Next steps

Dear Book Lovers,

I just wanted to give you a quick update on Good Manners Kids Stuff Press.

Sales are starting to trickle in on Zephram and Good Sport! (As you can imagine, I watch Amazon like a hawk.) And the good news is, by my calculations, that more people than just me and my friends and family have bought copies. (Not that I don't appreciate those known purchases -- it's just that it will be even more satisfying when lots more people who are completely unconnected to me buy them and enjoy them!)

My bookmarks are ordered and should be here by the end of the week.
Once I receive them, I'll have to incorporate networking with my Christmas shopping: asking every store, gym, daycare, library that I visit or pass if they'll display them.

My daughters are dropping them off at their school libraries. And friends and family in other geographic locations will be doing the same, bless them!

My Zephram Facebook Fan Page is live and is starting to get friends. (I still need to finish Good Sport's page and get it moving.

The tagging is going quite well. And I've started to get some links for site. I'm sending some minor press release changes to my publicist. (I have to squeeze in a visit to a local photo place so I can get a decent photo to send along with the press release -- yuck, I've avoided photos for years!)

So -- although I might have ultimately missed the biggest part of the holiday rush, I hope that I am planting the seeds for a widely-read 2010!

Wishing you some great reads until I post again,

Leslie

P.S. Forget to mention I'll be tweeting as soon as I publish this post.

Our second book launches on Amazon!

Dear Reader:

We did it! Our second book, The Kids' (and parents', too!) Book of Good Sportsmanship, just joined The Month of Zephram Mondays in our Fall line up.

Good Sport was published on November 27th, and became live on Amazon this morning. It will take a couple of days until the Look Inside feature is available but otherwise it is perfect! I've added the link and cover on the side of the blog. Isn't it cute?

We sure had a lot to give thanks for this Thanksgiving! And now, the even harder part starts: getting the word out about our books.

So what are we doing? I haven't the faintest idea. (I thought if I built them, they would come, right?)

Well, okay, seriously, I've got some ideas.

The websites I've mentioned in an earlier post are up and running, and they've been site-mapped and meta-tagged and Google-analyticed and submitted to the search engines. I've also started Google Ad-words on a very, very, very, very small budget.
Did I say very small?)

I'm starting to work on link exchanges with pertinent content sites.

I've built 1 fan page on Facebook for Zephram that I am starting to have friended (is this a new word?). (I've started 1 for the press and 1 for Good Sport, too - I'm just having trouble getting thumbnails of my images, so they aren't published yet). I'll need to put the Facebook buttons on the websites once they are all working.

I've been playing "tag my book on Amazon" with some other writers, which should help our books rank with certain key words.

I'm slowly figuring out all the things that are available on Amazon and hope to someday soon make them all work for my benefit.

I've started visiting forums AND making comments.

I've tweeted.

My artist, Kecia, is working on book marks that I will be handing out to anyone who will take them (I've started asking shopkeepers everywhere I go. I've been pleasantly surprised how many say yes.)

My publicist (doesn't that sound grand) sent me drafts of two releases that we hope to have go out next week.

I've listed the books at www.selfpublisherstore.com, a group of fellow Createspace writers who joined together under the brilliance and guidance of two gentlemen, both named Steve, who hope to turn the publishing industry on its head.

I've told every friend and family that I see ... even my dad sold 3 copies of Zephram to family friends at Thanksgiving dinner!

And, obviously, I've been blogging!

(I'm also at work on another book about manners that I hope will be available by March of 2010.)

Looking at everything that's going on, when oh when am I going to have time to do my holiday shopping?

Oh, that's right -- I'm giving books!

Ho, ho, ho,

Leslie

P.S. I'll keep you posted on which of my efforts work best. (I sure hope at least one of them does.)