There are three main reasons for this price increase.
1. I’ve received a lot of feedback that “I would’ve paid more” for this book.
2. I want to delineate this book from the many ebooks available at the $2.99 price, many of which are not as carefully edited or formatted.
3. The new price of $4.99 brings Game of Sails into line with the ebook prices for Oliver’s Surprise and Cape Cod Surprise.

For those of you who want more information about ebook pricing, I can recommend What is the Best Price for E-Books? on The Passive Voice. I learn something from every post on this excellent and entertaining blog; this time I learned that the right price for an ebook may change over its life.

Also, for those of you looking to personalize a gift copy, I’d be happy to “sign” your ebook thanks to Kindlegraph. This is a great service which is getting more user friendly every week.

I believe the time has come to raise the price on Game of Sails, though only time will prove me right or wrong. Let me know if you agree with my reasoning… or better yet, take advantage of this last chance to buy at the introductory price, and download your copy now!

So this year, I’m giving thanks and naming names. I’m sure I’ll forget someone, so  if you’ve helped me in the past year, thank you! (Carole at BankNewport—who cleared up a pesky lost check with grace and thoroughness—this means you.)

Here goes, in no particular order: a list of the people who make it possible for me to live an offbeat and truly wonderful life.

Paul Cronin, out getting some air

Paul Cronin
If this were the acknowledgement section of a book, the husband would be mentioned last. But since I thought of you first, here’s a public shoutout: thanks for making my life more enjoyable by being so supportive of your non-traditional wife! I look forward to more joint projects (and maybe even a vacation?) in 2011.

Clients
For some reason this great group of people thinks I’m worth the money they pay me, even when I disappear to a regatta during what should be a regular work week. Thanks for allowing me a very flexible schedule—and for staying solvent in a tough economy, so I can continue to thumb my nose at the unemployment figures.

Readers
Writing and publishing books can seem like a thankless and lonely job… until some random email comes in from an unknown reader who picked up one of my books at a library or bookstore and wrote to say “Keep Writing!”  Thanks to readers known and otherwise who have shared their enjoyment of Oliver’s Surprise and Cape Cod Surprise this year.

Teammates
For the past few years, I’ve done a lot of competitive sailing with a group of women who not only give up leisure time to freeze and boil with me, but who also make me laugh. Thanks also to the ever-widening circle of sailing friends who help make the regatta parking lot such a nice place to hang out.

Kim Couranz

In particular for 2010 I want to call out Kim Couranz, one of the top Snipe crews in the world, who crossed the line before me in every single race of our 8 regattas this year. Our fifth place finish at Nationals qualified us for the 2011 Snipe Worlds, and I’m really looking forward to more sailing together next year.

Community
I’ve lived in Jamestown, RI for almost fifteen years, longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, and a large part of my contentment is the people I see around town. I may not know your last name, but the friendly familiarity of our interactions comforts me. Whether I run into you at dinner downtown or in the post office, or if you’re one of those from whom we borrow tools and expertise, thank you for your positive outlook on life. And a very special thanks to all the great folks at Jamestown Hardware, who never laugh at the projects I take on.

Fellow Authors
A new circle of friends was added to my life in 2010 when we gathered together a gaggle of Boston-area authors to talk about how best to market our novels. Since then this loose-knit group has helped launch five books, including Cape Cod Surprise. Best of all, there’s more to come, beginning with Juliette Fay’s launch in January 2011. I can’t wait to share in the future successes of such a smart and supportive group!

Volunteers
Lots of people make my racing possible by running regattas, providing housing and airport pickups, storing cars and boats (that means you, Peter and Connie Commette), and generally supporting my addiction to one-design sailing around the country. I try to thank you whenever I think of it, but it can’t ever be often enough.

Nameless Small Favor Doers
Sometimes those unexpected good deeds from someone I don’t even know can take on a special significance. Locally we call them “Jamestown moments,” but they happen in many different places. So to all the unknown folks who have done me a favor in 2010, especially the nice woman I met yesterday at the grocery store checkout—thank you.

Family
Scattered and diverse as we all are, there’s a strong bond that holds us all together. Best wishes to both Newmans and Cronins for a great Thanksgiving, and Paul and I look forward to sharing it with many of you!

“You wrote these books yourself?”

“What age group are they meant for?”

“Where do I find a bathroom?”

