Attention Authors! You Show Me Yours And I'll Show You Mine

I am a new author and in the past year and a half I have written three mystery/comedy novels in the Lady Justice series.
I have discovered, as I'm sure most of you have, if you're not Sarah Palin or George Bush, people are not lined up at the bookstore to buy your book.
Before donning the author hat, I was a realtor for 32 years. Much like being an author with a new book, just because a guy has a new real estate license, people probably aren't going to be beating down his door.
I learned quickly back then that the key to success is self-promotion --- that's not bragging, it's just letting people know you're out there and have a valuable product or service to offer.
There were hundreds of realtors in my market, so why should someone pick me to represent them?
There are millions of books in print. How are people going to find mine in the vast sea of published titles?
For an author, there seems to be a formula that many follow. First, you hope you have a publisher that will represent you and promote you to the bookstores and the public. Second, you schedule personal appearances at as many book signing events as possible. Third, you begin networking on the social media sites. Fourth, you write material for a blog or e-news magazine, and fifth, you set up a website to promote your books.
It is no coincidence that the responsibility for four of these five things falls directly on the shoulders of the author.
What I have discovered is that actually writing the novels was the easiest part of this whole process!
What I would like to discuss in this article is the author website.
A website and a new book have much in common. You can have a brilliantly written book, but if nobody knows about it, it will never be read. You can have a magnificent website, but unless people can find it, no one will come.
For me, the website was like my novel; building the site was easy and fun, but getting it seen is a nightmare.
I am sixty-seven years old and, as a realtor, had to be computer savvy, but this website promotion stuff was a whole new world. I soon learned that this 'old dog' had better learn some new tricks!
Fortunately, my son is a geek. He introduced me to the previously unknown world of search engine optimization, site directories, and back links. WHEW!
This whole 'getting noticed' thing seems to be a vicious circle. If no one ever visits your website, you will have a low ranking on the search engines and your site will be buried on page fifty-seven. But as more people visit and link to your site, your page ranking gets higher. He explained that getting listed in the site directories was one way to increase traffic. Another way was to have links from other people's website to yours --- back links --- reciprocal links.
That means that you find someone willing to trade links. You put a link to my website on your website and vise-versa.
That sounded pretty cool but I just couldn't see links to Joe's Auto Parts or the Pizza Pantry on my author website.
But having a page with links to other authors would fit right in.
My goal is to build a page on my website titled "Author Links". On that page would be categories for the various writing genres, mystery, romance, non-fiction, occult, etc.
The visitor would click on his topic of choice and links to the websites of authors writing in that genre would be available.
In return, of course, each author would have my link on her or her website. These reciprocal links will be seen by the bots and spiders and raise the page ranking for both sites. A win-win situation.
If you are an author interested in participating in exchanging reciprocal links, you may contact me at booksbybob@hotmail.com.
Check out my website at http://www.booksbybob.com.

Lady Justice Mystery/Comedy Novel Series

booksbybob.com



Senior citizens fighting crime, a laugh-out-loud mystery series

What's Your Pick-up Line?

In the fourteen months since my first book was published, my wife and I have participated in twenty-eight book signing events.
Our experience at these events has made one thing abundantly clear --- nobody really cares!
Oh sure, if you send invitations to your close friends and family, they will come. But let's face it, they would come to see your dog being shaved if you ask them nice enough.
We have had book signings at libraries, bookstores, craft fairs, senior centers and shopping malls, and at each event, people pass within inches of us and it's like we're invisible.
We have a ten foot table with all twelve of my books and a huge sign saying "Meet The Author". How can you miss it?
Now I can understand folks shying away from a grizzled, grey-haired, sixty-seven year old guy, but my wife is eye candy!
Actually, I really do understand. When I put myself in their place, I do the same thing.
When I see one of those guys at the mall demonstrating those super chamois things that soak up gallons of water, I am curious, but I stay just far enough away so that the guy can't engage me in conversation.
Same thing.
We've learned one important lesson; if you don't talk to people, you won't sell books.
There's a really fine line between engaging people in conversation and being a pest. You can't just reach out and grab them.
The upside is that when people do stop to talk to us, we'll sell a book about 50% of the time.
I don't try to talk to people who ignore me completely or rush by like their pants are on fire, but when someone slows to see what's on the table, I know I have about 5 seconds to capture their interest.
"Are you a book reader?" works in craft fairs and senior centers, but is redundant in bookstores and libraries.
"What kind of books do you like?" sometimes works.
"Do you have any book readers on your Christmas list?" works around the holidays.
Sometimes I feel like the schmuck at the singles bar who sidles up beside the girl and says "Hi babe, what's your sign?" Not the greatest pick-up line.
If you have some successful lines that have worked for you, I'd love to hear them.
My email is booksbybob@hotmail.com and my website is http://booksbybob.com.

