Tag: Swallow

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Swallow Discounted for the Holidays

Just letting everyone know I was able to reduce the price of the paperback version of Swallow to $9.99 on Amazon. The price of the ebook is still 99 cents; Amazon and Kobo have it discounted to $.89. I intend to raise the ebook price after the beginning of the year though. But I will probably keep the price of the paperback as low as I can for a while. I know not everyone has, or likes to read with, an ereader 🙂

Thank you again for all of your tremendous support you guys!

Here is the link to the Kindle edition (above is the paperback version):

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I’m Going to be on Stacey Cochran’s Book Chatter Show This Friday, 10/22

So psyched – I’m going to be on popular Claws author Stacey Cochran‘s internet show, Book Chatter, this Friday, 10/22. The show begins at 9 p.m. EST. It’s live-streamed so you can participate if you want by going to the website where you can send in questions or comments via IM Chat. I’ll be on the show with a couple of other authors. I’ve never done this before (not a live-streamed show anyway), and have no idea what to expect, so it should be fun!

Also, Swallow has recently received several more interesting blog / website reviews, at: Read All Day; A Nut in a Nutshell; Spellbound by Books; and Style Substance and Soul. I’m really grateful for all of the reviews I’ve received, both positive and more critical. I’m really thrilled that people are taking the time to read it closely and really think about it.

Several reviewers now have said they found the part about 9/11 very compelling – in fact one of the most engaging parts of the book. I’m so glad because before I published, some had told me they thought including 9/11 in the plot may be a big turn-off to readers. So I’m glad readers have felt drawn in by that part of the narrative, and that they felt like they were there. My next book is about, not 9/11, but something unsettling as well that’s based on an event that really happened. And I feel that most of this next book is written in a style similar to the latter part of Swallow.

Anyway, maybe I’ll hear from you Friday night. If the time is not good, he records the shows and keeps them on the Book Chatter website, so I’ll link to it!

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“Read ‘Swallow’ Instead of Seeing ‘Sex and the City'”

I’ve been spending a rather ridiculous amount of time on YouTube lately (am trying to make a short video about my book and need ideas), and just saw this. It’s author and book review podcaster (if that’s the proper term) Christy Leigh Stewart talking about several books she’s been reading, including Swallow. Ha! I love the images she used for mine!

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Brooklyn Book Festival, Part Two

I had such a nice time at the Brooklyn Book Festival yesterday, despite the rain. I’ve gone to this festival for the past several years; they have readings, panel discussions, and other various quirky little things throughout the day. This year I was planning on listening to a crime fiction panel moderated by Michael Connelly, a set of debut author readings that included Sean Ferrell and Tanya Wright, another set of readings that included Elizabeth Streb – who is an  innovative choreographer and now an author too, and a panel discussion about the economic crisis and what to do about it, amongst other things.

But I ended up doing none of that because my friend, Goodloe Byron, and I ended up getting a last-minute table he’d requested earlier from the organizers. So, I sat outside all day with my books, meeting book lovers, chatting with them about my novel, and personalizing their books. It was my first time ever doing this and I had no idea what to expect, but people were so amazingly cool! People were congratulating me for publishing my debut novel, remarking on the cover, asking me about the novel’s plot, about the publication process. After a couple hours, I ran out of books and my friend, Nicole, graciously watched my half of the table while I ran home to get more. When I returned she told me she’d sold my last copy by telling people who’d approached the table about my awards and reviews, and kind of sweetly reprimanded me for not having that info on a sheet at the table. Methinks sometimes your friends are better sales-people for your books than you, the writer, are 🙂

Anyway, unfortunately at that point it began pouring, and I didn’t even want to take the additional books out of my bag so as not to ruin them (we didn’t have a table with a tent). And it ended up raining the rest of the day, pretty hard. So I left early. Still, I had one of the happiest publishing days of my life. I haven’t sold many print books – the vast majority of my sales have been on Kindle – and there’s something so incredibly cool about selling an actual, physical book — watching people regard the cover curiously, peruse the back, flip through it, and then being able to sign it for them, watching them walk away with it in their hands.

And just meeting people! I really had a blast. I want another festival. Soon.

Anyway, literary blogger Edward Champion has some interviews of BBF participants posted at his blog. The third one happens to be of my friend, Michael Northrop, talking not about his own novels but about his participation in a One Story magazine promotion at the festival. Fun!

Oh and photo above, by me, is of a non-festival-related protest against police brutality that happened to take place on the courthouse plaza, where we were.

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Blog Talk Radio Interview Today!

I’m going to be interviewed by Arizona author Leslie Kohler on her Blog Talk Radio show, “The Writer’s Inspiration,” today at 11 a.m. Phoenix time (PT), which is 2:00 p.m. EST. You can dial 347-945-7939 to listen in to the live conversation. The interview will focus on my novel, on inspiration for characters, etc., on book marketing tips, etc. etc. If you want hear the interview but can’t tune in at that time, no worries; it’s taped and will be up on the BTR site for a while. I’ll link to it when it’s up!

