The Writing and Publishing Journey
I have dates! My pre-order date is September 25, 2023. On that date you can reserve the novel prior to its publication in January 2024. Booksellers and retailers monitor pre-order quantities as they are a good indication of a book's future success, hence the desire to advertise the date and spread the word.
Also in September, I will reveal the cover and back cover blurb. Covers are a key factor in readers selecting a book so I'm looking forward to seeing what the designer proposes. Often an author has no input on book jacket design, but my publisher asked me to select three covers from recent releases in my genre (historical fiction) that represent what I envision for Brighter Than Her Fears.
I went to the bookseller, combed through books on Goodreads, and poked around historical fiction book listings online. That's when I discovered the "women who are facing away" trend -- click on that link to see what I'm talking about!
The Novel
Brighter Than Her Fears follows both my great-great-grandmother Alice and Asheville in their journey to leave the past behind and forge a new future. To understand the momentous changes occurring in the mountain city in the 1880s, I turned to Newspapers.com. In fact, I included quotes from newspaper articles, opinion pieces, and advertisements at the beginning of each chapter to convey the economic, political, and social issues of the day. The quoted pieces range from funny to tragic.
Here's a sample of the images I found on Newspapers.com.
