As my book sales climbed towards the 100 mark I found myself in a rut. Steve, my webguy, said to start thinking outside of the box. I needed to withdraw and rethink my strategy. I didn’t even know I had one. I decided to retreat to my brother’s cottage along the beautiful shores of Lake Peppermill (it’s really just a very large pond) site of my first great triumph. Along these shores the Peppermill Lake book club discussed my book and told me my book would be a bestseller, if only my name were James Patterson, Dean Koontz, David Baldacci, etc.
I decided to do what all great writers do to clear their mind . . . get drunk.
Like Hemingway and his rum, Wolfe and his martinis, Solzhenitsyn and his gulag (isn’t that a Norwegian drink? And I thought he was Russian. Guess it was the beard that threw me). Now add Crawford and his whiskey sours. How am I ever going to be on the level of a Hemingway drinking such a feminine drink? Not that there is anything wrong with that. In fact, I let my feminine side show frequently. Besides, didn’t “Papa” blow his brains out?
Anyway, back to clearing my mind. Just got back from a swim, or rather a float. I’m thinking I need to do something different to promote The Floating Man. Thought about chopping my ear off, but Van Gogh already tried that, and it didn’t work out so well for him. I guess from Van Gogh’s perspective I’m a rip roaring success. He never sold a single painting in his lifetime and I’m rapidly approaching the 100 milestone.
God, I feel better already.
williamcrawford 
Your wordpress really sucks it won’t let me in.
Bob, patience is a virtue. Probably an internet connection problem. It certainly wasn’t because too many people were trying to get on my blog at the same time.
Hey Wink, why don’t you send a copy to OPRAH she is a book reader and I believe she would enjoy this story line…..hey it’s worth a try right !!
Not a bad idea. I sent my first book to a lot of celebrities (including Oprah) and only Tom Snyder and Alan Colmes responded. Tom’s dead and Alan doesn’t have a show anymore. Will try something along those lines in the near future.
Just purchased on kindle and I’m loving it. I’m on chapter 3.
Thanks Agnes. It has quite a few twists and turns. Keep me posted on how you like it.
You’re so funny, Wink! Congrats on approaching 100! It’s really not such an easy feat for self-published, not famous folk. I did send copies to Oprah, Ellen, The View & several other talk shows, Stephen Spielberg(he’s Jewish), Elie Wiesel, & on & on. I was successful in selling some to several Holocaust museums in several different states & 25 to Elmhurst College. They considered (for a moment) having me come talk to students, but settled on a Chgo newspaper man with lots of speaking experience. Several book clubs decided on my book & invited me to join in their discussions. That was quite cool! There were some book signings…also very cool!! The best was the one in the US Holocaust Museum in D.C.. My co-author & I went together & stayed at her brother’s house nearby. We did a bit of sight seeing as I had never been there. We toured the museum…a extremely heavy & impressive experience, & sold 25 books in 2 hours during our book signing in their museum shop. The Tattered Cover Book Store (a well respected store) & Borders carried my book for a while. Then Borders went out of business. They bought 25…probably a few too many. I learned I had to give quite a number of books to various people/organizations for consideration. There have been several other opportunities I was fortunate enough to be invited to. I don’t mean to brag, seriously, but hope some of my experiences will spur on an idea for you. I also found that for my book, advertising on Facebook & Google was very expensive & not worth it as only a few of my books sold that way. I also advertised on E Bay & Craigslist. Again, only a few were sold that way. Look for any ways to win some awards for your book. You can go to my website to see what I won: http://www.publishingforthegenerations.com. All of these experiences, especially D.C. & the awards have been the best experiences in my whole life! I wish you the same plus much, much more!!
However, I can’t seem to figure out how to convert my files to E-book form!! Argh!
Your childhood neighbor, Nancy
P.S., on chap. 5. 🙂
Thanks Nancy, I appreciate your comments. It will keep me going. I have a lady that did my conversion to eBook. She’s good and reasonably priced ($59.00 for MOBI file and EPUB). Email me and I will give you her email and website if you like. Actually, I think I have her website on one of my blogs; and if not, her link is on the copyright page of my book.