Lady Justice Mystery/Comedy Novel Series

booksbybob.com



Senior citizens fighting crime, a laugh-out-loud mystery series

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32


There are so many things in life that one just can’t understand until they’ve lived it.
Writing a book and getting it published is one of those things.
A year and a half ago, I would have bet anything that getting the story out of my mind and onto paper would have been the biggest challenge.
Nothing could have been further from the truth.
I loved the writing process.
Once I got “into the zone”, it was like I had diarrhea of the brain. Once it got started, I just couldn’t shut it off. (Hmmm, I hope that metaphor doesn’t extend to include what actually came out!).
As any writer knows, the hardest part is getting the book published.
Like the vast majority of new writers, I was totally ignored by the big publishers and the successful literary agents, and chose the road of self-publishing.
It is not a decision I regret.
Everything happens for a reason.
So often, when things come too easily, we don’t appreciate them, and conversely, when we have to work hard, we more fully understand the value of what we have accomplished.
By traveling this road for the past year, I have learned a lot about the publishing business, but even more important, I have learned that I have so much more to learn.
Sometimes, things happen that we just don’t understand.
I submitted query letters to many large publishers and agents, but Tate was the last I had expected to hear from.
Tate is a Christian-oriented publisher and my Lady Justice novels just didn’t seem to fit into their traditional offerings, but I wasn’t about to argue with them.
If my experience getting my book in print with Authorhouse was Chapter 1 of my writing career, then marketing my book for a year as a self-published author was Chapter 2.
Chapter 3 began nine months ago when I signed my contract with Tate for Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P. and Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes.
Even though I had seen on every publisher’s website that producing a book takes one to two years, it’s still one of those things you can’t understand until you’ve lived it.
Hmmmm! Nine months --- I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that the gestation period for my first two novels was the same as for my two children?
Wait three months to get on the schedule; one month for copy editing; one month for conceptual editing; one month for cover creation; another month for layout design --- whew!
You know you’re about ready to give birth when you get the email that says, “The editing department has received and reviewed your final proof and we are nearing the printing phase!”
And finally, “I look forward to wrapping up production. A member of our marketing team will contact you by the end of next week.”
This was the message I wanted to hear.
If I may use a football metaphor, promoting my book as a self-published author was like being a running back and trying to move the football without the benefit of an offensive line or a blocking back. You’ll get caught behind the line of scrimmage every time.
I had read online about the marketing support for Tate authors:

In 2009, for the first time in history, more books were sold outside the walls of brick and mortar bookstores than inside. Certainly this reflects the strength of online retailers such as Amazon and bn.com, but it also reflects the truth that there are a variety of ways for an author to reach the intended, target audience. Bookstores are one element of success, but in bookstores, readers must find the book and author. Finding the target audience for a book involves taking the book to the reader, engaging the reader, and being proactive, not reactive, in the pursuit of success. No one attacks the niche market for their authors the way Tate Publishing does for our fine authors. This month alone we have scheduled over 500 niche events for Tate authors, helping our authors engage the community and create broad visibility in a variety of markets.
And remember, if you are a Tate Publishing author, you NEVER have to go it alone. You have a Marketing Representative at your right hand with a team that rep can mobilize to try something new. Our expertise (some of it formed through our own trial and error) should be a wealth of wisdom about what works and what doesn't, and we can help place you on the path to success as we work toward that end.

