Tag Archives: Why Kimba Saved The World

Self-Publishing Journey: Week 8

Freebies, Discount Promotions, & KDP

Well, I’ve gotten a bit off my schedule over the last couple of weeks, but my blog pretty much always takes a back seat to other work. It certainly has recently. I did make my word count goal for February, and Pen-L Publishing has two more books done with my proofreading skills. Sadly, however, I wasn’t able to attend the February meeting of the Ozark Writers League (OWL) due to a nasty ice storm that hit the night before. Travel on my mountain roads was out of the question, but in Branson they were able to pull together some workshops in the hotel and then pick up around noon when things started thawing out. Tomorrow I will be attending the Northwest Arkansas Writer’s Workshop meeting in Fayetteville and will hopefully get to see the friends I missed at OWL.

There’s not much left to wrap up on my self-publishing journey evaluation, but one area is really important so I don’t want to let it slide: freebies and sale promotions. Any self-publishing author has got to evaluate the benefits of giving away her work or offering discounted prices. It’s just part of the game. Readers of indie books expect it, but you don’t have to let yourself or your work be taken advantage of. You worked hard to write and publish that book. Freebies have their time when they can get your book into potential readers’ hands.

If you have a series, doing a freebie on Book 1 can result in sales on the other books in the series. That’s the biggest motivation out there, and I have personally found this to be true. Around here, we call “Why Kimba Saved The World” our sacrificial lamb. Doing free promotions on that book have led to increased sales for the other two. Not everyone who downloads your freebie will ever even read your book, but some of them will. Some of them will even like it. Some will purchase other books in the series. Can you hear the field narrowing down as it goes along? So make sure you get enough downloads to have those numbers at the end of the stream be high enough to make a difference.

If you are exclusive with Kindle Direct Publishing in their Select program, you can run 5 free promo days every 90 days. I use those free days pretty consistently for Book 1 in my series. Two or three days at a time is the most productive. The times I do it without much advertising it still gets hits, but when you can loop a free promo with a significant (but not super expensive) advertisement you will do even better.

Example: I was able to get a BookBub ad for a free promo on “Why Kimba Saved The World.” If you don’t know about BookBub, click on the link to find out more right now. This site is key for indie ads. I tried several times before I was accepted, so be persistent. When that ad ran, 14,000 copies of “Why Kimba Saved The World” were downloaded for free. Did you catch that number?? That gave me a big wide field, and yes, the numbers on Book 2 and Book 3 sales rose afterward and there are still months where those two are higher than Book 1.

BookBub is the only ad site I can speak to with the authority of my own experience at this point. Tweeting about a freebie offer has had limited results. @KimbaBaby often tweets about sales because the vast majority of her followers are cats or cat people. This number has doubled since our last promotion, so I will find out soon if I have any takers among her new friends. There are many sites that will ask you to pay for an ad for your freebie. Unless you expect huge results, I wouldn’t try those. Losing money is never the goal.

On March 20-22, “Why Kimba Saved The World” will be on free promo again. I will also offer Book 2 and Book 3 for 99 cents each as incentive to pick them up right then and there when making the free download. This promo will be advertised through The Fussy Librarian. The cost of advertising with this site is inexpensive, but it remains to be seen if the ad will make a difference. I’ll do a specific blog after this sale to let you know where I ran ads and if any of them worked.

Another kind of free promotion I have coming up involves the release of a new book: “Max’s Wild Night.” Through my newsletter, I will be offering a free ebook of “Max” to anyone who has published amazon.com reviews of all three of my Cats in the Mirror books. This is a new strategy for me, but I have heard it suggested by more than one indie-pub helper book. I will lose some guaranteed sales to my fans who follow my newsletter, but I also stand an even better chance of gaining good reviews on amazon.com. That is totally worth it. Maybe they will still want a paperback copy of “Max” as well. I’ll let you know how it goes. Does it sound like an offer you’d like to take me up on? Sign up for my newsletter in the right hand column next to this article (right at the top of the web page) and you can!

Are there downsides to freebies? Of course. The biggest one I have found is that people will download your book who would never buy it and, frankly, it is not anything they should have ever read. Their reviews will be bad and odd and ones you could have done without. As long as this stays within reason, and your other reviews are good, you can weather the storm. It will help get your final amazon review numbers up, and this is good thing. Discerning readers can take the reviews/comments for what they are worth and compare them to the dozens of good reviews you have.

There is also the very real chance that these freebie takers never pay for books. I mean never. They just troll freebie sites. No matter how much they enjoy Book 1, they are never going to pay even 99 cents for your other books. Those are the middle of the field. You don’t really lose anything by them getting your book, you just don’t gain anything either.

Goodreads giveaways must be paperbacks, so you are already losing money. I have done several of these. It gets you on people’s “to be read” list, but I don’t know that it has led to any sales. Tread lightly there.

I have also found that offering a book for free during a blog tour to promote it just means that no one will buy a copy then and there. If they can enter to win a free copy, why would they buy one? By the time the contest is over, they have moved on. You can give away a prize of some kind, but don’t make it that new book you hope to promote. Make them buy it if they want it.

Just a note for those who have been in the game for a while: success in free promos does you absolutely no good in your ranking at amazon.com once the promo is done. This didn’t used to be true. There used to be some carryover. If anything, it might hurt you because you won’t have any sales credited to your ranking for the days of your promo. As far as your number ranking is concerned, free days are just days with no sales. Your numbers will slide. Just be aware of that. You will be listed in the “free book” rankings, which is where those folks who like freebies go, so it’s not all bad, but it all ends with the promo. This could change tomorrow, but that’s where it stands now. I still think it’s worth it. Rankings vary and are affected by many things I can’t control. I don’t worry about them too much in the scheme of things from day to day, as long as they stay reasonable over time.

Discount prices can help boost sales a small amount. 99 cents seems to be the big price point for the most bang, and sales on these discount or “countdown” promos do count toward your ranking. Again, you are going to have to run some promotions if you want it to make a big difference. I did a BookBub ad (yes, I qualified for two, whoot whoot) for Book 2, “Vacation Hiro,” during a 99 cent promotion and sold roughly 380 copies. It was enough to send me to the #1 spot in my category for three days (beating out those Warrior books, finally!) and earn me “best seller” status forever. Totally worth it.

I had talked about KDP select wrapped into this blog, but all I can really say about it is that it works well for me. I tried having Book 1 up at Smashwords and Kobo and Barnes and Noble. Never sold a copy. When you stay with KDP select, you get the free and sale day promo options to help get the word out about your sale just on amazon.com itself. For me, this is the only way to go.

