The writer/publisher – part 18

The weeks after your first book comes out are filled with interesting indicators of possible success and of potential obscurity. Your state of mind can sorely tested. Fortunately, when you self-publish, enough hard work takes care of almost any problem.

Reviews of my book are unbelievably good, thanks to the wonderful people who have taken the time to write them. I try to thank everyone who has helped. If I have missed you, let me know and I’ll visit your site and remedy the oversight.

Orders trickle in from abroad and from the US. Each order is immensely gratifying and I get the satisfaction of acknowledging and fulfilling the order myself. At the same time, I am very glad I still have other sources of income, because the book income has a long way to go before it gets to the point where we can become a full-time writer/publisher team.

On the other hand, that vision is no longer a wild fantasy, it is merely a distant goal, if you can understand the difference. I can see that it is achievable, but there is much more ground to cover.

I still have an enormous amount to learn about promoting myself and my book, but the self-education about self-publishing is an entertaining process.

I am networking locally to make myself known as a local author. There is an article coming out soon in the local paper about my book and I am planning an book signing at a Business Expo hosted by our local Chamber of Commerce. I also have one local gathering spot that wants me to put up a book display with books for sale. I’ve donated books to the local library and have been given introductions to local literary groups and to the student placement function of Piedmont College.

On a wider scale, I am sending books out for review. My preferred target area is career counseling consultants and anything to do with finding meaningful or satisfying work. If you know of anyone who should be interested in reviewing my book, let me know. I would appreciate it.

While the promotional actions continue, I am also seeing possibilities for additional markets for the book in other forms. The latest idea is to create an Audio Book version of Danger Quicksand – Have A Nice Day on CD for commuters. There are a number of self-help business and career books out on CDs already, and I have already had a request to make a CD version. As a result, Pam Carlson will get the first CD produced. Thanks for the nudge, Pam!

In closing, have any of you produced audio CDs? Anyone have any suggestions on microphones? How about formatting of CDs with separate tracks for each chapter so the CD can be indexed by chapter? I am open to any suggestions.

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