Sheila's Guests and Reviews

Last Friday and Saturday, members or our local writers' group manned a table at a local bazaar, where we sold Writers' Mill Journals and other books written by or contributed to by members of the group. Then on the Sunday, December 6th, I was honored to be one of the authors at the Oregon Historical Society Holiday Cheer event. (Look who I'm sitting next to - Eric Kimmel, author of  Simon and the Bear  and other great Hanukkah picture books, and more!).   There were even Dickensian singers to entertain us all, and offer the promise of Christmasses white instead of blue.   But now it's all done, and the unsold books need to be repackaged and buried under the bed, ready for next time. Meanwhile two new black suitcases have appeared on top of the bed, waiting to be unpacked. They belong to my mum, who has just arrived for her annual Christmas visit. Which is my way of apologizing in advance if I get even more behind with book reviews...

I typed my name into Amazon to see what books would appear--just checking, I thought. But what I found wasn't quite what I expected... Genesis People at $137.63 Drabble-It $131.63 Storyteller Psalms $ 147.63 Exodus Tales $137.63 Thanksgiving! $143.63 Revelation! $143.63 Mongrel Christian Mathematician $131.63 What's with all the 63cents? And what's with those prices? Genesis People is the only one I expected to find from this list (it's also available for $9.99). The rest, I thought, were just on Lulu (at much smaller prices). I'm sure no-one's ever going to pay over $100 for one of my books, but who on earth is "Origin" and how can he/she/it even offer my books at those prices? And how do I get the original Genesis People to appear on my author page (with cover) instead of this vastly inflated cover-less one? Aghghgh!

Please wish me luck. I'm going to our Spring Bazaar tomorrow, bearing books and bookmarks, home-made cards with pictures drawn with Microsoft's new Draw, and hoping, so much hoping, I might sell some. So... please wish me luck. Meanwhile I'll tell the computer to post a really neat blog post tomorrow morning from author James J. Kaufman (before I go). If you're not visiting the Spring Bazaar buying all your delightfully collectible Mothers Day gifts, you might want to drop by here and learn about collectible relationships. James Kaufman's novel, The Collectibles , is a nicely plotted story with intriguing characters and enduring wisdom, and his views on how we connect with the people around us make for a really interesting post. Click on the link for my review of James Kaufman's novel, The Collectibles . And come back tomorrow to learn the reasoning behind it.

A dear friend asked me to mail some books to her. Since I only had one copy at home, I took it to the post office and asked, "How much would it cost to send five of these?" The assistant picked up the book to weigh it, turned it over, and said, "Now that face looks familiar, but your hair was longer then." Recognized from my picture on the back of the book! I think I glowed. (And at least she didn't say "but your hair was less gray then"!) Still glowing, I'm writing this post with thanks to the dear friend--a real book order, for books by me! Lulu says they've already shipped them, so I'll mail the parcel soon. And it looks like sending them in a priority mail envelope is the cheapest method, just in case you were wondering.

My eBook, Refracted, just went on sale on Amazon ! That's so cool! Well, it feels pretty cool to me anyway. I'm looking at the picture and my thoughts are refracting and darting in different directions. Thank you, thank you Gypsy Shadow for putting it there. Second Wind Publishing's mystery anthology, Murder in the Wind, is on Amazon too , with my story, Jack, lurking inside. I just bought my copy at last and can't wait to read it. And three of my Bible story books are there too (though you have to go to Lulu for more Bible fiction ): Christmas! Genesis to Revelation in 100 words a day goes through the Bible in full-color bite-sized pieces with one story for each day in December, Easter! Creation to Salvation in 100 words a day includes mini-meditations as well, telling tiny Bible stories all through Lent, and Genesis People is a book of three-minute read-aloud childrens' stories bringing some of those familiar and less-familiar characters to life from the Book o...

I kind of wish I knew more about marketing than just what I glean from blogposts, the odd book here and there, and personal experience. Of course, knowing how to sell what people need might not help when I'm offering books that I want them to want. But perhaps if I write what I've found out so far, it might at least help me determine how to move on. First : Have something worth selling. I think my books are worth selling. People who read them, even strangers, tell me they're good. Of course, I'm sure they could be better, and I'll keep working on that 'cause it's what I enjoy. Second : Have a venue to sell from. The internet's a start--I've got a virtual store with lulu , but so have lots of other people. Meanwhile, the only real bookstore selling my books is at Kanuga , an Episcopalian conference center in North Carolina. My local stores tell me too many people self-publish so it's simplest just to say no; maybe I should learn not to take no for...

