Category Archives: book launch

Launches and Marketing Hoops

I feel like my brain has been doing gymnastics. I am preparing for a couple of launches for Mother Nature’s Kiss and the panic is setting in with the hope that all will come together in time. So many moving parts are keeping me up at night. I know I’ll just (hopefully) relax and have fun when I finally share my new book with you!

Today, I created a freestanding banner and bookmarks from Vistaprint. Boy, that service is amazing! They are right there, at the end of the phone, with excellent customer service if you need it, and I am always pleasantly surprised by their great products.

If you have ever used them, you will know how many products they have available. It’s hard to stop when there are puzzles, tote bags, pillows, shirts, lip gloss – really??? – that you can have printed with your design.

Oh, the lipgloss was a hard one to pass up… Mother Nature’s Kiss – a natural, right?

Well, I resisted. I’ll make some sales and then…

I have been working with two major venues for my launches: McNally Robinson in Winnipeg, and FireRock Golf and Country Club in Fountain Hills, AZ. They are both so wonderful to deal with. I will be in the Travel Alcove (fitting, since the story is about a journey) at McNally Robinson and on the event lawn (complete with hanging twinkle lights and star cookies!) at FireRock.

I am blessed with a treasure of dear friends at both locations and can’t wait to share my book with you.

So mark your calendars!

April 2nd at 7:30, I’ll be in Winnipeg at McNally Robinson. https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-17137/Lisa-G.-Shore—-Book-Launch/#.XH3V3VNKjOQ

May 1st at 7:00, I’ll be at FireRock CC.

I’m thinking of reading the book to music. Tracey Chattaway has a piece called Light the Night from her Nightsky album that is enchanting and I hope to figure out the timing so that I will be able to have her accompany me. Please check out her amazing music here. https://traceychattaway.bandcamp.com/album/nightsky

The book was ready to go in October but I had a couple of changes made, including a wonderful quote from a review. Now I hope the new books will reach me in time! That’s what is really keeping me up! As it is a story about a warm, starry night, I thought it would be fitting to hold the launches in the Spring when thoughts are turning to warmer weather.

Readers’ Favourite has awarded me 5 Stars and has overwhelmed me with a great review. I am so humbled by a complete stranger who loved my book and raved about it. I am so excited to have the 5 Star seal printed on the cover and an excerpt from the review printed inside! I was so frustrated when it was taking so long to do a couple of simple changes. When the review came in a couple of weeks ago, I thought I’d have the publisher add the excerpt and the 5 Star seal since they were fussing with it anyway. Everything happens for a reason! 🙂

You can read the review here. https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/mother-natures-kiss

Well, that’s about it for now. I have to get this tired brain to bed. Working on the launches has felt like launching through hoops but it is always fun.

I hope you will consider joining me at one of my events. I would love to see you there. Please bring your family and friends. This is all about a common love for a warm summer night and a sky full of stars.

“Inspired by true events, this dreamy bedtime story will change how we look at the summer night sky forever. Whisking us into the heart of the universe, the curious twinkle light unites us all with a wink and a kiss.”

Sweet dreams, dear ones.

With a Kiss…

-Mother Natures Kiss Cover

 

Well, Friends, my new book, Mother Nature’s Kiss has hit the ether! That means you can order it online and if you do it today it will arrive by mid-December.

It is a rhyming, dreamy drift from a cottage window, out over the water and into outer space and back again. This unique bedtime story will hopefully become a new family favourite.

As the back cover says, it “… will unite us all with a wink and a kiss.”

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Over the spring and summer, I have worked with my publisher, Tellwell Talent to bring this new book into the world. Yes, it took about nine months ;). It is finally ready and I can’t wait to share it with you.

I have blogged about the journey with previews of a few of the illustrations. You can see how long it takes to create a physical book from an idea! This was actually fast! 🙂

I have dedicated the book to my grandchildren.ded

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As I said in the book, they are my heroes and the leaders of tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who have championed me along the way. You will find many of your names on my Acknowledgements page. (If I have forgotten anyone, I am sincerely sorry.) I feel like this book has a community already. Please spread the word to make the Mother Nature’s Kiss community bigger!

Order one for you wee ones in time for Christmas! Click HERE to go to Amazon.

Enjoy, enjoy!

With gratitude and lots of Mother Nature love to all! xoxo

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Can you say edit? Can you say neurotic?

