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jeffekennedy
Good morning everyone this is Jeffe Kennedy author romantasy author of epic fantasy romance. It's been a minute I'm here with my first cup of coffee.
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jeffekennedy
Ah, today is who knows who knows what day it is it is Monday April Twenty Ninth last day of April for the podcast. How does this happen. We don't know time has flown I am back from Apollycon. So I've got wrap up for you on thoughtss from Apollycon how it went industry um things that I learned did I learn things I don't know my mind is still a bit of a blank I think I am um going to take today. To catch up which I feel like I've been doing nonstop for weeks. All months all month long um yeah it's ah I didn't work on the book at all last week no not at all and and it was fine. Whatever. Ah, who needs to write books. So um, let's see when we last left our heroine. It was a week ago monday and I was going to take Monday and Tuesday to catch up and get ready and. I did and I got out of here by the skin of my teeth on Tuesday afternoon I was so glad that I took that time because I got all of the most critical stuff done I didn't get everything on my list done but I got a lot done and it it did make a big difference to have that.
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jeffekennedy
Time and early Wednesday morning flew to Apollycon got there in the afternoon and checked in. Got there amazingly like right at the same time as my roommate the delightful Maria Vale ah and Maria had some interesting insights you all know that I'm not terribly terribly good at staying chronological on stuff. So I will be bouncing about round and about it's funny because I write linear but I do not speak linear or think linear I think we shall find out. So. Um, Maria had an interesting insight. Well she said I had an insight and it led to her having an insight which is ah one of the best things about going to a conference with people is getting to hang out and share dare I say insights? Um. After the first signing session. So this time there were three four hour signing sessions which I feel like is way more than last year we think last year it was only 3 hours these were 4 hours the first one was on Friday afternoon um at like I think it was 1 to 5 or 1 to 6 does it matter. Do we care um that it probably doesn't matter and on Saturday morning then we started at 8 which was a full hour earlier than before we did 8 to 12 and then 2 to 6.
03:25.97
jeffekennedy
Wass a long day and overall the the sales felt slower. Ah my first year at a polyon I sold over $1000 worth of books much less last year then less's again this year ah I have a lot a lot of readers taking photos of the books. A lot of people took bookmarks marking it down to read on kindle or to listen on audible ah, that was a big takeaway was. They wanted to know how many of these books were on audible and fortunately almost all of mine are or on audio and so they um, they really wanted to know they were adding things to their their audible queue as right there at the table so that was great. Um. I did sell some books but for the most part people were not wanting to get signed books of my variety. The crowds seem to have shifted It's very young has shifted very young and you know like gals in their twenty s when gal did buy a book from me. Came by with her mom I don't think she was a teenager but she may have been pretty young I was careful to say that mine were adult and they were both like great so that was good. Um, but the the brisk.
04:56.76
jeffekennedy
Trades seem to be in the Kindle unlimited books that are very popular that people were buying special editions of and so for me, it felt like a little bit of a pause here and I will get back to that I will come back to that. Ah, Maria's experience was and not dissimilar to mine that people kept coming up to her table saying oh I've had your books on my tbr forever and I was hearing a lot of oh I've read all your books and love them. Ah, and so that's where my pause. Thing comes in that I'll come back to but Maria and I were talking about that you know like here she's got has not hadn't you know a new release in a while neither one of us has and she ah decide to shift her strategy on Saturday to. Ah, talking people into moving her book up their their cue to get them to read it. Ah take it off your tbr and get it on your red pile which she found much more satisfying and she had a good time doing that. So. Um, so that was interesting for me, it felt um you know like there's still a fair number of people who don't know who I am but a lot who do and like I said have said that they have.
