Never tell an author you don't like books - they'll see it as a challange

5 Things you should never say to an author at a book signing...

1.   My child is too young for books. It doesn’t matter what age your child is, they are definitely not too young for books! Babies can enjoy books right from the start, and what a lovely activity to it is to share, to cuddle up with a book and a baby on your knee, sowing the seeds of a love of books that’ll stay with them always.

2.   Are you the author? – who me? The one sat behind the local author book signing sign... yes, I get it all the time – I put signs on my table, but people still seem surprised that I am actually the author.

3.   How long does it take to write a book? Well we could be there all day with that question - a book isn’t like a production line item, it could have been born in a rush of inspiration that came tumbling out faster than I could type, or it could have been an idea that lurked around in the recesses of my mind, stubbornly refusing to arrange itself into a story... And then of course there are the illustrations, not just to be drawn and painted, but scanned in, and then technology gets involved, and anything could happen... 

4.   I don’t read books. Never tell an author you don’t read books – they’ll see it as a challenge...  I believe there’s a book out there for everyone, maybe you just had a bad introduction to books, were made to read books you didn’t enjoy... But there are so many books out there, that there must be something you’ll enjoy. What sort of film do you enjoy? Finding a book on the same theme as a film you enjoy is a good place to start, and once you’ve found one, you’ll be able to find other books of that genre, and before you know it you’re a book lover.

5.   My child doesn’t like books. If your child doesn’t like books, could it be that they see you not liking books? Go to a library of bookshop together and choose a book each. If you’re choosing a book for a very young child, then you have a lot of influence, so choose one you like too – if you enjoy reading the story you’re more likely to get that across to your child, and before you know it you’re both enjoying books.

#LostinaBook #amwriting 

All you need is a box and a little imagination, because when you have a box you can play anything...

Had a lovely morning at Clifton Library yesterday, got good feedback on my books, and sold some books too.

Looking forward to visiting Acomb Library tomorrow and joining in with storytime, with my new book:

But What I Really Want is a Box... because when you have a box you can play anything, all you need is a little imagination. Share the story, and get a glimpse into my imagination, and spark your own to see what you can come up with...

 

#LostinaBook

#Storytime 

It's feedback like that, that makes all the effort worth while...

I had a good morning at Clifton Library Summer Craft Fair on Saturday. I met a lady who'd bought a copy of Doodle Mayhem from me at a Christmas fair, and her grandson had loved the book.

But the part that really made my day was getting an email later that evening from a mum who had bought a book for her daughter. She'd read But I'm Not Sleepy 8 times in the afternoon, and then again when it was her daughter's chosen story at bedtime, and she went to sleep with the little knitted sheep in her cot - it's feedback like that, that makes all the effort worth while.

 

#LostinaBook 

Book signing at Clifton Library in York

Books, sheep, sheepdog, cats and bookmarks.. oh and busy books, all packed ready for a baby event at Clifton Library in York tomorrow... phew.

Downboy the sheepdog getting ready to round up some sheep
#LostinaBook

Ever wondered what 32 sheep's legs on a knitting needle look like...?

How do I get myself into these situations...?

I always seem to be rushing to finish something with barely enough time...

 

Ever wondered what 32 sheep's legs on a knitting needle look like...? Well, no, not many people have, and as it turned out this was only 28 legs - so one sheep would have still been legless without a bit more knitting... arhhh

 

But all is well - all the sheep have legs and will be heading out to fairs this week 

And what about that Christmas garment I hear you asking... come on work with me here. Well it's a Christmas poncho, and hopefully I'll add a few more festive bits to it as the season goes on - if I have a minute...

 

#Lostinabook #sheep #Christmas

Exclusive to book signings

Where did the busy books go...?

I've taken my busy books out of my website shop until after my run of Christmas craft fairs. This is to avoid the risk of one being ordered from the website that I've sold at a fair.

Because they are unique, I can't just get another one out of a stockroom. So for the time being they will be exclusive to my book signing events.

#LostinaBook

#Busybooks 

Not how I imagined spending my time as a writer...

OK I'm still fighting technology, and I'm not sure who's winning... bits of equipment that are meant to talk to each other are refusing to do so.
Oh well, I'm about to go on a sheep mission anyway - I have a bag full of sheep parts that need assembling before the weekend, which is not how I imagined spending my time as a writer, but we all have to diversify, and sheep have proved to be an excellent crowd puller at book signings, not to mention an excellent outlet for procrastination when a certain book is stubbornly refusing to get over its final hurdles...