Jeez! I am driving myself crazy! I can’t imagine how my editor, book designer and publishing consultant feel! You have no idea how many decisions go into the final stages of producing a book! Endless word and font changes, page weight, glossy vs matte, BISAC codes, SEO keywords, and my personal favourite that has kept me up for the last two nights – THE FRIGGIN PRICE!

Without seeing and feeling the final result, I am flying blind when I choose the price. I just hope it is a wonderful surprise and the value is more than the price I chose.

All this drama and the hard work of promoting hasn’t even begun yet! Argghh!

Anyway, I have to say it felt pretty good to finally press the A-OK button! Now, all that is left is the final signing off and to the printer, it goes!

This really has been a journey and I thank all of you for your amazing support and excitement that you share with me. My only regret is that I didn’t have the book ready for the lake/summer season. However, if I really think about it, I would be wanting to start the promoting and be traveling now and I am really happy to be enjoying this beautiful summer doing my lake hopping.

I intend to promote the book online over the fall and winter and see a lot of you in person next spring when I launch it for the 2019 summer season.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these last days of summer. All my very best to you for a lovely Fall. xo

 

The Winnipeg Launch

Hello, Winnipeg! Welcome to my launch!

Lisa Book Launch 05McNally Robinson Booksellers … (cue dramatic music …) a mecca for any prairie author to give a reading and launch.

It is one of the most beautiful and HUGE independent bookstores that still remains in North America and is the largest in Canada. You can just feel the unique touches as you walk in – the children’s section built like a treehouse, complete with a full line of clothing and soft toys, the fabulous Prairie Ink Restaurant and the photos celebrating hometown authors adorning the walls like a frieze of accolades. This is a special place and I was so honoured to have my launch there recently.

Thank goodness it wasn’t a scene from Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again! That expression was so false when I looked out at the many faces of the people who took time out of a beautiful summer evening to attend my launch.

Family, friends from my school days and friends of my parents, dear friends I can never see enough of and old friends I haven’t seen in years, all came to support me. I can’t thank them enough for their love and “being there” for me.

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My dear friend, Patty Christie introduced me. To give you the level of the bar of the people there, she came and stood at the podium to introduce me after a hip replacement two weeks before! Man, I have good friends!

 

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My best friend from high school, Ali Hanks came by and her husband, Bruce, (and by the way a huge shout out to all the husbands who attended!) took these pictures. Thanks so much, Bruce!

 

My readings were set to the music of Thomas Newman, lowland and Hans Zimmer. Quite an accompaniment! If you would like to hear the music again you can click here , here and here . The first selection was the Prologue and you can read along to the music for fun. It is very dreamy and dramatic and you just feel swept away into another world. I love reading to music and plan to create YouTube videos of me reading to these selections and more.

As I signed books and chatted with old friends, I felt so grateful for the reconnection to Winnipeg. True to the Crysnix magic, the whole evening’s success was a wish come true.

There are still a few books there! 🙂

I just heard from John Toews, who is the Events Coordinator, that my book reached #1 that week! 

Here is a video I pulled together. Honestly, I need a resident high school kid to help me with this stuff! Just another reason why I miss my kids. Many thanks to my son, Lee for his amazing help through the evening and to him and his fiancee, Emily for putting me up and putting up with me! 🙂

A video of the evening and much love to all. xoxox

My Hometown

 

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Sweeping, swamping memories flood in as I drive around the old, familiar streets. Anyone who knows River Heights understands when I say how the cavernous, verdant arches of the tree-lined streets whisper, “Welcome home, welcome home.”

I can’t help but drive by my old homes as my son now lives on my old street and as I go to visit friends, they live on another old street and as I drove into town and went to the car wash, I couldn’t help drive by another as it was on the way. Seeing the places where I once lived tugs at my heart as I remember the visceral details of switching on certain favourite light fixtures, the feel of opening a window in the spring or the heft of opening a front door, all insignificant at the time. All were just moments and motions in an ever-changing life that always moved too fast. Moments and motions that were torn and shoved into memory as life abruptly moved on. Now, as life is a little calmer and I am much more at peace with all the loss and change, I look at my old homes, not with sad nostalgia, but a reverence for the pace and resilience I developed in those years.