I hope all of that helps you as you make decisions for your own possible free days or sale promotions. It is still an area we are toying with. I’ll continue to let you know what I learn along the way.

Next Week: Week 9 and the wrap up to this blog series on my self-publishing journey.

If you’re in the area, join me Saturday for the Northwest Arkansas Writer’s Workshop event. It’s free!

My winter newsletter goes out in a few days, so make sure you sign up to get that free “Max’s Wild Night” ebook offer. The details will only be in that newsletter!

My writing goal for the month is fairly low: 5,000 words on “Slinky Steps Out.” I have been moderate with that because paperback formatting for “Max’s Wild Night” is well underway with the ebook formatting on the horizon and these require my attention. I also have another editing project coming from Pen-L before the end of March. You will notice, however, that I don’t get a pass for the month or a zero word count goal. Book 4 is not going to write itself.

Just Keep Writing!

Self-Publishing Journey: Week 6

Week 6: Live Events & Blog Tours

So now we are looking at the dreaded side of self-publishing for most writers: self-promotion. Writers didn’t used to have to deal with this. Your publishing company would toot your horn, promote your book, and you could show up very humbly and sign for adoring fans. Those days are gone, even for 99% of traditionally published authors.

I have a bachelor’s degree in public relations, so I know what needs to be done in this field. I’ve read some good books and follow some blogs of other authors and their journey. Some things have worked for us, some have not. What I can speak to specifically is promoting a book for elementary and early middle school age readers. It is a very specific market, and what may work for an adult book won’t work for me. I have done dozens of live events and set up blog tours for my first two books. Here’s what we have learned so far.

Blog Tours

Blog tours are an entirely separate beast from live events. When “Why Kimba Saved The World” released, I spent hours (I mean DAYS) setting up a blog tour. I screened carefully to make sure that the blogger wrote about children’s books and posted reviews consistently. Nearly everyone who agreed to take part in the tour did their part. I think there were about 10 of them. I made some great connections that I still keep in touch with, and we cross-promote each other. As far as all of that goes, it was a success. However, I don’t think any sales came from any of those posts. For “Vacation Hiro,” I set up a smaller blog tour, mostly of the sites who had already posted on “Kimba.” For Book 3, I did very little blog promotion. My big targets then were already established readers through social media and my newsletter.

I did get many, many reviews posted to amazon.com from those bloggers, especially for Book 1. That’s nothing to sneeze at (more on that in a later blog), but that’s not really the goal of a blog tour. You are supposed to be getting in front of new readers. I’m not sure blog tours, especially for kid’s books, work that way. At least not the ones you can set up on your own.

Paying for someone else to promote your books is an option on the blog tour front. The Mother-Daughter Book Review site has very reasonable packages, and they have a fantastic reputation. But it does feel rather like paying for a review (something I avoid), so I have not tried their services yet. That may change in the future.

When “Max’s Wild Night” comes out in May, I will definitely be in touch with bloggers, but the goal will be for reviews. The same will be true of “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main,” but it will be a whole new set of bloggers because this is an adult book. How much time I devote to finding them is questionable. I’ve made many connections through LinkedIn with those type of bloggers because I knew this book would come out one way or another. As long as it doesn’t become overly time consuming, I’m sure I’ll be working on connecting with them. I’ll try to coordinate the posts around the release date, but I’ll know more what to expect this time. If there are some sales, excellent. Mostly, I’ll be looking for reviews.

If you think a blog tour would be fun, go for it. There’s no harm, but you have to judge the amount of time you devote to it.

Live/Face-to-Face Events

Live events are by far our best sales venues for me, but it matters where we go and how much we have to spend to be there. We have learned, the hard way, that spending too much for any booth or table space will leave us disappointed. If we are going to have hotel costs involved, we are not going to make money. Promotion is all good and fine, but if you don’t sell enough books to cover costs you are not making money. That is our goal. This is a business for us, not a hobby. My time comes at a price. If I’m busy with something else, I’m not writing. That’s one of the things that has to weigh into every decision we make about events this year. Some goodwill and getting yourself in front of the right people is okay. Just watch how much you put into that. After the last two years of live events, we have reached some conclusions.

