Selling Books...

...is the hard part, compared to writing it! Unless you are with a big publisher, you are pretty much on your own, calling bookstores -- sending out press kits.

On Sunday, I had a book-signing party which was awesome. All my good friends and family. I read 3 times during the party and was very well received (friendly audience, you know!). Sold almost 100 books, too!

I am learning book merchandising as I go. It's definitely a slog for a small press writer, but I relish the challenge.

I have a reading set up for June 30 at Horizon Books in Traverse City and hope that my Michigan community will come to that.

Now it is time to produce press kits, which I'll do myself. Plus I have fliers going out to libraries, book reviewers and 2000 independent book stores.

Ironically, while doing all of this, I have little time to write. Alas, alack!

Otherwise, life continues. Our daughter's graduation from high school is on Friday and then I go to a writing retreat. She leaves for Greece to study Art History and Painting the next week and then I leave for Michigan for a glorious month.

I have 3 samplers set up in Michigan at the Traverse Area Library -- go to my website, www.womenwritingupnorth.com if you are interested in the details. Each one is a sample Women Writing for (a) Change class. They are usually 2 1/2 hours long and this one is 1 1/2 hours. Lots of fun if you have ANY inclination to write and the samplers are FREE. So please come and bring your friends!

Off to work on press kits and accounting records, tra la, tra la!

Anni