In The Event Of This Post, I Must Be Dead...Oh Wait...

If you are reading this, it means I died in the Mayan Apocalypse. If that's the case, I'm probably not going to write any more blogs past this one -- or am I?  

This is in effect my last will and testimate.  I swear on a book of bibles that I'm sane, sound and whole. As one can be during their last day on Earth. 

 

Donald--Take good care of Emma.  I love you.

Emma--Take good care of Donald.  I love you.

Momma--All's been said on my part.  I'm pretty sure all's been said on your part.  Oh, and Luke's Tale is all set to go in Amazon, all you have to do is push the publish button. I love you.

Daddy--I hope one day you learn that having control over anything but your own actions is a lie.  I love you.

Rett--I'm so proud of you!  I think you hide too much so I'm just gonna say who gives a fuck what they think of you.  I felt better when I told mom and dad to screw off with their opinions--I don't care what they think--maybe you should do the same, and believe in it. Still, I respect what dignity you try to collect.  I love you.

Lauren--You're the best of all of us. Beauty, good looks, brains, heart stopping face, awesome head on your shoulders, gorgeous body--get the picture?  I love you.

Diesel--Chin up, man.  What's winning when there's no challenge?  Great, Kid--don't get cocky.  You have a wish coin -- See Slater's.  I love you.

Slater--You're my hero.  I love you.  Come get your birthday coins on my desk.  Grandma knows what I'm talking about.  There's one for you and one for your brother.  They grant one wish.  Rules are: 1) Do not wish anyone to come back from the dead.  Corpses rising is just gross.  2) Do not wish for anyone to fall in love with you.  That bends free will too much.  3) Do not ask for anyone killed.  I won't do it.  Make sure you're asking for something that will not cause another harm, or bend the laws of physics.  I'm not that good at science.

Bob--Sometimes, when you talk or make a joke or recite a movie quote, and you think no one's listening, I am.  You make me laugh.  I love you.

Lorie--I always wished you could see yourself through my eyes.  Your beautiful, strong and fierce like a mother bear.  I love you.

Alley--You're just like your dad.  Just female--see his note.  I love you.

Sam--You can tell them I was the one who slipped you cookies under the table.  I think it's a moot point now.  I love you.

Lee--You and Mal were always an inspiration.  Watching your loss, parent Lindsey, move away from my ancestral home to Floriday (not a typo, that's what I call that state).  All that was pure lion strength love.  I love you.

Mal--Your frightening you know that?  Stoic determination has a picture of you on it's wall of hero's.  But you'll always be my magician.  I love you.  

Lindsey--You're made of awesome sauce! You've been inspiration incarnate. I love you.

Frances--You were always such fun to talk to.  You're also wise as a crone but pretty as a young maid!  Thanks for putting up with me :) You give good advice.  I love you.

David--You're energy was always so boundless.  I liked being near you because of it.  You should also see my Daddy's note.  I love you.

Coleson--Dude!  I'm so going to kick your butt at chess when you get here.  I'll have decades on you.  Also, don't sell yourself short but don't get cocky.  I love you.

Ivy--Hey beautiful!  Don't let anyone push you around.  That's an order! :)  I love you.

Grandpa BD--See momma's note.  I love you.

Carolyn--I may have found you more interesting than you me, still I love you.

Tracy--You & Kevin are there on my mind. I'm so happy you're happy! I love you all.

Jesse/Ryan--Yeah, you don't know me well, but I think of you guys and think you two are super awesome. I love you.

Pam--We're good.  Just don't make me work for you.  I love you.

Josh--Anything I put here your going to make a joke about so laugh at this--I love you.  Yes, we're good.  I hope you laugh at me.

If I've forgotten you, know--I still love you.
 

Always look on the bright side of life...

 

Does that mean I should look at the dark side of death?  

Oh...wait...so if the world ends no one will see this? Dang! That means I'll be alive!

 

November Is Over People!

How'd you do? Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? I wrote like the wind, but I didn't catalog it. It's difficult to catalog numbers when you go from story to story. 

