Play MYNCT Bingo and Win Books

There are SO many wonderful places on the North Country Trail!

Play MYNCT Bingo and WIN A BOOK. Send me pictures that complete any row of 5, and your name will go in a drawing. 1 copy of North Country Quest, and 1 copy of North Country Cache will be awarded. You do NOT have to have visited these places or taken the pictures personally. You can hunt up pictures on line. However, if you can make a line of places you have actually been to you will get two entries for that card. (Just be sure to tell me.)

Enter as often as you want, as long as you complete a different line (that makes 12 possible entries per person, upped to 24 if you've really been to all those places!) Send entries to jhyshark@gmail.com. Label the pics somehow with the card location. For example T-1 is the Crown Point Bridge, and I might enter this picture for that square. But now you can't steal this one for your own entry- that would be too easy! Deadline for entries April 30, 2020. #myNCTbingo

space T-1, Crown Point Bridge (photo by jhy)

North Country Cache and North Country Quest together tell the stories of my end-to-end hike of the North Country National Scenic Trail. I was the first woman to complete the 4600-mile trail on foot.

Interview on Interlochen Public Radio

You can listen to an interview with me, broadcast on Interlochen Public Radio, and hosted by Aaron Stander. His show is "Michigan Writers on the Air," and the original broadcast was February 27 and March 2. Now the program is free, on the web for anyone to listen to.

The interview is focused on North Country Cache, by book about hiking the North Country National Scenic Trail. We talk about the trail itself and my experiences on it, then I read an excerpt from the book.

My segment of the program is 30 minutes, at the beginning. Enjoy!

Michigan Writers on the Air

Keep Moving Forward

Since making all those phone calls about North Country Cache, we've packaged up books to send to the store that wanted more (and mailed them, along with several invoices), made a stack to hand-deliver to a local store, and have a review copy ready to leave at the Ludington Center for the Arts gift store.

I also found another venue to sell News from Dead Mule Swamp, so it's now listed at IWriteReadRate.

A long time ago I once read that anything worth doing is worth spending five minutes a day on. I've really taken this to heart because my life is so fractured and I always have so many projects going at the same time that it's hard to keep moving forward on them all.

However, I have learned that this concept really works. If I can manage to do some small piece of any project it does keep it moving forward. Even if there is some huge task... if I do a few small bits, after a while the rest of it eventually becomes doable.

Marketing- Follow-up on Consignments

Today, my sister-in-law helped me get organized and make calls to follow up on consignment placements of North Country Cache. I really despise doing this kind of work, so this feels like a huge weight off my shoulders.

Marketing is one of the most difficult parts, OK, THE most difficult part, of self-publishing. You have to get books into book stores for people to see them. Many stores won't buy books outright. They want the author to take all the risk by placing books on consignment.

Consignment is a huge risk. Not only do you need to do all the follow-up, finding out if books have sold and requesting payment, but there is a hidden risk as well. Independent bookstores can go out of business in a flash, and if they do, your books will probably disappear into a black hole and you'll never see any money.

At least four stores where I had books on consignment are just gone. In one case, I know that all six copies they had were sold, and I never received the money. In other cases, I don't really know, but suspect that the books all went to discount houses. Cost to them... nothing, since they never paid me for the books in the first place. Cost to me... at least the cost of printing each book, if not more.

Only one store that I called today wanted to order more books, and one store wants to return the rest of what they have, and I have to pay the shipping.

It's interesting how various stores feel about keeping inventory. Some stores won't keep your book in stock if they don't sell in a year. Others are willing to keep a few copies, apparently indefinitely.

Well, at least now I've done the checking on all these for a while. I wish I could say I won't do any more consignment sales, but that's not practical either. Sigh.

Orders for North Country Cache

Amazon ordered two more copies of North Country Cache this week. I'm always happy to see orders come from people I (presumably) don't know. That means that word is getting around about the North Country Trail.

However, I also noticed that my sales rank slipped below a million. Not that I'm very worried about it, but it used to be around 800,000. It's quite possible that the drop is only related to holiday sales which might bump other titles up.

I'd be thrilled to have a higher rank, but I realize that's not very realistic for a supposed niche book. It's been enjoyed by almost every non-hiker who read it, but the first assumption is that it's a book for hiking freaks!

Recent Book Orders

Orders for North Country Cache continue to come in on a slow, but regular basis. I'm not complaining! I do wish Amazon would allow me to ship more than one book at a time, since they require me to pay the shipping.

This month I have received two orders from Amazon (one book each- and of course they were just far enough apart that I had sent the first book before the second order came in), and one from Barnes & Noble. B&N pays the shipping, and they don't require such a high discount, so I like orders from them much better.

Amazon requires a 55% discount, while B&N only asks for 40%.

See Reader Reaction to North Country Cache

Received Printing Quote

I requested a printing quote from Sheridan, because they are the company I used to print North Country Cache. Except for some problems with them sub-contracting the cover, they did a good job.

