Friday, March 28, 2014

A Fabulosity of Fans



I have, of late, made the rather startling discovery that I have fans. No, really.

It’s not as though I didn’t know people read my books (I’m pretty sure Llewellyn wouldn’t keep buying them if SOMEONE didn’t occasionally purchase one), and every once in a while I’ll go to a Pagan conference where people have heard of me. But as I got ready for the release of book 7, The Witch’s Broom, it suddenly became clear that a lot of people were excited to have the book come out—not just because it is a cool book (which it is, of course), but because it was a book by me.

I have fans. Wow.

And not just fans, but GREAT fans. In fact, a fabulosity of fans. Yes, I just made up that word. I can do that. I’m an author.

There was so much enthusiasm, in fact, that I decided to reward everyone by having a Big, Huge, Mega Giveaway Contest. Which attracted so many people, many of whom spread the word far and wide, and generated even more enthusiasm, that I had to come to the undeniable conclusion that I had fans. A bunch of fans, even. I already knew I had friends who followed what I was up to, and readers, and such, but…fans. Wow.

Here’s the thing about writers. We mostly spend our time sitting in a corner, by ourselves, writing. Some folks occasionally go out and do a book signing, but unless you are Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling, or Stephen King, you are pretty happy if ten people show up. For most of us, our interactions with the people who read our books are limited to the occasional comment on Facebook or that rare, lovely email from someone telling you how much they loved your book. I can’t speak for all authors, but most of the ones I know don’t feel any different from anyone else.

Which is why it is pretty cool to discover you have fans. As I’ve spent the last couple of months talking (and talking and talking) about the upcoming book release, I have had so many people say truly lovely things about how excited they were about the book, and how much they loved my previous books, and sometimes even that what I’d written had changed their lives.

It is a pretty good feeling for someone who spends most of her time sitting in a living room full of cats with a laptop on her lap, I’ll tell you. What’s more, I already knew that my readers were the nicest, coolest, best looking (yes, of course you are) people in the world, but I have been truly amazed by just HOW fabulous y’all have been about the book, the contests, and everything else. I feel very blessed.

So this is a thank you love letter to my fabulosity of fans. Thanks for your enthusiasm for my writing, your willingness to spread the word, for buying my books, for generally supporting and cheering on everything I do. You people make my life a better place And I just wanted to make sure you knew that I appreciated it.

So I have one more surprise up my sleeve. A gift, to all of you, to give back something of what you have given to me. I’m not quite ready to announce it, though, so for today, you’ll have to take this love letter instead. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being my fans. Y’all rock.

 *smooch*


16 comments:

  1. We're not only fans of your writing, we're fans of you as a human being. You really are fabulous. <3

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  2. A book signing, now that would be fun! I hear Pittsburgh is a great city... and oh, I live there, too. No pressure :) Less than two weeks until it's out! Yay!

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  3. How about Binghamton, Christa? I'm still working on the final plans, but it looks like I am actually going to do a rare book signing in Binghamton at Imagika (a great little Pagan store) on Court St. I think we're looking at April 26th as the date.

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    1. Actually that's not too bad. It's 5.5 hours from Pittsburgh, but only 3 hours from my mom's house :) If I can't get out there, I will be there in spirit!

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  4. A book signing! How awesome! Of course, I live all the way across the continent from you, but I'll be there in spirit.

    And you truly are fabulous, too. I love this new collective noun you've coined.

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    1. Skye, something tells me you are going to get a signed copy anyway :-)

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  5. It's great when when your ***fans*** show their appreciation and loooove :D
    As it is I'll patiently (yeah, right) wait until I can order it here. :D

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    1. You can order it here right now! (Some folks already have.) You can use the "Buy Now" button at the top left of the blog, which will take you to Paypal. In fact, I'm going to spend the day signing and packing up the books people ordered already.

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    2. That would be great but you'd said it's for US people only in the previous post and I'm in Switzerland. :)
      That's why I can't order it in our online shops yet - they sometimes take a longer time to get something new (and of a *special genre*) in their online shop as orderable (and that's not even a word... errr).
      I avoid Amazon & Co. as I receive that as *shopping from a foreign country* and the taxes on that are a bit on the insane side.

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    3. AH, sorry about that. Sadly the shipping costs more than the book is worth. When I sent a book to Brazil as a prize, it cost $18 to send a $17 book :-(

      That being said, if you ever want a signed book and don't mind paying for the insane shipping, I could find out what it would cost and we could arrange something.

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    4. No worries, I totally understand. Plus Switzerland is not even EU and usually costs even more to send to. To me it's the *usual* ok, that won't work thing, so I'm pretty much used to it. :)

      Thank you for the offer, but if shipping is as much as to Brazil then I'll have to wait. Of course I'd pay for the shipping and a signed book would be brilliant, but that's a bit on the too much side right now (booo @ postal services). But thank you! :)

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  6. I was so excited to get my Amazon notice yesterday that I only have to wait until the 2nd to get my "Broom book" (that's what I've been calling it!) so, yes, I am a fan and I am happy for you !

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  7. This was an awesome idea for a book. I can't wait to read it. I just love it. I have an old friend who is becoming interested in learning more about the ways of magic and your book was one of the books I recommended for her to read. Love your page and sense of fun. Do you think you might ever come to TN for a book signing? Would love to see you here.

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    1. Thanks for all the kind words! Sadly, I rarely travel, so I'm not likely to do a book signing in TN. But for a brief time, you can at least buy a signed book directly from me :-)

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