I love my life!  I'm working on a series with my mom. It's hush, hush so I can't say anything about it. But I was able to get her to write so it's all good! 

I've got my shorts-off series that let's me dive into hot topics. Both hot and HOT. 

I have two novels working Title TRIAD and Dr. Vampyre. Princess Bitch, I Thee Wed is still a concept, but I'm getting there. And that's just the stuff under my name. Life is good!

The Road To Publication

So...I started a new company. Yeah, just like that.

I'm selling bridges...I've got one in London...

<-- This logo--it's from fiverr. Can you tell?  But, it's better than I could do! 

So if your curious about the new Publication house, here's the story:

I had a critique partner that had this really fantastic story. She wanted to go traditional. I was so enamored with her story--it was about vampires and druggies. It never got published. That made me both angry and sad. 

I had more critique partners with amazing stories that never got published. My own mother's story wasn't selling to agents. Finally, I said there is nothing I can't do that they can. I want this. 

Now, when I want something and it's the right thing to do, it's easy in the beginning. The things I want just come. The direction I'm suppose to take is like water--the path of least resistance. Or maybe the path I take isn't difficult because I don't see the difficulty. I research. I wait. I roll smoothly into said goal and take it. Is it easy? My mutant power is making life look easy--it is in a way. 

So what made me truly decide was Indie publishing. I wanted to own it ALL. It's exciting to choose the book covers, make the calls, pretend I'm a real publisher! I'm not afraid because the authors I have behind me have the same vision I do. I'm proud of my authors, those that chose to accept my offer of publication and see what I can do with great stories. 

I'm untried but I don't care. Learning is the road to Indie publishing. I can't wait to say I've published my 1st novel. My 100th novel. My first series. My tenth series. Prolific is one of the words you can put on my grave stone. I'm going to purchase 1,000 ISBN's and I will use every last one of them for me and my authors. 

Troll River Publications Believes in its Authors. We believe in their writing style, their word choice, their story, their concepts. Troll River is a partner, and hopefully will soon be a guide. I couldn't be more pleased if one of my authors goes on to be in on the Big 6. That would be accomplishment. But for now, I'd like to see where it goes! This company is a long time coming. I wonder what sights it will take me down. 

Books Don't Play Nice

As we discussed in the previous post, we learned how to track, trap and tag your book with the ISBN system.  But setting your tome free in the wild with no genre preference or the wrong genre preference can be death to your new found book.  Finding the right play field for your novel is important.  Some books will immediately attack your book upon being the wrong genre, so watch out and make sure your book makes friends quickly.  

Worse, if you can't find the books genre, it will be ostracized and you will be forced to bring it home where it will lay like broccoli to be used as a coaster on your living room table.  Just like it's brethren, the paperback.

How to tell the genre of your book is to read it.  What POV does it have?  Does it sound male or female?  Does the book fly or make strange whirling sounds?  If so, it could go well in the Sci-Fi genre.  

Does it mewl and hump your leg?  It could be the romance genre.  

If your book tries to tell you what to do with your life, place it in the non-fiction self-help section.  It should do well there.  
 
  

How To Track A Book

Be very, very quiet.  Books are very skiddish.  That's why we have to trap them in kindles.  

Their tame bretheren, the paperback, have learned that if they just sit there, they might not be caught, opened and devoured.

But what we do is a noble cause!  We trap, tag, and release these books into the wild.  Our tagging system is called the ISBN or "International Standard Book Number" and can track any book that's been tagged from any book store or any book retailer in the WORLD!  

The first system started use in 1966 by an ingenious book enthusiast, WH Smith.  His colossal undertaking exploded the book population as books were able to be found by their natural predator--THE READER.   

A new system adopted the old and became internationally know and improved upon in 1970.  

I suggest after trapping, binding, wrapping a wild, unpublished book, you go here: GET YOUR ISBN!  Retain your tracking number and then set it free in the pastures of Amazon, B&N and Apple.  From there you can watch your untamed book frolic and play with other books.  

Next up...why you should keep wild books in separate genres.   

