Farm Girl: The Making and Selling of Books

My first published book, Farm Girl, was also the very first release for WiDo Publishing. The book had been put together beforehand, with my son Billy as the editor and my son Don doing layout and design. My plan was to print up a few copies for my mom and for our family members.

WiDo's investor paid for a large print run of 5000 copies. About half of those have sold. The investor was willing to try many things to get sales-- hiring a publicist, sending out copies for contests, paying someone to call bookstores and get orders. The idea was to try a lot of different approaches and eventually something would pay off.

It's been an interesting learning experience, because the entire publishing culture changed from when WiDo first began until now. Most of the things that we tried at first are no longer viable.

Calling bookstores? A waste of valuable time. Farm Girl sells more books on Kindle than on print.

Hiring a publicist? A waste of good money. Book sales happen more through online blog reviews and the calculated use of KDP Select free promotions than through an expensive publicist getting a feature on TV, radio or in the newspaper.

Giving away free copies to teachers in hopes they'd buy more for the classroom? Ha! Teachers are strapped for cash and will gladly take a free book. Period.

From the way books were printed in 2007 to the way they are sold in 2012, Farm Girl has led the way in change for WiDo. The lessons we learned and experience gained from making and selling this first book have been invaluable. And I think that's the real worth of Farm Girl as WiDo's first release.

by KarenG Coming Down the Mountain: A Writer's Blog

E is for ...

Elizabeth! Go figure . . .

And no, I promise you I am not narcissistic.

Something inspiring is more  like it ...
I am surprised of the journey I have  taken so far and am hopeful for what lies ahead.

I grew up in a home  where  the kids bee-lined it to their  bedrooms, screaming, "Dad's home, Dad's home--HIDE!" And we  meant it. We  were scared of him.

As a newly married woman so many years ago, I yearned to reinvent my parenting skills. My relationship with my father now is much different. Better--and we see  eye-to-eye (for the most part). The only reason why I bring up my past is because it amazes  me how far I've  come and that anyone in my position can most definitely  lead a happy and productive  life.

I coped with such atrocious circumstances through my art and writing. I combined the two very often and came up with graphic novel books that I had lost myself in. Of course they  are as cheesy as I'll get out, but through my characters, I learned how to deal with circumstances and even took out some of my aggression on them as I made  them endure situations, but I witnessed their growth as well. I had no idea that a few decades down the road I'd become published.

 I am glad that I had the  strength as a teenager to stick to the thing I loved most and turned it into something dreamers dream of becoming.

If I can do it, so can  you. Yes, you can let your light shine no matter your circumstances!


Would you care to share with us some of your roadblocks, and your action plan to clear them away?

D is for Dreams!

We're a couple of days in to this challenge, and I don't know how things are for you at your blog, but at mine, it's an explosion of activity! I've never had this many comments, and I've met such wonderful new friends!  I'm trying like crazy to keep up with returning comments, but just know that I will make it to your house eventually.  I'm so excited to be in this challenge because I'm using it as a means to my dream.

It's been a dream of mine to write a book. When I say write, I mean writing an entire book, with a plot, that others will enjoy reading.  I've got it started, five chapters, and it's a sci-fi space opera meets good ole tale of corrupt government agencies and the guys trying to bring them to justice.  I know I need to shorten that...just don't really know if it fits a genre that's already out there.  

Why blog, instead of working on the book?  Blogging to me means practicing my instrument. The more you practice, the better you play. Challenges such as this one with deadlines and a bigger audience means I'm trying some new stuff to see if it fits my style, my blog, my readers. I'm counting on you to tell me how I'm doing. So far two commenters have left constructive criticism. Wow. I've been asking for that in the blurb to my comment box for a very long time, and finally some brave bloggers are doing it!

If you'd like to comment and help me with my dream, come on over to Life is Good. Postcards from Sweden is my theme, and you learn a word or two of Swedish everyday.

What's your dream? I'd love to hear it.

Tina @ Life is Good