When the decision is made to attempt publishing a book, little does the author know of the remarkable adventure that they are about to embark.  The word "adventure" strikes a particular importance since there is absolutely no way of telling which roads you will cross or how long your journey will stretch.   There is although, a set path to which every writer realizes once their ideas, dreams or perhaps both become actual stories on paper. 

The first step is to connect your material with a publisher and persuade them to read it.  If the manuscript is accepted, your book will soon undergo edits, added  illustrations (orchestrated by a publisher unless otherwise supplied) and final layout design.   Once this version is complete and approved, it is off to the printers where pages will be morphed into a final product.  Weeks later, the author will experience the gift of opening a box where the indescribable scent of crisp binding floods the air as the case is unsealed.  It is amazing and an instant in my life which I will never forget.

One of the biggest misconceptions of new authors is that publication is where your jobs ends.  This is simply not true and in fact the exact place where your real work begins.  Step two is the task to convince online bookstores, discount market places and just about anywhere else that you can think of to feature your book.  Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Walmart, Ebay, Etsy...the possibilities are endless. 

Once this has been accomplished, a writer is wise to launch campaigns on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter where links can be posted and reposted by your networks of family, coworkers and friends.  For "The Land of Chocolate Cosmos", this step was the pivotal piece of whether the book would succeed to any other level of readership.  I will never forget standing in the subway the day it was released and watching link after link of Barnes and Nobles websites featuring the cover of my first children's tale.  I stood absolutely speechless at the kindness that  friends had shown and have no doubt of the magnitude in  role that they have all played. 

If tactics in media have been received favorably and your publisher has established contacts with local retailers (as Mascot Books had)the impact of driven sales online may get you a trial on a few bookshelves.  This is the good part.  This is the where all of your anticipated dreams, hard work and most of all "faith" becomes realized.  

Over the past weekend, I was lucky enough to have stepped nervously into two Boston Barnes and Nobles bookstores where I found copies of "Coco" smiling back at me from his cover.    As my six year old son beamed excitedly to share in the discovery of the treasure we had found, it struck me instantly and without hesitation of the incredible excursion that I had been so fortunate to have been invited to voyage upon.  Although I have been a children's book author for only seven months, I can't help but think of the incredible people I have been able to work with and old friends who I couldn't have sold one copy without.  As wonderful as this beginning has been, I pray that this tale has only just begun to have spun.

The Beantown Tales is gearing up to become an official series with the upcoming July 2011 release of "The Popcorn Hydrangea of Poppingtom"!  Written as the sequel to "The Land of Chocolate Cosmos", the author once again discusses an enviromental issue by incorporating a fantasy world stricken with blythe, a magical flower and the power of a child to set things right.  Within this second tale, a boy named Nicholas takes it upon himself to enact clean air legislation for his home of "Poppingtom" after the popping popcorn hydrangea plants begin to die.  Filled with delicious imagery, drive in movie lots and a child who just wont give up, "The Popcorn Hydrangea of Poppingtom" is a fun and educational "next chapter" to Canale's mystical world of fairy tale adventures.  Reserve your copies now by pre-ordering from Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobles.com.