    

  

Publishing Made Real

Do I need a business license to Publish Books on Amazon?

If you are a true Self-Published Author, and not someone who is doing Vanity or POD, the answer is, YES.

 

Check out this article: (Thank you Momma)

http://www.squidoo.com/do-you-need-a-business-license-to-self-publish-a-book 

So...(drum roll please)

 

TROLL RIVER PUBLICATIONS is born!

 

Woot! You need a business licesnse even for ebooks on Amazon. You might even need a sales tax license.  

 

But, I'm only selling on Amazon?  Do I need a sales tax license?  

(To Be Continued!)  

Self Publishing Podcast

In the spirit of sharing and collaboration, I highly recommend "The Self Publishing Podcast with Johnny, Sean, & Dave".

DW, my dearest, suggested this podcast to me.  Now, I'm no podcast listener, but I'm an audible listener, so a podcast seem to be the cross over drug.  

I love it!  Podcasting is my new sliced bread and this particular podcast is my peanut butter!  

If you know anything about me, I love peanut butter.  I have "Ode To The Peanut Butter" somewhere in my journals.  I explain why peanut butter should be two words and how without PB I would starve.  

So now that you understand what this podcast means to me, you should go listen!  

Now, because I was no podcast listener, I asked my hun, how do I listen?  Oh crap--I'm not going to do the he said she said thing--here's the convo:

"You should listen to this podcast."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Who recommended it?"

"Alex Haddox."

"The personal defense guy?"

"Yeah!  He wrote a book and recommends these guys."

"I don't know how to listen."

"Go to BeyondPod.  Do it on your phone cause you'll listen to it on your phone the most."

"Oh, okay."  I hand my phone to DW.

He punches in beyondpod on my internet connection on my phone.  

"I can listen to it on my computer?"

"Yeah."

"But I want to listen to it on my phone."

"That's what I'm doing."

"Oh.  Okay."

DW hands me my phone.  "Look up self publishing in the search."

Type, type, type.

"Oh!  They have 28 episodies!"  (No that's not a typo, that's a stephonism.)

*giggles*

--"...Welcome to the self publishing podcast where you can publish your book without agents, publishers or other gatekeepers of the traditional publishing world..."

 

 

Mercury Retrograde Moment

Mercury goes retrograde several times a year.  Usually for a few weeks.  

The closer the planet is to my sun sign, the more Mercury Retrograde Moments I have.  

A MRM (Mercury Retrograde Moment) is when you can't communicate or when your computer gives you the finger.  Things like, not being able to open your browser.  That's the double whammy because it involves technology AND communication.   

Mercury loves technology--it's the computer God. The messenger planet revolves most its focus on technology, I believe, because its our main source of communication.  But when that first planet from sun goes "backwards" it seems everything goes haywire!


Think of it this way.  Mercury is the IT guy of the solar system.  When he's happy, communication runs smooth.  When he's frazzled, everything electronic goes wrong.  Even your own communication skills sour.  

For instance, I've been working on a software program for 9 months now that I know how to work around.  For the past week, it's been like a brain fart.  It's like I forgot how to open MS Word.  It's that ridiculous. 

So if Mercury is the IT guy, imagine a really busy nerd on vacation trying to get things done via Skype.  You wouldn't want to work on vacation so don't bust his balls.  Relax.  He goes on several vacations a year, but they're short.  He'll be back.  

What you can do is back-up your hard-drive and command patience when trying to communicate to others.  This will be the time phone conversations will be jumbled and scatter brained drive thru attendants will give you a sprite instead of a coke.  

If you're not experiencing this, it's probably because you're dense, you have the patience of a planet, or Mercury is not in your sign.  

Here's a great site that tells you if we're in retrograde:

http://www.ismercuryinretrograde.com/

Also, Susan Miller has a great explanation of what to expect during Mercury retrograde here:

http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/mercury.html

So my advice is: Don't travel.  Stow away the phone.  Back up the computer.  Have no expectations of getting your drive thru order correct.  And, pray to Mercury when your hard drive fails--just not during retrograde. 