What did I do this weekend? Well, we finally had the Summer Bazaar at our community center, so before the weekend I finished printing bookmarks, greetings cards, business cards, 2011 calendars, mini-books of drabbles and a rainbow of poetry books... Then on Saturday morning, bright and early (but not necessarily awake) I fell over in the parking lot. I spent the day manning my stall while trying to make sure my chin didn't start bleeding again, and reading the last Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, which I'd found while shopping for paper that wouldn't bleed printer ink on the calendars. I paid $20 for the stall and made $15. But I did finish the book. On Sunday, feeling bruised and sore, I went to church in the morning, shopping in the afternoon, and in the evening read my brand new copy of Mockingjay, the last in the Hunger Games series. Now it's Monday. I still feel bruised and sore, and I'm probably due to write at least two more book reviews. So, how was your weeke...

I wander the internet, meeting a world of wannabe writers like me, and real writers, and really skilled wannabes, and maybes, and almosts, and ams. I pick up hints which I try to obey, and I work on remembering to say that "I write" when people ask "What do you do?" They usually walk off muddled and confused. One thing I learned a long while back was that you're always meant to carry a stack of business cards. "You'd be amazed how many opportunities you get to give them away," or so they say. Though I haven't plucked up courage yet to offer cards to strangers, and I'm still unamazed. I do carry them though, most of the time, but when I went to my son's graduation, I decided not to bother. It was his day, not mine. And for the first time ever, someone sitting next to me asked "What do you do?" was interested in my answer, and wanted to know how he could find my books. John, if you're out there, you'd've made my day ...

Christmas Bazaar - decorations - bright reds, shining greens - blinking lights - Christmas music - cold winds.... oh, those very cold winds every time the door opened to let all the customers in. There were visitors, browsers, friends who walked round all the stalls but left purses at home; I suspect they were wise. It might be too easy to find yourself spending too much. But I sold all my copies of Voicecatcher , so I now owe a nice large check to voicecatcher.org . I sold bookmarks and stocking stuffer stories as well - see my stories link above to find out what they are - but not one of my books, and I left feeling blue. The lights are still bright (some of them are blue too), so I'll look on the red side instead; I did give away lots of brochures, made lots of new friends, and I wore a warm coat. What more do I need?

I spent yesterday at a Christmas Bazaar trying to sell books. Lots of people came and talked to me, and I practiced my rather feeble selling skills. "Oh no, I don't have any young children..." "Well, these ones are for families. Would you like to look?" "I should have made a list. I don't know who to buy for." "D'you know anyone who likes reading perhaps?" "Are your books Christian?" "Yes they are. Are you interested in that?" "My church might like them I guess." "Could you give them a brochure for me please?" 9am till 4pm and I only sold two books, though I gave away lots of brochures and business cards. And in the times when no one was looking I finished reading three titles from my review list. I even wrote the reviews on the computer when I got home, so not a dead loss. The next sale takes place a week on Tuesday and I'll hope for better luck then. Since it includes an "open mic...

I spent this morning setting up my stall at the St. Pius Christmas Bazaar. They've given me a beautiful location, really close to the doors and the checkout, so I'm hoping lots of people will walk by. No, actually I'm hoping they'll stop instead of walking by, and maybe decided to buy... Anyway, please wish me luck. It's the first sale of the season. Thanks.

It's Wordstock tomorrow in Portland; I'll spend a couple of hours on the VoiceCatcher stall, telling people all about the wonderful collection of essays, stories and poems by Portland Women Writers. The rest of the time I'll listen to speakers, meet writers, read books, buy books, find books, etc... Next week I'm "going" to the Muse Online Conference. That's "going" as in "sitting still at the computer." But it's also "going" as in not going anywhere else. I'll be pitching a couple of novelette's as well, so please wish me luck. The week after's when the oldest son visits, on his way to an interview. And the week after that the youngest son will be home filing application forms and sending off portfolios. Christmas bazaar season starts at the beginning of November. I'll need to book a few more tables if I hope to sell more books. Then Thanksgiving! Then Christmas! Then.... HELP!!!!! Okay, I'm official...