Winnipeg has a way of drawing old friends together as we all lived up or down the streets from each other. We have generations of tales of antics down the back lanes. “We trudged to school in minus 30 degrees up and downhill both ways…” was the joke of our parents and we laughed at the part about being in the hills, not about the temperature that earned Winterpeg its nickname. Close to the longitudinal centre of Canada and also on the pancake flat prairies, I actually have a lot of respect for anyone who can drive decently in snow. We played and grew and loved and lived in an urban forest and never realised how incredibly special the quality of air is from all those trees. Years ago an out-of-town  friend said Fess up – there are only five streets in Winnipeg and you have lived on all five! Pretty much.

My hometown is a place of constancy. Not a large city, it boasts beautiful women, bountiful nearby lakes, and culture to rival anywhere. The fans of the Winnipeg Jets are renown for their loyalty and that love and devotion just spills over into lifelong friendships.

I am here to share my book, Gifts of the Crysnix. This is big for me! It will be so poignant for me to look into the eyes of old friends and read my words – my heart – to them. I have chosen the biggest, most beautiful bookstore in town and it thrills me to think I will finally be launching at McNally Robinson Booksellers. If you would like to read more about it go here.

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A blurb about me from McNally Robinson was in the Winnipeg Free Press weekend edition. Out of the blue, I heard from an old friend, actually, someone I was never really close to but knew many years ago. She took the time to track me down through my website and say hello. It was so great to hear from her as she congratulated me and promised to read my book. An acquaintance from the past, in this harried, busy life, made the time to send me a lovely note. That is the kind of quality of people who live in my hometown.

I am so proud to be back in Winnipeg.

Hi from Signal Hill Indigo!

Hi Folks!

Check out the video on the link below for an introduction to my latest blog entry. 🙂

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Recently, I had the immense pleasure of walking into my local big bookstore, Calgary’s Signal Hill Indigo, and seeing my book on the shelf there. Imagine how thrilled I was!

The staff at Indigo were incredibly welcoming. Stacey Kondla was a pleasure to work with and through the day, different members of the staff came up to me and introduced themselves to make me feel like a part of the gang.

My table was set up next to the Starbucks so, you can imagine how good the traffic was! I had my best day of sales ever and absolutely loved meeting so many people who were interested in my book.

 

 

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The day was magical as I soaked up the buzz of a big, beautiful book store and soaked in the aroma of coffee. The traffic was constant and I finally sat down for a quick bite at 2:30 across from my set up. It was pretty cool to look over at it and think to myself, “Hey, that’s MY stuff!”

My colouring page was a hit too. It’s always nice to give out a free gift. I also brought along my guest book which gave me the lovely opportunity to meet a lady from out of town who invited me to her town when I drive to Winnipeg this summer! I will take her up on her offer and look forward to meeting the people of Medicine Hat, AB!

 

 

As ever, the day was one to remember. I love talking about the messages in Gifts of the Crysnix. I get so excited to see the faces of the people I’m talking to light up with the desire to learn how to create their best lives.

 

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We truly have tremendous power over our destinies. Let the Crysnix  show you how.

 

The Calgary Book Launch

 

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This week I had my first Calgary launch party at Self Connection Books. The store has a private event room and the facilities to webcast so I was able to connect with my readers in person and through the web. It was so cool to know I was reading to people across the United States and Canada.

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Of course, I made too much food but I had to provide a feast! I printed out excerpts from a couple of feasts from the book and displayed them on the tables along with the food.

 

 

And who could forget the purple frosted sparkly cupcakes and the shortbread cookies with the fancy purple “C” from the cover? Ok, I get a little crazy when there is a chance to decorate with icing as my friends and family can attest …

 

The day was really fun and, as always, it is such a treat for me to share bits and pieces from the book. For my reading, I chose the scene where Princess Amethyst is interpreting the Laws of Light in her Volare Solus ceremony.

As I began, Princess Amethyst took the podium and cleared her throat… I smiled to myself and read on.

The reading began on page 180 and included the first five Laws:

‘know thyself’

‘be a vessel of harmony’

‘live in a state of gratitude’

‘leave the world in a better state’

‘never forget our purpose’

During the Volare Solus, which is a coming of age ceremony, the young adult Crysnix demonstrates his or her maturity by not only reciting all the Laws, but offering a personal interpretation of them.

How would you explain them apply them to your life?

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Thanks so much to everyone who joined us in person and through the webcast. I really appreciate your ongoing support.