The War Eagle Fall Craft Fair was by far our most successful event. You can read my blog about it at this link. We sold nearly 100 books over the four days we were there, met lots of new and excited readers, and didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for the space. We made a nice profit. Perfect. But it is only once a year. There is a much smaller spring fair (and we did reasonably well there too), but it may not be held this year. Large craft fairs like this are big on our agenda for 2015. I’ve kept my ears open and made notes on ones within driving distance. There are a couple in Fayetteville I will be investigating and maybe taking part in. People coming to these events are ready to buy something and are looking for unique items they can’t just find at their local store. Indie books are a great fit for them.
Targeted events can be successful—events that have some connection with your book. My books are about cats, so I got a booth at a local Cat Fancier’s competition event. Click here to read about that one specifically. Sales were very good and it was fun to be a part of, however, I paid for two hotel nights so all profits were sucked away. When it is held this year, I may go again, but I’ll have to suck it up and spend four hours on the road each day. This is one the CFO across the hall and I will have to debate. If he can come with me, that may make it worthwhile. There’s also the question, though, of whether it will be all the same people again. I sold a set of books to over half of the vendors with cats in the show. If they are all there again, I have a smaller new audience. These are the kind of things you have to consider before you dive in to something a second time, but targeted events are good to explore as long as the booth fee is not excessive.
Big conferences like the Arkansas Reading Association and the Association of Arkansas Librarians were major flops. It’s not so much because I didn’t sell any books, but the huge overhead costs and hotel stays sucked any profit away and cost us more than we made. My hope with both was that I would stir up interest in school visits. Just one would have made the cost worthwhile. That may still happen, but none so far. Librarians are also mostly interested in hardcover books that are on the AR list. My books don’t fit either category. These events were not worth the time and money involved. Big companies like HBJ can throw money at events like this (and they did, believe me), but we cannot.
Author events at libraries are mostly a waste of time. Folks go to the library for free books. I’m not knocking this. I am at my local library every other week with books and DVDs for fun and research. You might meet some new readers. That’s a bonus. You might sell a few books. That’s a great goal. The table is usually free. That’s always a good thing. You just have to decide how much your time is worth. I have sat at library events for hours and not had a soul even walk by. If we do any this year, we will make sure the library is big enough to draw traffic and be worth using time I could spend writing or doing other promotional work. At the end of this blog I’ll share an exception to the rule from a couple of days ago. Library events are on the “maybe” list.
Anything that has a mass garage sale feel or fundraising for something where folks are hoping to get treasures for a dollar are not worth the time. They want massive deals. They don’t want books. I’ve done a couple. I did sell a few books, but mostly to the other vendors. It’s not worth the time.
Book store events were a waste. I did one author signing at an indie book store when “Why Kimba Saved The World” released. No one came. Along with consignments (I’ll cover that massive waste of time/money in another blog), don’t bother with book stores unless you have a significant local connection. I may try to set up something at a local book store when “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main” comes out because it is set in our tourist town and has that draw and connection. Otherwise, don’t bother with bookstores. There are better ways to spend your time and money.
School book talks are in our hopeful pile. I haven’t chased this line of events too much because self-published books are not going to have a big pull with public schools. Early in 2014 I spent a day at a private school where I had worked in Houston. I was already in town for a family visit, so no hotel cost. The students and faculty know me. We had a great time, I talked to separate age groups and could focus what I had to say, and they sent home a flyer that resulted in excellent book sales. It was very successful, but every element to help that along was in place. Just to wander into a public school where they don’t know me or my books would probably not result in much. I have been invited to speak to the 5^th graders at our local school where I substitute teach a day or two a week (though only with the prek – second graders). That talk would be totally about community goodwill. I doubt many of the kids would go out and get my books. Frankly, I’d probably donate copies to the classrooms. I already did that for one first grade classroom where I’ve spent a few days and there are advanced readers who are ready for them. This is definitely not on the “business” side of things, but it is personal and I think it’s still worth the time because it’s only a few hours and makes for community goodwill—and it’s just nice for the kids involved. Doing this beyond my own community would really take some consideration. As I’ve read from many other kid lit authors, don’t let schools take advantage of you. If you are a professional writer, your time has some value.
Workshops where I am a speaker is my big goal for 2015. I am actually a well-trained public speaker and have presented full-day conferences all on my own. As I continue to write and publish, I am starting to get some areas where I have knowledge and experience to share in this business. You know, like about self-publishing. I’ve become more involved with two groups in the Ozarks who bring speakers in for local conferences, so I’m watching how they make their choices. Speakers send them proposals. Who knew? Getting a packet of my own together and looking for appropriate small conferences to start out with is on the agenda. These events can pay well or not so much, but you will nearly always have a chance to sell your books. I’ve watched people come out of talks and go right to the speaker’s book table to make a purchase. It’s a personal connection. Again, big goal for 2015. Stay tuned!

One kind of live event we have not tried yet is an actual book release party. I will be doing a live book release event/party for “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main,” along with a Facebook/Twitter release event that evening. Again, because this book has a local connection I think we can have a fun party, and I can invite local friends, authors, and business connections we have in town from our Chamber of Commerce (we run a guest house too). We can have it right here on our property in our pavilion. Sales at the event would be great, but it’s more about goodwill and celebrating a book that has been in the works a few years and is set in our town. As long as we keep our goals (and costs) reasonable, it will be worth it. I’m sure you’ll hear more about all of this in September, when the big day comes.

Kimberling Library Author Day

Here’s a specific example of a live event that was worth the time, even if sales were not amazing. On Saturday the 7^th I took part in an Author Day event at the Kimberling Area Library (near Branson, MO). This was the first time I had done it, but I knew they were hosting 40 authors, having guest speakers (including Roy Rogers, Jr.), and doing lots of promotion. I also knew other authors who were taking part. There was no table cost fee, and it only took us 45 minutes to get there, so there was very little risk if it was a complete bomb. I’d still have fun hanging around with my author friends. This event also was the kind of local goodwill that is worth taking the time for. I know people on the planning team and wanted to help make the event a success. We also learned that this library, which is really nice and well kept, is totally run by volunteers and gets no tax money. Definitely a cause worth supporting.

Kimba and Hiro’s travel reps pose with the library sign. They were happy to get out and about after a few months off.

I shared a table with my friend Gwen, so that make the day even better.

I shared a table with my friend Gwen, so that made the day even better. Check out her book, “Letting Go Into Perfect Love” at amazon.com!

There was a nice turnout!

As far as library events go, this one was very successful. Dozens of people wandered through to shop for books. The speakers were well attended and enjoyed. I sold 11 books total, but that was more than many of the other authors there. We also had the oddness of three different people buying only Book 2, “Vacation Hiro,” because they liked the cat on the cover. That’s never happened before!

She is a beautiful cat!

I can only hope they will love it and want to read the whole series. I got names for my mailing list. It was all good. We made a donation of a part of our sales back to the library. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

Now, will I do this event again next year? I don’t know. I understand that they want to have a variety of authors participate for the same reason I may not do it again right next year—there will probably be mostly the same people attending next year and they want to see new authors. I will have two new books out by then, so that may weigh into our decision and whether they want me back. It was certainly worth having done.

Book Festival Events

One kind of event I have my eye on is something like the Texas Book Festival. The booth costs are high, but people coming to that event have one goal: to buy books. That’s where authors want to be! I was all set to attend the Texas Book Festival in 2015 and share booth space with a writer friend who has done it before. Our books would line up well together. It was all planned. But then they changed the date to be the exact same weekend as the War Eagle Craft Fair—our biggest sure-thing of the year. It was just too hard to justify missing it, and we might upset the organizer and have her give our booth space to someone else—they are hard to come by—, so I had to back out of the festival. But I still have my eye on it for 2016. I’ll have seven books to my name by the fall of 2016, if all goes as planned and the creek don’t rise, so it may be worth getting my own booth. I have family in Houston and Austin, so no hotel fees. This is one we will have to wrangle with in the future. I can envision Scott’s brow furrowing already.

Is there a Missouri Book Festival? I’ll have to look into that. The Arkansas Book Festival is more by invitation only, so I’ll have to find out whose eye I need to catch for that one, but that would involve a hotel stay. That alone may take it out of the running. This is another area to “stay tuned.” I’m sure more events will present themselves this year that we will have to weigh and decide on. No waste of money is our 2015 goal. We will be taking fewer chances, but we also may miss out on some good stuff. It’s a very fine line to walk, as it is with any business. Promotion is good, but it has to have a valuable outcome to make it worthwhile. We have learned a lot so far. We may have a long way to go.

Any thoughts to share on what has worked for you as far as blog tours and events? Share with everyone in the comments section!