I now have two Lady Justice novels ready to go and the third will be ready in a few months.
I’m ready to carry the ball, only this time, Tate Publishing will be my offensive line of seasoned veterans and my marketing rep will be my blocking back, opening big holes into the brick and mortar stores and other venues that had been denied me up to this point.
Every ball carrier wants a touchdown, but after a year and a half of negative yardage, I would be thrilled to get a few first downs.
It has been a long and winding road from that day I said to my wife, “I think I can write a book,” and sat down at the computer, to the day my first two novels, printed by a major publisher, were delivered to my door.
I’m ready for Chapter 4 and can’t wait to see what lies around the next bend.

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 31

Chapter 31

My eight-year old grandson had been playing baseball all summer and Grandma and I had attended most of the games.
It was the next to last game of the season and Blake's team was playing for the championship.
During the warm-up drills, Blake lost a high fly ball in the sun and wound up catching it with his forehead.
As he lay on the ground stunned and bleeding, one of his teammates quipped, "Wow! Cool! You're grandpa is an author. Maybe he can write a story about this."
I hadn't planned on writing any more Rainbow Road stories for awhile, but this kid had thrown down the gauntlet and my creative juices began to flow.
The next day, I started the fifth volume in the series, Sports Heroes of Rainbow Road.
One of the things about my writing that is so special, is that I get to share the process with my wife.
I let her read each chapter after it's finished and often she has conceptual suggestions that make the story even better, and she creates the covers for all the books.
After my work is finished, she spends hours editing for all the missed commas and misplaced quotation marks. It's quite a job.
As the series developed, we added more and more illustrations. After all, "a picture is worth a thousand words".
We spent hours on dreamstime.com together, purchasing the rights to dozens of illustrations and even went back to the original four volumes of the series, added more pictures and republished. The process is so simple with Createspace.
Sports Heroes Of Rainbow Road turned out to be my favorite of the series and after it was finished, I couldn't shut down the old imagination.
Soon, with fall approaching, volume number six, Ghosts And Goblins Of Rainbow Road, began to form in my mind.
By this time the kids had three super powers each, and the opportunities to use them were endless.
So far in the series, Rainbow Road had transported them to different cities in the U.S. and even to Maui, Hawaii, so in Ghosts And Goblins, Rainbow Road took them back in time to the year 1692, and with their super powers, they were able to change the course of history. How cool is that?
I thought that maybe after Ghosts And Goblins, I would be finished, but how can you have a Halloween story and not have a Christmas story?
In Christmas Crooks Of Rainbow Road, evil thieves steal Blake's gold coin that bestows the super power of Shape-Shifting, kidnap Santa, assume his identity and threaten to destroy Christmas for the entire world.
Blake and Breonna are, of course, up to the task and in this North Pole adventure, save Santa and Christmas.
There are now seven volumes in the Rainbow Road series.
Done! Finished! No more Rainbow Road stories for awhile.
I'll have a couple of months to market the new children's chapter book series before the new Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P. and Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes are released by Tate Publishing.
School has started and my grandson has been taking the chapter books to school and selling them to his classmates. I give him a dollar for every book he sells.
Who says I don't have a distribution network?
When I started writing the first Lady Justice novel, I had no idea where it was going to take me, and here I am now with three mystery/comedy novels and seven children's chapter books.
Who wudda thunk?

