The Waiting Game

Didn't hear from Claire who is taking over the group, so I went in to the store again on Thursday to see if I could see her. I had to go into Kingston anyway. Apparently they are having a big meeting re the group next week, or possibly on Monday week, so once they have all sat around talking, I should hear from her then. She has my contact details anyway, and an information sheet on the book, so hopefully it wil be good news.

Heard from Ricky James, the Manager of Watkins in London as well, he is still up to his ears with books to consider, but shouldn't be long before he makes a decision as to whether to stock mine. Can't see why not myself.

Only one week then to go to the Questing Conference. This time next week I shall no doubt be sitting there surrounded by people admiring my wears and hopefully buying books. Have a lot to sort out though - getting a float of change, hoping my cash box is big enough, not to mention the table cloth I have bought. Deciding which promotional materials to use and how to display them, which articles etc to print out and maybe offer as freebies. Would have liked to have got some free pens or something, but probably left it too late now.

We are still waiting for the contracts for the house as well - were supposed to arrive a couple of days ago, but so far, nothing. We spoke to the solicitor yesterday and they have posted another copy out to us, so hopefully will arrive on Monday, and then I suppose it will all go. The house we are buying is already empty, so in theory we can move whenever the removal people can fit us in.

The power of positive thought

The meeting at Borders went very well - Linda is leaving the store though to start a new job (she only found out today) so someone else called Clare will be taking over the group. She has given my details to Clare though, who will be in touch within the next 24 hours to hopefully organise something and get me booked in. So this means that my books will be in at least one branch of Borders, and my name will also be on flyers etc all round the store. It a long held dream of mine to do a talk and book signing in Borders, so on this cosmic trigger day, dreams can and do come true. The power of positive thought in action.

Sainbsury's - groan !

The main news this week then is re Sainsbury's - groan, my ex employer. When I left their employ in August 2005, I led a lot of them to believe that the reason was to finish my book, although there were actually many other reasons as well, which I won't go into there. Suffice to say though, that I would not recommend them as an employer.

When I left though, and told them about the book, a lot of poeple said to let them when it was published, as they would like to have a copy of it. So, around one month ago, I telephoned the Personnel Dept (against my better judgement I might add) with a view to seeing if they would be prepated to let me place a copy in the staff canteen with an order form.

I spoke to a lady called Donna, who in turn spoke to the Personnel Manager, Sarah. Donna then came back to me to say that Sarah would like to see a copy of the book. So I took a cooy in for her to see, on the undersstanding that she would get back to me in 2-3 weeks with an answer as to whether they were prepared to let me put one in the canteen.

One month went by and I heard nothing, so last Monday, I telepehoned the store again. I was told that Sarah was in a Managers meeting and would call me back. She didn't, so I called the following day, and was told that they were all busy doing payroll and would call me tomorrow. I waited until Thursday afternoon before ringing the store again and telling them that I would be coming in after the Journey group on Friday afternoon. They then said that they would leave a message for me at the Customer Service desk.

When I got there, there was no message, so I signed in and went upstairs to see Personnel. Sarah was in yet another meeting. I was then told though, by another lady in Personnel, that Sarah had put my book in the canteen, after it was delivered, and surprise, surprise - it had gone missing. To say that I was unhappy about this is an understatement. I did NOT give them permission to do this - they were supposed to ciontact me first, and anyway, what is the point in putting a book on display to gauge interest with no information as to how people can order a copy.

After I got home, Sarah finally did ring, and gave me a load of old waffle about how she though they were doing me a favour by doing this, as I used to work there. If this is a favour - allowing someone to steal my book, then I dread to think how they treat their enemies.

The long and the short of it is that I have fired off a letter to the Store Manager, telling him what I think and asking for an apology. Technically they owe me £15 for that missing book, but I know I don't have a hope in hell of getting it. They do though owe me an apology though at the very least. We shall see. In some strange way though ,this has helped me to see that actually I don't need Sainsbury's anymore and helped me to out the whole thing to bed, or at least to start tucking it in .....

The Tranquility Awareness meeting on Friday though was good. They have invited me to bring some books along to the next meeting in November, which will be good. I have finally sent a flyer as well to Linda, the lady at Borders who organises the mind, body and spirit group, and am going in to Kingston to see her this afternoon, to discuss the group in more detail and share some ideas.

