Terri Giuliano Long is the bestselling author of the award-winning novel "In Leah’s Wake." Her life outside of books is devoted to her family. In her free time, she enjoys walking, traveling, and listening to music. True to her Italian-American heritage, she’s an enthusiastic cook. In an alternate reality, she might be an international food writer. She lives with her family on the East Coast and teaches at Boston College. "In Leah’s Wake" is her debut novel.This week, Terri and Inspired Quill Press (paperback edition), launch a newly edited edition of "In Leah’s Wake." The newly edited novel features a new chapter and several new scenes, adding new connections and insights, and tightens the book, cutting 60 pages – all while maintaining the integrity of the original edition.
Today, Terri is here to tell us why she loves book bloggers, which makes us so proud to be part of this special group! She's having a photo contest on her Facebook page that ends TOMORROW. If you're quick at taking pics, there's a $50 Amazon gift card up for grabs!
More good news: "In Leah's Wake" is currently available on Kindle and Nook for 99 cents! Get it at this great price while you still can! (And then take a picture with it showing on your device so you can enter the aforementioned photo contest while there's still time. (You could get $50 for spending 99 cents!)
Visit Terri at her blog, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
An Ode to Bloggers
Last May, a month or so after I began marketing my novel, In Leah’s Wake, a former agent told me that I would never sell 500 books. A rookie, I had no idea what to expect. When I published the novel, I’d dreamed of selling a 3,000 – 5,000 books, hoping healthy sales numbers would attract the attention of an agent or traditional publishing house for my next novel.
The agent had left New York, but she’d been in the business for a long time, and her words stung. I hung up the phone, heartbroken, depressed. Had I not been in the midst of my first blog tour, I might have pulled my novel off the market that day.
Determined to see the tour through, I soldiered on. On the tour, I met wonderful, caring people, book bloggers, whose kindness buoyed and sustained me.
Over the next few months, "In Leah’s Wake" appeared on hundreds of blogs. Bloggers opened their hearts and spread the word about this quiet literary novel. In August, "In Leah’s Wake" hit the Barnes & Noble and Amazon charts. Now, seven months after my talk with that agent, the book has been in the Amazon top 200 for over five months, and we’ve sold just shy of 80,000 copies.
Book bloggers rock! I don’t know how to say it any better. Book bloggers are the fairy godmothers and godfathers of the literary world. They invest their talent, their energy, and their time into reviewing and promoting books – and keeping dreams alive.
Even today, traditional media refuses to recognize or review indie books. In this very real sense, book bloggers are the heart and soul of the indie revolution. Their vision, their energy, and their determination have enabled this amazing populist movement to take hold.
Today, we have the great fortune of hearing the funny, poignant, intelligent voices of new authors from around the world - voices that, just a few years ago, might have been silenced by the gatekeepers of the old guard. These voices reach into hearts and minds, forging connections, uniting us in a community of readers and writers, searching for and finding, through words, the better part of ourselves. Because, truly, at heart, this is what reading and writing is all about.
Here’s to you, book bloggers! You are and always will be my heroes!
Special thanks to Terri for her lovely salute to book bloggers and to Novel Publicity LLC for including us on Terri's blog tour!
5 comments:
This is a lovely post from Terri and I can't wait to read In Leah's Wake!
Thank YOU, Melissa and Melissa! I am so grateful for all you've done for me! I feel tremendously blessed by your kindness and support!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Alexa! Your interest in my novel means a lot to me!
"In Leah's Wake" was so well written that I had to wonder if Leah and her family were based on a real family. The story captured the essence of family and how easy the whole unit can break down when one member doesn't cooperate and decides the rules no longer apply to them.
This story is powerful and gripping and one you won't easily forget. Its realism will shake any parent who has dealt with teens, because they can see themselves in the position of Leah's parents - when everything one attempts to do seems to offend and anger and ends up appearing as hateful to that teen.
I was memorized by the story and found it difficult to put down. it is a story about misunderstanding, hurt, addiction, wrong choices, peer pressure, anger, healing, love, forgiveness, and understanding. The whole story felt so life-like that I found myself completely wrapped up in the characters and their choices and had to keep reminding myself this was a novel and not a true story!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment, UK! I can't tell you how much you've made my day - I'm so very glad you enjoyed it and really do appreciate you taking the time to leave such a lovely comment!
All my best
Terri
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