What I found out is that for approximately the same price, I can have 500 copies of News from Dead Mule Swamp, or 1000 copies. The setup and cover are the big expenses, not a few more pieces of paper. This is not surprising, but now I know for sure.

I'm currently thinking that I might offer News from Dead Mule Swamp just as an e-book until I have a companion story to put with it. Then the two stories could be presented together in one volume as an introduction to Anastasia Raven mysteries. This would be more cost effective, and would make the paper book closer in size to the industry standard.

What do you think?

Reader Reaction to North Country Cache

I received a nice email from a reader of North Country Cache yesterday.

She says: "I just finished your book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the personal stuff in it, especially. I have been on canoe trips in the past and it always seemed to pour buckets of rain, so I can emphasize. But the plant identification, the stories, etc. were all fascinating to me. Thanks for writing it!" (Vickie)

Big writing announcement coming tomorrow. Unless, of course, you just read it on my Facebook page.

The Path Less Traveled- Media Coverage Grand Rapids Press

JHY overlooking the US-Canadian border from the Border Route Trail (photo by RMA

The Grand Rapids Press is running a nice article today about my being the first (so far only) woman to hike the entire North Country National Scenic Trail. I was interviewed three weeks ago for this, but didn't want to say anything till the article appeared in print.

Hopefully, it will generate a few book sales, although the Grand Rapids bookstores that were carrying North Country Cache have mostly dropped it, so people will probably have to look on line. Thankfully the writer does mention the name of the book.

She did get a few things really wrong (and there are way too many spelling errors for submission to a major newspaper), but I'm glad to have the coverage!

The story begins:

When Jennifer Pharr Davis set the fastest thru-hike record of the Appalachian Trail in August, completing the 2,181-mile foot path in less than 47 days -- the fastest by any man or woman -- the North Carolina hiker’s achievement got a storm of national media coverage.

But just a year earlier, Joan Young, of Scottville, became the first woman to hike the North Country Trail -- the longest foot path in the United States.

And, for the most part, the media were mum.

See the full article at: M-Live.com

Traverse City Program and Book Sales

Tuesday evening, I spoke at the Boardman Nature Center, presenting "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." There were about 50 people there, so it was a great audience. Jokes are always better received when there is what I call a "critical mass" of audience.

I sold 6 copies of North Country Cache, one puzzle book, one devotional book, and one copy of Would You Dare?. I think I have to print more of those! But, I can do that, now that I have a good printer again.

After that high, I came home to having the college cancel my program for Wednesday evening. They want to reschedule for the spring. I think that's a good idea, actually. I just hope people didn't show up and find that there was no show.

Successful Program in Marquette

Marquette is a beautiful city. And they have a lot of beautiful miles of North Country Trail.

On Tuesday I hiked 8 miles with a trail group that was visiting the area. It was fun seeing some miles that I hadn't hiked for several years.

That evening about 30 people came to the Peter White Library to see "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." Most of them were already trail folks, and I hope that I was able to give them more of a vision for the whole trail. They do a great job of keeping their section in good condition.

I sold six copies of North Country Cache! I was actually surprised, because the Marquette area is where I have sold more books than any other place. I'm not complaining!

Ivy and Midge Recommend North Country Cache

One of the prizes for a contest on my other blog, My Quality Day, was a copy of North Country Cache. It was won by Ivy in the Philippines, and after 5 weeks in the mail, she finally received it!

The fact that she likes the book means a lot to me, since I have come to count her among my friends, and sure would hope to meet her in person some day. Here is part of what she says:

I got the parcel notice from the post office on Monday, so Marguerite and I went there on Tuesday to claim it. I started reading it right away and couldn't put it down. My initial plan was to get my writing assignments out of the way first before I settled down to enjoy the book, but I made the mistake of sampling just one essay and got hooked.

Her daughter Marguerite (Midge) is posing with the book-- it's quite an adorable picture, don't you think? And she's allowing me to use it for publicity. Hop over to Spinning Lovely Days and see what else Ivy has to say.

Getting Ready for a Program

I am giving one of my programs this evening, "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." It informs people about the trail through my own adventures on my end-to-end hike. It's also my best marketing tool for selling North Country Cache.

There are a few little tweaks I want to do for the program (nice that Power Point is so easy to work with!). I also have to redo my brochure which lists all the various programs that I can give. I now have my own digital projector, and so I need to remove the part that says I need one. I'm going to raise the price for my two keynote programs a bit too. Now that I AM the only woman to hike the entire trail, I think my credibility demands it.

Wish me lots of book sales! This is actually a local program, at one of the area libraries. I haven't given a local showing for a long time, and never of this particular program, so I'm hopeful of a good turnout.

North Country Cache Featured at New Author Review

Dave Burdett of New Author Review says, "There are a lot of good authors out there who never realize any amount of success at all, because they think their book will sell itself…..the bad news is that it will get lost in the sea of millions of books."

He's been aggressively marketing his new book, "The Map." While doing this, he has decided to help other under-known authors promote their works.

