Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Wonder Light Is on the Loose!

My hardcover debut, Wonder Light: Unicorns of the Mist, has officially released!
I had my launch party last week at the Garfield Book Company at PLU, and I felt so loved by friends and family. We packed the house and sold lots of books. My judo teammates brought friends and neighbors. So did friends from church.
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My brother, Steven and my sister-in-law, Jen flew up from California just for the event. They brought me a fluffy unicorn because, "After everyone reads Wonder Light, there won't be any more fluffy unicorns."
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My friend Karyn baked 75 gourmet cupcakes, 50 cookies, and a beautiful cake topped with a white chocolate unicorn. They were all promptly devoured! Late-comers got a few bits of garnish and a handful of chocolate rocks!
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Kyla Paterno and her staff at the bookstore did a fabulous job helping the event run smoothly. My husband worked through the night before the party so he could be there to help. My parents and friends helped me get everything ready, and acted as bouncers at the cupcake table. (Those cupcakes were seriously delicious!)
I got to stand up in front of all those people and share my story and tell them how much they mean to me.
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I got to meet some young readers and see them smile when I handed their signed copies of Wonder Light back to them, and that ranked right up there next to Karyn's coconut cupcakes!
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If you missed the party, you can still order a personalized, signed copy from the Garfield Book Company. I'll sign it, and they'll ship it to you if you don't live in the area. Or, if you're in the Seattle area, I'm doing a reading and signing at the Northgate Barnes and Noble on May 16.
More info about Wonder Light and where you can buy it is here.

6 comments:

Toni Kerr said...

Wow!! Sounds and looks like you had a wonderful time and the cake is absolutely beautiful. Congrats on such a successful book launch!

ilima said...

Wow. Looks like it was an awesome event.

R.R. Russell said...

Thanks, Toni!

I wish you could've been there too, Angelica.

Ilima, yes, my friends and family truly made it awesome!

Anonymous said...

"It's so fluffy, I'm going to die!" ;) Congrats on the launch party. What have you found to be the most successful promoting event for your books? Is it meeting readers face to face or perhaps something on the social media side? My first book is coming out in July and I wonder which methods I should use to introduce myself to readers. Thanks. -RB Austin

R.R. Russell said...

Haha, RB, I love that line! I can't wait for the second Despicable Me movie. :)

Great question. I set up a Facebook event, but because my book is for kids, I felt that something tangible was needed too. I printed color flyers and invited the kids I know to share them with their teachers and librarians. I also did several school visits, where I did a short presentation and Q&A and passed out black-and-white flyers to every kid.

Sophie said...

Those cakes look delicious! Looks like you had a great launch party, and I can empathise with those kids. Having your books signed by the author is just all kinds of awesome.