IT WAS A BLAST!

            The instrument panel was ready before me, set for take-off.  Several rows of browser windows studded the computer screen opening onto twitter screens, Facebook pages, Amazon.com or just Google, waiting for research.  My trusty water bottle (I wasn't sure if I'd be able to leave my seat for hours) waited on the desktop as well as some munchies in case brain food was called for.  Close at hand, a notepad and pen sat side by side, ready for quick notes or reminders.

            Our publisher, Jolly Fish Press, had the idea to launch a Book Blast with the goal of bumping Pitch Green into the Top 100 on Amazon!  For one full day, all day long, we and everyone we could recruit would tweet, tweet, tweet and post about Pitch Green.

            8:45 am.  In fifteen minutes, the Book Blast for Pitch Green would begin.

            Could this really work?

            I must admit that thought crossed my mind.  Being pretty new to social media, I had sometimes wondered if anyone out there actually read what we wrote.  Did most of our tweets just sail out into Twitter Space undetected as they boldly went where no one has gone before? Was anyone listening?

            I couldn't wait--I jumped in!  But others were already before me!  I was amazed. They were tweeting and posting about the Book Blast, inviting others to join, saying nice things about Pitch Green and giving links to Amazon where the Kindle and paperback editions were now available.  Emails told Andy and I that family and friends, even ones from long ago, were Facebook posting about the Book Blast.  One of my sons even created a twitter account so he could tweet too.

            Fellow authors from Jolly Fish Press congregated at times on our group Facebook page, comparing notes and announcing the latest Amazon statistics for Pitch Green (as well as  instructing me how to find them myself).  Keep going we encouraged each other.  Tweeps I didn't know began passing on the news.  Where they heard about it, I had no idea.  I felt as if I was connected with the whole world.

            All of a sudden, this was fun!

            And humbling. As I watched Pitch Green  rise higher and higher on the Amazon charts, I pictured so many making an effort to tell the world about our book.  I felt grateful.

            I did indeed stay glued to my computer screen practically the whole day.  Finally around 11 pm, my wife and I compared notes on the day's happenings.  By then, Pitch Green had risen in Amazon rankings almost into the 10,000's for total book sales, and 35th in the Kindle category of Young Adult bone-chilling horror!

            What struck with me most, was that this world of social media was indeed a Community, a place where real people connect and help each other.  I made new friends, enjoyed talking and working together with old ones, and others reached across oceans and the next town to contribute.  Our thanks to all.

            IT WAS A BLAST!