Those are just a random sampling of the many questions I answered this past weekend at the Newport International Boat Show.  Probably not the first place you would think of for bookselling, but it turned out to be a great venue for my two Surprises.  With abundant sunshine and temps in the 70’s, the weather was perfect for boat gawking out on the docks.  And once they’d overcome their own Surprise at seeing books– real books–on a boat show booth table, many of the people pouring down the aisles of Tent C were eager to buy some nautical fiction.

The Author’s Corner is a booth provided for those lucky few who are asked to give seminars during the four day event.  My seminar (entitled “Where Books Meet Olympic Spirit”) took place before lunch every day, and whether it was because people weren’t yet ready for a break from boat gawking or due to the vague title, attendance was, well – poor.  But sales in the booth were brisk, making the entire effort well worth it.

I had been dreading sitting inside a tent over a beautiful September weekend, and I certainly took several breaks on Thursday and Friday to wander the show and catch up with all my marine industry buddies.  But over the weekend, I was simply too busy to get antsy.  Handing out bookmarks to anyone who looked like a reader (and US Sailing Team Alphagraphics stickers to all the kids), talking about writing and sailing with those interested enough to stop and chat, and – best of all – signing the books once I’d made the sale; I enjoyed it all more than I expected.

After four days of refining my pitch, I can definitely pass on a few pointers about bookselling at a trade show.  It requires a different approach from a bookstore signing, but it can also expose you and your books to many more people than you’d come in contact with at a traditional venue.

1.  Find something you have in common, and talk about that.

It’s pretty safe to assume that anyone who walks in the door of a bookstore is a reader.  I couldn’t make the same assumption about the people walking down the aisle of Tent C, but I could make a different assumption: they were most likely interested in boats (or at least, interested in SOMEONE who was interested in boats).  That gave us something to talk about besides the books I had for sale.

I quickly learned to watch darting eyes, to see if they were caught by the sight of books piled up on a table.  Readers notice books; flagging down everyone else by waving a bookmark (or tripping them up) probably wasn’t going to lead to anything but aggravation.

2.  Create a visually appealing booth that makes it clear what you’re selling.

Since I don’t do many trade shows, I don’t have a lot of big banners designed to draw in visually overloaded showgoers.  Most people didn’t quite understand what an “Author’s Corner” was right away; it would’ve been very helpful to have a background display that clarified our bookselling/author roles.

Saturday and Sunday our table’s visual appeal was greatly helped by the addition of a large hardback called “Steam Coffin.” Author John Lawrence Busch eagerly told anyone who even glanced at his beautiful cover about the first transatlantic steamship.  His enthusiasm was infectious, and some of his listeners also bought copies of my books.

Another booth mate, Captain Graybeard, is a boat show veteran who had a wide variety of books, electronics, and weather information for sale– and a free catalog on CD.  The world famous cruiser Don Street also made appearances, in between seminars and his visits to the beer tent.  So we had something for everyone – softcover fiction, hardcover history, electronic self-help, and nautical legend.  But that was also potentially confusing until we learned to explain that we were all operating independently.

3. Give something away that’s easy to carry.

For me, bookmarks work very well as a way to engage people – and I ran through my entire supply.  Frequently someone would glance at our table but wouldn’t actually stop until I offered a bookmark.  Some just said “thanks” and kept walking, but most would come back to the table and take a second look at what I had to offer.  And many of those eventually turned into sales.

4. Offer a “special.”

People love to feel like they’re getting a deal, so it’s important to have a special offer.  For me it was “Boat show special – two books for twenty bucks!”  Only a few people realized they could also buy one for ten bucks…

5. Avoid the hard sell.

There is a well-known parable about the wind and the sun, each trying to get a man to remove his coat.  The wind blows hard and then harder still, but all that happens is the man clutches the coat tighter to his body.  Then the sun comes out, and once the man is warm and happy he gladly takes off his coat.

We’ve all been verbally assaulted walking through a trade show, the human equivalent of the wind blowing harder and harder.  After four days of watching my booth mates and the other booth operators around me, I tried to be more like the sun and make people happy.  Once I got someone’s attention with a bookmark and had given a very short overview about the books, I asked a question about their boat or where they lived. I haven’t met a boat owner yet who doesn’t like to talk about his or her vessel, and I  enjoyed hearing about all the different ways people work and play on the water.

Selling doesn’t have to be hard.  And boat shows, as it turns out, don’t have to be awful – they can be a great chance to build yet another link between boats and books.

Now that I’ve stroked not just one but two of my own books, I understand there is more to being a “real” author than just writing a good story.  In order to give our creations the best possible chance at success, we also have to market and sell our work.  And apparently that concerns my subconscious, since last night it added a new anxiety dream to my repertoire.