Next Week: Book Release and Production Scheduling

I kind of skipped over this one because I had a live event to talk about, so we’ll circle back to that one—a subject I am up to my eyeballs in right now for “Max’s Wild Night”—next time.

Self-Publishing Journey: Week 5

Week 5: Where to Publish?

My answer to this is easy: CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing (which are both amazon.com). There are other places (LightningSource and BookBaby are the two main others), but after we here at Serenity Mountain Publishing have evaluated what we have done over the last few years I see no reason to go anywhere else. I did have “Why Kimba Saved The World” up on other sites for a while, but I saw very little in sales (if any) from places like Smashwords and Kobo. Where you sell your book is different than where you handle the publication process, of course, but I am happy just having all of my eggs in one simple, manageable basket at amazon.com.

Many people, especially authors, are all into hating on amazon.com these days because it has such a corner on the book market. It is the big, hairy elephant of book sales. But why hate? My feeling is that I need all the help I can get as an indie-author, so I’m just gonna jump on that big elephant and ride it around until it no longer serves my purposes. We are always poking at other options, I read what other authors are learning in their own journeys, but so far nothing has been compelling enough to drive me away from amazon.com.

Amazon.com publishes two kinds of books as two separate entities.

Let me be clear: CreateSpace = print books Kindle Direct Publishing = ebooks

My husband still has trouble with this and asks me questions about one when he means the other or calls it all amazon (maybe just to see the look on my face). They are linked, but they are separate files and book covers and set up.

Once your print book is formatted and ready, all you have to do is create a PDF and you are ready to roll. Setting up an author account at CreateSpace for your print books is not difficult. Block out a couple of hours and just go through the steps one by one. It’s better to start this set up before you format your book because there are set book sizes that are easiest to work with, and you’ll want to know what size you are going with before you start formatting. That’s one of those hundred decisions you are going to have to make. I made this error with “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge,” and even being off by a few bits of an inch made things a mess that I had to go back and redo. Major time gobble I could have avoided. Things also get tricky with the book cover size and how to format that cover PDF so the spine fits just perfectly and the back text is centered. My cover designer has this art figured out, and I leave it to her.

The ebook account at Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a separate step. You only need a JPG file for the cover (there is no back of book like in the print version), and the book file will be a totally separately formatted MOBI or PDF file.

With both of these formats, you can update the files as often as you like. When I have put out a new book, I add the name to the “also by” section at the front of the book and “buy” links to the new books at the end of the kindle version. This new ebook won’t go out to people who already downloaded, but it will be available for those who get it from that time forward (or who specifically ask for the new version through customer service).

There is one exception to this. If you discover that there is some MAJOR error in your ebook, KDP may resend it to everyone who has purchased it. Yes, I discovered this the hard way. I made a minor edit to part of the “Kimba” ebook. Somehow, someway that was never quite explained, in the editing process the ebook designer managed to drop the first paragraph of EVERY chapter in the book. I only checked what I asked them to change and then ran a BookBub free promo where 14,000 copies of this awful version were downloaded. It was a few months later when I was going through to update all of the black-and-white photos to color ones that I noticed something wasn’t quite right. I’m sure you can imagine the horror when I realized what had happened. I think there were some tears. Yep.

Fortunately, this is such an egregious error that I was able to contact KDP customer service and they agreed to resend it. This took six weeks. All that time those nasty, missing-text copies were being read (and, amazingly, reviewed well). Sigh. Yes, this is a lesson in always double and triple checking everything, but it is also a lesson in the fact that amazon.com is willing to work with authors when the unforeseen, major errors come into play.

At this time, I’m a big fan of KDP Select. It gives me promotions for my free or discount days, and I get 70% commission on sales. I can also do some free days if I want without trying to trick the system. I do see some activity through the Prime lending library at about the same price that my normal commission would be, so it’s all good for now. Being a part of this program does mean that you cannot list your book for sale anywhere but amazon.com, but I’m okay with that. I never saw any worthwhile activity from other sites anyhow. This could change when we reevaluate again, but for now I’m happy.

I also love CreateSpace’s “print on demand” feature. I can order one copy or 400 copies or 4,000 copies. It all depends on what I need for upcoming events or sales through my web site. No more do you need to order 1,000 copies to start a print book. You can order and fix errors along the way (you are sure to find some) and then order more later on.

I’ll leave the how to make the most of your set up at both CreateSpace and KDP to other sites. I still go in and tweak stuff and add review notes and change categories on KDP to see if it changes my sales numbers. There are whole books devoted to how to make the most of these setups. Mostly what we have learned with that is don’t try to play it too much. Call your book what it is. Put it in the right category. My biggest problem with having a children’s book about cats is that I have the whole “Warrior” series and all of its forms ahead of me in the rankings at all times. They take up around 30 slots. I did, however, beat them all when I did a 99 cent sale on “Vacation Hiro” through BookBub.com and hit #1 for three days straight. Yay, best seller status! Fight it out fairly and sell your book for what it is, not something that has fewer items in the category because it might get you a higher ranking. You may show up earlier, but if you are not what those readers want, they will ignore you.

Be sure you set up an amazon.com author page, claim your books so they show up on your page, and link your kindle and print copies so they show up together on searches. Here’s mine, so you can see how it works. If the thought of all of this freaks you out, one of those book guides we talked about in an earlier blog will be happy to help or talk you through it.

Where to publish has been the easiest part of our analysis of this self-publishing journey. We are thrilled with where we are and have no plans of changing that. For now. It can all change in the blink of an eye, so we stay alert.

Next Week: Live Events & Blog Tours

I’m going to move this one up in the list because I have a live event over the weekend and can share that experience too.

Writing Notes:

Winter is supposed to be my productive time while the guest house and book events are quieter. A book I’m proofing for Pen-L Publishers is ready for the final go-through this week. “Max’s Wild Night” is heading to the editor next week and book cover creation will start mid-month. So exciting! I’ll begin formatting by the end of February. Max will have his day on May 1^st.

I have also submitted my MG/YA biography on Betty White to a local publisher. My goal for a busy February is to reach 10,000 words on “Kimba’s Christmas.” I don’t have release for that scheduled until Octoberish of 2016, but there are plot points between that and “Slinky Steps Out” (April 2016) that need unwrangling. I am also working on vocabulary activities for all three Cats in the Mirror books for homeschool and classroom use. I’d love to explore creating audio books for them as well, but time may get away from me. Things just keep moving forward. Never stop writing!

And I’d love to have you join me at the Kimberling Area Library on Saturday, February 7^th for their annual Author Event. With over 40 authors, speakers, and fun activities planned, it should be an outstanding afternoon. Come on down!

