Promoting an indie book

Book promotion is one of those things that lots of people have a theory about. There are books on how to do it the right way, foolproof ways of selling a book...

The internet is full of advice on how to sell books, some seem more complicated than writing the book, and nothing seems to bring on an attack of writer's block like trying to figure out a way to bring more views to a website. So maybe the answer is to hide away and get the book finished... then just spring it on the unsuspecting readers, all shinny and finished and ready to read...

Coming soon...

They say you should never work with children or animals, well what if your animal has children...?

Well the result was large chunks of time when I didn't manage to get to a computer, let alone do the ongoing blog that I intended, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow, enjoy the moment and write about it later... 

What I did have time for was to write kitten diaries - it's easier to write with pen and paper when kittens are climbing all over you, than it is to try to type. And from these kitten diaries - which have paw prints and chewed edges, a book is emerging... 

The Stats monster puts its head up...

The Stats monster reared it's head to have a look about after its mention in my blog... so now it looks even more like the Lockness Monster. Yesterday there were just the humps, but today there's a long neck and a head... I wonder what it will be doing tomorrow? Maybe it will get up and run away... or just grow and grow...

The stats monster...

Looking at the viewing stats for my blog over the past few days, the graph seems to go up and down much like the humps of the Lockness Monster. Maybe my next book should be about this illusive creature, the stats monster, that seems to have a life of its own, rising and falling as people out there in the cosmos click their mice. But is the stats monster a the prey or the predator of the mouse...  

Procrastinating or researching?

Surfing the web - is it really research or are we all just procrastinating?

I sit here typing into the abyss instead of getting on with the book that I know is nearly finished, but just needs a bit more editing.  There's so much advice out there about how to make amazing sales online, when really getting out there and mixing with people in the real world seems to drive more sales. And so we wander about the virtual world liking each others pages, and following each other to who knows where... but who is really selling the most books...?

It seems that writing a book about how to do something is the trick, but are they just full of hot air and more fluff? I've read about optimising my  website and twitter power, but still my book sales are coming from book signings.

And so my top advice to myself and anyone else who may be reading this: Turn off the internet and put on a CD that inspires and sets the right mood... and WRITE

Yorkshire Day and Birthday

Happy Yorkshire Day 1st August and Happy 4th Birthday to my bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy

One look at this cover brings a smile of recognition to so many faces - it seems that everyone has a Lucy who just doesn't want to go to sleep.

But does everyone have a Downboy the sheepdog to help round the sheep up if the age old method of counting sheep leads to a herd of unruly sheep crashing around the bedroom...?