   

Small Business Conventions...Is It Worth Going?

I had the honor of being able to go to the Small Business Expo in Los Angles, CA November 8th, 2012.  

Booths galore!  Big business contenders were there such as:

Yelp!                          New York Life

Verizon                     Wells Fargo

GoDaddy                   Staples

Vonage                       Intuit

But there were businesses there that I hadn't even thought possible.  Entrepreneurship galore!  People like the GoogFather, who helps your SEO.  WebcommercialPro, who help you make a commercial for YouTube.  Wow!  People putting it out there and being successful.  Inspiring!

Our sales guys talked to everybody.  People came to us wanting to know what we did and how we could help them.  I did not have the corporate competition vibe.  These were people providing a service and making contacts.  Yes, we made connections.  Yes, we are out there to sell our product.  Yes, these conventions are totally a marketing reach-out.  But what I got the most out of it was the vibe.  

People were very excited about our services.  I got to meet people I never would have known about much less get to market to.  This got me enthusiastic about business.  

We hear so much about how big businesses are doing bad things that you get the feeling that every business is bad.  Except ProspectDB--those guys are cool! (Shameless plug)

But, I didn't get the seedy I just want to sell you shit vibe.  It was energizing to see so many people walking around, coming up to the booth and asking--"What do you sell?  What can you do for me?"  Awesome!  Potential client.  It seemed to be about making contact and looking at options up close.  

Or maybe they were drawn by the candy and pretty ladies!  Yeah, actually that was it!

How A Holiday "Creeps" Up On You

I don't understand it.  It's like the same bat-time on the same bat-channel every year!  

But people seem not to notice the fall or the spring or life passing by.  Oh look, the grim reaper just walked in asking a co-worker out to lunch. 

Anyway, I image a holiday doing something like the following:

Thanksgiving crept it's little turkey toes up to the desk. 
 
Stephanie looked down the hall to the front. 
 
She hadn't seen Thanksgiving slide past the door and hall-crawled to Stephanie's cubical.
 
Tap, Tap, Tap.  Stephanie focused on her work.
 
He chibbled to the cockerels of his heart.  That was close!  
 
Bling--"You've got mail!" Chimed the computer.
 
"Oh my God!"  Stephanie jumped out of her chair.  "It's Turkey Day this week!"
 
At that very moment Thanksgiving leaped from out of the desk and chirped, "Gobble, gobble, gobble!"

OMG people!  Yes it's Thanksgiving!

No Turning Back Now!

So... 

...my website went up.  

Holy shit.  

And the commitment issues side of me says WTF are you doing?  

Organized Stephanie says, you can do it we can make this.  It's possible.  
 
A bunch of back and forth (I should call my blog conversations with myself) and we've committed.  Yes, we as in both stephonavich and Stephanie.  They happen to be the same person but one is a goon with an enthusiastic outlook that has a PhD in orginization and the other is a lunatic artist that needs focus and direction.  The artist side doesn't mind if you call her stephonabitch.    

stephonavich is freaking out.  Stephanie is calmly setting dates, making notes, and kicking ass.  stephonavich is ramming notes in a folder for future stories.  Stephanie is check marking her google docs marketing plan.  stephonavich is thinking of new stories to give the public in a flurry of ideas she thinks has to go out tomorrow.  Stephanie makes a list of all those ideas in google docs.  

One day, I will have a post call Conversations with myself.  

But while my lovely comrades (I mean lovely--as in wonderful--that's not sarcasm) are frantically getting out 50,000 words (which, let's face it, those stories may never see the light of day after this month), I've made a commitment to advance my dreams.  November may be the take a rest from writing month.  The anti NaNoWriMo.  (National Novel Writing Month)

If you are interested, my website is www.stephaniemckibben.com  

I think if it were stephonavich's she'd let it rot.  Good thing it has Stephanie's name on it.   

Hiking: Ventura County: Rocky Peak Park, CA

Rocky Peak screams "Look at my hills!  Look at the valley view!  Look at the freeway!  Look how beautiful I am!"