Trying to Focus on a wet Thursday in Feb...

OK time to focus - no not go and drive a Focus - focus on books! But what to do first...?

Create a book - I'm busy painting characters for my next book, and they're coming along very nicely. They're still just hanging around deciding what to do though...

Sell a book well hopefully you can help me with that - go on, buy a book... you know you want to! I'll even sign it for you - it'll be just like meeting at a book signing... except that we won't meet, and we won't have to go out in the cold - well, I will, obviously, I'll need to post the book. But I don't mind, honestly!

Get Lost in a Book - I could very easily go and light the fire early and curl up with a book that someone else has written - all the work is already done, all I'd have to do is to start reading, and allow myself to slip into the imaginary world that's already been created... hmmm sounds good... but no, I shall go and create something new!

Christmas Fairs and Book Signings - York 2014

Christmas fairs and book signings: Lost in a Book

• Sat 1st Nov 10am - 3pm Wetherby Town Hall - Charity Christmas Craft and Gift Fair in aid of children's heart surgery fund.
• Thurs 27th Nov 7 - 9pm Knavesmire Primary School - Christmas Shopping Evening
• Sat 30th & Sun 31st Nov Haxby Memorial Hall - Christmas Fair
• Sat 6th Dec 10am - 4.30pm  Tithe Barn Nehter Poppleton Christmas Fair
• Sun 7th Dec 12 noon - 6pm Yorkshire Heart Vineyard Christmas Fair 

...there'll be books, there'll be sheep - and a few other things yet to be made...

Sheep shipped...

Not your average thing to do on a Monday morning, but then I like to be different...

I got an order late last night, for one sheep, which I have now shipped - well it hasn't actually gone on a ship, although given this morning's weather I could have done with a ship to sail down to the post office.

... anyway I got to thinking - I wonder why the name sheep is the same for a single sheep as a flock of sheep... maybe it's because sheep are so rarely on their own, that no one saw the need to think up a separate name for a sheep on its own.

Books are tactile, would you rather pick up a book or order online?

Books are tactile - it's the reason so many readers resist the cheap ebooks in favour of sitting down with a physical book - ink on paper, it's what we're used to. The feel and smell of a new book, or for some, the feel and smell of an old book, the familiar feel of turning the pages.

So is the same true of the buying experience? Do people prefer to go into an actual bookshop and pick up books, to going online and ordering a book?  Now I know book sales online are massive, brought about by bargain prices, so it seems clear that people will change their shopping habits to save money, but isn't it supposed to be about convenience too - why then is it so hard for the small online bookshops to get a toe in the door of online book sales? Maybe readers do still prefer to pick up a book before they buy it, this certainly seems the case with my books, where I can sell easily to customers at craft fairs and book signings, where they can pick up a book, and talk to the author, and will even seek me out again at future events to buy more books, but still seem reluctant to buy from my website...

Or maybe I'm just missing something, and online sales are just another of my many learning curves that I need to get beat...

Book signings and Christmas fairs... and sheep

It's that time of year again, and dates for Christmas fairs are filling up, mostly in November and into December, I probably should get back into sheep production to save a last minute rush - last year I seemed to spend every night in November knitting extra sheep to keep up with demand, and this year I have a few other hand made items in mind...

Sheep on the loose... this is what happens when Downboy the sheepdog isn't around

Books, book signings and sheep...?

Here's a little excerpt from my home page, where you'll find a little bit of cyberspace which is dedicated to books - good old fashioned print on paper books that you can hold and read with no worries about batteries running out... but you will need a light to read by as it gets dark...

  

There's also a bit of a sheep theme running around this month, as woolly escapees from my bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy vie for attention among the books...

For a limited time I am offering my sheep knitting pattern absolutely free... 

Free knitting pattern now you can knit your own sheep, or knit a flock and then you can really count sheep...

 

My little bookshop in cyberspace is always open. It's a book signing that's always there waiting for you. There's even some first editions and a special short print run...

So have a rummage in the bookshop - there's my new true cat story: Outnumbered by Cats for adults. There are picture books to share and read aloud, and the Doodle series to read aloud or to encourage early readers to discover the joy of reading alone.  

Priceless: being told that a copy of The Monster Under The Bed has been read until it's shabby - it's been a loved book, just like a favourite teddy.  

For the rest of my ramblings pop along to my website. 

But I'm Not Sleepy... how to get some sleep

I’ll let you into a secret,” said Granny. “When I can’t sleep I count sheep. It always works for me.”

