Finish writing my book: Check.

Find a publisher who believes in it: Check.

Promote it: Huh?

My journey into the world of published author continues. Next stop: the land of book blogs.

Now that my cover art is done and while the editing process winds down, I’ve begun the daunting task of promoting my book. My hope is that readers with $2.99 burning a hole in their pocket will know of its existence and buy it.

My publisher sent me a list of 315 blogs that review books and recommend or condemn them. My task is to write to these bloggers and ask them to review my book or consider an author interview.

Some bloggers say yes. My first was Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews. Some say no, like Jennifer Vido. Her blog spotlights well-known authors like Karen White. Not little-known authors like Annette Drake.

But I find myself taken aback by some of these blogs. For instance, many of them feature romance novels with lots more heat than my humble offering. Spoiler alert: there’s no sex in Celebration House. My main character can’t even touch her love interest until the part where… Oh, nevermind. I’ll let you read it for yourself. 

My goal is to write to five bloggers a night. Unfortunately, this begging of bloggers takes up my precious writing time.

Here’s how it works: I tuck my 6-year-old son, Jack, into bed. Oh, hell, let’s be honest, I beg my husband to put him to bed. Then I sneak up to my office, quietly close (and lock!) the door behind me, and I enter a world I didn’t know existed.

Some of these sites I’ve stumbled onto are hosted by women younger than my daughters. These bloggers are much more skilled at designing a blog page than I will ever be. Their sites sizzle.

My book has a paranormal element, so I thought it appropriate to query the blog Paranormal Book Club. Holy buckets! Is that blood splattered all over their home page? Are there three characters on that book cover? Jack isn’t seeing this, is he? I think you get the idea.

So I posted something on Twitter about looking for blogs to promote my book. A family friend told me to check out the blog, LadySmut, by author Liz Everly. Okay. You’d think I would glimpse the subject matter by the title, right? No. I’ve never been that quick. One of the books she reviews, Venus in Furs, features cover art that made me scratch my head and wonder, what part of the human body is that? I did learn a thing or two. Did you know there is breast milk erotica?

Now, if you will please excuse me, I still have my daily quota of five bloggers to write to and ask if they will review Celebration House. Hmm…there’s a blog on this list called “Pages of Forbidden Love.” Wonder what that’s all about?

Hands and arms inside the cart, please: Next, my final edits are done! Oh, my final edits are done…