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.

Review of News from Dead Mule Swamp by Cozy Mystery Book Reviews

Cozy Mystery Book Reviews has just posted about News from Dead Mule Swamp. This great blog reviews only cozy mysteries, and the owner, Bella, also runs some great giveaways.

Bella says, "It's fun discovering new mystery novels, and getting introduced to a host of new characters. That's how it felt when I started reading NEWS FROM DEAD MULE SWAMP. There are so many interesting characters... I was a little sad when it was over, because I wanted to read more about Anastasia and her new town."

Be sure to check out Cozy Mystery Book Reviews for more great reads.

Smashwords Now Offers Gift Giving Option

You can now give e-books as gifts at Smashwords. Here's how:

Any book that is not free shows an additional button under "Add to Cart," that is "Give as a Gift."

You will need to know the email of the person you want to give the gift to (there is a way around this). That person will be sent a coupon code to download the book at no cost to them after you pay for it.

You can alternatively use your own email address, then print out the coupon code and give it to the person (if you wanted to gift wrap it, for example).

The recipient will need to join Smashwords, but it's free... that's no burden.

Why not give some copies of News from Dead Mule Swamp as gifts? It's an inexpensive way to spread some fun!

Complete instructions for How Gifting Works at Smashwords

Reader Reaction to News from Dead Mule Swamp

Reader Barry says, "Loved the story. It kept me reading past my bedtime last night. I barely put it down until I was finished and skipped dinner to read it. Waiting anxiously for the next one."

Music to an author's ears! The next one, Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp, is begun.

You can order this cozy mystery at Smashwords or Amazon.

Chapter One "Meanders and Undulations"

With some concentrated effort yesterday, I got an actual beginning for North Country Quest that I like.

I'm at 443 words, and have the opening written and the concept for the way the chapter will come back to a conclusion.

I borrowed ideas on perspective from a passage in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard that I've always loved. Hopefully my efforts will be somewhat as appealing.

When I finish each chapter I may share a tidbit here. I'm thinking about that.

I Spent an Hour and Wrote 44 Words

I spent an hour yesterday on chapter 1 of North Country Quest and wrote 44 words, of which 22 are going to be moved to the preface, and the rest are junk.

Why am I so slow? It's all part of the writing process. I listened to part of the tape again. I made two additional false starts and deleted them as horrible. I looked up the section of this hike on the map and read the description. I opened my mapping software and tried to find the name of a creek where I ate lunch (it has no name). I spent some time just getting the memories of that hike arranged in my head. Some were very clear, and others I had to work on.

I've had the name of this chapter, "Meanders and Undulations," settled since the date of the hike (October 2003). It's a phrase taken from the actual trail map description, and it's a perfect lead-in to the second half of my meandering journey along the North Country Trail.

But the next step, getting a catchy opening on to paper (screen), isn't that simple. I think maybe I've got an idea now. We'll see if I can get somewhere with that today.

This first chapter not only has to be an essay about the particular hike, but be an opener to the entire second volume, so it needs to be GOOD.