Self-Publishing Journey: Week 3

Week 3: Set Your Goals And Expectations

So now you have honed your writing skills (week 1) and written a fantastic book (week 2). Here’s where you need to decide what your long-term goals and expectations are for this masterpiece. We did that at the start, but instead of goals they were really more like hopes and dreams. We hadn’t taken the time to do research and determine what we could realistically expect. Most of the stories writers hear are the “lightning in a bottle” ones. If your goal is to be that writer, you will end up highly disappointed 99.9% of the time.

You need to be clear about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you hope will come out of it. This is where the creative hat needs to be set aside and you need to become a publisher—assuming you want to make any money. A business person. I have run my own business before, so I had some experience with this. My husband has been a CFO, so he rules with a loving-but-practical fist from the office across the hall from me. We weren’t just publishing a book or a series of books. We were creating a business, and it needs to end up being profitable at some point. Otherwise, I can just write articles for magazines.

So, in this new business of self-publishing, what are your goals?

Traditional publishing is still an attainable goal. Maybe you want to exhaust that option first. But it isn’t what it used to be. If you think you really want to go that route come hell or high water so you can have a book tour and tons of money and publicity pouring into the promotion of your book, think again. Obviously, publishers have a vested interest in promoting and supporting every book they produce, but, unlike in decades past, they are going to expect most of that work to come from the author. Publishing staffs are limited. Funds are limited. Only the top few books that come out of that publishing house that year will get most of that staff and financial support.

This is why it is increasingly hard to get the attention of a traditional publishing house. They only want bonafide, sure-thing success. I did attempt that route for a bit with “Why Kimba Saved The World,” but I don’t have an agent to fight for me (and I’m not sure that would have helped). I don’t have proven main-stream success. My book is different and has personal pictures in a science fiction story. What’s a traditional publisher to do with that? The odds were highly stacked against me.

Self-publishing is a fantastic way to go, but you need to be clear about what you expect from the experience. What kind of book have you written? Does it have mainstream appeal? Have you written an autobiography so your family can know your history? Do you think you have the next amazon.com bestseller? Who is your target market? How many books a year do they buy? Where are you going to sell and market this book? How padded is your checkbook?

There are literally millions upon millions of books listed on amazon.com. A larger and larger percentage are self-published (31% was a number I saw recently), with varying levels of skill and talent. It is possible, with very little difficulty, expense, or computer literacy, to self-publish your life story. That’s outstanding, unless you expect to make a million dollars selling it. Expectations here are everything. Set realistic goals.

This is where reading up on self-publishing is a great idea. I’m in the middle of reading Write, Publish, Repeat, written as a team by well-experienced self-publishing authors. They are hilarious to read, first of all, but also able to share their success and failures—rather like I’m trying to do now. You need to know what you are getting into. I’ve read a bunch of books on the subject. Some are helpful, some are pie-in-the-sky.

My hopes and expectations for self-publishing were that I could get my books into reader’s hands, cover my costs in the first two years, and actually make a profit after that so I could quit my day job, so to speak. My long-term goal is to have writing be my sole income source. That may not be how seriously you are looking at diving into it, but, as I said in past weeks, I have been writing and making income from writing for years. I was ready to kick it up a notch.

However, I must admit that I’m glad I had not read the statistic that self-published middle grade level books are the absolutely hardest to sell when we started this journey. My husband would have certainly put on the brakes. I didn’t intentionally write a book for that audience. That’s how the story evolved. You have to go with your heart, but when you are setting goals it’s also good to know what you are up against. I guess. But I’m glad we didn’t.

I know it sounds like I’m contradicting myself, but that has happened a lot over the last few years. When those hopes and dreams are bubbling out of you, it’s hard to even hear the realities of the business side of things. Do your best to find out the facts, but don’t let them govern your whole experience. Just let them help make your goals attainable so you don’t end up heartbroken and frustrated a few years down the pipe.

While we have had good years so far, my dream is still a twinkle in my eye. The realities of it all have helped us to adjust those goals a few more years out, but we haven’t let them go.

Just to give you an idea, here’s my sales numbers for “Why Kimba Saved The World” for the last two years.

I’ve sold 424 paperback copies, mostly by hand/face-to-face at events.
I’ve had 46 copies borrowed through the Kindle Owner’s Library system.
I’ve had free downloads of 14,800 copies through amazon.com promotions.
I’ve given away 122 copies to reviewers, contests, and giveaways (like at Goodreads.com).
I sold many, many more copies of “Kimba” in 2014 than in 2013, which means sales are increasing. Ding! Ding!

Yay, Kimba!

If you have researched self-publishing, especially for middle grade children’s books, you’ll know that those are actually fantastic numbers. Many self-published books never sell more than 100 copies. But my sales have come at a price. “Kimba” cost around $3,000 to produce between editing, cover art, paperback formatting (which I now do myself), and ebook creation. The book has yet to break even financially. Don’t even get me started on the cost of some of that booth space for those face-to-face contacts. That will be a whole blog installment on its own. That doesn’t mean, however, that “Kimba” isn’t out there building a name for me, winning awards, and gaining a loyal fan base of readers who pick up my next book without question. That kind of book establishes you as a true writer. This is where writing a series, or at least more books, comes into play. Yes, those free downloads drive the sales of Book 2 and Book 3 in the series. More on that another week.

Sadly, I have not seen all of my goals come to fruition yet. I’ve adjusted some along the way. Yes, it will be a couple of years before I can hit up Scholastic to do a boxed set of Cats in the Mirror books. That dream is still a twinkle in my eye, but it is still a twinkle. You have to have dreams! Dreams and goals can intersect, but the goals should be more practical.

What do you really hope to gain from this self-publishing journey this year alone? In the next five years? Will you stick with it, no matter what? (I have a YES on that one in my heart, but financial reality is another thing.)

There are folks out there living off an income from self-published books, but it didn’t happen in a year. As I am doing, those folks wrote and wrote and built a reputation. Traditionally published authors have to do that as well. I know writers who give away their books all the time. Some just write because they love it, don’t ever hope to see a dime, and just want to share what they have done. Others are hoping to attract fans through those free books. Again, it’s all about your expectations.

Before you jump off the self-publishing cliff, take some time to write down exactly what you hope to gain from the experience. Will you just publish this one book? Are you clear on who it is for? Are you willing to set up booths at craft fairs, pay for advertising, accept honest (maybe bad) reviews, talk at conferences about your subject (non-fiction books require this), and step outside your comfort zone to get your book noticed?

