Borders part 3

Continuing on from yesteday, it just goes to show that no does not necessarily mean no. I approached the Borders head office some time ago, sending them a copy, as per the Store Manager's suggestion, and about two days later I got a polite letter back saying they would not be stocking it. I then remembered the MBS group at the Kingston branch and contacted them again, got booked in and before I know what is happening they have ordered 20 copies and have put it on the company's orering system, so that any branch in the UK can now order them and it is actually a stocked title ! Richard will be delighted no doubt when Paul and I both speak to him later on today.

I forgot to mention as well that I had a reading with a friend on Monday and one of the questions I asked was re the book cover and does it need to be changed. I had already spoken to Martin on friday, who is the partner of Marion who runs the Journey group at St Michaels. He is very artistic I have recently discovered (see some of his work here) and I thought he may be ideal to do a new cover for me. He jumped at the chance and has asked me to ring him when I have some more ideas and information. Paul's son is also an artist and has offered to help.

Anyway, though Diana, the lady who did my reading suggested that a few minor changes will be needed probably in the New Year, possibly around spring time, once the new energies come in. Nothing major just to simplify things really though. She suggested that the idea I had re the couple walking out of the sea may be too muchd detail, but not to worry or think about this too much, because like before, the details will be shown to me. This is not a reflection either on the first cover and the fact that this too was shown to me by spirit, as what was right then is not necessarily right now or in the future. I need to work on energising the book a little more and really empowering it Diana said, to get it out there and seen and recognised for what it is, and also so that I, as the author will be seen and ackknowledged as an authority on the subjects that it contains. I must say though that the news from Borders last night is very encouraging and an excellent first step on the road towards achieving those things. Will have to ring Richard later on then and add the details to both of my websites.

In the meantime, must get some breakfast, my belly is rumbling like mad .....

Borders Part 2

The Borders mind, body and spirit group was tonight with Andrew and Helen Hain, self published friends of mine from the Kingston area, whom I met at the St Michaels mind, body and spirit festival in october. Went along then to support them and also see Claire, the organiser. I almost didn't recognise her, as she has dyed her hair bright red ! Anyway, the good news is that they have ordered 20 copies of my book and they arrived today ! 5 of them were on display which Claire asked me to sign so they can put them on sale with flyers re my talk in January to drum up some early interest. She also said that the book has now been added to the Borders orderiny system so any Borders shop in the country can now order a copy ! Brilliant news then !

When I got home I rang Paul and gave him the good news. He is every bit as pleased as I am, and will let Richartd know in the morning. I need to ring Richard as well and let him know about our move and a few other things, so will ring him as well. Paul mentioned that he is also trying to put together a book sgning with 6 or so of Richard's authors in Foyles, Charing Cross and my name has been put forward, so watch this space .....

Under the cover .....

I have just got off the phone from Paul, the publicist from Authors OnLine. He has submitted the book to quite a few people now, including The Times, Borders and Bertrams, one of the two largest distributors here in the UK. Two out of three of The Times reviewers love it, and the third is reading it at the moment. As to whether they will print a review though remains to be seen, as they do get around 200 submissions a week. Paul was lucky then to persuade them to look at my book at all. Even so, the fact that they do like it means that they will hopefully tell other people and they in turn will tell other people and so it goes on. You only have to get one good review in the right place and you are off and running ....

A lot of them have though commented that although they love the book, there is something about the cover that does not say 'pick me up and read me'. Paul himself said that he felt this too, but he did not know exactly what it was that was wrong. The two people from The Times though, and also Borders in Birmingham have said that they think it would be better if the cover was along the lines of the X Files or ET, where the cover comes towards you from a light in the background, a bit like some of the books on NDE's maybe. I need them to give this some serious thought, as these people carry considerable clout in the industry and their opinions matter. The book can still do well, but with the right cover it could do even better. Paul's son is an artist so if and when I come up with any more ideas then he may be able to do something for me at hopefully reasonable cost. In the meantime though I will start by having a look at my own library for some inspiration. Of course any ideas that anyone on here has will also be appreciated ....