A very good friend has started to talk about maybe trying to self-publish. I suddenly feel guilty. Have I painted too rosy a picture of this game in my strenuous efforts at positivity? So here, to counteract the sweet smell of perfume, are some thorns to give the other side of the tale. The rule of 10s : Out of 300 online friends, 30 will tell you your writing’s not only wonderful but also publishable, and ask, please let us know when it comes out. Out of those 30, 3 will buy copies of the book. The rule of 3s : Out of 30 real-world friends, 20 will tell you your writing’s wonderful, 10 will pre-order the book, and 9 will buy. But those 9 will buy more than you ever thought all 20 would. Unfortunately, that will still be less than you ordered… …because you planned to sell more at Christmas fairs. The rule of 2s : Out of every 2 people who stop at your stall, only 1 will smile at you. Out of every 2 people who smile at you, only 1 will look at your book. Out of every 2 people who look a...

I got a check in the mail the other day. A very special check: It came from a Christian Retreat Center bookstore that had actually sold some of my books! I ran round the room. I opened and closed the envelope and opened it again. And I gazed in awe at the numbers, the calculations, the percentage I got paid, then just kept looking at the words. I got paid! Yes, that's really what the letter said. They really did sell some of my books and pay me! So tomorrow I'm taking a box with me to a church bookstore in town, hoping perhaps they might take some on consignment too - hoping even more for more buyers. And I'm checking on Lulu and wondering... Maybe one day...

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......

There's going to be a summer fair in our neighborhood on Saturday and I've booked a stall to sell some of my self-published books. Last Christmas I just had the Christmas and Easter books on sale. This time I'll add my Thanksgiving book and Genesis People, and take orders for two other books as well. I was worried about the sale because, for the first time ever, my book parcel contained damaged books. Lulu's packaging is usually incredibly good and I wasn't sure what to do. But Lulu have come through for me. Though they can't replace the damaged books in time for the fair, they will arrive very soon afterwards. And, since it's a local affair, I can take orders using my proof copies, and fulfill my deliveries as soon as the parcel arrives. I'm really grateful to Lulu for their help. I'd never had to complain to them before, and I wasn't sure how they'd respond. But they've been very kind and helpful. And now I can look forward to Saturday ...

I had all these wonderful plans. 1,000 words a day on textnovel? That was surely do-able. And I could keep writing my favorite WIP at the same time couldn't I? After all, it's easy enough to read more than one book at once. Plus there's that piece that I'm doing the research on--must be time to put metaphorical pen to paper there (or finger to keyboard). And the book reviews... Then there's the incredible news that a bookstore wants some books from me and please will I mail them--suddenly none of the million boxes I've failed to throw away are quite the right size. And there's the final edits and checks on those Lulu books that I want to start selling in summer. I should order them soon... And the cooking, and the cleaning, and the shopping and the washing and persuading the son to revise for his exam, while sympathizing with the other son who hasn't time to do anything else but revise. And the dandelions; I really ought to cut some of those dandelions ...

It looks like I'm walking on air again, with another exciting email yesterday, so please excuse me while I do the happy dance. 2009 is just such a good year! First I made the quarter-finals of ABNA . Then Lulu put my books on Amazon . Then my short story got accepted for Mythica ’s Maybe Tomorrow. And now my triptych of Western Tales has made it into VoiceCatcher 4. Now, if I could just make a few good sales...

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...

I phoned my Mum on Sunday, but it wasn't Mothers' Day in England, so we didn't exchange any special wishes; just switched our computers on and skyped and enjoyed temporarily shrinking the miles between us. Other than that - my husband was ill, so I gave him breakfast in bed; met some friends at church and drank coffee; woke my son up and gave everyone lunch; went shopping, on my own; made dinner; read a book while the guys watched soccer on TV... ...which doesn't sound much, but I really enjoyed Mothers' Day. Having the chance to read when the house isn't empty around me is always a bonus. And the strange coincidence of my cell phone ringing just as I parked the car, contrary to all Murphy's laws, was a wonderful Mothers' Day gift. It was also a phone call from our oldest son that I got to enjoy all on my own, uninterrupted, so I'm glad I was shopping alone. And since I didn't get any presents, I got to order my next proofs from Lulu. What more c...