There are many ways to go about this process of self-publishing. We’ll talk about the ways to actually create the book you can sell next time. Being clear on what you hope to gain from the process can help you decide what steps are next. Don’t care if you make a dime? Don’t spend $3,000 on creating the book. Easy-peasy. You want to make this a career? You are going to have to pay some folks along the way, buy some computer systems (like InDesign and AdobePro), and put some cash into it. I don’t regret a penny that we spent on “Kimba” because it looks fantastic and I learned so much in the process. I can do much of that work on my own now, but I would have had no clue without the help and support of the book guide I hired (thank you, Carol Hohle Communications!). More on that later too.

If you are hoping for that writing career track, spend a good chunk of time researching. Know the market for a book like yours. Make sure the title is unique. Make sure the book has something unique to offer. Find where you fit into the world of books and set your goals clearly. Be ready to adjust (I certainly have), but it help to know what road you are running down before you set off on the journey.

Next Week: Publish Your Book Like A Professional

Best Selling Book!

Exciting news to share: “Vacation Hiro” is now an amazon.com best selling book! Through a BookBub advertisement of the special 99 cent price on Book 2 in the Cats in the Mirror series, almost 400 copies of “Vacation Hiro” were sold over a three day period. This bumped it up above all the other children’s cat books listed on amazon.com (including the Warrior series and Pete the Cat) and held it there for a few days.

For any other writers who may have considered placing an ad with BookBub, I highly recommend it. When I did a free promotion for “Why Kimba Saved The World” back in April, 14,000 copies were picked up. Their children’s list is one of the smaller ones, so results can be even better if you are marketing an adult book. If your goal is new readers, especially for a series of books, these ads are gold–and a bit hard to get. Make sure you request the ad exactly 30 days before you want to run it. You can’t do it sooner, but if you are even a day later the slots will be filled up. And one rejection doesn’t mean you won’t be accepted the next time. Check out their web site for advice and requirements.

I also want to take a moment to thank two bloggers for their kind reviews of “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” this week. Stephanie at Cover2CoverBlog said: “As always, Dendler did a wonderful job making the cats very cat-like as well as characters in this grand story. I really like the mix of the sci-fi genre with a cast of cats–it makes for an interesting and playful plot every time.” And Erik at This Kid Reviews Books said: “This is a really well done book. I think that it is pretty cool, in the sense of space-traveling cats with technology that surpasses ours. Plus, the title made me laugh out loud. The series is good, and consistent. I like that the characters’ have just the right amount of “maturing” throughout each book. Kimba and Hiro are nice characters that you care for, and you even understand how Miss Fatty Cat feels. Ms. Dendler really helps you get into the head of the characters! She has written a good, unique book!” He has a devoted and supportive following, so I’m always grateful when he shares my books with them.

To return that type of favor on a universal level, I want to share a fantastic book that I just finished: “The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee.” I won an Advanced Reader copy of this book from Goodreads, and it was absolutely delightful and filled with literal laugh-out-loud moments. I highly recommend this for everyone, even though it is intended for a young YA audience. Teenagers will miss things that adults will find even funnier. Kind of like watching the Shrek movies with a child. Candice is quirky and troubled and sees the world in a frank and hilarious light. Here’s a more series tidbit from the book to give you an idea of the style and voice. Candice is in a fast food restaurant.

“I looked at my hamburger, which bore no resemblance to the picture over the counter. That burger was gorgeous. It was a pin-up burger. It gleamed. The lettuce had sparkles of fresh, pure water. The meat was succulent. What sat on my plate was thin, pale, and resembled something you might stand on when crossing a farmer’s field. I took a fry and thought about life’s unfairness. They promise you the world (or in this case a pin-up burger), and you end up with poop. This was profound, even if I had no idea who ‘they’ were. I wondered if profound thoughts happened often when you hit thirteen.”

Highly Recommend!

This afternoon I’m heading off to the Cat Fancier’s Show in Joplin, Missouri, to share my books. Let’s hope they like rescue mutt cats as well as pedigreed show cats. More on that, some big news, and a new member of the Cats in the Mirror family who adopted us this week in my next blog. Yes, another cat. We are pretty sure she was sent to us specifically. That’s how it works, you know.

Book Birthday For “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge!!”

Today is officially the publication day and Book Birthday for “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge!” If you follow my blog, this book is not big news for you, and if you follow me on other social media you are more than aware that this is the big day. Book releases and Book Birthdays are not subtle events!

Click on the cover to get your copy from amazon.com now!

Personalized and autographed paperback are also available here at my website, so just look for the shopping cart on the right hand column or go to the Purchase Books page.

Today is also Samantha’s (aka Miss Fatty Cat) 9th birthday. She is not sure what all the fuss is about as far as the book goes, but she’s hoping for some extra food and love today. I’m sure “Leia” will take care of that. You can celebrate with special prices on “Why Kimba Saved The World” (FREE) and “Vacation Hiro” (99 cents) too.

Kimba is not too sure about this nonsense about a book that doesn’t have her image on the cover, but I have assured her that it is still all about her and the adventures that she has at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Convincing her that I should spend time on “Max’s Wild Night” where she will only be a side note is a different challenge altogether. Maybe we can distract her with Disney plush toys. Buzz Lightyear was waiting for me this morning on the floor outside my office, so he must have gone for a wild ride. To infinity and beyond, indeed!

I’m really grateful to the bloggers who have supported today’s book launch. I didn’t reach out to as many this time, but most that I contacted answered the call at one time or another in the process. Some have already posted reviews, and I’ve shared them. Today Chris at The Story Reading Ape share a nice interview with me and information about all three books, and Johanna Rae shared a separate interview at her blog. There are a couple of others scheduled that have not been published, so I’ll just have to share them when they come out.

Summer is busy with our guest house business, but fall is when the book tours and fun really get going. There is something nearly every weekend, and I’m so excited to get back out and share the Cats in the Mirror series face to face with new readers and talk with fans. On Sept. 20th & 21st, “Leia” and I will be in Joplin for the Cat Fancier’s show, and September 27th we will be at the Springdale Library for their annual author event. I’m sure I’ll be blogging about that cat show! I’m also participating in two blog tours for other authors this month. Stay tuned!

Free Books, A New Cat, and Great Reads Recommendations

First, I don’t usually post on the weekend, but “Why Kimba Saved The World” is free on kindle Aug. 30th & 31st. Making sure to get that out there spurred me on. Who doesn’t love free books? I’m betting most anyone bothering to follow this blog already has a copy, but you can certainly tell your friends and get them hooked on the series as well! Click here for the amazon.com link.

