Comments, Commerce, Community Centers and Clubs:

Hey EVERYBODY!

We had a great Launch for TIMBER yesterday!  Above the pictures display some of the cool antique tools/artifacts or lumbercamp ambiance.  

Great to see friends, fans and family supporting A.L. (Sandy) Sanderson's first novel.  Sandy signed lots of books yesterday and we sent many ebooks out as well.  If you're reading this and would like a digital copy of TIMBER, please send me a message!

If you're one of the first people to read the book we LOVE comments and reviews about the book.  Sandy really enjoys hearing from readers!  We need you to help us spread the word about what a great read TIMBER is!

In the next few weeks I'll be contacting bookstores and gift stores to personally introduce them to the book and to get the book on their shelves.  I'll also be focusing on the senior communities because we've had such success there and it's been so gratifying to bring the book to them.  Book clubs are another strategic marketing focus, Sandy is willing to meet clubs and sign books! Please contact me if your store, senior center or bookclub would like Sandy to visit.  We're scheduling author visits now. 

Check out Sandy's new website: www.alsandysanderson.com.  We're just establishing the online retail presence for TIMBER.  If you'd like to purchase a book you may do so on that site.  You may also contact Sandy through her site.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

It Takes a Village to Launch a Book!

Many of TIMBER's author A. L. Sanderson's family and fans are aware we're having the official book launch February 17.  We'll be missing those who live out of state or can't make it.  Thank goodness we didn't have the event  scheduled for today as the weather is not ideal for driving.  (That's "Minnesnowta nice" for the roads are slippery and dangerous and if we hardy souls had a brain in our heads we would not venture out.)  We're going to cross our fingers and hope for good weather next Sunday.

We're excited about celebrating the launch of TIMBER, 15 years after it was first written.  I wanted to set the scene evoking a feeling of being back in the 1890's.   Since I own exactly none of the things I want so I've been collecting antique and forest or wood elements from my Village.  My husband Charlie is as always a willing and good sport (although he does think I'm nuts) and does the grunt work and contributes a sane voice of reason.  

My good neighbor and friend Stew, new friend John and brother in law Mark all exceeded my expectations providing items to stage the event.  These guys are amazing!  I gave them my irrationally optimistic wish list and they said "no problem" and proceeded to dig out the obscure items from their packed treasure trove AKA their garages. 

I've attached the cedar wood plank from Mark with the book title burned into it.  John provided the wood burning tool; it definitely takes a knack but was very satisfying to see results.  I felt very crafty using this tool to create a signs with words burned onto it!  When I stage everything next Saturday I will upload a photo of all assembled items so if you try very hard and use a good deal of poetic license you may get a sense of the 1890's.

Some of the great treasures we scored for use on Sunday include actual tools from the late 1800's from all three guys, lovely birch branches and a huge tree stump simulating the forest from John's backyard.  Mark provided some log cuts we made other signs with such as the one directing guests to the outhouse!  Stew added special antique items such as an old whiskey barrel and cross country skis actually from the 1800's.

I'm using the burning tool to etch the title onto the wooden plank

It's been a fun adventure to set the 1890's scene and more fully experience the time period TIMBER takes place in.  My thanks to all who contributed towards having a memorable and successful launch!

The Devil's in the Details!

It’s  been a great week in the "MeSellYouWrite" world. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, A.L. Sanderson's book, Timber; Fire in the Pines, is finally out there and we’ve been getting lots of great feedback.

Feedback from readers can be more satisfying to writers than monetary rewards; at least that’s how it seems to be with this particular writer. When people take the time to share their thoughts and feelings it gives the author a unique opportunity to experience their story through the reader's eye. It’s really satisfying to learn that the words they have written have the desired effect!  Imagine the pleasure for the writer when the funny dialog they wrote made the reader smile—or even laugh; or when a poignant scene evokes sadness or tears.

Like many historical fiction writers, Ms. Sanderson spent a lot of time researching her subject at libraries and museums.  She researched lumber camps and lumberjacks and how they lived, forestry practices and how they cleared the timber, and much more.  The hours and hours spent researching is really rewarded when they receive positive feedback from readers.  

