This Writer's Journey (continued)

Well, I finally took the plunge. After months of wrestling with whether to keep trying to do it all myself or hire a publicist, last night I signed on the dotted line.

Publicists ain't cheap, but with four books releasing within a year (I DON'T recommend this!), I've been drowning in the sea of promotion. The whole idea of being a writer is to write, right? Well, that minor detail has somehow sunk to the bottom and more urgent communications, speaking events, signings, workshops, details, details, details have choked the surface.

I'm hoping my new energetic publicist, Rebeca, will be my life preserver. I have contracted for her services for six months.

In the meantime, I received a delightful packet of thank you notes from public high school English students to whom I presented Young Writers Workshops a few weeks ago. This is one of my favorites:

Dear Debora M. Coty (*kids almost always address me by my full author name),
Thank you so much for coming to our class and speaking with us. You have shown me that you cannot give up, no matter how many times you are put down. That has really inspired me to want to go the exra mile in my own career. Writing for me is a hobby, but you never know what the future holds. Thank you soooo much for signing your books for me! They are amazing! I know you probably get that from practically everyon, but it is very symbolic for me. Being a history geek, I love how you adapted the real life story of someone and made it into a beautiful book. It's quite the page-flipping novel for me. My mother even told me to hurry up with The Distant Shore so that she could read it, too. I can't wait to read Billowing Sails.

Sincerely,
Hillary, 11th grade