Editing local newsletters

The talk at Tranquility went well - I spoke for about 45 minutes or so, and there were some interesting questions afterwards - didn't sell any books though! Nor sure what is going on here, as this is the second time this seems to have happened now (the other being the well publicised Questing Conference). I have a reading booked with my friend Diana in December, so that will be one the questions I shall ask, along with the reasons behind the aforementioned other site going up the swanny. I feel there is much to be learnt from both experiences, so it will be interesting to get spirit's take on such matters.

No news the move yet either. The buyers seem to be dragging their heels a bit, which is frustrating to say the least. We signed the contract at this end some 3 weeks ago, and theoretically there is nothing to hold things up at their end now the second survey has been done, so it is just wait and hope, wait and hope. It will happen though when it is meant to happen. I suspect actually that it is all to do with not just setting up the forum, but also the new writers group that I am starting tomorrow. If we were packing up ready to move then Coran and I would not have had the time to do either of these vitally important things.

The first writers group then is tomorrow night. I have to have four people come along to cover the cost of the rent, and so far it looks good. I have three people who definately want to come, and all the flyers I put out have gone, so it should be an interesting evening. The first meeting will be mostly to discuss what everyone wants from the group anyway, and what type of writing they all do. I will also though ask them to write their life story on one A4 sheet for homework. That will certainly be a challenge, and might also make an interesting post on the forum when I think about it. Will have to write mine first though ...

In the meantime though, it looks as if I may be the next editor of our village newsletter! This is a local A5 size pamphlet that is distributed for the princely sum of 30p per issue to around 2000 residents around the village that we are moving to. I had a meeting with the current Editor this afternoon, and have agreed to try out the role for a couple of months after we move, sharing it with him, with a view to taking over completely in May when he wants to step down. It will be great for my writng credentials and a fabulous way of getting to know my new neighbours so watch this space ....

More rabbit than Sainsbury's ...

3 November 2006

Apart from that though, I have been booked to do a talk at my local Borders in January ! When I signed the contract, back in April, one of the first things I did was visualse myself standing in that store, doing a tlak and signing copies, with a big poster in the window with my name on it, and now it is going to happen ! The talk has been tentatively booked for January 16 next year, and I can talk for as long as I need to. It will be in the mind, body and spirit section of the store, as part of the mind, body and spirit group that they have recently set up. Best of all, they have already bought one copy of the book (direct from me at full cover price) to put on display and for the staff to read through, and plan to order ip to 20 more so they can make a big display of books prior to the talk going ahead. They have even agreed to help me promote my writers circle which starts next week, by displaying flyers in the shop.

I have also been asked to do a talk at the Tranquility Awareness group next Friday as well! The speaker that threy had booked for next week has pulled out at the last moment, and so they asked me to step in. I will share the spot with Gina, who is one of the organisers, so will talk maybe for around 30 or 45 minutes, but I can easily do that, as I have the basis for a talk already that I did back in August, when it was first launched at St Michaels. It's all happening then !

Picture this - I am doing a talk in Borders

After Saturday's disappointment, today I am once again celebrating, with the best news since my book first hit the stands. When I got home yesterday, from the healing day at St Michaels, there was a message on the answerphone from Borders in Kingston, asking me to call the organizer, Clare if I was still interested in doing a talk at their Mind, Body and Spirit group. Was I interested - what do you think ! When I signed the contract to get the book published, one the first things I did was visualise myself standing in Borders signing copies of my book, and walking past seeing flyers in the window with my name on it. Well now it is about to come true.

I rang Claire back then first thing this morning, and she the rest of the Managers are extremely keen for me to do a talk, and very impressed from what they have seen of my book. The December slot is now taken, but January is fine by me - and what a start to the New Year that will be ! They have a special meeting tonight on Halloween, so i said I would do along to see how the group is run, and she asked me to bring a copy of the book with me, which they will then buy from their petty cash and place on display to see what the interest is ! This just gets better and better though, wait for this ....

She then said that they will order a load of copies, today, and do a special dsiplay of my books by the mind, body and spirit section during the lead up to Christmas, and she even said that I can display some flyers re the writers circle I am starting ! What a difference between Borders and Waterstones.

