Only ONE WEEK to
go before the official release of PRESIDENT HAMILTON: A NOVEL OF ALTERNATIVE
HISTORY, and I wanted to share all the latest info with my faithful blog
readers as I prepare to promote what I firmly believe will be the most
successful book I have written yet! Several
interesting things have transpired since my last update, so let me talk about
those first.
Last time I mentioned how I had
connected with Doug Hamilton, the five times great-grandson of my protagonist,
and how he had enjoyed and agreed to endorse my novel. Since then, I have gotten in contact with
another Hamilton family member, the delightful Mary Anne Hamilton. She is the widow of Alexander Hamilton’s great-great-grandson,
Laurens Morgan Hamilton, and has become a caretaker of the family’s legacy
since her husband’s death thirty-five years ago. Mary Anne is a wonderful, fiery 87-year-old
with a great sense of humor, and when she accepted my friend request on
Facebook, I sent her a PM explaining who I was and what my book was about and
asked her to read it. She agreed, and I
emailed her a copy that day. She
finished the book within a week and told me that she found it to be
absolutely enthralling. She sent me a
lovely, signed letter of endorsement, along with a photograph of her posing
with Lin-Manuel Miranda, taken after she attended a Broadway performance of HAMILTON a
few years back.
But besides endorsing my story, Mary
Anne also put me in touch with Rand Scholet, the founder of the Alexander
Hamilton Awareness Society. Rand also read
the book and fell in love with it, and we’ve conversed on the phone several
times now. He is wonderfully
well-connected, with a wide range of friendships and contacts in the historical
and entertainment communities. He
informed me that he wants to do all he can to help me promote PRESIDENT
HAMILTON, because he thinks it is both a wonderful story as well as a positive
portrayal of Hamilton that may help counter some of the negative publicity the
“ten-dollar Founding Father” has endured recently. Without giving away a lot of details (because
some of the necessary networking is still going on), I think Rand is going to
make sure this book is available in many venues that I could only have dreamed
of a few weeks ago. He’s also reached
out to my publishers at Electio in order to make sure their promotion efforts
are coordinated. I’m thrilled and
honored to have him in my corner, and I can’t wait to see what results our
collaboration might yield.
When the book is officially available on July 6, here are some things that you can do to help me increase its visibility. If you’ve read this far, I would assume that you are willing to help. So, here goes!
1. BUY THE BOOK! It will be available at
all online bookselling platforms (which means Amazon for 95% of you, but also
at places like iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and, as always, from my own publisher,
Electio Publishing). If you are in the
Dallas/Fort Worth area, please consider coming to my launch party at Half Price
Books in Rockwall, TX on July 24, or at one of my later signing events in the
Metroplex – you can see the schedule of appearances at my website, www.lewisbensmith.com,
by clicking the “Meet Lewis” tab. One
other thing – if you live in the USA but not in North Texas, and would like a
signed copy of PRESIDENT HAMILTON, you may purchase one directly by messaging me on FB. I will, of course, have to charge you for the
shipping, but sending books by Media Mail rate is only about $4. As far as price goes, the paperback version
on Amazon goes for $24.99. I’ll be
charging $26 for signed copies at my events (still cheaper than paying
postage).
2. SHARE THE LINKS! Help me get the word out about PRESIDENT
HAMILTON by posting the Amazon link to it on your personal media, and any social media
groups you belong to where you think people might be interested. Nothing helps more than word of mouth
advertising from happy readers!
3. LEAVE A REVIEW! I love hearing back from my readers. If you loved the book, tell me! If you didn’t like it, tell me why! I’d rather have an honest one-star review
than an insincere five-star rating from a bot account. The more reviews I get, the happier I
am. So please, after you’ve read the
book swing by Amazon and leave your thoughts!
4. Follow me online! I have an author page on FB, and I’m also on Twitter and Instagram. I love interacting with my readers.
It’s been a long and bumpy ride. I knew this story was special as I was
writing it, but at this time last year I was wondering if it would ever be
published. Now we’re just a few days
away, and I want to say “Thank You!” to everyone who has encouraged me along
the way. May PRESIDENT HAMILTON live up to your fondest expectations! Special thanks to Annee Helmreich for the
marvelous cover art, and to Christopher and Jesse at Electio Publishing, for
taking another chance on me as an author, and bringing PRESIDENT HAMILTON to you all, and finally to
all the good people mentioned above who have endorsed my humble story.
Till next time!
