered that he just rereleased it, with a new cover, last month…three months after mine came out.
I’m sure this wasn’t done on purpose. He probably doesn’t even know I exist. And I know that image was part of a collection that a stock photo company sells. But still, who could have ever seen this coming?
I don’t really know if I’m going to mention it to anyone yet. Currently I’m somewhere between amused and stunned. Half of my family and friends are upset and the other half thinks it might be a good thing.
I’ve got one interesting scenario in mind. A week before I have my next book signing, the store is going to put up posters of my book cover at all of their entrances. Max Lucado’s book will probably be somewhere near the new release table…so, do you think anyone is going take a quick glance and think Max Lucado is coming into town for a book signing? LOL ;)

Another Book Signing and Kindle Release!

Praise God, we’ve gotten another book signing scheduled! :D This one will be at the Borders in Fresno CA, Saturday May 16th at 1:00pm. I’ll send out notices and put up another reminder when we get closer to the date, but I just wanted put it up now because this is a good day! We were getting a little discouraged because several bookstores had turned us down, but God has His timing and His ways.

And, as promised, Only Angels Are Bulletproof has been release on Kindle! So, if you’re an eBook lover I hope you enjoy!

Problems and Wonders!

Sorry it took me over a week to post a new update on here. For some strange reason blogspot wouldn’t accept my password last week. I could view, but not edit. :( But it seems the problem has been solved. Lol, I’ve had some strange things happen to this blog. I came on one day to find all the posts gone. When I tried to check the set up, it appeared that everything had been changed to a differently language. :O After a few moments of panic and a few more searching through the help section the problem seemed to fix itself. Who knows what goes on? :P

Well, I just give you a quick update on the book. It has been amazing week.
-First, my publisher notified me that it has been accepted into Kindle’s program! (Praise God) It might take a while to actually get it up for sale, but I will notify you as soon as it comes up.
-Another amazing moment arrived when someone I work with on occasion notified me that his wife had walked into a bookstore, asked for a copy of my book and they had one on the shelf! He sadly could not remember if she was in Borders or Barns and Nobles, but I’m just so excited to hear that my book is starting to get some shelf space! As always, if you go into a store that doesn’t have one, just ask the customer service to order a copy for you.
-Lastly, we are working on getting another book signing, hopefully in my home town this time. So, keep your eyes open for the next announcement.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Who Knew eBooks Would Catch On?

I’ve been noticing more and more eBook advertising lately. Honestly, when my publisher put my book into eBook form I didn’t really think much of it. Call me old fashion, but I’ve always envisioned a book as paper pages I had to turn every time I came to the bottom of them. The eBook concept was just hard for me. But the more I learn, the more it seems eBooks are catching on. As I understand it, Amazon’s Kindle is really popular. I walked into Sam’s Club and found they’d released their own eBook reader. A number of my friends have even been recommending eBooks they’ve enjoyed as of late. I haven’t tried reading an eBook yet, but I am more inclined to now.
In case you are an eBook reader, Only Angels Are Bulletproof is available as an eBook. Just check out my website’s home page for more information. It is not yet available on Kindle, but we are working on that. If you would like to see it on Kindle, look up Only Angels Are Bulletproof on Amazon and find the “Tell the Publisher you’d like to see this book on Kindle” button to the left.
Happy Reading!