Reflecting on an Incredible Launch Week
Moonrising is out in the world!
Wow! What a whirlwind week it’s been. I truly feel like I’m living a dream come true, and I’m blown away by all the love and support.
My launch day last Tuesday was a packed day. I started the day with my mom and my sister Isabelle driving around the city finding Moonrising in bookstores.
After swinging by Jewel to pick up my book cake (yay!) and getting my kiddos ready (honestly, hardest part of any day), we were off to the launch at City Lit in Logan Square. We had so much fun! We counted over 60 people in attendance, including friends from high school, college, my husband’s law school, work, my book club, our kids school, neighbors, my sisters’ friends, my mom’s friends, my family, and my lovely agent Jenna Satterthwaite. Amazing.
Kristen Vale, a fellow 2025 debut author whose book A Tale of Mirth & Magic comes out August 5, was a wonderful conversation partner. I loved having the chance to reflect on my author journey (so long!), my favorite character (I said Victor at the time, but after listening to my audiobook it’s Mansoor), and my inspiration (OMG it’s not Elon Musk).
I also got to see the impact of orders in real-time as I watched Moonrising climb the Amazon bestseller lists. I’ve said before that the Amazon bestsellers rankings are a little silly, but I finally got into the right categories. My highest rank was 13 for Space Opera New Releases.
Then on Wednesday, I finally got my author copies of my audiobook. And, wow! That was a top tier author experience. I was totally blown away by my words narrated by Amanda Dolan. She did such an excellent job bringing the characters to life. I was especially moved by both Alex and Mansoor’s voices. There’s several scenes that emphasize what different worlds they come from and hearing them have these conversations with such different accents enhances so much of the tension. I’d highly recommend listening to the audiobook! (As I’m finalizing this substack, I got a call from one of the owners of my company telling me he devoured the audiobook during a couple long drives over the weekend.)
And it’s been so amazing hearing from all of you!
My brother Luke found Moonrising face out and recommended at the iconic Powell’s City of Books, aka the largest independent bookstore in the world. At eye level, right below Stephen King. 😯
So many of you sent me pictures of you (or your kid! or your cat!) with your copies of Moonrising. Thank you! I’ve heard from one friend who took the afternoon off work to finish because she got completely sucked in. Another friend sent me this photo from a weekend lake trip. Several people sent me pictures of Moonrising spotted in bookstores. Please keep the photos coming. I love all of them!
And I’ve been hearing from readers on the internet. It’s one thing to get people who already love you and want to support you to read your book, and it’s something else to hear from strangers. A bookstagrammer yesterday even made some fan graphics and I almost DIED. Like, this is seriously my dream.
I also got inspired by an idea my agent Jenna and I had during the launch Q&A (man, do we have a good vibe!), and started a Rashid POV bonus chapter yesterday. I loved getting back into writing in the Moonrising world and the result is turning out really lovely. I’m going to use it as a pre-order incentive for The Red Woman of Mars, which is targeted to come out summer 2026.
Finally, I ended the weekend at my friend Katie’s lake house with my book club. This group of women has been with me through this whole publishing journey and are so supportive. On our last night, we toasted Moonrising by the fire and then watched fireworks over the lake. A perfect ending to an incredible week.
P.S. — Please join me in Oak Park at Dandelion Bookshop on Wednesday, July 23 at 6 PM for a conversation on how to become a traditionally published author.
P.P.S. - When you finish Moonrising, please write a review and cross post! You can post reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Storygraph, and Fable. I’m also finding that people posting about Moonrising on Facebook are getting their friends to order copies. ☺️
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Please help support my journey as a debut author!
NEXT WEEK - Wednesday, July 23 at 6:00 p.m. - Book Talk on Writing and Publishing at Dandelion Bookshop in Oak Park
Save the Date:
Saturday, September 6 (new date!) at 2:00 p.m. - Book Reading at Plot Twist Used Books
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