Guest Post from author Carolyn Crane

An author’s top secret release day activities: finally revealed!

Hey Stephanie and Athenna! Thanks so much for having me! Well, it’s finally here, ebook release day for Head Rush, the third and final book in the Disillusionists trilogy.

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting for people to get a glimpse of a real-life author’s busy release day schedule! This kind of information is usually not revealed to the public.

Top secret release day schedule!


7:02 Author lies in bed feeling thankful for the ebook finally coming out, and resolves to not check Amazon rankings or reviews, but just enjoy the accomplishment of writing the best ending to the trilogy she could, and now it is in two formats - audio and ebook. (Print to come later in 2012.)

7:04 Author vigorously pets cat.

7:06 Cat gets overexcited and bites the author’s nose.

7:07 Ow. Author gets out of bed to make breakfast and tea. Earl Grey, in honor of Jean Luc Picard, like she does every morning, because Jean Luc is the shit!

7:30 Author sits at computer and checks Amazon rankings…but she’s only checking to get it out of her system! Now she will be able to concentrate on the novel she is trying to finish. Yay!

7:32 Author starts returning emails and checks Twitter and says hi to twitter friends and well wishers. There are a number of congratulations/happy release day emails and tweets, which warms the author’s little heart!

RELEASE DAY FACT: Carolyn Crane gets so EXCITED on release day, she can't think of anything else!

7:51 Author checks Amazon rankings. Which is silly! Because Head Rush is on sale for just $3.85 at Samhain in formats for all ereaders…most people will be buying it there, right??

7:54 Cat seems to agree. Author vigorously pets cat.

7:56 Cat gets overexcited and bites the author’s nose. Ow!

7:57 Author posts a release day notice on facebook and her blog.

8:41 Author opens file for new secret novel she is writing. Usually she is so excited about it, but it’s hard to concentrate on release day. Maybe do some easy client work.

8:45 Author opens client work file of a brochure that is due tomorrow. Her clients are counting on her. Many don’t know she is an author.

8:59 Hard to concentrate. Wonders what’s happening on twitter!

9:00 Author checks twitter. Somebody has tweeted a review! Now, the decision: does she read it? This author is grateful for reviews of every kind, because honest reviews help readers find books that are right for them, and that’s good for readers and authors, too. But it’s not always good for authors to read reviews. The Author reminds herself of this.

9:01 Author tells herself to focus on the secret novel she is writing, not the novel she already wrote!

9:02 Light editing on new secret novel.

9:23 Author burns with curiosity about review.

10:05 Burns burns burns.

10:11 Author reads review. It’s a nice one. Yippeee! Author’s head swells to the size of a basketball! Cat scampers away.

10:11-10:45 really pathetic attempts to work on the client brochure. Can’t stop thinking about release stuff. Has she promoted it enough? Too much? Has she remembered all she needed to do?

10:45 - Author checks Amazon ranking. Not so good. Sad face. But them remembers Samhain sale thingy. Surely that’s where all the buyers are going! Because of the sale!

RELEASE DAY FACT: did you know Amazon rankings seem to refresh around 15 minutes before the hour? An author friend told me that, and it does seem to be true! Not that it matters!! Because, who even checks those things?

10:47 Author toggles breathlessly between twitter, emails, and facebook

10:59 Author gets back to work on her new secret novel.

11:02 Author remembers a candy bar is in the kitchen drawer. She decides to have just one square. Nothing aids concentration like chocolate!

11:04 Author decides to get back to her new novel.

11:10 Author can’t stop thinking about that candy bar. Gets another square as a reward for not thinking about release stuff for a whole ten minutes.

11:16 More editing.

11:35 Author still thinking about chocolate bar, but at least she’s not thinking about release day stuff.

RELEASE DAY FACT: authors are easily distracted on release day. It is because their species is typically inward focused and solitary.

11:39 Another sentence is edited! Doesn’t that merit a wee chocolate square?

11:41 Author realizes eating chocolate only aids concentration on eating more chocolate! Author decides that would make a great tweet! Grabs another square of chocolate and goes on twitter. There are release day tweets for her. She gets so excited that other people are excited about Head Rush.

12:04 Author pops out of twitter rabbit hole, reminding herself she has deadlines! Concentrate!! Pets cat.

12:05 Author realizes it’s time again to check Amazon. Look! Somebody has posted a nice review! Head swells. Cat scampers away.

12:06 Wait, what’s that? A bad review? Head goes to normal size. Cat comes back. Bites author in nose.

12:09 Need more chocolate.

12:10 - 4 pm: Repeat entire sequence start to finish.

4 pm - 8 pm: Repeat sequence again, replacing all instances of “chocolate bar” with “bag of chips” or “bottle of wine.”


Have a great week everyone. Feel free to come visit me (and get more info about Head Rush and the rest of the trilogy) at my site: http://www.authorcarolyncrane.com/.

As always, we want to thank Carolyn for stopping by our blog.  Her books are amazing and we love having her over any chance we can get.  Head Rush is now onsale (in e-format) so if you haven't already, you can buy yourself a copy here.