I have also done the flyer for my Writers Circle and Support group, which I have been talking about for so long. No more excuses now then. The first meeting will be on November 16th. Must send an email out to everyone then to let them know.

My 50th copy was sold today

I don't know where the time seems to go, looking at the calendar, I can't believe we are already nearly halfway through this week - Wednesday tomorrow, and I really can't believe we are a third of the way into October either, the dark nights will soon be upon us. Bearing that in mind, when it came to choosing the subject of tonights service at St Michaels, I decided to do it on the subject of the darkness. This is something that I probably know a little bit about, since I have been exploring my own dark side in quite some depth this past year or so. Telling Sainsburys where they can stick their job, then wriitng all those angry letters to the Job Centre and my MP, letting go of a lot of other stuff too from childhood, plus my fear of public speaking and also dogs - I am still working on that one, but am slowly getting there.

The talk though was a real success and the best I have done yet. Only 3 people turned up, but that is fine, as you get the people you need. One of them was a regular, Isabel, who comes to all of them, but the other 2 ladies I hadn't seen before. One of them I think I may have seen at one of the Sunday services, and I seemed to recall that she was one of the organisers for the Tranquility Awareness group that meet at St Michaels once a month, and whom I have been talking to on the phone about me coming along to their group to do a talk. This group has three organisers - Gina, Fran and Louise. I met Gina at the mind, body and spirit festival this weekend, and we had a long chat and she bought a book, and said that she thought I really needed to come along and do a talk. I suspect then that she sent the other two along tonight to check me out! One of them tonight also bought a book, and when I asked her what name she wanted me to write in it, she said, rather tentatively, Francoise ! I think then she is the same Fran that I spoke to on the phone. I will find out on Friday anyway though, as they have their next meeting, that they asked me to go to. So if it is her then I will feign ignorance and pretend to be terribly surprised.

The other news is that I have been given approval to finally start the writers circle and support group that I have been talking about for so long. I actually got approval for this back in May, but what with the house, and the book, and my habit of procrastination, it got put to one side. I really feel though that now I am ready to be doing so much more than just services - it is time to start leading my own groups. Over the coming months then I shall also be putting together a one day workshop on self publishing for spiritual writers. The first writers group though is booked in for November 16th from 7.30 to 9.30 pm. It will cost me £10 an hour to hire the sanctuary, plus another £10 if I use the kitchen, which I will try then to avoid. If I charge £10 a session then, which seems reasonable and on a par with other groups, then I only have to get 2 people per session to cover my costs. I have to get working then on my flyer tomorrow then so that it can go up on the notice board next time I go to the sanctuary on Friday.

I was hoping that there may be some news from Sainsburys by now re selling the book in their staff canteen where I used to work. They were supposed to ring me today to let me know what is happening, but so far, nothing. Will have to give them another call then tomorrow, and it that fails, then go in there to see the Personnel Dept. Don't really want to do this for obvious reasons, as I used to work there, but I suppose I shall have to when I deliver the books, assuming they are interested. Sales figures for September were in today as well - these are the figures for sales via book shops and internet retailers, amazon etc, so are in adidition to the sales I have made direct. I sold 1 copy in the UK and also 1 in the US - with the one that I sold tonight then that now makes a total of 50 copies in the 11 weeks since I got back from Lundy in July - is that all it is ? So that means around 4.5 copies a week, not bad at all for a self published author. It is only 2 1/2 weeks to the Questing Conference as well, so hopefully I will sell a lot more there. Things then are finally beginning to happen. I knew they would.

Any publicity is good publicity .....

Well, the Epsom Post printed a wonderful piece about me in this weeks edition. The write up was very good, it is justa shame there was a mix up with the picture, and they printed one of June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton in EastEnders, rather than me. A few weeks ago I would have been absolutely fuming about this, but I took it in my stride. I think in fact it was one big cosmic joke, and a reminder from spirit not to take it all quite to seriously. I do have a teensy tendency to do that at times.....