“Have you got sheep Granny?” asked Lucy, her eyes wide with excitement. “Where are they? Are they in your knitting bag?”

from But I'm Not Sleepy my bestseller is 5 years old today!!

First there was Lucy jumping up and down on her bed, then there was Granny reading calming bedtime stories... and then came the sheep. So all that was left was for Downboy the sheepdog to make an appearance and it looked as if nobody would be getting any sleep - but finally even Lucy felt sleepy...

Because it seems that everyone has a Lucy - some even admit that they used to be one too...

Is the internet a giant game of hide and seek?

Congratulations you found me! 

The internet is starting to feel like a giant game of hide and seek, and I seem to be an expert at hiding...

I sell most of my books at book signings, where people are delighted to meet a real live author, as if I'm some rare and endangered species.

Please visit my bookshop, have a rummage around and read the blurbs.

There's my new book for adults - where I share probably more than I should about how I got outnumbered by cats - is it normal to hiss back at your cat...? She was certainly surprised!

But most of my books are for kids - from picture books to share, to the Doodle series to either read aloud or leave new readers to discover alone.

Jump into a book and find a new friend. Talk about it with an old friend... read yourself into places you never thought you'd go...

Ramblings of an author trying to crack the clicking code

Is it just me, or does everyone come up against these constant learning curves...?

So what is the latest one? Well to get people into my bookshop - it's a little bookshop with big ideas, I think I've mentioned that before but hey, you might have missed it... 

So where are all the customers? They seem to be flocking past on the world wide web, on an endless treadmill of shoppers, all heading for the main shopping outlets.

But I believe there is a growing trend of people who are tired of the endless pushing of goods we probably don't need, and if we search something on the web, then that product turns up on every facet of what we're doing. 

A prime example would be when I recently bought a safety gate at a mainstream online outlet - well the search engines, or whatever causes these things to pop up didn't know what to do with this uncharacteristic purchase, and started sending me adverts for baby products and dog products - I have neither a baby or a dog, so they had failed to second guess what I needed a safety gate for... and I'm quite happy to leave it that way, I don't like to feel spied on, and certainly don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing the answer to that little mystery...

So... how to play the search engines at their own game...? Gathering clicks in the right place - clicks are the new footfall. OK, now I have a theory - and a bigger mystery than ever... arhh

So help me crack the code - click on my Little Bookshop with big ideas and help me buck the trend... or leave comments below.

Is Etsy the new answer to the craft fair?

Is Etsy the new answer to the craft fair...? Certainly it seems to be where all the craft people are gathering right now, and there are some beautiful and unique items in there

As my own website shop seems to be on a back alley that no one can find, I have been re-stocking my Etsy shop - there's books, there's sheep... what more could you want? And all nestled in the comfortable environment of this online craft fair... so pop along and see what you think.

Meanwhile I'll be putting my thinking cap on (oh no another excuse to wear a hat...), and planning how to renovate my shop, or dragging it into a more prominent position...

Book quote of the day...

'One unexpected indoor activity was to turn the kitchen floor into an improvised skating rink.' from Outnumbered by Cats

There's nothing quite like having a houseful of kittens...

buy now
http://www.

Self publishing and selling books

If incentives are needed to achieve sales than here's a good one - I've just paid my print bill, and now I'm skint - so that's the reality of self publishing, it's all down to me... And don't be fooled by the so called self publishing companies - it's still down to the author to sell the books.

But how hard can it be...? People love my books, they tell me so all the time, and when I'm at a book signing they fly off the table, so why is it so hard to sell online?

Is my website tucked away down some side street somewhere, where no one can  find it...? Hmm maybe that's it, I seem to have my blog on the main street though, where lots of people pop in and have a look around, some even stop and have a chat occasionally.

So why not nip along to my online bookshop - I may not have a coffee shop, but you can always put the kettle on, it'll be like a DIY coffee shop, you could even buy a book with the money you saved, and I'll post it to you free of charge!

1st editions 1st print run... signed books

So here's the thing...

I've got some pretty special books - first edition first print run  - and what's more it's a short print run of just 100 books, each hand numbered and signed.

And why should you buy one? Am  I famous? - well no, not yet, but with my drive and stubbornness anything is possible, and wouldn't you just kick yourself if you'd missed this opportunity...?

But the real reason to buy my new book Outnumbered by Cats is that you're going to love this true story, it's all there - possibly a bit too much at times - is it normal to hiss back at your cat when she hisses at you in the middle of the night for telling her kitten off...?  ...she was certainly surprised.

Oh and did I mention the photos? You're going to love the photos...