Blog Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway: Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann releases today and I am thrilled to be a part of the blog tour to help celebrate! I had a chance to ask author Claire Kann about her publishing journey so be sure to read what she has to share with you all! Also be sure to check out the tour-wide giveaway below!

 

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Category: Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publication: January 23rd 2018; Swoon Reads
Purchase: Amazon, TBD, B&N, iBooks, Kobo

Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

 

Guest Post:

Tell us about your process in writing as you developed from an award-winning Wattpad author to your journey as a debut published Swoon Reads author?

I suppose it’s time to reveal my little secret—the offer of publication from Swoon Reads came well before I started posting my stories to Wattpad. “But wait,” a chorus of readers calls out. “Why did you start using Wattpad after your book deal?” I’m so glad you asked.

One of my favorite things to say is “I’ve been in the Swoon game since almost the beginning.” The site launched in fall 2013, I joined in February 2014 and never left. Reading, commenting, interacting, and making friends on Swoon Reads became such an integral part of my writing journey that I didn’t even bother querying agents with my manuscripts. I was so comfortable, so sure of my place with Swoon Reads that while I didn’t know when that email from Swoon HQ would come, I knew it would someday and was willing to wait.

My mom, who is the best and most supportive mom ever, made me a writing vision board. Seriously. She had me make a list of things I wanted and Number 3? “Make it on the next Swoon Reads list.” I realize now that I should have specified a date on that because I posted my first manuscript to the site in December 2014, a second in May 2015, and finally a third, Let’s Talk About Love, in January 2016, which was selected in July 2016.

While the vast majority of the Swoon Reads users were there because of the strong sense of community, it would be a lie to say we weren’t also hoping to get published. And once it happens, you can’t post your manuscripts to the site anymore, which makes sense. But. I’d gotten so used to sharing my work online for free that I went through withdrawal. I consider myself more of a storyteller than a writer. Writing books just happens to be the medium I’ve chosen to share my stories for right now. Without someone to read my stories, or even an avenue for them to be read, I began to feel empty inside. I needed an outlet.

When my good friend Macy (@filia20 on Wattpad) suggested I post one of my books to Wattpad, I thought, “Sure. Why not? I suck at Twitter, and I need to build a platform somehow…”

I made an account (@ClaireKann) and dove in head first. About a month after I finished posting my first book, I applied for it to become a featured story and was accepted. My read count skyrocketed overnight. Later, in one of the most shocking moments of my writer life, I won my first Watty Award. The following year, I won again for a different story and cried until my tear ducts swelled shut.

My time spent in the Swoon-trenches helped me learn how to craft a written story that works for me and my style. If it weren’t for the Swoon Reads site—for the informative blog posts, feedback from other writers I received, critique partners and friends I made, the sting of rejection when my book(s) weren’t chosen which stoked the fire to become a better writer—I don’t think I would have won those Watty Awards.

I am one of the few writers to go from Swoon Reads to Wattpad and am incredibly proud to be a member of both communities.

 

Author Bio: Claire Kann

Claire Kann hails from the glorious Bay Area where the weather is regrettably not nearly as temperate as it used to be. She has a BA in English/Creative Writing from Sonoma State University, works for a nonprofit that you may have heard of where she daydreams like she’s paid to do it. LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE is her debut novel.

Links:

Website  **  Facebook  **  Twitter

 

Giveaway:

Print copy of Let’s Talk About Love – ends Feb 1st (US/CAN)

a Rafflecopter giveaway