Mclesh's Mad Self-Publishing Diary

JRTroughton said:

It is a very nice cover. Crisp, clean, quirky... very appealing.

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Thank you! I let my husband go on this one. I trust his creative instincts, and I think it paid off.

Celeste Carrara said:

Guess what I just got in the mail!! I'm holding your book in my hands!! It was suppose to arrive on Monday, but it came today!
I have to say it looks great! Createspace did a really great job printing it and you did a great job with the layout! I love the matte finish on the cover. I'm excited to read it!
My son said he's reading it first lol so I'll let you know what he thinks

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Celeste, thank you!

I was really happy with Createspace's quality with my first book. I remember when I was researching printers, I saw a friend's book and asked her who she used. It was Createspace. With Let Me Get This Off My Chest, we used the glossy finish. With Mr. Katz, we went with the matte finish. I'm really happy with both.

I really hope your son likes it.

Ian, thank you. That is very kind of you.

(The name of your home town is very intriguing. I'm sure it's not one people forget.)

Grayworld, Old Hack, and profen4: Aaaah! Thank you all so much!

Ian: There has got to be a story there.

Celeste Carrara said:

Just an FYI, my son isn't done yet, but he's loving it!!!
Oh and he said, "I love the cover and how it feels and the little guy on the front looks like a cell phone. It's cool."

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Celeste: Ah, that is so funny about the cell phone! Haha. I hadn't thought of that. It's great to get feedback from a VIP! I'm glad he's enjoying it so far.

I ordered a box of books, and a local children's bookstore has offered to let me have a signing. I'm hoping to set something up in November or December when they have a slot. They've also told me they're interested in stocking Mr. Katz. So yay! Reviews have been trickling in from NetGalley--I'll have more to say about that when I get my report from Patchwork Press--and I received my first review from LibraryThing. (The reviewer was kind enough to post reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. One of the NetGalley reviewers also posted on Amazon.) My hope is that the book continues a slow build until the second comes out.

I've sold more paperbacks now than ebooks, but I went ahead and set up a Kindle Countdown deal for the week leading up to Halloween. My thought there is if people download the ebook, hopefully it'll get them interested in the paperback. This is new territory for me. I wasn't expecting anything amazing to happen sales-wise, so I'm grateful for everything so far. Great feedback, and I'm having fun.

And, Ian, feel free to jump in any time. If you hadn't, I'd never know of a town called Penistone! (In all seriousness, is it pronounced "penny-stone?")

Ian Thompson said:

Yes it really is pronounced like that although according to all my friends they think it should be pronounced the dirty way!!!

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Haha. Well, of course!

I have a couple of good news updates. The first is that a local children's bookstore bought a few copies (okay, 5) and had me sign them. They placed them prominently in their children's books section. (They're in the Halloween display with other zombie-themed books.)

The other exciting news is I just got an email with an advance copy of the review of Mr. Katz is a Zombie that will appear in the winter issue of a well-known book review magazine. They also have a sister magazine which offers a paid review option. I did not submit my book for the paid option but took my chances that they'd select Mr. Katz for inclusion in their main publication, and they did!

I'd given up hope that any of the major review sites would review Mr. Katz, so this is a big boost. (And they liked it!)



So that is my good news. *skips off*

GretchenPaintedQuill said:

That's so awesome!!!

Did you do all your own promotion or hire someone? Could you share a bit more about that process?

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I'm full of happy adrenaline right now.

I am my own publicist/marketing department, and I don't really know much about either. But I have been learning along the way over the past two years since my first two books were released through a small e-publisher. (Pretty much all marketing and review gathering is up to the authors.)

Back in the beginning of this thread, I did list the things I was doing pre-publication. One was to send proof copies of the book out to a few of the major book review sites that accept self-published books and cross my fingers. My hope was they'd see the book and take a chance on it. I included a media sheet with all of the pertinent information: ISBN, category, price, page count, publisher, contact info, blurb, author bio, cover, etc.

The children's bookstore I gave an advance copy a couple of months ago. Right off the bat, the owners were impressed with the quality. These are particular people. Their store is like a polished gem, so I feel honored.

It is a good day.

Gretchen: These threads do get long.

Twick: Thank you!

Celeste: Thank you! It gets discouraging sometimes, pounding away day after day, wondering if the work will pay off. It's a good feeling to have some kind of positive reinforcement.