Here then is what they wrote:

Launch of book on spirituality

A well-known speaker at St Michael's Sanctuary, In Ewell, is launching her new book at the Sanctuary's Mind, Body and Spirit Festival.
The festival, on Saturday at St Michael's, in Church Street, will feature stalls including a book-signing by June Austin. She is celebrating the publication of Genesis of Man.
This is a book of spiritual history and the origins of mankind from 35 million years ago to the crucifixion of Jesus.
June said, 'the main theme, however, is the need to integrate and maintain the balance between our own light and dark sides and use both aspects of ourselves to help us grow. 'It is a book that will help a great deal of people and is already attracting some interesting reviews', she added. Various complementary therapies will also be on offer, throughout the day, as well as clairvoyance and astrology readings.
The festival is open from 10am to 5pm, with plenty of parking available nearby.
St Michaels' is a non denominational centre of healing and spiritual knowledge lcoated in the centre of Ewell. The sanctuary offers healing and teaching of a universal nature to encourage individuals to find their own spiritual path to peace.
Services take place on Sundays at 6pm, and Wednesdays at 8pm.
The sanctuary also offers various other events and workshops, such as meditation groups and Tai Chi.

It was a good write up then apart from that picture. I think I will have trouble living this one down for quite some time yet... I contacted the paper of course as soon as I realised what had happened, and they will be printing an apoplogy in next weeks edition, which means of course that I will now be in there for 2 weeks running. Perhaps I should drum up some more publicity by contacting June Brown and offering her a copy of this famous book written by her almost namesake. You never know, it could end up being circulated to all her colleagues and other cast members and be featured in Hello or one of those other glossy magazines....

The day itself though went very well. Overall the sanctuary raised about £1000, which will pay for the supports needed for the downstairs ceiling. They found recently that some clown in the dim and distant past had drilled through some of the joists that hold the ceiling up, so until they had the money to get it fixed, they have had 2 large metal poles supporting it all. We have been thinking of setting up a St Michaels Pole dancers troupe as an (almost) Full Monty....

It was busy downstairs, where the therapists were as soon as they opened the doors, but upstairs where I was, it was a very quiet morning. Then about 2.30 pm, everyone seemed to pile upstairs for late lunches and early afternoon teas, and within the space of an hour I had sold 6 books ! I also exchanged one for a book that was written by an old friend, who was there doing flower essence readings, and who I hadn't seen for over 10 years. I worked briefly as a receptionist at the clinic that she used to run, and was actually the tester for the first ever essence that she made. She now has a whole series of 52 of them and is teaching other people.

I also managed to sell a few second hand books and tapes, which was good, and a small crystal skull. All in all then I took about £110 for day, which is not too bad. It was good experience though for the Questing Conference at the end of the month, which will of course be the big one, with between 4 and 500 people expected, plus the speakers and other stall holders. If I managed to sell 7 books yesterday with maybe 100 people visiting, I can multiply 7 by at least 4 or 5, which means I can expect to sell up to 35 books, which roughly translated means about £275 profit. That will be without the second hand books I shall also take with me, so could easily top £300, maybe £350 for a days work, which will not be too bad at all.

All in all though I was quite pleased with what I achieved. Apparently Paul Burrell, who was Princess Diana's Butler, did a book signing yesterday for his new book, and only 4 people turned up, so I am doing better than he is then. Loads of people took postcards as well, and were making jokes about Dot Cotton, which I admit did get a bit wearing, but they meant well. I also made some useful contacts, as there was another couple there selling their books as well, which they self published, and they gave me several names and numbers to try. Another lady said that she would be interersted in selling my book via her website, and one of those that bought it runs a discussion group and would be interested in me doing a talk. Her group though is fully booked though until June, but I can wait.

Overall it was a very good day though, and a very useful experience, but very tiring. Goodness knows how I will manage at the Questcon then, when I have to drive all the way to London and home again as well, after a 9 hour day. It will be an experience if nothing else.

Life, the universe and everything in between .....

Have been feeling a bit strange and out of sorts again these past few days - all the doubts and that nagging voice of the ego has been creeping in again, comparing myself to other more 'successful' self published authors, which is always a futile exercise. I mean, why would I want to be like anyone else, when I can wonderful old me. In church tonight, Margaret, who did the service, was saying that this has been a horrible old year for most of us, since all those things that we thought we had dealt with have been coming up to bite us on the bum - she wasn't joking. It has certianly been the most difficult and challenging year that I remember - one of intense joy, but also the most intense pain.

I managed to sell another copy though on Friday, which is good, and now makes a total of 39 of them. This one went to a lady called Jane, who was visiting the Journey group for the first time. She is an author herself as it happens, on interior design and soft furnishings, and also works for a conference organiser, so has lots of nedia contacts. Might then be a useful person to know. I do get the strong impression, with being introduced to both her and Paul in the space of a week, that something interesting is in store. I have had my first taste of dealing with local media as well this week, with the local papers. I spoke to the lady at the Epsom Post at the beginning of the week, and it looks like they will definately be running a piece. Will have to cut it out and keep it for my portfolio then and also to pin up on the noticeboard that the Sanctuary have set aside for my stall for next weekend.

