Reaching Out For The Brass Carousel Ring
February 19, 2016
Springtime Fitness
March 18, 2016
Here’s Part IV of my ongoing odyssey with the publication of “Silverton Style” last November. It’s still undetermined whether or not I’m going to write a part V in the book’s ongoing evolution, stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy this latest offering from the mind of yours truly.
Word Count: 915
Collecting The
Laughs (Part IV)
It’s almost like I’m embarrassed to admit it. Ever since the book of essays finally saw the radiant light of publication in November of last year, I still haven’t put all that much effort into promoting the sale of the missive. To the naked eye this really does seem to be the case, and let’s be perfectly honest and say you’re right.
The final touches to the book happened in October, and right after that, Lindsay Nyquist at Raven’s Eye Press (REP) sent me a copy of what would be the finished product. I peripherally looked it over, didn’t find anything wrong, and subsequently didn’t recommend any changes. From there we went to press. Only four months after I figured the book of childhood essays would see original publication, but who’s keeping track? Not me any more at that point.
A big reason I couldn’t find any mistakes is because it really didn’t need any. It wasn’t perfect, some might even say far from it, but beating a dead cow just didn’t seem to make much sense at that stage.
The perfect example of this is the fact that it had already been edited and re-edited five times. People that had seen the book’s cover commented about how much they liked it and figured the cover photo might even enhance sales. We’d already gone over the book with a fine toothed-comb numerous times when it was being put together, and at that stage making more alterations would’ve involved all sorts of additional headaches. Case in point, any more changes would drive up production costs way up. Always a definite consideration when you’ve got a budget that would make most student council cost outlays look big (which they are when you compare them to my personal financial situation).
At that point it turned into a waiting game, and since I was scheduled to fly down to Austin for a wedding in mid-November, my timing was spot on. When I got back right at the beginning of December, I found out the book was available for sale off the Amazon website. Not quite that simple actually.
Turns out, printing problems for the book’s supplier to Amazon (which I still have no idea about the ins and outs of) resulted in the book being back-ordered most of the publication’s first month of existence. Something to do with the fact that since the missive was a P.O.D. (Print On Demand), and a transition over to IngramSpark Printing (the supplier for Amazon) happening at the same time, coupled with the holiday season taking place during the month of December (my atheist friend hates when that happens), combined all the ingredients to create a Perfect Storm of confusion. Back-Order problems right and left, which is sort of like the great mystery of absent socks whenever you pull clothes out of the dryer.
Eventually things did get fixed and now the book is available for sale off Amazon. Theoretically it’s selling too, since I’ve gone to Amazon a few times in the past two months and copy availability keeps changing. Even got a few copies for myself to give out as Christmas gifts, and to supply some of my friends with fire-starter material on those cold winter nights.
I actually participated in two Christmas craft fairs where I took orders for the book, but that was right in the middle of the back-order problem, so I couldn’t do much. Also placed an ad in the local newspaper for the book’s publication, but other than that, I haven’t done a great deal to promote the book.
Here’s my somewhat legitimate excuse; I’m currently deeply entrenched in multiple efforts to advance my career as a humorous writer. Although “Silverton Style” is a fun read and might even sell more than a few copies, its attraction to readers is very limited. Let’s look at it bluntly shall we; the book will primarily interest only folks here in the 4-corners, and people with some sort of connection to Silverton.
Although I grew up in this valley and have moved back here, I like to tell people my aspirations as a writer are much bigger than this place. With that in mind, I’ve spent a great deal of time over the past three years working on a novel. Writing and re-writing (based on detailed critiques from two different editors, three if you count the self-edit when I wrote the first draft), and doing everything within my powers to, “advance my craft”as they say.
Over President’s Weekend I participated in the writers conference in San Francisco, where I took part in what’s referred to as Speed Dating for Literary Agents. A total funfest where the potential Stephen King has three minutes to pitch a novel idea to literary agents. Basically an elevator pitch with additional anxiety ingredients thrown in to enhance the experience. Since I got back, I’ve written up a few query letters and sent them to select agencies. At this point I’m back into the “hurry up and wait” phase of the odyssey.
Despite assorted minor headaches along the way, putting “Silverton Style” out was a great deal of fun (with the assistance from all sorts of people). I’m really looking forward to summer when I’m going to do all manner of things to maximize sales. Its just one step along the way though, and hopefully there’ll be lots to come (including more volumes of Silverton Style).
