(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

Facebook has given me definitive proof that the only way to attract attention to my writing is to post photos of babies and puppies. Duly noted.

Publishing Year One: Launching the Haiku Rocket

If there is ever a single moment in the publishing process that strikes fear into an author, it’s the thought of launching the project. This is where you put everything you have in front of the world and you can’t be shy about it (even if you want to be). I knew that Unfolding Life was ready—it my eyes, it was the absolute best I could do. It was ready to be out in the world. 

Launching a book though is more about marketing than it is about feeling accomplished. Without a strong marketing presence behind the work, who will know about what you’ve done? I tried to start the marketing buzz early with this book. I posted on my Facebook page regularly even though I had an audience of less than a dozen people. I tweeted to my heart’s content with all those relevant hashtags. I also started participating in daily haiku writing on Twitter to help boost my presence with the haiku crowd. But I didn’t beat anyone over the head with it. I restricted myself to three promo posts a day because when you are trying to launch a book, it’s not advantageous to lose followers by being spammy. 

Once the week came where launch was imminent, I braced myself. I secretly wanted to be overwhelmed with book sales, reviews coming in on Amazon and on Goodreads, and let’s be honest, my ego wanted bloggers and those in the literary media to be requesting interviews. I have a very healthy imagination, don’t I? 

To get more word-of-mouth advertising, I also ran a giveaway contest for the ebook version (at this point, there was no physical book version). Things were going stellar—and then March 17^th came.

I wanted to launch the book on the 18^th, but with Amazon’s review period and this being my first work published with them, I was afraid that it would take longer than 24 hours to approve. So I jumped the gun a bit and it was available about 12 hours earlier than expected—which didn’t make one miniscule bit of difference, but I certainly fretted over it for awhile. 

The giveaway ended and I awarded the book. I celebrated the launch all day long on social media. I easily sold books to a few friends. The ball was finally rolling. 

Tomorrow, it’s all about the money—and how I didn’t spend a dime on marketing.

Unfolding Life Out Tomorrow!

I am definitely excited that Unfolding Life is coming out tomorrow. What about you?! As of this posting, there is still time left to get into the giveaway to win a free copy, so what are you waiting for? And don't forget to stop by my Facebook page to get all of the latest updates--including a reminder the minute you can buy a copy for yourself.

Facebook Page and Site Are Live

I guess I should have put a little more fanfare into the whole launch deal on Friday, because there was an apparent lack of enthusiasm for the Facebook and site launch. However, it has picked up a little bit of steam over the weekend. If you haven't visited the Facebook page or the website yet, what are you waiting for? Of course, I do realize there are some... issues with the website. They are minor and I have the fix scheduled today. Overlapping widgets are really the least of my concern. : )

As far as other things go, I'm deep in the middle of my outline for Nanowrimo. I find that outlining first makes me much more productive during the month of November because it gives me a bit of a road map to follow--at least until all my characters betray me and go off to do whatever they want. As always, I plan to hit that 50,000-word mark this year, but I'm also a realist. I've been doing this for years and I don't think I've topped 20,000 words in the month of November to date. There's always room for change though, isn't there?

Well...

I must confess--I'm out of the retail world almost as fast as I jumped into it. While I liked many aspects of the job, there were just some I couldn't handle. I know I'm being vague, but that's nearly the same thing I said when I quit. Although I can't list all the things that were wrong, I just know that job wasn't the right fit for me.

So, I'm back to writing full time. At least for the moment. There are other jobs out there to be had, which are mostly seasonal now. That may actually benefit me in a way, so that I know there's an end in sight if I just can't deal with the next one.

And unfortunately, when I say I'm back to writing, it's only web copy. I haven't touched a piece of fiction since I started working outside of the home office. I really want to get back to it, but I'm having a hard time just clicking on the computer file. I don't know why, but as soon as I figure it out I know that the words will just start pouring out again.

While I'm picking up all the pieces, I'm really pushing to get the website and Facebook page launched. I was able to get a great deal on a site (at least for the first year), so I need to roll it out by the end of the week--hopefully sooner. And the only thing stopping me from publishing the Facebook page right now is getting the profile pic up. It's a hard decision, and I may have someone just go ahead and take a new one so I don't have to think about it anymore. As always, if anything is ready to launch, I'll make sure to let you all know.

Upgrading

Upgrading my phone to a Galaxy today was a bit of a nightmare (considering the process started yesterday), but now that it's over, I have a great new handheld distraction. While I'm still learning all the fun features, a few tasks have been pushed back to later this evening.

However, I didn't manage to sign up for Camp Nanwrimo so I can try and finish the novel next month. I set my word goal as 25,000 since I've already written three sections (don't know if they will officially become chapters until revision). I think if all goes well, I will surpass that goal and finish the first draft on time to still meet a late December release date.

I did start a Facebook page as well, though since I have absolutely no pictures, posts or another else of interest, I'll let all my readers know when they will actually want to like the page. Until then folks... keep writing on.