06:29.69
jeffekennedy
Read all my books and love them. Ah, which is great really since Apollycon a year ago I've only had 1 new release and it's twisted magic the third book in the series. So and really everyone who was. Going to read that house. Reddit um, but it felt like a very positive and useful convention for me and I've been having this conversation with various girls um various authors you know, like so many are are still weighing that. Um you know like. Are they selling enough books there to justify the expense and there are people who sell a lot of books and merchandise at this conference and they're very focused on that whereas as I've often said my focus is very much on expanding my readership. And this year like I say felt like a pause I'm glad I went ah but it also feels like next year is going to be my big year and I did have a wonderful time going to the bramble dinner I got to sit with. Um, Juliette Cross who has she and I've been crossing publishing pads for many many years and we both have upcoming releases um from bramble and so that's exciting. We'll be kind of release sisters and she's fabulous. Then I also sat next to ah Chloe.
08:07.33
jeffekennedy
Penaraden who is scottish and she just I think just had a release or an upcoming release from bramble she was delightful. There was another gal there harper and I don't know if I ever caught her last name then also people from the tor bramble team. Ah. Giselle I think it's Rodriguez and Caro Perny were there. There were 2 people who couldn't make it Monique Patterson who's the head of the imprint had something come up. She couldn't make the dinner and then Travis Baldree had said he was maybe gonna come and then didn't. Ah, he's kind of a funny. He's even more of an exoplanet than I am I think very different to these circles. So um, the the dinner was amazing. It was so good. And we had a lovely time. Oh and also Erika Tsang that's right Erika Tsang has recently moved to bramble and she sat across for me and we had an interesting conversation so that was a good place for me to be because for a very very long time. Erika Tsang has been on my wish list of dream editors and you know and I was thinking I'm so happy with Ali I'm so happy with who I found it and I feel like this is an important message because we develop these ideas.
09:39.13
jeffekennedy
Um, as newer writers of like who our dream agent is who our dream editor is a little aside on dream agent I did see a upcoming author Deena Ray there spent a lot of time with her. She gave me a beautiful bracelet. Um. Just gorgeous I should show you all. But I left it in the other room with it even has like a little coffee pot for the first cup of coffee podcast and she ah she bought me lunch and she bought some of my books and she's just amazing but she just did come by because she's going to be I hope that you don't mind if I say this data but. She's got a ah ah book that she's gonna be querying and she's been researching agents which is what I've advised her to do and just so you all know that's you know you just start making your list and you talk to authors and you ask them who their agent is and why they like them or if they like them and you start. Getting you know, find out from them what they like best about their agent and Dina was great that she was doing this that was a great place to do this at a polycotton because she could chat up with the authors and ask them. You know, like which which agents do you like which ones have you heard negative things about it's really the best way to find out. And she told me that by the way everybody raves raves raves about my agent Sarah Younger who is absolutely fabulous and she said it's just so annoying because Sarah is close to clients. She's like but everybody raves about her so it goes.
11:15.50
jeffekennedy
But anyway we developed these ideas right? You know that we have to have you know like the dream agent the dream editor and much like dating and marriage. We don't really know until we start getting to know the person we don't really get into that. Um. You know it's like not until you live with someone. Do you really get how you feel about them. So like I think it's interesting that Sarah Younger was not on my dream agent list for many many years it was only much later after someone told me about her and she was still a baby. Agent at that time I wasn't familiar with my editor Ali Fisher but you know I really thought I wanted Erika Tsang and I liked Erika so much. But I also thought I'm so happy with Ali and so that's a great place to be ah, very exciting for me. The. Following evening. So this was Friday evening. So yeah, we went to 6 on Friday yeah, 2 to 6 because then I went to dinner with a bunch of author friends Jennifer Estep organized it. So Jennifer was there and H.R. Moore was there and Amanda Bouchet and a friend of hers and Maria Snyder sat next to me I really like Maria Snyder Maria Vale came along and.