I have to agree!  



Chatworth may be my heart's home, but the view from up here is worth the climb.  Wow! Wow! Wow! 

Amazing rock formations really make this hike a must see.  A fantastic cavern is about a mile up the path.  There are dozens of dead end and not so dead end side trails that could have you walking around the place for hours.  

But the main road goes on forever!  

One trail leads you to Indian Springs Open Space--which is really a horse trail.  If you try it, be forewarned that the trail is narrow.  The cliff below is steep.  Give horses the right of way--this can led to back-tracking to a spot you can actually step aside.  

The main fire road will lead you past rock formations to climb and a choice of Hummingbird Lane or Rocky Peak Trail.  

Hummingbird Lane takes you down to Kuehner Drive.  If you have a buddy, drive separately park at Kuehner and start at Rocky Peak.  Hummingbird is a special favorite for mountain and downhill bikers.  I saw two guys walking their bikes up for the coast down.  

Rock Peak Trail seems to go on forever.  It's one of those trails you can keep going till the eye can't see and the legs don't go.      

Amazing how you're close to the freeway, but you don't hear it.  Not unless you swing right to Indian Springs.

Stats: 

Miles: 3.0

Speed: 1.8 mph

Climb: 325 yards

Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

Dogs: on leash--one trash dispenser at trail head

Notes: Bring a camera!  It really is unique.

Theme: Birds above and wonderful views.

Emma: Gives it a 3 inch tongue difficulty. (Moderate)

Seperate: A Study In Mind And Body

Dressage riders have to separate parts of their body for different movements.  You might think this is really easy but try walking without swinging your arms or swaying your hips.  Our bodies are connected when we move and it's not natural to separate movement.     

As I was riding and thinking about this, I wondered how I could separate other parts of my body to understand what they are saying.  

Your stomach speaks and sometimes loudly.  But do you hear your heart?  Your gallbladder?  Your liver?  Probably only when something is really wrong and your organs are telling you to fix it now. 

What about separating the soul from the heart and understanding what each is saying. 

Your consciousness is always talking to you and the muffled feelings of your body isn't given a second glance.  The mind is the language of thought or voice.  The language of the rest of your body is feeling.  So tell your brain to shut up and feel?  

Maybe.  Or maybe you can use the brain to help you understand and communicate to the other parts of your body and even your soul.  Use your mind to decipher what's going on in your body.  

You might wonder how.  I close my eyes and focus on the part I want to listen to, like the heart.  I sit and concentrate on my heart for a moment and then I'll hear it "speak". 

 

Dressage riders concentrate on separating muscles, but it's a different type of fulfillment to hear all aspects of thought, feeling and soul together for a complete life.  

You might have a different way of listening and I'd like to hear how you do it! 

Conquer The Fear Of Death

There are two ways for one to conquer the fear of death.  

* See the face of God. 

I promised Azrael a while back that when it was time, and I was dead, my soul by his side, I would not fight to return back to mortal status.  

Fighting an angel is just going to sadden said angel.  Acceptance is the only gift I can give Azrael because it would suck if you had to haul back souls while they were kicking and screaming.  Especially if you were bringing them to a better place.  

     

* Face the gates of Hell.  

Option #2 is all around difficult.  This is the reason I don't have a fear of death (Pain is another story).

My favorite line from my favorite band goes, "Burnt but not broken..."  

Going into your mind to deal with your own crazy is the hell I speak of.  There is no real hell outside your mind.  No one really willingly goes there.   

It might sound backwards, but standing at the gates of hell, facing your hearts deepest fear to win is pain that frees you.  If you come out from that you are stronger.  If you recover, which is much different from coming out of it, then either everything is a fear tactic, or you have no limits.  

I would rather have seen the face of God.  But walking through the fire that purifies was worth it.   

 

Bad Habits...Secret Of A Mindset

It takes 31 days to break a bad habit.

"Breaking" bad habits really takes replacing the bad habit with a good habit.  Carry it out for 31 days and you now have a new habit!  Hopefully it's a good one!

