By: Natalie Jacobsen, & edited by Max Hare |
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May brought Max's birthday, flowers, surprises, and a whole lot of air miles! Natalie and Max went to Virginia Beach and New York, and Natalie went up to Boston and then out west—home—to Oregon. Now that graduation for Max's law students is wrapped, he is off to Ohio for a conference in ethical leadership, while Natalie attempts to catch up on rest just in time for Pride Month and all of the festivities that summer brings —and, of course, prepares to market and publish Ghost Train this Fall. Best viewed on your Desktop. |
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FIRST LOOK: GHOST TRAIN Press Release
SelectBooks Inc. has officially announced a publication date for GHOST TRAIN! Mark your calendars for October 8, 2024. GHOST TRAIN is due to be in bookstores, libraries, and shelves everywhere with your help. Take a look at the official announcement here, and read on to see how you can help get the word out about GHOST TRAIN.
Do you, or someone you know, work in the media industry? Use this link to distribute the Press Release to help us get the word out, and turn it into articles and publicity! Earned media can help us get GHOST TRAIN on book sellers' and readers' radars, and generate awareness and intrigue before it even hits bookshelves. Thank you! |
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Recommendations: We will share our media recommendations each Newsletter. These are what we've recently been entertained by, and hope you are, too (guess who finally saw Frozen 2?): |
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| | Book: The Phone Booth at the
Edge of the World
Laura Imai Messina
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| | Show: 3 Body Problem David Benioff
Netflix |
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| | Movie: Frozen II Jennifer Lee Disney |
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A Debut Author's "What?" Moment of the Month |
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Publishing a book has brought funny interactions with family, friends, my publisher, and complete strangers. Each newsletter, I'll share one with you—for levity. Throughout May, I continued pursuing endorsements for GHOST TRAIN from fellow authors. It takes a great deal of research to identify potential authors to ask, and often feels frustrating, especially when the hard work turns into dead ends. I can't ask just anyone! In general, they need to match my genre, subject matter, be relevant to modern readers, and offer credibility. I found one author who also wrote about demons in the Meiji Era, had no Wikipedia page, but had released successful books in the last ten years. I tracked down their representative, and was overjoyed to see they were still active. They had a TV show inspired by their content, and made a best-seller list in Japan. What were the chances? I sent off an inquiry, giddy. The response? "They passed away twenty years ago. Their books are released by their estate." |
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FOLKLORE FRIDAY: Every Friday, I introduce a character from Japanese folklore on my TikTok! This new channel helps me reach more audiences and share more info at a time.
Watch my shorts to learn about the myth of Totoro, Japanese mermaids, kitsune, & more. | | |
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Max & Nat's Nit-Picks:
Each Newsletter, we will feature a commonly misused word or expression and share its appropriate use. These words and expressions are inspired by real-life encounters we have had and that haunt us.
"Oh, this heat sucks, I'm so not use to being roasted like this." When American-English speakers are telling a story, especially quickly, they may soften or drop some sounds or syllables altogether. The "d" in "used" is a frequent victim of the quick-tongued. But in writing, we should be cognizant to keep it! "Oh, I'm not used to this heat, but I am used to being roasted by my friends." Disclaimer: Please excuse any typos, misspellings, or grammatical errors; we understand that we avail ourselves to Muphry's Law when we nit-pick. |
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Media Memory:
In May 2018, Natalie joined a delegation from Charlottesville, Virginia, which included then-Mayor Walker, on a pilgrimage to sister city Winneba in Ghana. Reflect at the link below.
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