Self publish - the new name for multitasking

I think self publish is the new name for multitasking - trying to split my time between writing and illustrating the next book, and the business of marketing. But marketing can be as creative as writing the book - or at least that's what I'm trying to tell myself, to wake up the creative part of my brain when I'm trying to think of ever more inventive ways to get my books noticed, but my brain just wants to daydream about the next book - characters jostling about trying to leap onto the the keyboard.

Book signings are always popular, but why do book signings always have to mean standing in a bookshop or in a  hall at some craft fair...? Isn't the internet the new craft fair, where we can meander about and find just what we wanted without all those wasted trips to town when we found nothing, but  ended up rushing back to the car before the parking ticket ran out...

So all I have to do is move my online bookshop out of the back alley it seems to be residing in, and drag it out into the main stream of internet traffic, but not in so much traffic that my books get knocked off their shelves, I don't want them getting dogeared...

Off to break open the next box of books now, to fill an order - so something must be working.

Living the dream, and dreaming of making a living from it, one book sale at a time...

Everything you ever wanted to know about self publishing and a few things you didn't - ramblings of a self publisher...

So you found my blog - so I must be doing something right - self publishing is a buzz, there's no doubt about that, and as a creative person I love being able to keep control of every step myself, although when I'm on one of my learning curves it may not feel like it.

My learning curves mostly consist of when technology is trying to beat me, and I'm being stubborn and battling with it, every inch of the way... I seemed to get along with technology better once I stopped thinking that it was logical - I now believe that technology is far from logical, and we get along a lot better.I stopped believing for instance, that just because something worked one day, it doesn't mean its going to work in the same way the next... Technology has a warped sense of humour that I'm still trying to get my head around.

But self publishing meant that I had to get to grips with the technical side of formatting, especially as I like to make life hard for myself and include pictures - so they have to be forced to stick to the bit of the page where I want them, and not pile up at the bottom of the page like a discarded pack of cards. Of course it didn't help that the computer that I first started formatting on, was on its last legs, and that was sometimes the reason for nothing going as planned - not that I'm blaming my tools or anything - just saying.

Selling the books was my next learning curve, when I had to venture out from behind the computer - where I was starting to get quite comfortable. But I soon got used to sparking up conversations with random people about books - and for the most part they are very friendly and interested to meet a real live author, and many then want a book, signed by said real life author, which is all very good for the ego.

Selling online has to be my final learning curve - (until I come against another one that is). And so I find myself back behind my computer stubbornly carrying on against all odds, because books are the ideal product to sell online - customers can easily read the blurb or even an excerpt online and order a copy. They're easy to post and don't need food or water during transit. They won't break when they're launched through  a letterbox... so baring fire, flood, or someone's dog chewing them as they enter the house, they will arrive in good condition...

Thoughts, comments and questions always welcome... or I start to think I'm talking into an abyss...