The feedback we got from some of the gentlemen readers was surprising; after reading Timber, their responses reaffirmed the power and necessity of writing a well researched book. The first thing one older gentleman commented on was how some of the characters in the book spoke to him. The dialog in the book transported him back to his youth.  Certain sayings and manners of speech used in the book were similar to how he remembers his older family members speaking.  And because a character in the book used a certain brand of chewing tobacco, the reader remembered something he hadn't thought of in a long time; it turns out the tobacco was the same brand this reader had first used when he was nine years old—and that was close to 70 years ago! Talk about a blast from the past! 

Another pleasant surprise came from a 10^th grade boy who was enthusiastic about the story.  Wow!  Who knew?  We're not planning to target high school students yet!

So it seems clear that knowing ones subject may be one of the most important things a successful writer can do to authentically impact a reader. When good research is done when writing historical fiction, it can bring the subject to life and make a book a joy to read.   The devil is—after all—in the details!

And from my vantage point, involved as I am in sales and marketing efforts to launch the book, hearing some of the reader responses makes it easier for me to market and position the book in the marketplace.

In sales and marketing, efforts are likewise guided and rewarded by conducting good research. After all, this is THE AGE OF INFORMATION!  Questions I need to research include: What’s all this new social media about?  Who is our audience?  How do we reach them in a cost efficient way?  What can we do to increase visibility of the book and build our platform?  What can we learn from our reader's responses?  It's these kinds of questions that can keep me up at night! 

We're still in the early stages with this book and I'm listening and learning lots of important details.  It will be these details that shape the plans that help make the book a success. 

It seems a no-brainer that—for both the writer and the publicist—good reader responses and careful research can both help to yield stronger sales numbers! 

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 [S1]

Nitty and Gritty

We're heading into the final final stretch of getting the book into the retail marketplace via a distribution channel.  Choosing a distributor so bookstores and libraries can order the book is a complex and tough decision.  Basically by the time the distributor takes their percentage, charges for the printing of the book and miscellaneous fees the author makes about .50 per book!  This is not a typo.

Gulp.  We're going to have to bite the bullet and do that to get retail exposure while we're building our audience and volume of books sold.  Right now the best thing for us and for many people buying the book is to go to the author's website www.alsandysanderson.com and buy the book there.  It will be super easy and cheaper to do.  

So you might be wondering how many books have we sold?  Well, 1 was sold directly and 100 were sold to a group (whose leader is one of the author's daughter but hey it still counts!) for Valentine's presents (lucky people).  So the official tally is 101 sold.  As I said we're still in the final stretch of gearing up but we feel excited nonetheless that we're at 101 books sold in such a short time-- with no retail accounts set up yet.  

In the meantime, we're looking forward to seeing local Minnesota friends and fans at the TIMBER book launch Feb. 17 where you will receive a complimentary ebook of TIMBER.  If you want to read it right away simply let me know via this blog or my email susan.bissonette@gmail.com.  We did that for a few friends taking warm weather vacations so they could enjoy TIMBER at the beach.  It's a great book to take on vacation!

One of the most pleasant and unexpected reviews came back from an older gentleman who loved the book!   The book was sent to his wife but he snatched it and wouldn't let go until he finished it.  One of the things he enjoyed most was the fact that the author used language and conversation typical for 1894-95 (and beyond) and he remembers hearing similar things spoken in his younger days.  

The author hopes you enjoy the journey as much as she enjoyed taking you there.  We've been thinking our target audience is strongest in women age 35+.  But we love to be proven wrong.  Keep reading guys and thank you!

TIMBER; Fire in the Pines is here!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged on this site.  Sorry!  The whole "designing the book cover" process bogged us down!  We actually changed publishers a few times and ended up becoming a publisher ourselves.  There's a story here for another day, but I digress.  Haven Publishing is our company name (watch for big things)!