Yesterday I also had an email from Nadine, a very good friend of mine from Arizona, whom I got to know via one of the writers sites I post on - My Writers Circle, to say that that she had mentioned my book to the Grumpy old man - he is one of those blog book reviewers, based in the UK, who review the best self published books. His site is frequently visited by agents and editors, so you never know. If he shows an interest, then I would certainly be willing to send him a copy and maybe even organise an interview to go on his site. Must remember to add a link to Nadine's site next time I do some updates.

I also had the idea to try and order a copy from both Borders and Waterstones in Kingston to see what happened. I had been told by Paul that many of Richard's authors seem to have problems with prospective buyers trying to get their books from shops, as shops only order books that show as being in stock on their ordering system. With POD of course, the books are printed to order, so are not kept in stock, as it is the act of ordering a copy that causes them to be printed in the first place. I have notified everyone on my mailing list then just to make sure, and also added a note to the ordering page on both websites. While I was in Borders, I happened to notice a flyer for their new mind, body and spirit group, which one of their managers, Charlotte told me some time ago. She was supposed to get back to me with a view to doing a talk, but I never did hear from her. The sales assistant though called her over to the information desk and we had a chat. It sounds like she is definately interested in me doing a talk for the group, possibly in december. This is great, since the store will be packed at this time of year. She asked me to email her colleague, the organiser, Linda with details of the book and the suggested theme for the evening. If they do book me, then they will order 20 copies of the book to try and sell on the night. I didn't tell them that their Head Office had turned it down !

Coran suggested the slogan Genesis of Man, life, the universe, and everything in between, which actually I really like. It is a play on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I think it works really well, as my book is about life, the universe and pretty much everything in between. The everything in between also pertains to the need to balance the light and the dark, becoming, grey, like the space in between, and at the same time, using our own grey matter, by thinking for ourselves. I have then ordered some more postcards with this new slogan on them as VistaPrint have some good offers at the moment. With luck they will arrive in time for the weekend. The last lot was here within about 3 days, even with the slow delivery.

That's it for today then, will post some more as and when I have something to report.

Local media

What a morning it has been - yet again. I managed to get those news releases written yesterday and sent them out to three local papers newspapers. The Epsom Post sounded interested, and asked me to send a picture of myself. The library across the road from the church are going to display some flyers on their noticeboard. I will try the libraries around here as well.

I sent the cheque yesterday for the balance for the Questing Conference. I will have to think carefully about how many copies I will need to order, as this is a BIG event. I will see how I do next weekend first, as I should be able to order more copies after that if I need to.

This morning then I have emailed IndePublishing to get a copy of their contract re selling my book on their site. The owner Jo Anthony said she could give me some useful suggestions re improving my information sheet, which may be helpful. I also Emailed the organisers from Friends in Focus whose meeting I went to last week to confirm that I was definately interested in doing a talk there. I allso emailed Heart and Mind, as I had not heard from them.

I then booked a place for Edwin's next talk. There were several people at the Esher group last week whom I hadn't see for a while, who asked if I was going and could I bring a copy along, so I Emailed Edwin as well to let him I would be doing that. It is only courtesy after all, as it's his event. I rang Richard to see if there was any news from West Country Books - he doesn't think it will go anywhere as he hasn't heard back from them. I might chase them up myself later on, to see what's what.

I also rang Gaynor to order some more books - 14 copies this time, just to make sure I have enough for next weekend, in case the local press do run some articles. They can be taken along to the Questing Conference if I don't sell them all. Gaynor has passed my details on to an amateur publicist that they use, one of Richards more succesful authors, who may be able to help organise further talks and book signings and even radio interviews. He will probably contact me in the next day or so, so watch this space ...

Last but no means least, I Emailed the Manager at Waterstones in Epsom to let him know about next weekend and that there may be some articles in the local press, as I mentioned that the book is availble from them, just in case he wants to order some more copies. It is time for lunch now and a quiet afternoon in the park - the sun is out and the sky is blue, so a nice long walk to blow away the cobwebs is in order, followed by a cup of tea and some mushroom picking.