M. Pierce Proves Me Wrong AGAIN.

It would be irritating if it weren’t so damn nice.

I wasn’t going to do a cover reveal.

I love writing, I really do, but the marketing side of things does not come naturally to me. Not only does it involve a lot of guesswork and legwork (not the fun kind), but also a certain degree of self-promotion that turns my stomach. I know indie authors have to put themselves and their books out there to be noticed, but…it can be difficult.

I had a different cover for Frenched originally, one that was made before I finished the book. But as the story took shape, I felt it wasn’t a very good representation of the characters or tone. Or of me.

This one is.

I didn’t plan a big reveal because I didn’t think it would matter. I don’t have a million Twitter followers or Facebook fans, and I am not a Big Name. Who would care? I quietly swapped the covers without any announcement or fuss.

But this post is about more than a new cover. It’s about friendship and community. This morning I woke up to find that a fellow author and friend (one who is, ahem, much more popular than I am) had revealed the cover in a blog post because I wasn’t going to.

And lo and behold, I was wrong. People cared.

They commented on the post, sent me messages on Facebook, tweeted at me–all positive feedback and friendly enthusiasm. I was pleasantly surprised.

I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to hear readers say they love the cover and are excited about the book–it makes me nervous and excited and happy and anxious all at once. But what’s even better about this whole thing is the way it demonstrates how giving authors are to each other, how generous the big fish can be to the small fish still struggling to break through.

(Especially when the small fish introduced herself by telling the big fish, “I wanted to hate your book.”)

Lucky for me, the big fish appreciated my honesty, and we got to be friends.

Thanks, M. If I ever get to be a big fish one day, you can bet I will pay this forward.