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!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
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.
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!)
Monday, September 17, 2012
Pioneers then and now!
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.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The straw that broke the camels back!
As I alluded to in my last post, author (and my mother) A. L. (Sandy)
Sanderson needed a sort of motivational push to finally (after 15 years
but who's counting) publish her book Timber; Fire in the Pines. Perhaps some of you writers out there can relate! The saying about the straw breaking the camel's back sometimes has sort of a negative connotation attached to it but it almost always involves a defining moment.
In this case our 'moment' was defined as a result of many positive discussions we had with Aimee Bissonette. She's a good friend (and happens also to be a cousin by marriage), successful author, attorney and college level instructor. Aimee provided support, knowledge, information and encouragement to us both and ultimately provided the final impetus for Sandy to go forward and publish Timber. We're almost there, so thank you Aimee!
Sometimes you just need a positive, persuasive voice that encourages you to take risks in life! Right? Well, we're finally on our self publishing/marketing journey. Sandy did all the work to research and write the book. Now it's my turn (the whole "me sell you write" concept in a nutshell) to help get the book out there so lots of people can enjoy it!
This marketing piece is an essential, albeit scary part of a successful publishing/sales endeavor. Many writers don't feel comfortable promoting themselves and/or their work. Some people don't know where to begin their marketing and why should they when it's writing that they have mastered?
Fortunately I do know where to begin because for the past 15 years I've been helping people advertise and effectively market and sell their products/services to consumers using non-traditional media alternatives. Because people consume media much differently now than they did even five years ago, we need to be even more strategic and creative about defining and delivering our message to our target audience. In this blog I'll be sharing some of my guerrilla marketing ideas for book/author promotion from ideation to execution and results. After all it is a JUNGLE out there and we all need knowledgeable guides along the way!
In addition to being a great guide for us and well versed on 'things' relating to writing and publishing, Aimee has written two excellent books:
Author of "Cyber Law: Maximizing Safety and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms" (Corwin Press, April 2009); contributing author "The Best of Corwin: Educational Technology for School Leaders" (Corwin Press, October 2011). I'm planning to interview Aimee in an upcoming post so she can share some nuggets about this business with all of us. Check out her website--www.littlebuffalolaw.com.
In this case our 'moment' was defined as a result of many positive discussions we had with Aimee Bissonette. She's a good friend (and happens also to be a cousin by marriage), successful author, attorney and college level instructor. Aimee provided support, knowledge, information and encouragement to us both and ultimately provided the final impetus for Sandy to go forward and publish Timber. We're almost there, so thank you Aimee!
Sometimes you just need a positive, persuasive voice that encourages you to take risks in life! Right? Well, we're finally on our self publishing/marketing journey. Sandy did all the work to research and write the book. Now it's my turn (the whole "me sell you write" concept in a nutshell) to help get the book out there so lots of people can enjoy it!
This marketing piece is an essential, albeit scary part of a successful publishing/sales endeavor. Many writers don't feel comfortable promoting themselves and/or their work. Some people don't know where to begin their marketing and why should they when it's writing that they have mastered?
Fortunately I do know where to begin because for the past 15 years I've been helping people advertise and effectively market and sell their products/services to consumers using non-traditional media alternatives. Because people consume media much differently now than they did even five years ago, we need to be even more strategic and creative about defining and delivering our message to our target audience. In this blog I'll be sharing some of my guerrilla marketing ideas for book/author promotion from ideation to execution and results. After all it is a JUNGLE out there and we all need knowledgeable guides along the way!
In addition to being a great guide for us and well versed on 'things' relating to writing and publishing, Aimee has written two excellent books:
Author of "Cyber Law: Maximizing Safety and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms" (Corwin Press, April 2009); contributing author "The Best of Corwin: Educational Technology for School Leaders" (Corwin Press, October 2011). I'm planning to interview Aimee in an upcoming post so she can share some nuggets about this business with all of us. Check out her website--www.littlebuffalolaw.com.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Mother and daughter team
My mom A. L. Sanderson (aka Sandy) started writing her book Timber about 15 years ago. I always wanted her to publish it but like many writers her fears sort of immobilized her and of course--life got in the way. We have one person in particular to thank for helping providing the impetus to forge ahead with publishing the book. Her story is coming tomorrow.
So finally we're in the process of publishing the book so it's super exciting! Hence the name of my first blog indicates a clear delineation of duties. Just like Tarzan and Jane! He bellowed "me Tarzan, you Jane!" (As if she didn't know this!) My mom's the writer and I'm a reader and her promoter and neither of us will be bellowing.
The whole process of self publishing is a huge deal. The industry is changing quickly and it's been difficult to know what company to go with. We chose bookbaby. I'll let you know how they do. Hopefully we'll have a finished product within about 4 weeks.
I feel passionate about Timber, it's a great story and her character's are endearing, feisty and interesting. It's also a book I laugh out loud while reading and that says a lot because although I read a lot of fiction I can't say too many books illicit that response.
This year I discovered another layer behind the story. I was researching our family tree and discovered our Swedish ancestors also logged. Although they were farmers they still had to clear the land using a homemade sawmill. The farms my family worked were up near Hinckley, MN and the mythical town of Pine Crescent featured in Timber.
My mom also shared stories of her life on the farm I hadn't heard before. Doing the family tree was really interesting and fun but tons of work. I realized that my mom was one of the last relatives who could tell me the stories behind all these black and white photos. To actually put a name with a face and learn about their life was very fulfilling. Having this history is grounding as well not only for me but for my children and grandchildren.
So finally we're in the process of publishing the book so it's super exciting! Hence the name of my first blog indicates a clear delineation of duties. Just like Tarzan and Jane! He bellowed "me Tarzan, you Jane!" (As if she didn't know this!) My mom's the writer and I'm a reader and her promoter and neither of us will be bellowing.
The whole process of self publishing is a huge deal. The industry is changing quickly and it's been difficult to know what company to go with. We chose bookbaby. I'll let you know how they do. Hopefully we'll have a finished product within about 4 weeks.
I feel passionate about Timber, it's a great story and her character's are endearing, feisty and interesting. It's also a book I laugh out loud while reading and that says a lot because although I read a lot of fiction I can't say too many books illicit that response.
This year I discovered another layer behind the story. I was researching our family tree and discovered our Swedish ancestors also logged. Although they were farmers they still had to clear the land using a homemade sawmill. The farms my family worked were up near Hinckley, MN and the mythical town of Pine Crescent featured in Timber.
My mom also shared stories of her life on the farm I hadn't heard before. Doing the family tree was really interesting and fun but tons of work. I realized that my mom was one of the last relatives who could tell me the stories behind all these black and white photos. To actually put a name with a face and learn about their life was very fulfilling. Having this history is grounding as well not only for me but for my children and grandchildren.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)