So, I’m busy, busy, busy with my giveaway on BookFunnel (here’s the link). I’m also seeing if I can put part or all of it up on a site called Royal Road. And I’m posting links on my X feed to try to connect with the wider world. And if any of you want a free copy or have any friends who might like the story, please pass the link along to them.
Well, in addition to all this I’ve been drafted into a publicity campaign for the Dunwich Republicans. I’ve got to awaken a “sleeping giant.” But it’s more like a geriatric midget in a coma. So even if I can drum up new blood, I’m afraid they’ll just show up, hear there’s work to be done and say, “Looks like you’re doing a great job. CARRY ON!!!
But one must do the best one can. As old TR used to remind us it’s “The Man in the Arena” that counts. Unfortunately, I feel more like the Christian being fed to the lions in that arena.
Well, the weather is just as uncertain as ever with one day being seventy degrees and the next day featuring snow flurries but we’ve definitely turned a corner and the Great Southern Ice Sheet is barely a foot thick and receding rapidly. All the spring flowers are budding and the turtles are sitting on the dead log in the swamp. The mallards must be awaiting the hatching of their eggs and even the local pair of hawks seem to be hyperactive, probably getting food for their nest.
Listening to Andy Weir talk to the Critical Drinker about his book “The Martian” was kind of exciting. I think anyone who writes a book secretly desires to be that guy who hits the jackpot and has the world beat a path to his door. I mean, I know it’s ridiculously unlikely for a number of reasons for my book to be a big seller. It’s in a very restricted corner of the marketplace based on politics and demographics and trying to get advertising is like pulling teeth. But I confess I not-so-secretly dream of the book going viral and selling tons and tons of copies. I guess when the dust settles, I’ll probably be in a funk for a while but I think it was still a good experience to try my hand at something I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager.
And I’ll say that I don’t think that writing a good book is beyond my talents. But self-publishing and self-marketing is not for the faint of heart. It takes money and a lot of hard work to promote a book in the current marketplace. And that’s the part I don’t enjoy at all. Playing cat and mouse with the Amazon algorithm isn’t my idea of a fun occupation. It’s more like going to the dentist’s office than something associated with creativity.
Ah well. Whine, whine, whine. Time to make the donuts. Onward and upward. Excelsior!