The book is out! And what a bookseller wants from authors
First off, Lost in France is out! Yay. Amazing. I feel elated and a wee bit tired but mostly elated.
Our book launch was a bee-u-tiful thing, and I am sending a giant heartfelt and somewhat teary thank you to everyone who came, to Noonan’s Irish Pub for hosting, to Book City Danforth for supplying books, and to Nathan Whitlock who interviewed me for the Q&A.
Here are a few photos:
Full house at Noonan’s Pub on the Danforth.
And here is a video about the launch made by my son, Emmett.
My heart is so full. Thank you. It is that support that makes it all worthwhile.
Launching a book is not only exciting, it’s also stressful.
It feels like trying to handle an octopus with 100 arms, not 8. We’re not sure where to look, what to do, who to talk to, how to get fancy enough fast enough so we can make the grade (whatever that is).
We scribble lists of all the to-dos (website updates, newsletter scale-up, online promo, bookstore outreach, book trailer, author events, learn Canva, insert 100 more things here), and the list keeps changing, even as we try to remember we’re writers and want to write and need to write, because you can’t publish (or promote, for that matter) the blank page.
So being overwhelmed is expected, but I think it’s not just what’s happening inside my head, it’s also due to the mix of publishing industry + online world. It used to be that to chase a review, we had to get through a select few, highly guarded gates: the book critics from the national newspapers, TV, and radio. Now they review books less frequently (except The Walrus just announced it would be diving into the world of book reviews, and for that we Canadian writers are over the moon).
In fact, what has happened is the great democratization of book reviews. Now Bookstagrammers do them, Tik Tok influencers do them, and well-read citizens who aren’t critics but are readers, post their thoughts and share them with the world. They are part of the wonderful ecosystem keeping the book industry hopping. Thank you, kind voracious reader people.
It also leaves an author a little mystified and wondering, to whom do I reach out? Where is the list of these folk who might review my ARC (Advance Reader Copy) or ALC (Advance Listening Copy or Audiobook Listening Copy)?
Thankfully here is where the publisher has far more contacts than I, and they’ve reached out to many of them. But from the author point of view, there can be a sense of confusion and overwhelm, because support and awareness of the book is coming from, and needs to be posted on, all platforms, in all directions, all the time.
I keep having an image, now that Lost in France’s June 23 Pub Day is over, that the train is out of the station, it’s barrelling down the track, and I am both in front of it, running as fast as I can with the very real danger of being mowed down, and behind it, running as fast as I can, trying to grab the caboose railing to hop on before it speeds up and leaves me behind altogether.
And then sometimes you just need a bag of Veggie Sticks and a lie-down on the couch for a moment to catch your breath.
I was, for example, recently mulling all of this over in what our house calls “The 4 am Fret” and staring at my to-do list in paralysis when I happened upon this WONDERFUL 5-star review of the Lost in France audiobook (YAY Voice-Over Queen Kate Udall!) in my IG feed from @secretsin_author (Ciara Hartman).
Those kinds of reviews keep me going.
The Lost in France book trailer(s)
Book trailers are a thing in publishing promo land. I had a sense of what I hoped to do for one, but do not have the technical skills needed. Just do it in Canva, they said. Just watch a few YouTube how-to videos, they said.
Several glasses of wine and some tears later, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pull this off myself. I approached fellow author and marketing/brand specialist Lauren O’Malley of The Imperfect Network to see if she could help—and WOW did she over-deliver. She helped tighten up the copy, picked a Frenchy, romantic font, feel, look, and music, and made this gorgeous, tiny, macaron-sized piece of marketing delight. I’m over la lune. Oooh la la!
She made this one first:
And as if that weren’t enough, made a second one focused on tropes (a big thing in the romance book market):
Authors and publishing companies out there, if you are looking for author, book, or brand marketing help, Lauren’s fabulous. You can reach her through her company, The Imperfect Network.
Bookstores
Another component of launching a book is creating relationships with bookstores. Oh my goodness, bookstores are run by wonderful people, aren’t they?
Since Lost in France was published, I’ve been into two Book City locations, Hopeless Romantic Books in Toronto, and A Novel Spot in Etobicoke, to sign books and meet readers.
There are more book signings and bookstore events to come, but next up is Stirling Book Company, in Stirling, Ontario, who did wonderful things for At Last Count when it was first published, and had me in to visit with their book club.
Stirling Book Company, Stirling Ontario (photo cred Sarah Starrett)
I’ll be returning there on July 16 for an “Evening in France” event (if you’re in the neighbourhood or not too far, I’d love you to join us—for tickets, please visit their website here!)
I thought I’d interview Tracey Starrett, owner of Stirling Book Company, to learn more about her and the store, and find out just what it is bookstores hope from authors when they launch their book.