Almost six years after the Olympics, I still have a recurring nightmare.  I’m at some distant regatta packing for a flight home that leaves in an hour, and not everything will fit into my luggage.  As I stuff and repack and turn to find yet another pile of clothes on the floor behind me, I know I’m Going To Miss My Flight.  Of course, my teammates are ready and waiting for me… and I HATE to be waited for.

It’s always a relief when I wake up.

Last night, I had a completely new anxiety dream. I’m having a glass of wine with a woman I barely know (and after last night, I’m not interested in getting to know her any better).  We suddenly realize I am ten minutes late for my booksigning that started at 5pm, the reason I’d come to town in the first place.  So we hop in her car and race off.  Since she’s the local, I figure she knows where she’s going… until we end up on the wrong side of town.

“Oh, it’s at that OTHER bookstore!” she says, and we speed off again.

One way streets.  Cars and pedestrians blocking the road.  Everything conspires against our getting where we need to go, even though it’s “just a few blocks away.”

By the time we finally arrive at the (other) bookstore, it’s 8:30pm.  Worst of all, I don’t even have a decent excuse. (“We were having a glass of wine and lost track of time” certainly doesn’t sound very professional.) I stroll into the empty store, determined to make the best of a very bad and quite self-induced situation.

“Sorry I’m so late,” I say.  “How many books did we sell?”

“Fifteen and a half,” the owner replies.

(Why my subconscious thinks you can sell half a book, I’ll never know.)

It gets worse.  The bookstore owner leads me to the back of the store where the last buyer is waiting patiently—and remember, I HATE to be waited for.  It’s a boy who can’t read, and he asks me to chisel my signature in the book cover, as if it were a piece of wood.

I want to reward the kid for being so patient, so I struggle with the completely inappropriate tool and hope I don’t cut myself.

Then I wake up.

Now I’m sure a psychiatrist would have a different interpretation, but to me this dream screams “real author.”  I’m no longer sleep-worrying about catching planes home from regattas, like an Olympic sailor; instead I’m worrying about book signings—forgetting to go to one, and dealing with an awkward situation when I finally remember.  I’m surprised my subconscious didn’t work in an aspiring writer who holds up the line to complain about how hard it is to get published.

My old anxiety dream had nothing to do with sailing, and this new dream has nothing to do with writing.  Maybe that’s because the writing is the easy part of being an author?

Anyway, I’m going to take this nightmare as a positive sign. I’m also going to take a nap this afternoon… and probably skip the glass of wine before tonight’s signing.

On Thursday, July 1 2010 we launched Cape Cod Surprise. The weather was perfect; sunny but not too hot, and not a speck of humidity (by Boston standards at least).  The Sail Loft generously provided their delicious chowder and appetizers.  And so many writers and sailors bought books and helped us celebrate, I lost count. Thanks to everyone who came to launch CCS into the world, especially to USSailing President (and blurb writer) Gary Jobson.  He has probably figured out by now that Boston is NOT on the way from Newport to New Jersey.

Of all the decisions we made while planning the event, the best one by far was to make it a benefit for Piers Park Sailing Center.  MC Maureen McKinnon-Tucker made everyone feel welcome, even when I was occupied signing books.  The blue-shirted staff created a very friendly atmosphere (especially while hawking raffle tickets to people who’d just stumbled into the Sail Loft for a drink or two). And volunteer Steve Jewett played raffle host, inspiring the purchase of more tickets with his listing of the great prizes available. Lots of nice folks won some great stuff and went home happy. And even those that didn’t win supported a great cause.

When I first thought of combining the launch party with a fundraiser for Piers Park, I didn’t realize how much we had in common.  Now everyone will know, thanks to the video short “Where Books Meet Olympic Spirit: Learning Life Skills through Sailing.” Produced by Paul Cronin of WhiteCap Video, the five minute piece talks about the common goal shared by PPSC and my books. Thanks to Paul for creating a legacy piece, and thanks to Maureen for her patience with the extra takes.  It shines through that we had fun putting it together, and I look forward to more joint projects in the future.

The day after the party passed in a glow of nice emails and tweets from those who had been there and others who’d heard secondhand about the successful event.  The best compliment I received was via fellow author Nicole Bernier. Thursday had been a very special day for Nicole too; her book sold to Random House.  But she still found time amidst her own celebrations to send the following:

“What a stellar night. You were beaming. My kids were fighting over their copy of the book, and I had to break out one of the others I bought for friends.”