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The third book in the Rainbow Road series of children's chapter books was Hawaiian Rainbows.
I had been looking forward to writing this one. Peg and I had lived on Maui, Hawaii for five years and we loved it.
My third mystery/comedy novel in the Lady Justice series, Lady Justice Gets Leid, was also set on that beautiful island.
In Hawaiian Rainbows, Blake receives the gold coin for Super Strength.
After receiving another nod of approval from the grandson, Peg created another cover and we sent it off to Createspace.
Three down --- and how many more to go?
As with the Lady Justice books, once my mind was fixated on Rainbow Road, it wouldn't shut off. I found myself again laying awake in the middle of the night conjuring up the kids next adventure.
The Fourth of July holiday was approaching and I thought that an adventure based on a patriotic theme seemed appropriate, so the fourth installment of the Rainbow Road series, Patriotic Rainbows, began to form in my mind.
In this adventure, little Breonna receives the gold coin of Truth. In each story, the previously bestowed super powers are passed on to the next story, so in this book, each kid now has two super powers. With these new-found abilities, they are able to save the Liberty Bell from being destroyed by terrorists.
Even though the Lady Justice series was fiction, these were adult novels and the plots had to be believable.
I felt no such constraints with the Rainbow Road books. Having played with my grandson, I was quite aware of the dazzling stories that are constantly being conjured up in the fertile imagination of a kid, and I let my own imagination run free, pretending I was an eight-year old.
It was actually kind of scary when I realized just how easy that was to do. They say that grandpas are just really old kids, and I began to think that maybe there was some truth there.
"If I were a kid, and could have a super power, what would I do?" It was just like going back sixty years and being Roy Rogers again.
Blake loved Patriotic Rainbows, so off it went to Createspace and Rainbow Road now had four volumes.
Our next event was the Bingham-Waggoner Festival and we had Rainbow Road ready to sell along with Lady Justice.
The new books had the affect we had hoped for. We now had kids dragging their parents to our table and grandmas who didn't really want to buy a mystery for themselves, would buy a book for their grandchild.
Bingo!
After receiving great reviews from our new Rainbow Road readers, I began to wonder if maybe there could be some commercial value to our new series.
On a whim, I sent the manuscripts of the four Rainbow Road books to the acquisitions lady at Tate Publishing. Since I already had three novels under contract with them, I thought they might at least take the time to look at them.
I have to admit that I was surprised by her response.

"I have had an opportunity to review your juvenile reader books (The Rainbow Road Series.) I liked the books. The dialog between Blake and Breonna is perfect for young readers. You have really captured their personalities in your writing. One part that stood out was when Breonna called Blake a “smarty pants.” You are right on with the age range of readers you are trying to reach. You have written their adventures to be fun and exciting. There is fine line between trying to put too much into a story and just the right amount of adventure. With too much you lose the reader and they become confused with what the ultimate goal of the writer is. Often when this happens it is difficult for a writer to find the proper ending to their story. If there is not enough adventure and personality to the writing the reader gets easily bored and we all know what happens then… the book is put back on the shelf. I think you have a good balance with your story. I am not surprised that parents and grandparents were purchasing the book. It can be difficult to find a book for this age range. Juvenile reader books are highly successful in the industry at the moment."

I was offered a contract for the Rainbow Road series.

While this was certainly a boost for my ego, and a validation for the series, Peg and I decided that with three Lady Justice novels being published, we would hold off until we were certain that Tate would come through as promised.
At that point we were absolutely happy with our experience with Tate, but we wanted to see if the marketing and promotion would develop as we had hoped.
I had decided to stop writing more Rainbow Road books and get back to Lady Justice #4.
In the meantime, my grandson was sharing his little books with some of his friends, and soon, fate would intervene once again.

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

In the first installment of the Rainbow Road series, Blake, the eight-year old boy was given the super power of X-Ray Vision.
Not wanting to be perceived as sexist, I decided that in the second book, Super Powers Of Rainbow Road, little six-year old Breonna would get Super Hearing.
While I banged away, one finger at a time, on the computer, Peg busied herself creating another beautiful cover for the book.
When both were finished and bound at OfficeMax, we presented the second installment to my grandson for his critique. Kids his age, after all, are my target audience.
He loved the second book as much as the first and encouraged me to keep pumping them out. I hoped he wasn't just saying that to make his poor old grandpa happy. How old do you have to be to learn to lie to people so that they feel good?
Then a thought occurred to us. We had been involved in craft fairs, art expos and book signings for almost a year with Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P.
Not everyone is interested in mysteries and we had just the one book on our big eight-foot table.
Maybe if we had a couple of kids books, it would attract more readers to our table.
The OfficeMax version was OK for the grandson critique, but we needed something better to sell.
We decided that since this was a kid's book, we needed some illustrations, so we went back to Dreamstime.com and purchased some really cute images that fit into the story line.
We were quite happy with the book that Authorhouse had produced, but there was no way we were going down that road with the little kids books.
We had met a young lady at the Lowry City, Mo. Library Author's Fair.
We love going to those events. We love meeting other authors and comparing notes.
This lady had written a novel and published it with an on-line service called Createspace which we discovered was a company affiliated with Amazon.
We logged on to the website and were amazed to see how easy it was to upload a PDF file and a front and back cover, and the cost, compared to all the other ways we had found to publish, was insignificant.
We realized, of course, that what we were doing was the bottom of the publishing barrel. Besides having a book to hold in your hand, all you got was the title available on Amazon.com., but we didn't care. All we were interested in was having the kids books on our table to attract a wider range of readers.
We submitted the two volumes of the Rainbow Road series, followed their on-line directions and within a week the books were in our hands.
Frankly, we were not expecting much for the price we paid, but when we opened the box, our little books looked every bit as good as the Random House and Penguin chapter books on the Barnes & Noble bookshelf.
I have to admit that I was excited about these little books and with my grandson's encouragement, I couldn't stop writing the darned things!