Okay, here’s the recording!

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Swallow is a “great novel, frothy and bubbly like a good champagne, with a touch of angel martinis!” say the Review Broads!

Oooh, I so love this review! Here’s an excerpt:

“Tonya Plank has written a novel about a woman coming of age at thirty; about moral and psychological integrity, with strong sentiments on male/female relationships between father and daughters and the undercurrents that appear in love and social relationships within those dynamics.  This is not just regional, women’s fiction – it transcends any genre. As the layers unravell like an onion, I fell into Sophie’s world most intently.  Ms. Plank’s first novel is a brilliant show of even greater things to come.  She is an author to watch and follow.  I know her next novel will be even more brilliant than this one, if that is possible.” (bold is in the original).

Read the rest of the review here!

I found The Review Broads when I was browsing in Borders one day and saw on the cover of a book in the suspense section – I think it was a James Patterson novel – a quote from one of their reviews. I hadn’t heard of them before, but loved their name and thought, wow, the cover of a James Patterson novel! So I jotted them down and Googled them when I got home, and found they’re a fabulous new, increasingly popular blog devoted to reviewing books and other products. Wow, so glad I sent them a review copy!

Thank you, thank you Review Broads!

On the other end of spectrum, another blogger, of Cheryl’s Book Nook, didn’t like the book so well. But that’s okay – I know not everyone is going to love it. Part of becoming a writer is developing thick skin. Plus, I really do think diversity of opinion on a book is a good thing. It shows people are taking the book seriously.

(above photo taken from here).

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Thank You, English Person, Who Bought My Book and Put Me on the Map in the Amazon UK Store :)

Hehe, I am all giddy because I just made my first UK sale! This officially puts Swallow on the Amazon UK bookstore map since it now has a ranking – and believe it or not, is currently ranked number 2 in legal fiction and number 32 in literary fiction there! Just realized it’s also ranked in the top 50 in literary fiction in the US store as well, and this marks the sixth week that it’s in the top 10 in legal fiction here. I really couldn’t be more thrilled. I am so happy that people are reading my book and (most anyway!) are liking it. I am really curious to see how the Brits, and others outside of the US, like it, so am really happy it’s at least available in one foreign bookstore. My dream would be to get a big publisher and have it translated and mass distributed in physical bookstores and all that, but we’ll have to wait and see on that… In the meantime, I’m beyond thrilled with my e-book sales – am just about to reach a major milestone 😀

Also, I just received a really wonderful, detailed, well thought-out review from a new blogger, Media Mover, who is an American ex-pat living in Mexico and who I met on Kindleboards. In a short time, she’s already become a top 1000 Amazon reviewer, and has recently started this blog as well. She’s an excellent writer and reviewer (and not just because I love what she said about my novel ;)), so please read her other reviews as well. She’s posting one review every Sunday, and she’s reviewing indie books. Yes! We need more reviewers of indie books!!!

I’ve been very fortunate to receive lots of blogger reviews, for which I’m immensely thankful. I haven’t posted about every one so as not to sound like I was constantly pumping myself (I probably do sound like that sometimes anyway…sorry!), but am linking to them all now on the “reviews” page.

One other thing regarding my book and then I’ll shut up. I just wanted to call attention to this excellent program, Operation E-Book Drop, which another indie author (and former Army Sergeant) who I also met on Kindleboards, has founded and which I have just begun participating in. Authors join and give free ebooks to our troops overseas. If you happen to be an author, please consider donating. And, also, join Kindleboards!

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Wendy Perron, Esteemed Editor-in-Chief of Dance Magazine, Recommends Swallow on Twitter!

How awesome is this!: “Tonya Plank’s SWALLOW is a real page turner, & she shows that lawyers get as intensely nervous as dancers.” From Wendy Perron, E-I-C of Dance Magazine, via Twitter. I’m so giddy 🙂 I’d run into Ms. Perron at an Alvin Ailey season preview Tuesday night and when she told me she was reading my book and enjoying learning about my other life, I almost fell off my chair! I can’t even express how honored I am that she even decided to pick the book up!

The Alvin Ailey season preview was excellent, by the way. Their NY City Center season doesn’t begin until December but I think it’s going to be really fantastic. We got to see a sneak preview of The Hunt, by Robert Battle (incoming Artistic Director), which is an African dance depicting how men prepare for an actual hunt but that also serves as a metaphor for how dancers train and prepare to execute a difficult dance. I can’t wait to see that one in full, as well as The Prodigal Prince, by Geoffrey Holder. That one originally premiered in 1968 and Holder was there to talk a bit about it. Really sweetly funny man! It’s about the Haitian artist, Hector Hyppolite, known as “the Haitian Picasso,” and it’s a narrative filled with lots of beautiful African dance. We also saw Camille A. Brown’s Evolution of a Secured Feminine, which I remember from a Fall For Dance program a couple of years ago. It’s a one-woman solo that I liked very much and will, for the first time this season, be performed by someone other than Brown herself.