So, we slogged through the design process this fall of 2012.  Setting and lowering our expectations a bunch of times throughout our searches and final selection of companies.  As it turns out our cover design from SelfPublishing.com exceeded our expectations!  I'm going to post it here for you to get a peek of the book hot off the press.  Please let us know what you think!

We printed the books at a company in Brainerd, MN who has been in business for over 100 years.  Quality is excellent. The books look fabulous!  It's so exciting to see the book become a reality.  Oh...now I get to work to actually make sure the books sell!  Okaaay.  Actually it's an easy book to promote because it's so good and people are loving it already.

My favorite review so far was from a reader who was up late reading,  got caught up in the story, had to get SOME sleep but dying to finish the book so she set her alarm early the next morning to see how it ends before work.  (That's dedication!)  I love a book I can lose myself in too.  She further commented that it was a book in which the characters were developed so well and the plot twists so interesting it was hard to see the story end.  (No worries, Sandy's Book #2 is already well underway and will be related to the TIMBER story.  Can't say more yet, but it's coming soon!)  

For now we hope you'll get a hold of a copy (soft cover or ebook) of TIMBER; Fire in the Pines on our new website:  alsandysanderson.com.  There, you get to know a bit about the author A.L. (Sandy) Sanderson; she invites you to step back in time with her to Central Minnesota in 1895.  You can read the prolog of TIMBER on the site and we can also send you a sample chapter for free.  We're dying to hear YOUR reviews so please keep sending those to us.

Pioneers then and now!

My husband Charlie and I went to Fraser, Colorado recently with friends.  We visited a fascinating Pioneer museum in a nearby town.  There were lots of items from the late 1800's--the same time period as TIMBER is written.  We read about people who cleared the land and saw the tools they used.  It's amazing to think of what challenges they must have faced!  Just keeping warm!  I shudder to think of it.

I love to read about our ancestors who braved the elements, overcame their obstacles and survived to tell their story.  Many pioneers were immigrants such as the male protagonist, Thor in TIMBER, Fire in the Pines.  He came from Sweden with knowledge of how to clear the land in a more responsible way than he found in Central Minnesota. The novel was researched carefully to include many historical facts such as about lumbering practices.

In addition to his knowledge of the logging industry, he carried his hopes and dreams.  The pioneers were driven to realize their dreams and that drive created fierce determination to keep going.  A quality that I need a lot of everyday!

We're still in the process of creating the cover for TIMBER.  It's been a frustrating process and finally culminated  in a decision to change publishers.  Self publishing and social media are industries evolving constantly and quickly.  There are plenty of times I feel I'm a bit of a pioneer and although it's tough it's an exciting journey!  Stay tuned to hear more about my pioneering journey, hopes and dreams.

Magical Trends!

A couple weeks ago I submitted a question and answer formatted interview about author and my mother A.L. (Sandy) Sanderson.  To our great surprise it appeared in print today in the Eden Prairie Newspaper!  Super exciting.

We didn't know the article was going to print already so we're caught a little behind in our marketing plans.  A couple nagging marketing issues overshadow my joy about getting an article about the book published in the paper since I'm in "charge" of marketing this book.  But ready or not we loved the article and it was fun to see Timber; Fire in the Pines mentioned publicly for the first time!  Game on.

First issue though, is that our website hasn't launched due to technical issues.  Seems that the site isn't being magically produced as we anticipated it would be.  Secondly, the book cover design  is causing publishing delays since without it we can't move forward, of course.  (Hard to find a character as gorgeous as Thor, the male protagonist in TIMBER; Fire in the Pines.)  We are working with our self publishing company who says they offer custom designed book covers.  However, we're learning that the custom cover we imagine is not magically being produced either.  Do you see a trend happening here?

However,  we carry on despite our unmet expectations and dreams of magically produced materials!  We're more involved in the creative process than we anticipated.  Scary!  We're learning a lot about what we didn't know we didn't know. Hopefully in the next two weeks the cover  will (magically) come together!
To read article://www.edenprairienews.com/entertainment/local-author-writes-of-timber-fire-in-the-pines/article_4a098ada-4455-5f59-8d7c-3ed375006f93.html


Sandy enjoying summer our garden.