Last weeks boost of encouragement didn’t last very long. Shortly after writing the blog and before I even posted it, I received this comment from Sandy Lender, author of the fantasy novel, Choices Meant for Gods, and I quote “…I have to fight and attack and struggle (I'm sure these are words you found in that marketing book) to get every inch of ground I've gained. Any day that I don't post to my blog is a day I lose an inch. Any day that I don't make a new contact is a day that I lose an inch. Any day that I don't send out a press release is a day that I lose an inch. It's high-pressure, high-stress, high-worry...and it's probably killing me…”
Sandy went on to say that she survives on four hours of sleep a night and that’s increased by an hour from when her book was first released.
What this means to me is—I’m in serious trouble. For one thing, I need sleep. Three to four hours is just a nap, I need a minimum of eight or I become cranky. Also, I’ve been living the ideal life of a retiree consisting of morning walks in the park or along the beach, maybe an hour or so of reading by the pool followed by an afternoon of writing, which means that words like stress, fighting, attacking and struggling are no longer part of my vocabulary.
Don’t get me wrong, I know I need to do some self-promotion and I’m even looking forward to it (I think), it’s just that I don’t want it to be the primary focus of my writing career and I certainly don’t want it to kill me.
With Sandy’s comment in mind, I realize I should be enjoying this time before the release of The Ride instead of bemoaning the fact that the publication process is taking so long. And, I guess that I still have a while to ‘enjoy’ because the Archebooks Publishing schedule did not move at all during the month of June. In May, they released four books and I was so excited because there was only one manuscript ahead of mine. In June, no books were released and there is still one manuscript ahead of me. Editors must take the summer off.
Fortunately, something wonderful happened this week to counterbalance the panic attack that was close to surfacing. My daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, in the process of moving from England back to the states, are currently staying with us. Granddog is in Michigan with his other set of grandparents because it was too hot to fly him down here. So right now, I think I will put all the scary aspects of marketing out of my mind and simply go enjoy being a grandmother.
First, I want to let you know that Sandy is going to be a guest on my blog on July 20th so please mark your calendars and stop by. Sandy is always interesting to talk to and will be happy to answer your questions. In the meantime, you can visit her blog at http://www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com/. Her book, Choices Meant For Gods, is available through http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm or your favorite book or on-line store.
Have a good week.
Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride (to be released by ArcheBooks Publishing)
janekennedysutton@gmail.com
http://janekennedysutton.googlepages.com/
Tags: The Ride, Archebooks, Sandy Lender, Choices Meant for Gods , Jane Sutton, fantasy novel
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3 comments:
Poor Jane,
You ran into Type A Personality Woman on a bad day. I'll find her and send her in here to explain, but I think the reason Sandy only gets four hours of sleep a night (and I have seen her take naps on Saturdays...but I guess I shouldn't tell you that's because she doesn't sleep at all on Friday nights due to the second job she has) is because she has a fulltime job. Your post just stated that you do not. So you can relax! You're in the clear, my love!
I'll find my author and send her in to repair this situation...
All my best,
Nigel Taiman
JANE!!!!
(I was logged in as "someone else" earlier)
You can't let my insanity worry you! See, my niche audience is sci-fi/fantasy readers, and lots of them are online/internet junkies (like me). So marketing online is important for me to do, but the only time I can really do that is when I'm not at work. I'm at work all day (and the nature of my work involves deadlines that can keep me quite late sometimes), so my online marketing happens in the evenings, at night, in the wee hours of the morning.
Now, as Nigel pointed out, you don't have to fret over a day job cutting into your writing career. You can be like Hemingway. He used to get up every morning, write until about noon, then go out and get drunk with the boys at the bar. Now...you probably won't go out and get drunk with the boys at the bar...Instead, you can use that block of time to market market market and promote promote promote. Nice? And you still get to bed at a reasonable hour...
I suddenly became insanely jealous. ;)
Sandy L.
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
"Tender, celebratory, joyous, painful, heart-breaking at times-- I found myself thinking about ways of communication." -Sara
http://www.lulu.com/content/608930
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