Winsome Media Communications (the new, best thing)

Long-time followers of my blog know this story:  On the day that Nothing But Ghosts was launched, a mysterious note was sent my way.  A you-may-want-to-check-out My Friend Amy's blog message. A Happy Launch Day teaser.  A pre-dawn puzzler. 

A couple of mouse clicks later I found myself stunned by the news that an NBG virtual launch party had been engineered by the extraordinary Amy Riley herself, who had taken it upon herself (in her secret, daring fashion, and with no little help from Presenting Lenore) to encourage bloggers from near and far to send NBG out into the world with their collective, blogthusiastic blessing.  She'd organized an online book club.  She'd organized a chat (which, might I add, was attended by many dear friends and new readers as well as my new publisher, Elizabeth Law).  I still cry when I think about that day—that effort, that goodness.

Amy, I have learned since, is endlessly doing good—making the most of social media, discovering and elevating new artists, and bringing an old song back into our collective conscience, not to mention coordinating the massive Book Blogger Appreciation Week and helping to launch the first-ever Book Blogger Convention (which is such a cool and important thing that it is sharing space with the BEA).  It takes a certain kind of heart, for sure, but it also takes the know-how that Amy has about how media work, how book bloggers think, and how culture gets perpetuated.  Ask her a question, any question, about an RSS feed tweak, and she'll offer to walk you through it, screen shot diagrams and all.  Ask her whether there are bloggers who only blog about historical novels, and she'll sub-divide the category into Tudor and Victorian.  Ask her how the independent bookstores interact with the electronic world, and she'll have an informed opinion on that as well.

That is why I am so incredibly proud (and lucky) to be working with Amy and her partner, Nicole Bonia of Linus's Blanket—to be one of the very first authors to be tapping into a new Amy-Nicole venture called Winsome Media Communications.  Winsome builds brands, optimizes websites, expands social networks, and manages targeted social media campaigns.  They bring books like The Heart is Not a Size and Dangerous Neighbors to readers who might not have heard of them before.  They help techno-fearing authors like myself navigate the possibility of relaunching a (much better organized) blog (stay tuned for that one, folks).  They are the company we want to keep when we're navigating publishing waters.

I can't recommend them highly enough.  I hope you'll recommend them, too, to authors and artists you may know.