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You might have noticed that I’ve been posting a little more sporadically than usual. This isn’t because I suddenly decided to give up blogging in favor of spending real quality time with my kids. Quite the opposite. (SORRY, GUYS!)

My book is launching on September 27th and there is quite a bit to be done leading up to the big day. Remember how I said writing the book was the hardest? And then that designing the book was even harder? And everyone told me that promoting the book would be the absolute hardest?

Well, it’s a little less than two months out and I’m already getting an understanding of what they were talking about.

For starters, I just created an official Mommy Shorts book page, where you will be able to find all things book related. Right now there is a photo and description of the book plus a few choice quotes from people who got a chance to see an advanced copy. (More like a pdf, because real copies have not yet been printed.)

It also has all the links to where you can purchase your copy.

Or five copies.

Or ten.

Or whatever.

Eventually, it will have some info about a small tour that is in the works (YAY!) and an upcoming proof of purchase campaign that I’m REALLY excited about. I hope you will be too.

I also changed my facebook cover photo last night for the first time in over two years, just to show you how serious I am about all this.

Before I start asking you to pre-order (which I will be doing a lot of in the next couple of months) and telling you why that’s so crucial, I need to tell you one very important thing:

I am so proud of this book.

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This morning, my co-worker Pam alerted me to the fact that I have not communicated this simple fact with my readers. She said, “Ilana, why are telling people to buy the book to support you? Shouldn’t you be telling them to buy the book because it’s awesome? You’re treating it like they are doing you a favor.”

Huh. I hadn’t thought about it like that.

As usual, Pam was right. Sometimes I don’t realize Pam is right until many days later, but she always is.

I promote stuff all the time but promoting my own stuff is hard. I mean— I just used a quote from Pam to tell you that my book is awesome instead of telling you myself! Aren’t I clever? Tooting my own horn feels very obnoxious but for the next two months, that is my job.

But honestly, this book is the culmination of everything I’ve been working on for the past six years. It tells new stories, old stories, showcases my photos, features my memes, reimagines my graphics… all in one gorgeous full color layout that is everything I’d always dreamed it would be.

Ahhh…it feels good to get that out there.

Now for the pre-order begging. Well, not really begging. Just some info about why people who write books are always begging for pre-orders when regular people almost never think to pre-order anything.

1) Much of the press coverage is determined by how much buzz a book gets before it’s actually on sale. What’s one of the main ways a book gets buzz? By having a high number of pre-orders.

2) The best (and usually only) chance you have to hit the NYT bestseller list is in the first week. This is because the first week of orders counts all the books that were sold that week plus all the books that were sold in the months leading up to the launch in pre-orders.

Then just like big movie openings, your sales usually fall off a cliff.

Except mine won’t, because that’s exactly when people will realize how AWESOME my book is, and start purchasing it for all of their friends!

(How was that, Pam?)

So… check out my book page, give it a share and tell me what you think!

Also- I am debating doing a few grass roots events where I would come to your book club or help organize a mom’s night out in your city. If you are interested in hosting or organizing, please tell me below and say what city you are from!