Thanks to everyone, and if you didn’t catch it Thursday night, check out the video to relive some of the great inspiration.

Ready for the splash?

On Thursday, July 1, 2010, with your help, we’ll launch my newest book, Cape Cod Surprise, at the Sail Loft in Boston’s North End. The invites have been sent out, the raffle prizes are coming together, the books are waiting to be signed… and the early summer weather has us all ready for another adventure with Oliver.

Best of all, proceeds from all books sold at the event will go to support Piers Park Sailing Center, a community organization in East Boston that provides the transformative experience of sailing to more than 1000 youth each year. I’ll be working with the kids at PPSC during the day on Thursday, reinforcing a shared goal: to teach life skills through sailing. I plan to approach that philosophy from a slightly different angle – by encouraging kids to go sailing inside their heads.  We’ll see how that goes; with the harbor beckoning, they may be as anxious as I am to go sailing with their bodies instead.

Thanks to all of you who have shared with me the process of bringing this project to press… writing and editing through the fall and winter, revising and finalizing a cover in the spring… until that delicious moment a few days ago, when I held the first book in my hand.

Gary Jobson once said that there’s nothing like seeing your own book in print for the first time, and I know that won’t change whether it’s book #2 or book #20.  We’re hoping to see Gary Thursday night; if so, compliment him on his blurb.

Thursday night will be a great chance to introduce my sailing world to my writing world, since both will be well represented.  Literary Guerillas, meet Frostbiters and Snipe sailors!  If you are struggling for a common language, remember you have one verb in common (“To Launch”). And you’ll all enjoy the video, as well as Sail Loft chowder, appetizers, and beverages.

Special offer:  If you can’t make the party but still want your signed copy of Cape Cod Surprise to support PPSC, post a comment below or email me directly:  carolncronin AT gmail DOT com.

Thanks to Oliver for bringing us all together, and see you Thursday night.

Launch party details

Directions/Map

PPSC in East Boston gives over 1000 local kids the chance to go sailing every summer.  They also offer adaptive sailing programs for people living with disabilities, including a remarkable technology that enables motion-restricted sailors to control the boat’s direction with a “sip” or “puff” of breath. PPSC teaches life skills through sailing… just as Oliver and the other characters in my books learn about teamwork and self-reliance while grappling with their fictional adventures.

On July 1 I’ll spend the day at PPSC, sharing my enthusiasm for reading, writing, and sailing.  Hopefully the kids will help me create a few new stories.

That evening, the official launching of Cape Cod Surprise will include book signings, a teaser from the new story, introductions to a gold medalist, prize drawings for books and sailing delights, harbor views, and food and beverage.  We may also show a few videos courtesy of WhiteCap Video.  And both sailing and writing friends will have a chance to learn the ‘other’ meaning of the verb “to launch.”

Please put this “Surprise” party on your calendar. I look forward to celebrating with you all!

To read an excerpt, or RSVP, visit my author website.

I know, I know, I wrote a few weeks ago I was finished with the new book.  But “finished” has different stages.  And though the authorly part was complete, the graphic design work (cover and interior) weren’t quite ready to go to press.

It’s quite unusual for an author to design her own cover, but most authors don’t have graphic design experience.  Being able to use all of my talents to create a beautiful book (as well as a good story) is one of the great things about working with publisher GemmaMedia.  Gemma actually found the original map that we used as a background, so it’s been a team effort right from the start.  We sent final files in this morning, including a Library of Congress number; now that makes me feel like a real author.

Many of you have asked about the publishing date, which is July 4.  Stay tuned for updates on a launch party around that time too.  And of course I’m starting to plan book signings, so let me know if your local bookstore or book club would like me to come visit.

And speaking of launch parties, we put our Herreshoff Marlin in the water this morning.  So the season of summer evening sails has officially begun.

Last Friday, I submitted a file (only ten minutes late) that represented almost a year of hard work.  Cape Cod Surprise, complete with layout and cover art, has been sent off to meet the sharp eyes of my publisher and editor at GemmaMedia. [Insert appropriate “cheer” word here, along with much overdone punctuation.]

Writing a sequel requires all the same effort as the original book.  1. Dream up enough story line to start writing.  2. Figure out what the REAL story line is. 3. Edit. 4. Re-edit, to make all the little pieces fit the big picture.  5. Ask “is it as good as it can be” over and over, until the answer is “yes.”