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

Three Lady Justice novels are with Tate Publishing, being prepared for world-wide distribution. (One can always dream)
The first two installments wouldn't be ready for print for at least two months, so there I was again, wondering what to do next.
I had just started doing research and formulating an outline for the fourth Lady Justice novel, when fate intervened again.
My eight-year old grandson stopped by and proudly declared, "Grandpa, I'm going to write a book!"
His second grade class had been given the assignment of writing a story and he was excited to share the news with his author grandfather. Peer bonding, I guess.
A few days later, he re-appeared with his five page book complete with illustrations.
His story was about a rainbow, a leprechaun and a pot of gold coins, and it was a pretty good little story.
After bestowing the appropriate accolades and encouragement, off he went with visions of writing grandeur. I wonder where he gets that?
My wife, who had created the covers for my three Lady Justice novels, promptly created a cover for his book and we had it bound at OfficeMax. First class all the way.
During the previous year, when Blake was in the first grade, we had been introduced to 'chapter books'. He would come to spend the night and he would usually have one of these little 50-70 page booklets that were designed as the first 'real' books after the picture-book stories of kindergarten.
It was on the way home from OfficeMax that my wife was inspired to say, "I'll bet you could write a children's chapter book. After all, you're just a big kid anyway." Flattery will get you every time.
I let the idea percolate in the old gray matter. Having spent countless hours with Blake, playing the make-believe stuff that grandpas and grandchildren play, I was well aware of his vivid imagination.
Kids today, like Blake, are really into their super heroes, like Spiderman, Ironman and Superman, with all their super powers.
I can fondly recall my own fantasies at that age, only my heroes were the good guys of the wild and wooly west. My friends and I would argue about who got to be Roy Rogers or Gene Autry.
I pretended that I could ride and rope and shoot just like my heroes, so what kid today doesn't fantasize about having the super powers of these modern day heroes?
Hmmmm, rainbow, leprechaun, pot of gold, super powers. Maybe there is a story there.
I sat down at the computer and started banging away.
An eight year old boy and his six year old sister follow a rainbow and discover Rainbow Road. It leads them to the home of Lucky Leprechaun. He has a pot of gold coins that bestow super powers, and on their first visit, Blake (wonder where that name came from) is given the power of X-Ray Vision. In the story he learns how to use his special power to help people, and so the adventure begins.
I printed the story and handed it to my greatest critic, my wife.
She loved it!
So what do we do with it now?
My little story got Peg's creative juices flowing and she created a beautiful Rainbow Road cover.
I had really just written the story for fun to impress my grandson, so we took her cover and my story to OfficeMax and had it bound as well.
I was apprehensive about giving the book to Blake. He was, after all, a veteran reader of the highly successful Magic Tree House and Encyclopedia Brown chapter books.
Then, at last, the verdict came in.
"Grandpa, I loved it! Can you write another one?"
So I did, and the Rainbow Road series of children's chapter books was born.

