Can I sleep on your couch?

I've sold one book since my last book reading and have received zero additional reviews. Don't worry, I am not going to start complaining about how hard it is to self promote a book. It's going to be tooth and nail. It's going to be mostly ineffectual. (Am I describing my sex life or my book?) What I am going to do is get to work.

Just sent a few inquisitive tendrils out to friends in Lincoln and KC, in hopes of finding a good venue to do a reading and hopefully find a place to crash. I have neither the time nor the money to subsidize an actual book tour, so I am going to try and schedule readings throughout the winter in communities that are close enough for me to drive to.

So I guess I am on the market for a groovy bookstore in Des Moines, if anyone has any suggestions. 

On the local front, I am bringing the paperback to 'Our Bookstore' in the old market passageway this week. This is my first brick and mortar location. I am my own distributor at this point. It costs about $3 to print a book, so I am ordering one small batch of copies at a time. After printing and postage, I take whatever $$$ I can get for the book. I have been selling the book for $10 thus far. It is 12.99 on Amazon. 

Free and cheap books are probably the best way to attract new readers and downloads on the internet, which is great. I would love to put out a collection of short stories this year and just give it away, to generate newsreaders. I am too deep in the hole with the current project to give it away for free, but maybe I am shooting myself in the foot. Maybe I am already legless, but have not yet realized it. I haven't been able to feel anything from the waist down for awhile.

Blogs are like road trips. Road weary and starting to get punchy, the likelihood of ending up in the literary ditch is imminent. What I need is a really lovely scenic overlook, to get some perspective, to recharge, to get inspired, to get back on the road. 

Any self publishing questions? What am I missing? -thom