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"...and then we'll need to set up school visits and book signings. Are you available to for the North Texas Book Festival in Denton, Texas - it's near Dallas - in April? We'll have Trockle then, and can launch it there..."

Ever see an author look like a deer caught in the headlights?

I remember one day, when I was about eight and a half months pregnant, driving by St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, OK. It's an impressive pink granite structure that looms over the intersection at 71st and Yale. It finally hit me - I was on a speeding bullet train heading for the pink granite wall of motherhood, and there was no getting off. Not that I wanted to, not for a nanosecond. But just knowing there was no "escape hatch" made me gasp and go lightheaded, just for a moment.

The thought of being pelted with rotten fruit by a room full of Kindergarteners and First Graders had a similar effect. That old uncertainty resurfaced. Had William loved Trockle only because his mom wrote it? My publisher had faith in the book. Had Viv lost her mind? For some reason, I had a sudden vision of singing Karaoke naked at the company Christmas party, and I didn't feel nearly the same level of abject terror and panic.

As I said in my previous post, I wasn't alone; I had a whole team of people in my corner. My publisher, Vivian Zabel, and the staff at 4RV Publishing; Jacque Graham; Trockle's illustrator, Jordan Vinyard; my son William, my daughter Katie, and my husband J.J. - smart, talented people who believed in me and in the book. I went to Denton to meet Vivian, Jacque, Jordan - and Trockle - face-to-face for the first time. Click here to see a picture of "Team Trockle" and another of Jordan and my son William, autographing books. See? Not so painful after all.

Dare I say it? We had fun. By the time I attended the OWFI Conference in Oklahoma City, I was much more at ease.

And then the virtual tours and online promotions began. Holy cow! On the one hand, authors and publishers can do a lot, now, to promote a book without leaving the comfort of their own homes and offices. But social media marketing can leave you feeling like a hamster on a wheel. If it seems easy, effortless, and natural - that's all talent. Because it's anything but. Still, it gets easier with experience, and it can be fun and rewarding, too.

The first time I heard on a non-writing-related mailing list that someone clear across the country saw my book at his son's school, and that he was thinking of recommending a purchase of 20-30 books for the library, I realized the importance of building relationships and getting the word out. I don't want to be an obnoxious "helicopter parent" to my book, but it's a good book - it deserves a little nudge in the right direction.