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

Wait ---- wait for a response to your submission query from a publisher that never comes.
Wait --- wait for a response from a literary agent that never comes.
Then, when you finally sign a contract with a credible publisher and submit your manuscripts ---- you wait again for the year it takes to get your book in print.
Obviously, if you aspire to be an author, patience is a virtue.
As fate would have it, I was blessed with incredible good looks and a razor-sharp wit rather than patience. (Just kidding)
At the ripe old age of sixty-seven, I don't imagine that I have a lot of time to dawdle.
Actually, I have always subscribed to the redneck credo, "Get 'er done!"
Once I have formulated a plan and a goal, I can't rest until I see it to fruition.
My approach to my writing is the same. Once I started on Lady Justice, I couldn't quit. I wrote all day and laid awake at night thinking about what I was going to write the next day. On more than one occasion, when my nocturnal musings were particularly inspirational, I left my bed and typed, fearing I would forget by morning.
My poor wife would stumble into the office at three A.M., shake her head and mutter, "You've got to be kidding!"
So what does a retired realtor turned frustrated writer do while he's waiting for his books to be published?
Write some more, of course.
As soon as Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P. and Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes were in the system, I started on the third installment of the Lady Justice series, Lady Justice Gets Leid.
I was really anxious to get started on Walt's newest adventure.
As you might suspect from the title, the story takes place in Hawaii.
My wife and I lived on Maui, Hawaii for five years, from 2002 through 2007, and I had planned from the beginning for Walt and Maggie to visit this beautiful paradise.
As with the previous two novels, once I got started, I couldn't rest.
Before the first two novels had cleared copy editing, Lady Justice Gets Leid was ready to submit.
I called the acquisitions rep at Tate Publishing and asked if she wanted to see volume three.
Within a week, Lady Justice Gets Leid was under contract and in the system.
Three novels were being edited and made ready for publication, but the first two wouldn't be out for at least two months.
So what does an impatient writer do while he's waiting?
Keep writing!

The Tears And Triumphs Of A New Author Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

I signed my contract with Tate Publishing, submitted the manuscripts for Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P. and Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes and so began my journey with Tate.
I had read the submission information on dozens of traditional publisher's websites and they all seemed to have one thing in common --- don't be in a hurry to have your new book in your hands.
Most said that the book would be published within one to two years! What's up with that?
When I signed with Authorhouse, the first Lady Justice was delivered in about a month. I realize that they simply bind the book that you have submitted and there is no editing, and they pretty much used the cover my wife had created, but why so long?
I soon found out.
I submitted my manuscripts in February. I received an email welcoming me to the Tate family with a notation that work would begin on my books in June.
The first month was designated for copy editing. This is where they check for spelling, grammar and punctuation. Even though my wife and I had been through the manuscripts more than a dozen times, the Tate editors found stuff that we had missed. Fresh eyes do make a difference.
In the second month, the manuscripts were assigned to a conceptual editor. I had no idea what that was all about until I received an email and the attached manuscripts were full of red, green and gray highlights with suggestions of how the books could be improved.
This is the phase where an author's ego could certainly get in the way. I mean, after all, the books were perfect when I sent them in to them, weren't they?
Apparently not!
After my initial shock subsided, I felt a call to the conceptual editor was in order.
Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P., my very first attempt at writing, was so red and green, it looked like a Christmas display had exploded.
Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes, not so much.
Maybe that was an indication that I was getting better with practice.
The editor was very kind and patient and after I switched from ego mode to learner mode, I could clearly see how many of her suggestions were valid. I revised and re-wrote where it was necessary and in the end, both books, especially the first one were much improved.
In the third month, the books were sent to the creative department where the covers were to be designed.
My wife and I had designed the cover for the Authorhouse Lady Justice and we really liked it. I sent it to the cover designer with high hopes they would use it for the Tate edition.
Not a chance.
The character of Lady Justice that we had used was a stock photo we had purchased from dreamstime.com.
We had also purchased another Lady Justice for the second book that was a bit different.
They, of course, didn't want either one.
Instead of using stock photos, they designed a whole new Lady Justice figure from scratch that would be used throughout the Lady Justice series.
Again, after checking my ego at the door, I realized that the 'new' Lady Justice was pretty cool!
The fourth month was designated for book design. This is the phase where they select type size and font and the cool little extras like the new Lady Justice figure at the beginning of each chapter and little justice scales between time breaks.
It has now been eight months since I submitted my manuscripts and they tell me we're almost there.
I'm really excited!

