My book sale at Civil War Days in Belle Plaine, Iowa was very successful. Not only because I sold more books than I thought I would but received exposure that will lead to other book sales. I have an invitation to speak at a church group about my books. I've been invited to be a guest blogger on another blog. A local reporter stopped to chat. Perhaps I will get a brief mention in the newspaper. My Civil War book was a hit with reenactors from other states. Word of mouth may lead to more sales when those people get home. This was one event I will be very glad to repeat.
Pub. Sept 24
Sept 29 myentre
One thing leads to another
Last Thursday, I baked a raw apple cake to take to my mother in law's 89th birthday party. (We have two apple trees. My husband hunted and I gathered.) The birthday girl, Minnie, is a great example of the few of us left that are hunter/gatherers. Back in the days when people had to raise enough food in the summer to have enough to eat in the winter, they raised large gardens and canned or in later years froze the excess. Men hunted game to put meat on the table. My parents were newlyweds during the Great Depression and so was my husband's parents. Being a hunter/gatherer wasn't just a way of life, it was a matter of survival. I inherited the gene. (There has to be one, because my two brothers don't hunt or gather.)
Besides my parents, my role model is my mother-in-law. We have so much in common that we enjoy doing. Both of us are past the time when we need to be gatherers, but we do it because we like to. Minnie's front and back yard looks like a botanical garden. (Mine is rapidly becoming that way. My husband says some day my flowers will be taking over his hayfields. He goes out and pulls the black eyed susans before he makes hay.) Minnie has more flowers than grass - perennials, annuals and houseplants. When family visit, they have to take a tour down paths between flower beds. My flowers never look as lush and bloom a hardy as hers does, but she would be a good spokeswoman for Miracle Grow. Since we have chickens, sheep and goats, I do recycling. We feed the animals, and they provide fertilizer.
Three weeks before fall officially arrived, Minnie took in cuttings from her flowers and dug bulbs. Her garden that is larger than ours is almost cleaned off and in her compost pile. Minnie follows the signs and not the calendar. Tree leaves turned and fell. Birds flocked together to leave Iowa. She noted that and began her fall preparations. I take her lead seriously so in the last couple weeks I have potted the flowers I bring in for the winter. This is the time when flowers are their prettiest so I left the small pots inside the planters, hating to give in to cooler weather. When I hear the word frost, I'll carry the flowers upstairs to a spare bedroom with a southern exposure. In the next few days, I'll dig my flower bulbs, dry them and wait for that killing frost that will turn my colorful flowers brown. After the flowers dry, I harvest the seeds, put them in the freezer (Minnie's idea) and wait for spring.
That's one example in my life where one thing leads to another as the seasons change. Here's an example of one thing leads to another with my writing. When I signed up for the internet a few years ago, I researched about author promotions on the internet. I still search for new ideas. One thing I learned right away was that authors need a website. This was before I had a book published but dreamed that it might happen some day. So I hunted for a free website. (You'll find the word free appears in my vocabulary quite often. I'm not a gambler, and I haven't considered myself a sure thing yet.) I tried several and couldn't figure out how to submit to them. Finally, I found tripod and understood the easy instructions. I haven't had problems submitting to my website, but I hear that people have trouble finding it. Perhaps that's because it's free. http://www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
Every site I've registered on, I use booksbyfay to log in. I wanted a name that clued people into what I do. Now thanks to google search, I get about four pages when I put my name Fay Risner in the search box because of all the author/writer websites I've advertised my books on. Google uses a small portion of a submission from the websites announcing my books or events. I receive a Google alert by email that shows what has been posted.
I searched for a printer and found Create Space. That's why I sell my books on Amazon.
Publetariat.com a website for authors allows blogs about writing. After my blog about a book sale at Civil War Days, I received an email from publetariat. If I would email a paragraph about how successful the sale was they would put my Sept. 17 post on their front page. Title "reporting back after the sale". I could add a website I sell my books on. Friday I received an email that the blog entry is indeed up and running on the front page after I wrote about my successful weekend at Civil War Days as a teaching experience for other Independent book sellers. Here is the website - http://www.publetariat.com
Publetariat Editor's Note: This blog post, from Fay Risner, originally appeared on her Publetariat blog on 9/17/09. It's such a salient topic for indie authors, I asked Fay if we could reprint it as an article for the site and she graciously agreed. (Posted at the end of blog entry) Fay did so many things right, from being very well-practiced and prepared, to hitting her target demographic square in the middle, to highlighting her local community connections, and more. Read Fay's next blog post to see how well she did with her book sale event. Fay's books are available on Amazon. (Note this is the same post that I entered on Myentre.net site Sept. 17.)
I have four blogs. I copy and paste the same entry on each one. Hopefully, I attract the attention of many different readers. Awhile back a woman emailed me she had linked one of my blogs to a website she belongs to because she likes what she read and wanted others to read my blog. That means more readers that might get interested about my books. Good Reads website put the bookshelf containing my books next to my blog on blogger. Amazon decided to give each author a page and blog, hoping that buyers would want to read about their favorite authors.
A woman approached me at Civil War Days to invite me to be a guest blogger on her blog. She asks people who are writers or illustrators. I told her I'd be delighted. Another woman asked me to be a guest speaker for her church group "Golden Girls" to talk about my books. That should lead to book sales.
This year I changed companies to publish my latest book. With this company, I am the publisher and the company is the printer. I had to send for a sales tax form so Lightning Source Publishing will sell my books through Ingram. Now I am a business Booksbyfay Bookstore. To my delight, this has led to my introduction to My Entre.net where I've joined other small businesses and have been allowed to start a blog. Now my business logo is on their Businesses & Organizations board as someone to meet. That comes up in every members home page.
Sometimes I hear things and think I should remember that for future reference. About five years ago I was told a successful business man from Texas came back for a high school reunion in Belle Plaine. A former classmate said he brought each of them a signed copy of his new book. The 8th of August I had a high school reunion. I gave out 21 copies of my latest book "A Promise Is A Promise". Since then I've sold 11 other books to the classmates and one teacher which makes me break even with the cost of the books I gave away. I impressed my former classmates more than I could have imagined. One has a daughter he thinks has potential and from what I read on her website I believe he is right. At the reunion, he approached me for advice to give the daughter. She has been reluctant to try writing a book. I emailed him a very detailed long email which he forwarded to the daughter. She has been convinced to enroll in a writing and illustration class. I am thrilled.
Speaking of being a hunter/gather, I have apples to can today if I am to enjoy the fruits of my labor this winter. Have a good day.
Gotta Go,
booksbyfay
Fay Risner
http:buysellcommunity/booksbyfay.com
amazon/books
http://www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
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