“You’ve Got Mail”, Joe Fox tells us, are very powerful
words.
Nine months ago, they were the words that changed
everything. Tink and I had spent the
summer building the Inner Goddess book forum.
We had a vision of readers sitting around in a laptop circle chatting
away about the books we loved. Who
better to invite than the readers on Goodreads? So, we opened a group and built
a bookshelf. That’s when I awoke to
those three lovely words.
An author had written me on Goodreads, telling me about her
new book. Tink and I put our heads
together, and came up with the Author Spotlight, a forum feature which showcases an author and his/her work.
When I nestled the text into my ereader, I found I had read several of her works. I remembered how I had enjoyed how
she used my hometown for her setting, quite authentically. As we emailed back and forth, I learned she
was from my hometown and we were soon laughing over our favorite places for margaritas. Lisa Renee Jones was more than an author, she
was a friend.
A week later, Lisa wrote to say the book had been picked up
by a publisher and wouldn’t be released until March. However, since she had already self-released it as
an ebook, we could continue with our book club plans. We had a great time spending the month
talking about Chris, Sara, Mark, and Rebecca.
Our little site was growing and changing, just as the fan base for IF I WERE YOU was
growing and the cover was changing.
A few months later, Tink and I decided to expand to include an author’s
blog feature on our forum. We sent out a call to
authors, and guess who was first in line!?!
Lisa Renee Jones. She was expanding the Inside Out Series by publishing Rebecca’s Lost Journals, and kicking off
her blog tour at the same time we were opening our blog. The timing was wonderful, except she was
going to be in Paris. So being the
wonderful author that she is, Lisa wrote her blog and sent it in fromParis!
Now, just a few months later, we find ourselves celebrating
once again with Lisa. IF I WERE YOU has
been optioned by STARZ! So as we
celebrate May 2013 as our 1 year anniversary as a forum, Lisa’s website is
kicking off a month long feature to celebrate and thank bloggers. Continuing our tradition of firsts, Inner
Goddess is the first blog of the feature.
You can check it out on the Lisa Renee Jones website.
As I look back over the last year, I have watched our germ
of an idea grow into a social network of readers and authors. Meanwhile, Lisa’s idea for a book series has
been picked up by a publishing house and optioned for a movie. The sequel BEING ME comes out in June. It has been like watching our children grow up together. What a change a few months can make! This
July, Lisa Renee Jones will be releasing a new book THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN. I wonder what wonderful news is in store for
Inner Goddess? Regardless, Lisa, Tink, and
I are still planning to meet for margaritas.
You’re welcome to join us.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to like “IF I WERE YOU fans” on FB and IFIWEREYOUfans on
twitter. We did!
Happy Anniversary!!!---Rae
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rae! It's been an exciting time!!!
DeleteWow pearls, where did the time go? How did our crazy idea become this? It is definitely a fun time of firsts. The love of reading started it all.
ReplyDeleteLisa, thank you for being our first, to kick off this great blog and for letting us be your first, as you celebrate blogger appreciation month.