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

I opened my email and there was a message from Tate Publishing --- They want my book!
The aquisitions lady from Tate had read Lady Justice Takes A. C.R.A.P., and liked it. She was offering me a contract.
The first reaction was, of course, elation. This was the big break I had been waiting for --- or was it?
I had been excited before when I had received contract offers from Publish America and WL Literary Agency, but that excitement was short lived when I did my research and discovered that both of these companies will take almost anything from anyone, and had horrible reputations.
So, back to the internet to research Tate Publishing.
My initial findings were positive.
"Tate Publishing is one of the largest publishers in the world and has the production, distribution, marketing and publicity that leads the industry for our authors.
Tate Publishing is a large publisher that delivers what no one else does. We are selective and can only sign around 3% of the manuscripts submitted to us, but when you become a member of the Tate Publishing family you truly join the elite.
. Tate Publishing is the fastest growing publisher in the industry and has been over the past three years."
Apparently, Lady Justice fell into that 3%. How cool is that?
Then as I read the blogs and websites, my enthusiasm turned to skepticism. Tate charges their authors to publish their books!
So how is this any different from what I already have with Authorhouse?
More research.
I have an author friend who has two books published with Tate. It was time to pick her brain.
I had told her previously that I had submitted Lady Justice to Tate and she had doubted that they would be interested in it. Tate is a Christian-oriented publisher and while Lady Justice has no gory bloodbaths or gratuitous sex, it is an adult mystery novel.
She was surprised by Tate's offer.
The conversation with my friend was positive.
Tate had done everything for her that she had hoped. They had both copy editing and conceptual editing and had created a beautiful cover for her book. She had been assigned a marketing/publicity person who had set up book-signings and, best of all, her books were stocked in the brick and mortar stores. She said that she was amazed when she walked into a Target store and saw her book on the shelf.
I had none of those things with Authorhouse.
So what is with the fee they charge?
I have read over and over in the literary blogs that a traditional publisher should pay the author an advance for his work. If the author has to pay, it's just another vanity press.
More research --- more reading.
While my research may have been influenced by the fact that Tate has offered me a contract, here is what I have concluded:
1. It would be wonderful to have a truly professional literary agent sell your work to a large publishing company for a hefty advance, but it would appear that the established agencies are only interested in previously published authors. I would rather go it alone than sign with a company like WL Literary Agency.
2.The big guys are only interested in established authors and celebrities and most won't even accept unsolicited submissions. They want you to have an agent, but you can't get a decent agent as a new guy, so it's a vicious circle.
3. There are a bazillion vanity publishers like Authorhouse, X-Libris, I-Universe, Dog Ear, etc. You get two things with any of them, a book to hold in your hand and the listing your book in the book channels. You also get the stigma of self-published, which prevents you from getting your book in brick and mortar stores. There are tens of thousands of self-published books, many of which are really bad. Even if your book is better than most, it's nearly impossible to make it rise above the crowd. It's like swimming in a sea of peanut butter.
4. There seems to be an alternative to the above scenario, the subsidy publisher. Tate falls in that category.
I have learned one thing in my brief career as an author --- it is impossible to succeed if you don't make a personal commitment to your book.
I understand now, that a traditional publisher invests a lot of money in producing a book. With a new author, it is a gamble.
Even if the book is good and even if the publisher produces a great finished product, if the author isn't willing to invest his time and effort, the book will not sell.
The subsidy publisher offers all of the services of the big guys, editing, artwork, marketing, book store placement, etc, but as a new, unpublished author, they want a commitment, both in time and dollars, to insure that the new guy will do his part.
The flaw in this scenario is that not every new author can afford the financial commitment.
I have developed friendships with several self-published authors who have written great novels, but are struggling for acceptance just as I have.
They just don't have the financial resources to pay the subsidy, so their work will probably languish in the purgatory of self-publishing.
Fortunately, I have been blessed with the means to take the next step in my writing career.
I have been down the dead-end road of self-publishing and have been ignored by the elite publishers and agents, so if I want Lady Justice to see the light of day, my next step will be with Tate.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 24

Chapter 24



After the first of the year, things slowed down. The Christmas Craft Fairs were over and book signing events slowed to a trickle.

We sold lots of books at these events, but it was quite apparent that if Lady Justice was to be a best seller, it would take more than a booth at a high school gymnasium.

It was encouraging, however, that those who had purchased Lady Justice, loved it!

Authorhouse had produced a fine book and it was available nearly everywhere online, but, as a self-published book, it was not going to be in the brick and mortar stores.