I enjoyed seeing all my favorite Ailey dancers again – and on a small stage this time (it took place in the Citicorp theater in the basement of their studios instead of City Center), and I was particularly happy to see Briana Reed again. She is one of my favorite women in the company – strong and very dramatic and an intense mover – and I missed seeing her last season. I think she was out with an injury for most of it.

Also, Judith Jamison revealed that Ailey will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Revelations this season, which means the cast for some performances will be increased to 50 dancers! They’re also making a film about that dance, which will be shown at all of the performances, and there will be a lot of live music, some of which Jamison will herself be conducting. Sweet Honey and the Rock will also perform live. And, there will be nice tributes to Denise Jefferson, Joan Weill, and to Jamison, who will be serving her last season as Artistic Director.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking of moving out of New York for a while, but I’m now thinking I’m going to wait on that for at least a few months. There are too many exciting things happening this fall – from Ailey’s season, to New York City Ballet’s first ever fall season, to ABT’s first Nutcracker, to of course the regulars like Fall for Dance and the Guggenheim Works & Process series. I think I need to wait a bit. Plus, I’ve made so many wonderful friends here, and I’m so involved in the dance scene, and every time I think of leaving NYC it really saddens me. But of course with the internet, friendships can easily survive physical distance these days. And I’m sure there are dance scenes everywhere, maybe just not of the same intensity. Who knows, maybe I just need a top-floor apartment somewhere else in the city… Upstairs Godzilla has moved out but her furniture-throwing legacy — an extremely creaky ceiling that sounds like it’s going to fall every time the new upstairs neighbor so much as shifts his weight (and which the landlord won’t fix) — remains…

Oh, one more thing (I know this post is very rambling): Ms. Perron mentioned to me that she saw a preview of Mao’s Last Dancer, which she thought was very good, and that it opens this weekend. So, I know one thing I’ll be doing this weekend. So excited for good ballet movies!

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A Psychologist Likes Swallow!

Swallow just received a very good review from a psychologist and top 10 reviewer on Amazon! I was a bit worried since the book is mainly about a psychological condition, and a psychologist is one of the main characters, so I’m thrilled she liked it. The psychologist in the book is very Freudian, which is I guess is not the norm today. Anyway, it definitely helped me to get over the sting of my first one-star review! That’s okay – knew I’d have to get one at some point…

I’m also having fun sending the book out to international bloggers. It recently received a good review from a blogger, Violet Crush, in Singapore, and Blue Archipelago Reviews, in England. And I just sent it out to a blogger in Australia. I’m having too much fun 🙂 The kindle version recently went up on the Amazon U.K. site. I don’t think as many readers in the U.K. use e-readers and my Amazon.com reviews don’t seem to be transferring, so if any British readers of this blog would like a review copy (or if anyone else wants to review it), please let me know!

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BRIEF BLOGGING BREAK

Hey you guys, I just wanted to let you know I’m in the process of re-modeling my website a bit. I should have the new site up very soon – I’m hoping the beginning of next week. At this time any new posts here are not automatically going to transfer over which means I’ll have to manually add everything. So, I probably won’t be posting again until the new site is up.

Thank you SO much to everyone who is being so wonderfully supportive of my book, by the way. The Kindle version is still on the Amazon top 100 list and is still at this time at number 1 on the legal fiction and anxiety disorders lists. I’m more thrilled than I could ever express. I’m just so happy people (well over 1,000 now!) are reading it.

Anyway, will be back soon! In the meantime, happy first international dance day everyone!

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PLEASE PLEASE!

Hey you guys! I have the hugest favor to ask 🙂

So my novel in e-book form has been climbing the Amazon best-seller charts, winning awards and getting good reviews. I’ve been told that if it continues with this success that there’s a chance I could get picked up by a good publishing company, which is my dream beyond dreams! So, I’m just asking you all to spread the word! It’s about a young Manhattan attorney with an anxiety disorder called Globus Hystericus, and it’s comical in places, but also very serious. Reviewers have found it both entertaining and thought-provoking. People who like books about lawyers, women’s fiction, or books about anxiety disorders seem to be liking it the most. It’s currently 99 cents in e-book form and is $14.99 in the paperback version. But since the e-book version is doing so well and people seem not to mind taking a chance on a new author at that price, I’m trying to get the word out about that one. So if you know anyone who reads e-books (the Kindle version is downloadable onto any e-reader as well as a PC or Mac) and likes the kind of fiction mentioned above, please let them know!

Thank you so much you guys!