Indie Publishing Archives

A spring update: Warm days with the kiss of summer test my resolve to keep my butt in the writer’s chair. Across the road, the bleat of new lambs draws me to the fence to try to catch a glimpse of their antics. Today I walked over and had a visit with John and Linda Mather and took these photos of the new lambs and the yearling calves.

Yellow primroses and glass fishing floats in a garden — Primroses & fishing floats

Wandering back to the house, I stroll by the flower gardens and can’t help but pull a weed and pick a bloom.

It’s probably a good thing I have some deadlines to keep me focused. With that in mind, I thought I’d share an update.

The Gift Betrayal

I’m very close to finishing the companion piece to Awakening, which is Jackson’s story. The title is The Gift: Betrayal. I’m starting to think about covers and need to line up editors and beta readers. It’ll be a push, but I’ll try to have it published this fall.

One black and one brown yearling cow — Cows in the ‘Hood

I’m also excited to be presenting a workshop on indie publishing which I’ll be delivering in a fifty-minute format at the Creative Ink Festival in May, and in a three-hour format at the Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival in July. My goal with both workshops is to provide participants with a better understanding of what to expect before, during and after publication.

More Spring Updates

On the audio front, the excerpts for the first three books are now done and live. You can find them here: Awakening Revelation Redemption. (*Update: I’ve rebranded the books. Awakening is now Secret Sky, Revelation is now Hidden Enemy, and Redemption is now Burning Lies. But I haven’t yet rerecorded the excerpts). There have been mixed reviews, and making them is far more time consuming than I imagined, but it’s a lot of fun.

Our neighbour, John Mather on his tractor — Gentleman Farmer John Mather

My other writing projects aren’t getting a lot of writing time, but they’re never far from my thoughts and percolate on the back burner while I clear the deadlines.

Meantime, boxes of books are arriving as I stock up for the year.

Enjoy the warming weather. Until next time . . .

The Gift Legacy is enjoying some fabulous 5-star reviews. See what the fuss is about. Get your own copy of Secret Sky with one click right here. And if ebooks or Amazon aren’t your preference, other options are available under the Bookstore tab.

How NOT to market a book

I made a rare visit to Vancouver last week. It gave me an excuse to wear heels and “city clothes.” It also gave me an opportunity to practice the elevator pitch for my book.

I’m an introvert.

Marketing is outside my comfort zone. However, when you publish a book, if you want people to discover it, you have to market it. That’s why I keep a supply of business cards at hand. I use them as an opening to talk up the book when I’m out and about.

Last week, I met my sister-in-law downtown and we poked in and out of stores for most of the afternoon. While we shopped, I handed out a few cards to sales clerks who looked like they might be in my target readership. Their quick smiles and easy acceptance boosted my confidence.

At just past six, we called it a day and stopped for a drink and to rest our feet before heading back to her place. We settled into a comfortable window seat in a busy bar in an old hotel on Georgia Street. Our waiter was an interesting young man who took the time to make sure we had the perfect drinks. He shared his personal history in the bar business and checked on us often. The service was a real treat and I was enjoying my visit to the big city.

Buoyed by happy endorphins and confident that our waiter would be receptive, I decided to give him my book pitch on his next visit to our table. I reasoned that even if an urban fantasy thriller didn’t appeal to him, he might have a girlfriend or sister who would be interested.

As he approached our table, I held out my card. He frowned as he took it, and before I could explain myself, we were interrupted. He half turned as he spoke to the person who’d interrupted, and jammed my card into a pocket. I watched him morph from our relaxed, happy-go-lucky waiter to a visibly stiffened young man shuffling from one foot to the other. He finished his conversation then quickly excused himself and beetled away before I could deliver my elevator pitch.

He never came back.

I didn’t catch on at first, mostly because I’m daft. And then a completely different employee came by to present our bill. I looked around for our waiter and spied him on the far side of the room serving another section. That’s when it dawned on me: He thought I was trying to pick him up.

At first, I was just embarrassed about the misunderstanding. But then the reality sunk in: He’d literally run from our table. Talk about a humiliating eye-opener. Suddenly, it was me who couldn’t exit fast enough.

Apparently, I’ve officially entered cougar country. I must say, it’s not my favourite place. It takes the shine off of all kinds of delusions that I was rather fond of.

In future, I’ll be more careful about handing out business cards – especially in bars. My ego might not be able to take another mad dash from a handsome young man with his pants on fire.

Want to know how I got into this mess? Check out How it Started.