Sheila's Guests and Reviews

Bestselling in free kindle Christian reference Old Testament books, Genesis People made it to #1 again today! (And it's still free until the 14th.) That number one status and the magic word, bestseller, both sound really good to me, though my husband, ever practical, has his doubts about putting sales and free together in the same sentence. Is it cheating if it's true? To be honest, being #9 in free kindle Christian reference seems pretty impressive too. It may even mean more to my mathematical mind, since it's a larger category, but number nine's less marketable. And there's the rub. I want to do my best, in writing and in marketing, but the writing's more fun--it's a challenge I know I can meet; it's measurable--I know when the edits are done; and it's honest--I do my honest best. Meanwhile the marketing all too often feels like massaging statistics. (I never did like stats!) So... Genesis People is number one. It's a bestseller. ...

I woke up this morning, set up the computer to Skype with family in England, waited for brothers to come online, and checked my book on Amazon. Of course, it's not free anymore, so it's lost that glorious #1 position, but here's a screenshot I took earlier, just to remind me... and here's a link to a lovely review that arrived overnight on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/review/R1EFQCGETQ93RN/ I bounced around the room in excitement. What a great review! Then my kind husband responded, yes, it's good, but it's not great. "Of course it's great," say I in dismay. "Just look at it! My first post-promo review, and it says everything I could possibly want it to say. What's not great about that?" "It's a good review," says my husband, then tells me I should have more confidence. "You should expect good reviews; shouldn't be so amazed." Which, I suppose, is a compliment. But I'm  still amazed, sti...

All those kindles under all those Christmas tree, kindling learning, reading and joy, and all those wonderful books... to which Cape Arago Press is adding my children's Bible stories. If I've been away from my computer too much, failing to answer emails, not following enough Facebook links, or Linking In enough, or Gathering, then here's my excuse, and it's certainly a joyful excuse for me. Cape Arago Press are about to release Genesis People on kindle, with the most gorgeous cover  to be followed by Exodus Tales Joshua's Journeys and Psalm Stories What a wonderful early Christmas present for me. And if you're looking for Bible based stories (with real world, real people and real God) for your Christmas kindle (or Christmas kids), I hope you'll choose to read them and I hope they'll bless your whole family, Mums, Dads and Grandparents too! Thank you Ed Lewis and Cape Arago Press!

There's two reviews of my book, Genesis People, in this month's Poetic Monthly Magazine , volume #51. They're both really nice and it's so neat to see them there. Maybe I should ask them to review the sequel, Exodus Tales, as well:) Anyway, I'm feeling slightly over the moon and wanted to let everyone know. You can download the magazine free (or buy it) so I'd love to read what you think.

Saturday's weather was rather gray. I set up my stall in the cool of the early morning, far side of the hall with a really great view of the door. It was all I could've asked for. Then I settled in to read. I'd brought a book but maybe I should've brought two. We decided that people must be staying indoors since the fair seemed so sparcely attended. Of course, if the day had been sunny we'd've said everyone was too busy enjoying the sunshine to browse our stalls. Still, I sold two books and lost one. (Someone had stopped to look at it, then turned to a neighbor, swinging the book in the air by a single page. Soon afterwards, the misused page fell out. I guess that's life.) And I gave away tons of promotional flyers and bookmarks and business cards. Maybe one day a flyer will land in the hands of someone interested - someone looking for an Advent devotional for church, or a Bible picture book for their after-school class... And maybe they'll contact me......

Lulu have put my books on Amazon as part of their "Amazon marketplace pilot." It's really exciting, especially now that the Amazon prices are the same as the prices I set. But of course, just having the books out there doesn't mean anyone's going to buy them. Or even that anyone's ever going to find them. My books are pretty small needles in a very large Amazon haystack. And seriously, how many readers - besides my husband, my mother and my best friend - will ever think to type "Sheila Deeth" into Amazon's search bar? So I tried typing a book title in instead. Did you know that "Christmas!" is the same as "Christmas" in an internet search? Yes, I know; I should've known. The exclamation point really doesn't help, and my Christmas book appears so far down the list that no one would ever turn that many internet pages. "Easter!" is just as bad. But "Genesis People" fared better. Once I'd told Amazo...