In addition, the sequel required a little extra effort.  Because this time, I knew I was writing for publication—not just to brighten the eyes of my nephew at Christmas.  This time, I was on a deadline.  And it had to be even better than “good as it can be.” Better than the first book.   I believe it is… longer, richer—yes, better.  I can only hope my authorly bias is not blinding me to the faults of my latest creation.  I can only hope you the readers will love it too.

I also checked off an important sailing goal last week.  Kim Couranz and I won the Snipe Women’s Nationals in Jacksonville, FL.  This is the fifth time we’ve won this event (though only our third as a team), so that victory alone isn’t necessarily a goal as worthy of shout-out as shipping off a manuscript.  It’s where that regatta victory will lead us that counts: we’re now qualified for the Snipe Western Hemisphere and Orient Championship in September, an international regatta that draws together the best sailors in the class.  (And for those who keep score by gender, we are likely to be one of the few women’s teams at the event.)

I’ve written before about the three hats a writer must wear as she works through a project.  I’ve also written about the many definitions of success in this brave new world of publishing.  For all these reasons and many more, I made sure to celebrate last week’s writing milestone. There are so few finish line tapes across the road to publishing that when we hit one, it’s critical to raise a glass and breathe in the heady air of “I did it!”  Because all too soon my manuscript will be back for edits, like a teenager who returns from college with fresh opinions based on his contact with others.

Kim and I should’ve celebrated our regatta win with a raised glass too.  Instead we jumped in the van to drive the 13 hours back to Annapolis Sunday night, so she could show up for work the next day.

And it didn’t feel so important to consciously celebrate a finite victory like winning a regatta. It’s so much more obvious that we achieved our goal when there is a printed scoreline of firsts (what we sailors call “bullets”).

Authors have no such scoreline; instead we single out the good reviews and positive feedback, building a moat around our egos to protect against the less pleasant comments.  There are always more books that could be sold, more readers that could be touched, more Amazon reviews that could be written.

Besides, Kim and I will be celebrating all summer, as we push to improve our skills toward meeting our new goal (a respectable finish at the Westerns). Because that’s what self-motivated people do: as soon as we achieve one goal, we look for the next.

But for a few days, while my new book is out of my hands being edited by someone else, I will savor last week’s writing victory.  Because whether or not this sequel is actually as good as I think it is, I’ve now answered once and for all one of my great internal doubts:

Can she do it again?

Yes, she can!

And that’s a victory worth celebrating.

My question is completely different: Have I already succeeded, and just failed to notice?

From 2000-2004, one very specific goal defined success for me – winning the US Olympic Trials.  With that ultimate date and location in mind, my team made a detailed list of  improvements to focus on day to day during our years of preparation: Improve Boatspeed.  Perfect our boathandling.  Sail better tomorrow than we did today.

We won the Trials, and went on to win two races at the Olympics in Athens.  Yes of course, it would’ve been even better to win a medal… but I digress.

The whole setup was ideal for a results-oriented athlete.  We defined a specific goal, achieved it, and -  bingo!  I’m an Olympian.  I felt like I’d just passed a signpost spelling out in a blaring display font:  “Carol Cronin has just reached a pinnacle of athletic success.”

Four years later, I checked off another box on my life’s list of achievements by publishing a book. “Oliver’s Surprise” has been very well-received by young (and not so young) adult readers around the world.  The book has taken me into classrooms full of kids and into bookstores full of adults who’ve all come to know me through my work.  I’m sure the sequel, “Cape Cod Surprise,” due out this July, will take me on an even more exciting ride.

Recently, I was even recognized by Redroom as a “rising star.”

All of this is just fantastic.  Yet none of it feels like a signpost spelling out in a blaring display font: “Carol Newman Cronin has just reached a pinnacle of authorly success.”

As writers, we each define our own goals. (Susan Kushner Resnick wrote a great post on this on Beyond the Margins.)  For some, producing great writing is enough; others want that great writing validated by publication; a few achieve bestseller status and make a living as authors.

So I’m the only one who can say what the writer-equivalent is for me of that winner-take-all Trials.

And that’s what the results-oriented athlete still living within this writer’s body finds so difficult.  My eyes dart around me, ahead and behind, looking for that signpost.

I used to think my ultimate goal was publication, and that did feel like a great accomplishment.  But then I began sharing my story with readers.  Those readers then taught me something new, and that new idea grew into the inspiration for another book.  And now a previously unimagined sequel is almost complete.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve joyfully celebrated every step of Oliver’s progress, from idea to writing to editing to publication, and yes even to marketing.  As I will celebrate and enjoy each and every step of the sequel.

But I’m still looking for that signpost.

What’s your signpost of success?