You can use a string around your finger to constantly annoy you or even post it notes to help remind you but what it takes is a mindset.  

Chocolate is going to be my example.  

Say you luv chocolate.  You crave chocolate but you eat too much devil sweetness and want to cut down or stop.  If you are truly of the mindset to stop eating bars of candy then you can overcome the instant gratification lure by thinking--that's chocolate, how is it going to make me feel after I eat it?

Yes, you'll have some kind of high in the beginning, but too much sugar makes me feel run down.  It makes me feel like a blob.  I don't want to feel like a run down blob.  That mindset will help me avoid bars of chocolate (most the time).  

I'll also think, "What's the payoff?" 

I'll enjoy the taste, but not what it does afterward.  Loving what my body does for me, I want to treat it well.  Usually, this mindset is enough for me to look at chocolate and think "yuk".  Not because I don't like the taste, but because of the feelings I have afterward.

You might be thinking -- no one sees chocolate and thinks "yuk".  You do if you recall run down blob feeling.  Also, you want change a habit because it's BAD FOR YOU.  Commit to changing a habit you want to lose for a conscious 31 days and afterward it becomes second nature!  

Hiking: Los Angeles, CA: Chatsworth

Chatsworth Park is my favorite.  It feels like home.  You must seek out and find the tough trails, but they are there.  Otherwise, this beautiful rouged land will take you on a stroll where you overlook the Valley, hear the trains, count the oak trees and watch the Red Tail Hawks fly. 

The shortest loop is half-an-hour but I have roamed the hills for hours and climbed the main attraction of this park, "Stagecoach Trail".  Even if you don't climb the huge boulders that make up the old Trail this place is worth a peak.

We use to go to the train tunnels and watch the trains barrel through.  The trails have lots of alcoves for a shady picnic and even some boulders you can practice your free hand rock climbing.  

Dogs on leash and be prepared to come across horses!  This is where the horse riders go and they do!  Make sure your dog is equine friendly and let riders have the right-of-way.  

 The paths lead to perfect rest stops under oak trees.  While there isn't much shade on the paths, the oaks will provide!  Bring water. 

Word of warning: If you get the hiby-geebies about a cemetary being "next door" to the park, you might be looking around for graves.  There aren't any, but you can hear the church bells ring every hour.  In some places, you can see dearly departed plots.

Stagecoach trail is a historic place of interest and a fantastic rock climbing experience.  If you get the chance, definitely go!

 

To the west, there are trails that will take you up--way up to the 118 and Simi Valley.  

Stagecoach is to the east of my regular entrance.  You should bring a guide or be prepared to wander if you want to find Stagecoach.  How do you know you're on it?  Half-way up you'll have figured it out, but there's a plaque claiming Indian land.  You'll see it!  Don't worry.

 

Here are the Stats:

Miles: 1.6

Speed: 1.9 mph

Climb: 110 yards

Time: 54 minutes

Dogs: on leash -- be prepared to give horses right-of-way

Notes: Great place for a half-hour walk under an oak tree of your choice for a picnic!  

Theme: Oak trees every 1/2 mile

Emma: Gives it a two inch tongue difficulty.  (Easy-peesy/Moderate)   

Enjoy the pics!

Wide open spaces!

You're not able to get away from the mountains.

My zombie back-up plan was to come here to this empty water tower and fight to my death!  

Remember to take refuge under an oak tree.  This one has a nest of Red Tail Hawks. 

Bigger Than Life Marketing Plan

You know how things look huge in your head?  Then you put it on paper and think, that's it?  In the beginning, that was my "Marketing plan." 

A few lines, a sketch of a budget and off to writing because that's what authors do best!  

Well, like a year later, I've given myself the deadline of October 15th, 2012 to finish THE draft.  Extended from the October 1st, 2012 deadline.  Which might be extended again.  

Anyway--Marketing--yes that's the subject.  Marketing.  So I started a "real" marketing plan and I realized that the easy going previous cousin was like Hawaii and now "the plan"  has become New York.  

