A stolen crown jewel and an enigmatic portrait force two women to confront the devastating choices they made for love—and summon the courage to live with the truth.
Launching The Queen’s Tears the old-fashioned way
Before anything else, I want to say thank you to book bloggers, because I don’t think people fully realise how important you are. You give up hours of your own time to read our books, which is no small thing when there are so many of them and so few hours to spend, and then you give up more of it to write about them and share them with readers who might never have found them otherwise. You do it for the love of reading, and a launch simply wouldn’t be the same without you, so thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you do and for taking the time to look at this book.
I published my first book ten years ago, in a very different world. It’s really come home to me these last few months as I pulled out my “marketing stuff to do” spreadsheet and worked with my beta readers, cover designer, and editor to get The Queen’s Tears into shape. So far, all familiar territory, albeit still stressful. But then, approaching the marketing, and already realising that the 90% drop in sales I’d experienced in the past three years was never going to recover in an over-saturated marketplace, I decided that more conversations and less conversions would be the theme for this launch. Let’s get back to basics.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with marketing, advertising, PR, blog tours, promotions, social media, book talks, book tours, book clubs, book…aaargh! But selectively, purposefully, with intent. Yes, I invested in a great cover designer - Dee Dee Book Covers - and my wonderful editor, Jenny Quinlan, is worth her weight in gold. The fabulous bibliophiles at Coffee Pot Book Club are helping spread the word when the book launches. And that’s before I get to the bloggers like you, who give a book like this its very first readers.
The rest is about conversations. A talk at the library surrounded by countless volumes begging to be read. A friend’s book club where we chat long into the evening about amplifying the voices of lost women. An afternoon tea at my local senior centre, where everyone has a story to tell. And connecting with readers and other authors over coffee and online, wherever there is a conversation to be had. Those are the times I’ve always enjoyed.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to the local libraries, community centres, senior centres and book clubs that have opened their doors to me. They are happy to have me come along and talk about The Queen’s Tears, and just as happy, which matters even more to me, to let me meet their readers and writers and hear what they have to say in return. Those invitations mean far more than any sales dashboard, because they come from people who love stories and are willing to spend an afternoon with a real person talking about them.
My daughter got married a couple of weeks ago, and a beautiful thing about one of the happiest weeks of my life was the “no cell phone” rule on her wedding day. We had a wonderful photographer, Katie, who was everywhere at every moment with us. But everyone else, friends and family, were simply present, meeting for the first time, reminiscing about past get-togethers, talking, laughing, and bringing such a condensed joy to the day that it was palpable. There were no distractions, no posing, no uploading, no sharing, no forwarding nor posting nor AI improving. It was completely and utterly all about the reason we were together. Love.
It made me think about how bewildering the world has become, with a plethora of AI generated content and images filling every screen, and algorithms that have no idea who is writing the words or who is reading them. I find that rather sad, and I’m firmly resolved that this book will be different. I want The Queen’s Tears to be a living piece of art that connects a community, and not simply a product sold by Amazon.
So, for this book launch, you will see the odd social media post. I’ll share some excerpts here. I’ll announce the publication with a promotional flourish, and I’ll certainly share the highs and lows of tackling my first dual-timeline novel and fun research breakthroughs.
But as for the rest, let’s talk about the power of books to inspire, instil joy and take us to other worlds. Let’s make this a salon of people and voices, not an anonymous announcement of “buy my book”. Because honestly, it’s more fun writing and talking about books than being pinned to sales dashboards.
Amazon’s A+ content is a good way to promote the feel of the book. Public domain art always lends a great deal of atmosphere.
So, if you’ve read this far, The Queen’s Tears launched on October 15th. I really enjoyed writing it (except when I didn’t), and I hope that people enjoy reading it, because I would like to write another.
Elizabeth St.John
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About the Author
Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story. Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel. Find out more at Elizabeth's website http://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/ and follow her on Facebook, Twitter @ElizStJohn and Bluesky @elizabethstjohn.bsky.social
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