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Do You Abandon Your Book?

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IMG_0233Even though my book got picked up by a traditional publisher, it doesn’t mean I don’t have to spread the word and do some marketing of my own. This is tough for I am by all accounts a shy person.

Times are tough for books. They are competing with ebooks, tablets and people giving away their books for free for reviews. So a year before I started actively submitting “Jasper, Amazon Parrot:A Rainforest Adventure” I hit the social media scene.

You can find me here:

-Facebook

-Google +

-Twitter

-Linkedin

-Pinterest

-Goodreads

-Shelfari

I am on a few others but these are the big ones. I started to network, meeting various people in various stages of their book. Along the way I met some awesome friends. I came across people who helped me in so many different ways. Ami who worked on my query letter that got my book into a few editor’s hands. I met my editor, Nancy, who is just amazing with her talents. I have met writers who have helped me with questions and problems when it came to social media. This is a market every author, whether self published or traditional, needs to tap into. It is pure gold for the taking, you just have to reach for it. And by the way, it is how I met my publisher.

It is time-consuming when you first start. This was the main reason a year prior to submitting I became pro active with my book and the means to promote it. It has been a few years since then and now my social media format just need checking on now and then.

Being shy won’t cut it in this market. You have to take a deep breath and step forward. Your book needs you to be there for it. It can’t do it alone. And why should it? It has been with you for so long why abandon it now?

Acknowledgements, Amazon Parrot, Writers and Support

My Dedication and Acknowledgement

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thank_you_note

By the end of this year I will have a couple of short books online and one in the bookstores. Part of that involves coming up with a dedication and an acknowledgement for each one. Granted this is not required. But for me it is necessary. For “Jasper, Amazon Parrot:ARainforest Adventure” the dedication is easy.  I will be dedicating the book to Jasper. Without his personality this book would not have been written.

But now comes the joy of acknowledging everyone who has helped me. That is a long list. Longer then I thought once I started writing down the names.

-My editor Nancy who is an amazing woman. I am so fortunate to have her.

-My friend Ami who helped me with my query letter. The same letter that got my MS into the door to be read. If this letter is not spot on you are dead in the water

-My sister Karen who loaned me her daycare so the children could read the book. This was perfect for beta reading.

-I have my writings groups all of which have helped me in one way or another with edits and suggestions.

-A publisher by the name of Mike who even though rejected my submission filled it with so much positivity I framed it. In that letter he gave me the three reasons why they did not pick up Jasper. I revised it according to his recommendations and two submissions later the book got picked up. Even though Mike will not be publishing Jasper he deserves a lot of credit for this book

-I have the numerous people on my Twitter account, FB profile page and this site alone who have encourage me and lifted me back up.

-I have my friend Debbie who believed in me from the moment she read the very first draft of Jasper. Who knew ,according to her, this book was going to be published.

-Melanie my publisher who believes in my book and shares my vision for it.

The list goes on. I am surrounded by a large group of people who have helped me get to this point. So writing a dedication is not easy if you want to do it right. And you should for you did not get to this point alone, I didn’t.

Book signing, My John Hancock, Signature

Practicing My Signature

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2013-05-20 10.53.31

 

This may seem silly but I been practicing my signature. You know for when my book comes out at the end of this summer. For after all it is going to be a huge hit and people will want signed copies of it. Yes my mind dreams big. So I been using up scrap after scrap of left over paper to sign my John Hancock repeatedly. You think this would be easy. I mean it is not as if I am trying to learn a new name. It is one I been signing for years now. So why the need to get it right? Does it matter?Do people really care about this in their book? I don’t know. I truly do not know why I feel the need to practice.

And of course the one signature that I liked the best on the sheets is the one I can not reproduce readily without giving it a lot of thought.

That is just how it is. But I will continue to practice who knows I might be able to reproduce it more than a few times. I can’t be the only one who does this. I will worry what I will be inscribing inside the book as it comes up. For there will be no line sheets to help me out as a guideline.