CRD: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
TS: I was born in Yorkshire, England to Scottish parents. We moved to Canada when I was 11. Once in Canada, I grew up in North York and Scarborough. I majored in English Lit and History at York University at the same time you were attending although we didn’t know each other. I’ve been married since 1989, have two adult children, and two dogs.
Tracey Starrett, Owner of Stirling Book Company (photo credit Sarah Starrett)
CRD: When did you open Stirling Book Company? What inspired you to do that?
TS: We opened the bookstore in Summer 2024. I had spent 35 years working in Human Resources, as well as teaching HR, and doing freelance writing in that field. I was looking for a change for the last part of my career. I had worked in a bookstore in North York as a university student and back then had even considered becoming a librarian, so it felt like building on a past career interest.
CRD: What are your favourite Canadian books that have come out in the last little while?
TS: The first book I read when we opened the store was Natalie Sue’s debut novel, I Hope This Finds You Well. So much of it was relatable as it has an HR person as a main character. Of course, I loved your debut novel, At Last Count (our first book club pick!). As a baseball fan, I really enjoy Andrew Forbes’ books of essays on baseball (Field Work, Utility of Boredom, The Only Way is the Steady Way). Emily Weedon’s debut speculative fiction, Autokrator, was unique and so riveting.
CRD: What about your personal, or your bookstore’s, favourite book club lit or romances?
TS: We have had a book club at the store since Oct 2024. Vanessa Westermann’s murder mystery Cover Art was a great way to start off the 2025-2026 season. We also unanimously enjoyed Frode Grytten’s The Ferryman and His Wife, a Norwegian translation, and Antonio Michael Downing’s debut novel Black Cherokee. We haven’t read a romance yet, but our June pick is Annie Hartnett’s The Road to Tender Hearts. It’s a “darkly comic second chance at love and parenting road trip novel” so will be an interesting read!
CRD: Authors want (and need!) to promote the launch of their books. What can you tell them, from the point of view of a bookseller, that would help?
TS: Sometimes a single author book signing for a new author can be tough to get a crowd, so teaming up with other authors releasing books around the same time to do multi-author events is a good option.
Creating “themed” events in partnership with the bookseller can also be great. This way the book buyers get an “experience” along with being introduced to the book. The “An Evening in France” event we are doing with you for Lost in France is a good example of this.
CRD: In fact, the idea behind “An Evening in France” to promote Lost in France came partially out of a conversation with you, Tracey, about this idea of ‘experiences.’ We brainstormed about what would be appealing to your readers and customers. For me, it had to be something repeatable (so I could offer it to other bookstores too), and manageable. The evening at Stirling Book Company on July 16 is going to be very fun, with a book-themed photo booth and props, a bookmark crafting station, French refreshments, and an author talk with visuals about the development of the book and the travel adventures Kirk and I went on to research Paris locations, French rural living, and the phenomenon of one-euro houses in Italy.
CRD: What can authors do to promote their backlist?
TS: One of the most common questions at our author events to the author is “What else have your written?” Readers do really want to know the backlist. If not at an event, authors can promote their backlist through social media engagement. Celebrating anniversaries of publication dates of backlist books, or doing features of their backlist, are a couple of ways to promote earlier works.
CRD: What fun events or occasions do you have coming up at the store?
TS: We’ll be celebrating our 2nd birthday on July 11 with some festivities. Later in July, we’re co-hosting three evenings of Reading in the Field with a lavender farm north of our store. And of course, our evening with you on the 16th to launch your new book.
CRD: Can’t wait for that!
CRD: What’s one thing you’re passionate about as the owner of a bookstore?
TS: I really love introducing readers to new authors, especially when it’s a debut book. It can be the start of a long-term relationship.
CRD: Have you been to France? And if so, what’s a sight, restaurant, experience—even if it’s a small thing—that you would recommend to others, and why?
TS: Unfortunately, I’ve never been to France. I’m hoping to live vicariously through your characters Marlow and Sabine in Lost in France.
CRD: Do you have any books or movies set in France that are your favourites? What did you like about them?
TS: One of my favourite books, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, is set in France among other locations. And I do love the movie Midnight in Paris, and its concept of each generation revering the ones before it.
CRD: Where can people find your bookstore online?
TS: Our website is stirlingbookco.ca and we are on Instagram and Facebook at stirlingbookco.
Upcoming dates on the Lost in France book tour
With more dates to come!
And before I sign off…
Dear reader, may I ask: if you have read either (both?) At Last Count or Lost in France, and you enjoyed them, if you could leave a short and hopefully very positive review on Goodreads, Amazon, and Indigo (it can be the same review for all three!), that would help immensely. Algorithms love reader reviews, happy algorithms put the book in front of more online eyeballs, and more online eyeballs mean more readers. And if you don’t know how to do this, please reach out via my website, I’ll send you an easy-to-understand how-to.
Keep reading and writing, friends. Talk to you soon.
Claire