Okay, that said we can move on to what’s new. Some big exciting news is that we have a new feline grandfurbaby. “Mindy” felt that Tabitha was lonely, so she and her roommate adopted a kitten from Good Shepherd Humane Society in Eureka Springs. Here’s the latest photo in my brag book.

Meet Rhaego!

Wait. Let’s get a close up of that face…

From the reports I’m getting, that look about sums it up. He’s a wild boy and loves to try to steal their food. Tabitha has ceased making terrifying noises any time he comes close, and “Mindy” found them on the sofa together. Hopefully they can become friends once that kitten energy runs out. Yes, I now have a new character for Book 4 (“Slinky Steps Out”) and even more plot ideas. I can’t call him Rhaego. There might be come copyright issues there. Besides, it’s hard for kids to read, let alone pronounce. The shelter had named him Willow, so that’s probably what I’ll stick with. Where will he fall into the alien agent hierarchy? You’ll have to wait until next summer to find out!

I have a couple of books to recommend: “Noisy Creek” by Pamela Foster and “Thursdays at Coconuts” by Beth Carter. Just the covers alone are so inviting! I freely admit that I know both authors, and they are delightful women. That alone won’t get me to read a book, however. I’m halfway through “Noisy Creek” and loving it. The first person voice Pam uses for this story is just fantastic. It even inspired me to try reworking a middle grade story in the first person for the main character, and I’m excited to play with that some. I was waiting for the paperback of “Thursdays at Coconuts,” but I happened to win a free ebook copy through a blog tour giveaway so that’s next up on the agenda. It just means I’ll have to wrestle my husband’s kindle away from him more often. I’ll share the full reviews when I’m done. If only I could tuck away and read for hours.

All the contest entries for the Ozark Writer’s League and the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference are done and submitted, but September doesn’t leave much time for writing. Between the fall activity at our guest house, book events, and doing some substitute teaching (“Leia’s” braces and “Mindy’s” college tuition are not going to pay for themselves!) I’ll be lucky to spend time doing some tweaking on “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main” before I start talking to High Hill Press about it again in October. I may just need to come up with some lock down time. It makes me grateful for a husband who can cook and isn’t afraid of the vacuum cleaner.

I hope you each have a fantastic holiday weekend. I’m going to try to take some chill out time. Maybe hide away and read a bit. Maybe write a bit. You never know.

July Updates

July promises to be an interesting month around here. “Mindy” moves into her own apartment at the end of the month in preparation for starting her junior year at the University of Arkansas, so there is much purchasing of kitchen items at the dollar store and sorting and packing going on. Her beloved cat, Tabitha, is going with her. I always knew this day would come, so “Slinky Steps Out” will begin to write itself as we see how the most skittery cat on the planet handles life as the only cat in the building.

“Leia” is practicing to take her driving test in mid-August, and around here that means driving on hairpin turns with tourists around every bend. As often as I stomp, there is still no brake on the passenger side of the car. “This too shall pass” keeps me going. And don’t even get me started on how much laundry goes with running a guest house. My poor washer is looking forward to fall as much as me. But it gives me freedom to indulge in my self-publishing habit, so I shouldn’t complain.

I’m also enjoying docent duty at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.

Finally got my official shirt!

“Mindy,” enjoying an educational game. She loved the fur samples, though the chewed up boomer ball is always a hit.

Two bobcats were released into a brand new grass habitat the morning I was there, and the staff is busy “crashing the compound” and tearing down the old concrete cages today as I write. I can’t wait to see the transformations they have in store.

For the Cats in the Mirror books, I set up a booth at the July 4th celebration on Holiday Island and had fun meeting some new readers. Events like that are not really a hot spot for big book sales. Most people are just there to enjoy the free events. But it was a beautiful day and we are still glad we went. We weren’t able to stay through for the fireworks this time, but that’s high on our agenda for next summer.

“Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” is available now at amazon.com and directly from me (from the store link on the right of this page). I don’t have the matching bookmarks just yet, but they should arrive any day. Book 3 is sort of in a holding pattern while I wait for bloggers to get to the book and post their reviews. Don’t forget to post your reviews at amazon.com too! It really does make a difference. That’s why authors are always nagging you for them. I refuse to pay for reviews (and you’d be shocked to know how many reviews you read are paid for), so everything I get comes from fans or awesome bloggers who want to support indie authors. “Vacation Hiro” would love some review love! If you read it and enjoyed it, you can post one by clicking here.

My big “author thrill” recently was to have a complete stranger ask at the library if they had a copy of “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main.” She had read about it in the paper a while back and wanted a copy. Awesome! The manuscript is getting some revision/expansion action over the summer, and I’m almost done, but the traditional route to publishing just takes a really, really, really long time. It’s especially hard on those of us who self-publish and are used to just rolling when we are ready. Based on the time frames for the agent and editor who are interested in “Magnetic and Main,” it could be winter before I decide to continue pursuing that route or just call on my amazing team and publish it myself. You will be the first to know!

I also want to take a minute to give a shout out to an adorable book I read last week.

Click on cover to see it at amazon.com.

The author contacted me about doing a book swap for reviews (indies do this quite a lot), and I was excited to find that this book is full of beautiful illustrations and delightful stories. I highly recommend this for elementary school kids, though it may need to be a read aloud for the younger ones. Some of the phrasing and words are clearly British, but I think that’s half of the fun. David and his son are reading “Why Kimba Saved The World” right now, and I sure hope they are enjoying it as much as I did their stories. Here’s a link to my full review at amazon.com.

There may not be any more updates here until more events and promos and activities get rolling in August. Once I get the girls off to their respective schools and the guest house calms down a bit, then there’s more on the writing front to get excited about.

Have a wonderful July!

Docent Day & Miss Fatty Cat Book

Today I hung out with Thor for several hours. Yes, Thor. No, not the one with the big hammer, though he is almost as impressive. This Thor.

Thor the Lion
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

Today was my first official day as a docent at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, and so I spent the morning hanging out with Thor and talking to guests about him and BamBam the grizzly bear, who was just a few feet away. It was hot, so Thor looked like this very soon.

Thor in the heat.

I had a tent for some shade, so it wasn’t so bad. I’ve gotten used to seeing Thor and the other big cats, but it was fun to hear little kids (and some adults) encounter him for the first time. It gives you a healthy respect for why having one of these cats in your home is not a great idea. Actually, it’s a TERRIBLE idea. I could show you the bowling ball that Brody the lion bit in two. Here’s a boomer ball that Indie the tiger made short work of.

