POD - Please order Direct

Is this another Part-time job? It would seem so. The good news is, you are working for yourself, which is an absolute pleasure. Every time I sit down to work on this self-pubishing/promoting machine, it feels like I have just made myself a great dinner. 

By way of a little check in, the ebook is published and for sale on the major book seller sites. I have submitted the title to a few ebook contests. One of which, I will hear back from this week. Website, FB, Goodreads, bloggy-blog, CHECK! And... My sales have plummeted this month. I have sold a single copy of iTunes, which tells me I have just about spun out my local network. Now the hard work begins. 

I still am working local venues to book another reading, but I have moved on to researching my print options. I am trying to keep my overhead low and retain my autonomy. I am pricing a final copy edit, before I send it to print. So far my options are Amazon Print on Demand, through createspace and I company called BookMasters. 

BookMasters is a pay for service independent book distributor. It seems like a good company and promises to get my book on the shelves, but it costs money and their are upkeep costs. It would be great to hear from someone who has used their services and could give me some user feedback. Still chewing on that. 

Now, kudos for Amazon for making it easy. You can pay for any service you want from them. You can send them a tattered manuscript and a fist full of cash and they will edit, design you cover, and layout your manuscript for print on demand service. Or, you can do it all by yourself. I am pricing the edit, but I am considering doing all the additional work myself. There are templates and easy to follow guidelines. Frankly, Amazon has made it idiot-proof. Once your book is formatted correctly and uploaded, it is free. The cost of printing  the book is built into the price, which you are free to set. 

With a print-on-demand edition, you can send hard copies to reviews, purchase cheep promotional copies, set up local distribution and have some books on hand to sell during any book readings you can organize. So, that is the rough plan. Continue to work local, create a little buzz and hopeful keep the momentum going. 

In conclusion... this is hard work. You really have to be prepared to stay the course if you intend on being even mildly successful independently. The good news is, my book is getting great user reviews. 

They come in one at a time, each review a revelation. 

Murakimi couldn't have been more right. Keep your feet moving, no matter what. Dance dance dance.