Last week was a hard week for me, full of ups and downs, but on Friday, something cool happened. Jasinda Wilder, in case you don’t know, released a new book entitled “Falling Under.”
This was the one year anniversary she and her husband, Jack Wilder, pushed the button and hit the bestseller lists with a book called “Falling Into You.” The next book, “Falling Into Us” did very well, but this book, “Falling Under” was written as a gift of gratitude to their fans, the readers. They did this with no press, other than word of mouth on social media and through the blogosphere.
Brave? Yes!
I call it Ballsy as Hell, but what struck me most, is in her group, Wild With Wilder, the atmosphere was so celebratory and everyone was in a feeding frenzy to get their hands on the book and read it! It got a little nuts on Friday morning when it slowly, ever so slowly, made its way to be accessible to the masses.
I did something I have never in my life done. I got into a meme battle on Thursday with one of the members of the group to promote the book. After all, there was not a single bit of press out there to announce this book was coming. No title, no plot blurbs, not a peep anywhere. I had to help my girl, Jasinda Wilder, out. After all, I would hope when I am part of the indie published family, they would help me out. (Soon, everyone, very soon! I will be announcing it to the universe very soon!) That golden rule thing, you know. 🙂
Now, let me explain. We posted some cool pics with some witty sayings to promote the book coming on Friday, and I had the most fun! But in the end, I came out making a friend, and we’ve been posting things back and forth all weekend. Very cool. I can say, I have met some very awesome people on the social media, including Facebook. (Sandy Lender, Gale Sparks, Hugh Howey, Liliana Hart, Beth Ann Erickson, Billie A. Williams, just to name a few, and yes, most of them are writers).
And who knows? We might get to meet in real life at a book signing or something, either Jasinda Wilder’s or mine!
It was nice to just play, to go back and forth. To make people laugh and help out a wonderful lady and her husband, who a year ago, held their breath, took a gamble, and said a few prayers as they pushed the button to a bigger, brighter future. It could have gone the other way, but it didn’t. It payed off. When I first saw their story on the CBS News, I was cheering for them and got onto Facebook to find them that very night. If you haven’t seen it, here it is:
I told my honey, it is the coolest thing to chat and email with a New York Times Best Selling Author, a USA Today Bestselling Author and a Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author (all rolled into one) and her husband, Jack, who is also a writer, and have them answer a question or respond back to you and be so damn nice and just grateful!
I want that.
I want to inspire people like that.
I want raving fans like that.
I want to give and receive like that!
And my honey wants that for me, too. God Bless him. He’s put up with me for what will be eighteen (18) years with my writing obsession, my self-doubts, my fears and my ups and downs.
He’s been so supportive of me being a writer, because at this point, I can’t give it up anymore than I can stop breathing. So, why not give it a shot? Why not push that button and see what happens?
If they can do it, so can I.
I may not be as successful. Or, what really gets my heart racing, what if I am? What then?
First, if I do hit it big, my honey will get his hot rod! A 1969 Chevelle SS.
More than anything, I would do my best to follow in the footsteps of Team Wilder and be as kind and generous to my fans as they are to theirs.
The thing I took away from this weekend is they probably don’t need to ever publish another thing as long as they live.
They may have everything they may ever need for themselves or their family, so it isn’t about the money.
That’s not why they published “Falling Under”, (or I’m assuming it had nothing to do with the money they would make), but the reason they did it, or I BELIEVE they did it was to say “Thank you” to all of us who read their work, love it for what it is, and review it and share it with the world.
Thank you, Jasinda Wilder and Jack Wilder for giving me something to aspire to.
Because of you, both of you, I didn’t give up.
Greetings From The Polebarn 