Oh, book trailer, yeah I want one of those.  Oh, crap press release--good idea.  Book blog tour, free?  Then I find a publicist I really like.  

The thing is, none of the money feels like a dump in the toilet.  It's just what marketing costs for building a business.  Yes, writing is a business and I treat it as such.  So all these nifty gadget looking marketing things are rather looking like necessities.  

How much would you expect to spend on your marketing plan?  How much do you expect to spend on starting a business? 

 

Now, I've looked around for specifics on a marketing plan and I found zippo.  So, I started a marketing plan in excel.  It extended to what I need to do for my book as well like, ecover design, audiobook, print cover, print design, formatting all that good stuff.  

Because I couldn't find a specific marketing plan and everyone expects me to know what a marketing plan looks like (because everyone goes to college right?).  So here's another School of hard knocks lesson.  As I write this I'm thinking--hey dorkis, you have a mom and dad that's done this, why didn't you ask?  I'm glutton for punishment?  

Here are things you need to write out in excel, word, google docs, whatever:

THE Marketing Plan -- (Each book is different so give it the books title or working title)

(I put my mission statement underneath: Have Fun.  Make Money.  Avoid Assholes.)

I defined specific GOALS:

1. Sell 200 books.  Yes, it's low.  It's the average amount an eBook will sell--I'm on reality planet not "what I'd like reality to be" planet.  This is my first book.  It's a business.  I'm nobody--right now.  I'll grow.

2. Gain 10 avid fans.  Totally random number.  It's like 5% of the 200 books I sell.  How does that saying go?  If I touch the life of one person it will all be worth it.  Well, I believe you affect each and every life you touch.  I'm hoping to touch 200 but 10 would be great to start!  Not overwhelming but slow grow is constant growth.

3. Write the best possible book I can. My writing abilities are growing.  It's apparent in every new draft. Grandpa told me a story this past Spring about an agent who wrenched the draft from a writer to give to the editor because the writer was working on the book for five years.  G-Pa so identifies with the agent.  I've given in and am finishing the book the way it is.  No longer experimenting on it.  G-Pa is in his 90's--he wants to read it before he dies.  Hang in there BD!  It's a coming!  

Those are the goals.  

Next was the Target Audience:

Janet: 35 yrs. old, rides her bike to work.  Loves horses, and her boyfriend but doesn't have a great relationship.  She's looking for more and trying to find in in books.  Gets her books from Amazon.

Sarah: 26 yrs. old, drives a BMW, has very little time but loves to read.  When she does read she devours a book over the weekend in between doing chores.  Gets her books from Good reads reviewer recommendations.

Carol: 43 yrs. old, is starting to wind down from a successful carreer and has discovered the joy of reading.  She's married and has two young children and plans on spending more time with them after she retires from her job.  Gets her books from Indie reader, Smashwords, etc. 

I just totally made up characters in a book for that one.  I'm blowing it out my ...  So I'm thinking 25-40 market.  This is why I need a publicist.  

Now the fun part!  Social Media strategy:

Set up:

Facebook Author Page
Goodreads Author Page
twitter account
Linked-in page
Pintrest Author Page
stephaniemckibben.com (author website)
Blog Tour (Kindle Nation Daily, eReader News Today)
Triberr

For each I have a date as to when to set them up, AND daily, weekly, monthly actions.  Which are blank at the moment because I've been thinking about getting everything else together.  

As I roamed my friendly neighborhood writing circles other marketing things I had to do for the book appeared:

 

* Google   
* Book Daily    
* Piece of Cake -- Press Release   
* Networked Blogs (http://www.networkedblogs.com)
* Greg Spence--Market your self published book online (http://www.gregspence.net/revealed-how-to-market-your-self-published-book-online/)
* Pump Up Your Book    

* 30 day books

* NovelNook  

And a checklist of what needs to be done after I let go of this monster.  So you see.  Instead of all that roaming my head, I have a checklist and a plan.  But what I'd really like to do is get a power hour with my favorite marketer to set me straight on what my plan needs.  

Do you have a marketing plan?  Would you care to share anything I missed?