That took her four days. Solid plastic. 32,000 pounds of bite pressure should never be underestimated.

That took her four days. Super-thick plastic designed for big cats. 32,000 pounds of bite pressure should never be underestimated.

Now if the refuge can just meet their goal of getting all of the animals out into grassed enclosures in 2014. Thor has waiting long enough. I’m looking forward to being back at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge over the July 4th weekend, but publishing & promotion work does not stop over the summer. Just last night we attended a circus-style event in Basin Park here in Eureka Springs.

There were fire stunts…

And a cutest dog contest. Tristan thought our table was the best place to hang out.

and a cutest dog contest. Our friend’s dog Tristan thought our table was the best place to hang out. Especially my daughter’s feet.

Most of my book events are in the fall, but it’s fun to attend some things in town as well.

Most exciting is that Book 3 of the Cats in the Mirror series, “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge,” is available at amazon.com for a soft launch for friends and family. I don’t have any copies available to autograph and send out yet, but if you want to read it as an ebook the files are ready and waiting for you! Click on the book cover to visit the amazon.com page.

You can also try to win one of 5 free paperback copies through Goodreads. Click here for the giveaway page.

The official launch date is set for Miss Fatty Cat’s birthday on September 12. There will be some discounted offers on the first two books, but the ebook price on Book 3 will be the same for a good long time. Grab it now. You won’t be missing out on a deal later. And, of course, post a review if you enjoyed it! When you see paperbacks hit the $9.99 mark, that will be their price unless amazon chooses to discount it. Or you can wait a couple of weeks to order a signed copy right from me. Coming soon!

The Arkansas Book Reviewer had this to say about Book 3:

“Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge is a fun and charming tale that will have readers questioning their own cat’s sly looks and supposed unassuming demeanor. Cat lovers of all ages will love this latest addition to the series set in the Ozarks of Arkansas! Recommended for all ages and libraries! Another 5 Star for Dendler!”

You can read the whole review here at her blog.

Other recent media attention has included a nice interview at Cheryl Carpinello’s blog and a great review of “Vacation Hiro” from Erik the Great at This Kid Reviews Books. Several reviewers and bloggers are lined up for posts surrounding the September 12th release, and I love that they are following the series and ready to support it.

That’s all the excitement for now. I hope you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying some stress-free vacation time. Maybe you should read a good book… about alien cats…

Much Ado About Kimba & Hiro

Paperback formatting is complete for Book 3 in the Cats in the Mirror series: “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.” The cover reveal will be coming shortly before I set up some giveaways at Goodreads, and we are spot-on schedule for the September release. The full book cover work is being done now (thank you, Lesley), and I’m ready to begin formatting on the kindle version. That should be interesting!

I’ve also been busy with some author events. May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th I was at the War Eagle Spring Craft Fair with Kimba & Hiro’s stuffed touring reps and books to share with visitors.

Kimba & Hiro took a tour of the grounds. Guest thought they were adorable.

War Eagle Mill & Bridge are fantastic tourist sights.

We were there and ready to share our stories!

Scott made his first official Pringles duck lips for the season. He doesn’t sit still well.

Tracy Adams was next to us with her pottery. What talent! Of course, I went home with a new pot–but sadly not this one. Someone beat me to it when I wasn’t looking. We traded merchandise and everyone went home happy, but I owe Tracy a copy of “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.”

Spring at War Eagle is only about 30% as busy as the fall festival, but we earned our stripes and were able to get booth space for the Fall Craft Festival in October. I’ve attended it before, and it is PACKED! All three books will be ready by then, so we will be there and ready to roll. I hope we get to be next to Tracy again. Nearly everyone stopped at her booth. You can find her in Branson, MO, at Peter Engler’s Design at the Grand Village Shops.

Kimba and Hiro tagged along with me for my Ozark Writer’s League (OWL) meeting on May 17th in Branson. Several members went home with copies of the books, and two have already posted 5 star reviews at amazon.com–because every writer knows how important those reviews are. So grateful!

Kimba & Hiro meet Jan Morrill

I reviewed Jan Morril’s book “The Red Kimono” a few months ago, and it was fun to get to share her with Kimba and Hiro during a quiet moment at the OWL meeting. They learned a little bit about what life was like for Japanese-Americans who were banished to internment camps during WWII. Jan also has a new book of Haiku poems available called “Life: Haiku By Haiku.” You can find out more about her great books at her web site.

Kimba and Hiro (and me too actually) got to officially meet Pamela Foster. I think I blogged about her hysterical book “Clueless Gringos In Paradise” a while back. Our book tables were next to each other, so the cats were able to get in a special reading of her new book “Ridgeline.” It doesn’t even have an amazon.com link yet, it’s so new!

Pamela Foster treating Kimba & Hiro to a reading of her new book. Bigfoot was tired and needed to take a nap, I guess.

The May meeting is also when the OWL fundraising event is held, and I was able to get my hands on the one item that really caught my eye. I love this painting, and it now hangs on the wall next to my bed and greets me each morning.

Artist Sue McCaniel with my new painting.

I took advantage of a pitch session with an agent who came to the meeting and was blessed to hear those magical words: “Send it to me.” Three Cheers!! The manuscript she’s interested in is my adult spiritual/paranormal book that has been in process for about two years now: “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main.” The only catch is that she wants it to be MUCH longer. I guess I know what I’ll be up to this summer. I’m not a fan of padding a story just to reach some publisher’s required length, but I will spend some time looking at where I can naturally expand the story.

Taking part in the Kid Lit Blog Hop last week was a blast. I actually won two books and am looking forward to reading (and reviewing) them. If you are ever interested in what I’m currently reading, you can send me a friend request at Goodreads. I never say no to friend requests on public forums!

That should get things caught up for now. Today begins a bit of a diversion for me. In order to transfer my teaching certification to Arkansas, I have to take a class in Arkansas history. I would love to be qualified to teach some adult ed or community college courses, so that will be accomplished before mid-July by taking one online through Northwest Arkansas Community College. It is a shortened summer schedule class and may require a good deal of time. That will probably mean less blogging, but I’m sure I’ll keep some updates coming with Book 3’s release so soon. With that class, our hopping guest house business, Book 3 creation to finish, and edits on “Magnetic and Main,” I will have plenty to do. Needless to say, summer is not a vacation time for me. I’ll catch my breath in January.

Hope your summer is filled with warm memories–and a big glass of grape juice.