12:50.11
jeffekennedy
Oh and then um, Maria's friend who is a bookseller has cupboard maker books she was there so we had this meal at the steakhouse that was really fantastic. It was pricey but it was wonderful and bramble was having this author trivia night. That started at 7 and there were gonna be like 2 waves from 7 to 8 to 8 to 9 and Caro had asked me if I could come and I said yes, but they decided not to have any of my older books there because it would just be confusing to people with the new pend name coming up and the new book coming up. And she said she would have a trivia question in there for me. It turns out she made one up that was um if you could steal 1 thing from your arch nemesis. What would it be? Ah, which is a great call out for never the roses.
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jeffekennedy
So when she and she came by my table. She and jazel came by my table and we had um a great chat. They were really sweet to me very welcoming and they said um I asked carol you know I said I'd have dinner with folks and. Is it? Okay, if I'm a little late and she said oh yeah, it's very fungible. You know, just come if you can when you can so we started dinner at six thirty right and I thought well you know I might get there at like 8 I could be there for the second wave well reader. Ah I did not get there until like 9 it was one of those dinners where the waiter was really great and attentive at the beginning and then like melted bat down in the last half an hour to 45 minutes it took us forever to get our check and like you never asked us if we wanted dessert and we don't know what happened there but it was um. Was a thing and we were all tired. We were already tired but then particularly tired as you are like when you've been sitting there forever wondering if they're ever going to remember that you're alive right? and so we left and I saw that. It was fortunately like right next to where they're doing this trivia night. So I said well I'm going to go you know at least put in an appearance since I said I would and so I went and I kind of found this high top table and sat down and was sort of getting my bearings and then I saw eriica sing.
15:18.00
jeffekennedy
Sitting at a table with Chloe and I think Juliette was there and and and Erika Tsang and they they waved at me and waved at me to come over which I mean that kind of thing never gets old and so I went and sat with them and had a glass of champagne. And we had a you know a little chat because like we were sort of off to the side and the reader thing was going on and then the reader thing broke up and then I had folks the most amazing conversation with monique patterson and I can't tell you everything she said to me but she has read. Never the roses which surprised me I finally she was referring to it and I said well have you read the book and she said yes she said I read every book the imprint puts out and I said that's amazing and she said no I I want to know every single one of our books so that when people talk to me about it I know. I can answer questions and I can know what they're talking about so this is her commitment to the job. Monique is just fabulous and if I didn't say she's the head of the bramble imprint and so ah, she said really exciting things about. Release for next year ah and exciting things about some other things. Sorry I know that's probably just I know you all give me grief about teasing you but I probably shouldn't say this on a public podcast but it was so exciting that when I left there I was just.
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jeffekennedy
Balancing I was so happy and I even texted agent Sarah and I said I know it's late and I know it's a Friday but I had this amazing conversation with monique patterson and she said well I'm in a car coming home and I said shall I call and she said yes so I called and told her and so we're both like so It's really great stuff. It's almost worth it to go and do that just to just to get to hear really cool news like off the record as I often advise you writers out there asking me stop in person. Yeah, yeah, you want to hear that off the record right? So um, other things when we first got there. We went to that party that was sort of an author mixer. It was up at the top rooftop bar and it was really pretty up there. It was lovely very windy. However. And I got to connect with several authors and that was fun and Tina Byers interviewed me quickly because I recognized her from her Instagram I also got to know? Um, oh now I'm not gonna be able to think of her name.
18:07.44
jeffekennedy
Charlie Charlie who had been doing Charlie's book Recs and now she's doing Charlie Rec Marketing Recs we had a great time talking. Um, very fun to to meet her and I really liked getting to know Chloe. Oh and Theresa Broadbe that's who was sitting next to chloe at the party when I talked to monique so it was fun to talk with her and it was funny because they're like well I've heard your name I've been hearing your name and it's great to meet you? Um, yeah so I'm still decompressing. I'm I'm just Goingnna take today to catch up one day I'm gonna be caught up on all the things who knows when that will be but um, and then Friday I think I'm probably can be in Tucson so we'll see about podcasts I know it's been very sporadic this month but i. I'm going to do better so on that note I hope you all are doing well I hope things are going swimmingly for you and I will talk to you all soon. How was that you all take care bye bye.