I was so excited about the whole thing, I couldn't stop jumping up and down for about half an hour. I don' remember feeling this excited since I first opened that very first sample copy, all those months ago.

And who says dreams don't come true !

good news and bad - depending on how you loook at it

Yesterday, the day of the Questing Conference turned out to be an experience, if nothing else. The day was shorter than previous years, with a lot less talks, at just 6 and seemed less well attended also. Last year the talks went on until 8.30 pm, but this time the last one finished at 6pm, with the opening address at 10am.

I did not sell nearly as many books as I hoped, so will not be doing it again. I did better at St Michaels in fact, a few weeks ago, as I sold just 5 of my own one and about half the second hand ones. I took around £125 in all, £87 of which is profit, making a loss of £3 for the day, not including food and petrol.

There seemed to be 3 main problems - firstly people do not books from unknown authors unless they are endorsed by someone big, or they are doing a talk there. Secondly, they didn't show up very well against the white cloth I used as a table covering. Thirdly, the space they had reserved for me was at the side of the hall, oposite the busiest area where most people were congregating. I could have chosen the other side of the hall, but it is always difficult. Do you go to the busy areas, where it is so busy in fact that people can't move round to your stall and therefore don't try, or do you choose a quieter area. I chose the quieter area in the end and am sitll not sure whether this was the right thing or not. Still the good news is that 2 of this years speakers got one - John Reid (his partner actually, but he will read it also) who did an excellent talk on the use of sound in ancient Egypt, and Greg Little, a lovely man from Memphis, Tennessee who did an equally good talk on the Bimini Roads.

I have to then be philosophical and put it down to experience - it was an interesting day, and I got to talk to some nice people. One other lady who bought a copy, Janet said she will pass it on to a friend of hers, who writes reviews for a well known magazine, and used to work for the Times, plus I sold those 2 copies to the speakers, who may love it so much that they write reviews as well. Thank goodness my web address is in the back !

It was though a very long and very tiring day. Coran I think was if anything, more tired than I was, as he had to drive me all the way up there and back again, and then return to pick me up afterwards - a total of 80 miles. We were so tired on the way back, and the trafffic was so bad, that we stopped in Chiswick for a Mcdonalds - something I would never normally do. Desperate times though call for desperate measures. I will proably spend the next 3 or 4 days regretting that bread roll though.

The conference though is really though a labour of love for Andy and hs wife Sue who organise it. I think about the only people who do make money from it are the speakers in terms of book sales, and of course Atlantis Book shop, who sell most of them. I saw some people with bags full of about 6 books that they bought from that stall, and consequently, although they liked mine, they had non money left to buy a copy. Maybe if I had taken credit cards, but I don't really think this would have made a difference either. A lof of them did though take postcards, so maybe will order through Amazon or my site. Will keep a careful eye on the number of hits next week then.

To sum up though, it was useful experience, but not one that I shall repeat. If I wanted to sell my books there again, then the best way I think would be to get Atlantis to stock it and then offer to sign some copies. I have to though be philosophical, It was a good day out, and I would have done along to listen anyway, so in some ways, the stall did not really cost me £90, but £60. It is all about raising your profile anyway, and I guess I did manage to do that, so it was really more a learning experience than a failure.

This afternoon then I have just got off the phone from a long conversation with Paul Ricks, the publicist for Authors OnLine, who rang yesterday while I was out. He has now read my book, and is very impressed and has several ideas of poeple to contact. The first one is Waterstones, more specifically, the Manager at Epsom who already stocks it, with a view to arranging a book signing or something. He is also though going to approach them at national level. He also has contacts at WH Smith that he will try and also at Bertrams, one of the largest wholesalers (who the book is registered with) as they supply most of the independent shops.

The last idea though was the Daily Express Book Club and also the Daily Mail, although he has not had success there with other books. They did though print a feature on Ian Lawton's book, Genesis Unveiled, and have also featured the works of Zecharia Sitchin, so I would say that they may well be interested in mine.

He will contact all thse poeple this week then, and I will hopefully hear back from him by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.