I'm very happy to announce that he's chosen to feature North Country Cache as the book of the week.

Thanks, Dave!

30 Ways to Help a Book Author You Love

I came across this great article today. It's by John Kremer, who claims to be an expert on book publishing and marketing. I've been subscribing to his tips for several months, and I think there are always good ideas in them. Some, I should do; others don't fit well; but it's always great to have a poke in the brain for another possible way to market a book.

Some ways in which people have helped me are part of his list. I would love it if more of the people who say they really enjoyed my book would actually do one of them!

The ways he suggests that would help me most are:
• Buy your friend's book
• Recommend your friend's book, including writing a review on Amazon, or blogging about it
• Help your friend get speaking engagements (I have several popular media programs)

One bloggy friend did purchase North Country Cache and wrote about it at It's a Giveaway at the Duck and Wheel. Thanks, Lin and G'ma Phyl! (Phyl's comments near the bottom of the post.)

You can read the full article at 30 Ways to Help a Book Author You Love

Walk Eight Miles - Sell Two Books

I had planned to hike a short distance with two guys today who came up from Ohio and Indiana to do some hiking on the North Country Trail. What I didn't know was how far I would be hiking with them. So, what with one thing and another, it ended up being a total of eight miles, and it took most of the day.

The distance was fine, but now I'm behind on quite a few other tasks I need to get done.

The really good news is that each of them bought a copy of North Country Cache. Hooray, hooray!

For a niche book, such as NCC, sales from personal contacts is the best form of marketing. Many people think that it's just going to be a boring account of day after day walking along, where I camped, what I ate. But when they spend a little bit of time with me, they begin to get the idea that my writing might be more interesting than that.

Another Amazon Order

Wow- I got another Amazon order for North Country Cache before I had mailed the last one. This allows me to send 2 copies in one box, which will save me a tiny bit of money.

Several orders a month would be an awesome trend, and Amazon would probably order 2 copies at a time if this becomes the norm. I'm not holding my breath, but it's nice to dream.

At least I get enough sales now that when I put my title, North Country Cache, in the Amazon search box, my book comes up as the top entry. That used to make me nuts... that if someone searched for my exact title, some other book was shown to them first. (It's a good book, I finally actually bought it, but really... if someone asks for a specific title, shouldn't the search give it to them?)

End of the Line with Partners Distributing

I have to say that my experiences with distributors hasn't been very good. North Country Cache has been listed with two of them. However, I got a certified letter from Partners today that it is "in our best interest to terminate our agreement with your company." I have to say that the feeling is mutual. Here's the story.

Ever since I've been peddling NCC around to bookstores, I am often asked what distributors I work with, and if the store was in the upper Midwest they usually asked about Partners. I kept dragging my feet, because it was just one more pile of paperwork, and I appreciated the independent stores that would deal with me directly.

Finally, summer of 2009, I got things going with Partners. They took four cases of books! I was pretty psyched about that.

Well, in November of 2010, a big box of books came back to me that had been returned to them from bookstores. They were all too damaged for me to sell. I called and complained.

Just a couple of weeks ago another 1 1/2 cases came back. Thankfully, one case was unopened, ever, so those are fine. The rest are, again, too damaged for me to sell.

I called and had a long conversation with their service rep. She said that they have to take returns from stores, and admitted that stores aren't careful with the books. The current status of my books was that they have about one case still out in stores, and one more on hand. So far, I've received $152, and she estimated that I have another $88 coming. This is not very much money for all of that shuffling around of heavy books. (read shipping costs).

So... should I have kept a low profile, and not complained? Would that have kept me under the radar so that I'd still be listed in their distribution? Who knows. I do know that having over 1/4 of the stock returned too damaged to sell is too high of a rate for me to live with.

I was also not happy with their monthly reports, which were impossible to understand, so I never really knew if they were selling books or not.

Perhaps it's for the best. North Country Cache sells best at programs I give and through personal contacts, anyway.

NCC reached a nice milestone for a self-published books in 2010. I have now sold over 1000 copies!

National Park Service Uses Photo

What fun! I just discovered that the National Park Service has used one of my photos (I gave permission long ago for them to do so with all my hiking pictures). You can see it at the National Trail System introductory page.

The shot was taken in North Dakota, at the headwaters of the Sheyenne River, which is the wetland in the background. Three friends and I were hiking the North Country National Scenic Trail. They are in the picture: Marie Altenau, David Castro, and Mathilda Nance. I've always thought that this picture just said, "North Dakota."

It was taken on a 131-mile backpacking trip in 1995, to do the western end of the North Country National Scenic Trail. This was one of the first long hikes I took on the NCT. My book, North Country Cache, covers the first 2300 miles I hiked on the NCT, and is the first book by a hiker of that trail. Follow the link below to read one chapter for free. Of course, you can order the entire book if you wish!

You can see more of my pictures at Sharkbytes Photos

See North Country Cache at Books Leaving Footprints.