Note to self: ARCs are not (necessarily) an imposition.

No matter how much I love love love DEMON MOON, I actually wince every time I send out an ARC, or trade one with another author, and feel compelled to apologize for giving them something to read. Which doesn’t make sense, because I like getting them. I don’t know what causes bad feeling, but I should really stop it.

I’m very uncomfortable with self-promotion (anywhere away from this blog, that is, since I happily have a row of covers down the left side) although I’m slowly getting over that. But it’s difficult. It’s not even modesty, I think, but more of a sense that I’m forcing myself onto someone else, invading their space. When people come here, they’re looking for something. Nothing’s being invaded, because it’s a wide-open invitation.

Anyway, I’ve printed up a bunch of ARCs to send to local booksellers and a few other places over the next month, and along with it I’m sending a letter that says DM totally rocks, and their readers will love it. And it’s HARD to write that. As much as I believe in the book, it’s difficult to be so upfront about it, even when I tell myself that it’s my job to write a great book and tell people about it, and selling it is their job.

Maybe it’s their mental space I feel like I’m invading? Like the promo shouts: YOU HAVE TO LOVE THIS BOOK!!! And when anyone else says that to me, my instinctive reaction is: No, I don’t.

So maybe I just need to adjust my thinking. Instead of You HAVE to love this book it’s more like Dude, you’re totally going to love this book!

Although I probably should be all professional and shit, and not write “dude”.

(…okay, and is “job” one of the dumbest looking words ever, or is it just me?)