I dug out my dusty copy of Writer's Guide and started all over again.

I went to the websites of every legitimate publisher that would accept unsolicited submissions and sent query letters again.

"If at first you don't succeed ----"

With nothing else to do but wait for a response --- that would probably never come, I continued writing the sequel to Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P..

The title of the new book was Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes.

All of the characters from the first novel, Walt, Maggie, Willie, Mary and the Professor, were all there.

Again, reminded of the old axiom, "write about what you know", poor old Walt was drafted into going undercover as an Elvis impersonator. Just for fun, I had been doing Elvis impersonations for fifteen years, so it wasn't difficult to put myself in Walt's shoes.

As before, once I started writing, it just kept coming.

The cold winter days wore on and Lady Justice And The Lost Tapes was finally finished.

Now, the question was, "what should I do with it?"

I wasn't real excited about publishing another book with Authorhouse. I didn't need another book that would not be getting into the bookstores.

Then, one morning, I opened my email, and the answer was there!

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 23

Chapter 23



We had made stops at two large Barnes & Noble stores in our area. Even though 'Lady Justice' was available online at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com, it was not in the brick and mortar stores.

We kept getting the brush-off from the managers and finally we discovered why.

Evidently, individual Barnes & Noble store managers don't make decisions on which self-published novels to stock. Everything comes from the corporate headquarters in New York.

One kind manager told us to go to the Barnes & Noble website and look for the self-publishing submission section.

We found the site and sure enough, if you were self-published, you were required to send a copy of your book along with other submission requirements, if you wanted your book considered for inclusion in the brick and mortar stores.

So we sent what was requested and actually received a reply that our book was somewhere in the huge stack to be reviewed. They promised to let us know --- some day.

So, if that's how the system works, maybe it's the same for Borders. We went to the Borders website and were shocked to read that Borders will absolutely not stock a self-published book!

HOLY COW!

If you're self-published, you might as well have leprosy, because nobody in main-line publishing wants to have anything to do with you.

It's really sad. How many REALLY great pieces of literature will never see the light of day because they are written by a new author?

So, the big book chains are a long shot. How about the small, independent bookseller?

I found a website for the ABA, American Booksellers Association, comprised of small, independent bookstores.

Like the newspapers, we pulled up the websites of each store, one by one, and state by state.

We had prepared a sales campaign brochure which we emailed to EVERY member of the ABA in ALL fifty states; over four hundred independent bookstores.

We did the same thing as with the newspapers and saved the emails in a special address book for our next attack.

By this time, we were getting feedback from our previous sales. Readers were emailing us, saying how much they enjoyed 'Lady Justice' and were looking forward to the sequel.

Armed with positive reviews, we sent our next barrage of press releases to all the newspapers in Missouri,Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and New York.

We waited two weeks and sent a follow-up solicitation with reader reviews to the 400+ independent bookstores.

We're nothing if not persistent.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 22

Chapter 22



I realized that if I was ever going to get the exposure for 'Lady Justice' that I wanted, I was going to have to find a 'traditional' publisher who would take my book.

I read about a book titled 'The Writer's Market' online and found a copy in our local library.

Virtually all of the publishers, both traditional and self-publishing, were listed with their submission guidelines.

The vast majority of traditional publishers said either that they don't accept unsolicited or un-agented submissions.

So maybe I should find an agent to represent me

I turned to the literary agent section and was surprised to read that most of the agents didn't want to talk to you unless you were already a successful author.

Hold on a minute! Publishers don't talk to you without an agent and agents won't talk to you if you're not previously published.

WHO MADE THESE RULES???

It became quite obvious that the deck was stacked against the new author unless, of course, he or she was a celebrity.

Oh well, nobody said it would be easy.

I went through the 'Writer's Market' and pulled up the websites of all the publishing companies and literary agents that would accept unsolicited submissions and followed the directions on each site.

I received a few replies thanking me for my submission, but regrettably, the subject matter of my novel didn't fit into their current plans.

I did receive positive responses from one literary agency and several small publishers, but when I did my research on them, they all had reputations for taking anything that was sent to them, and most were less reputable than the company I already had.

Another dead end.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 21

Chapter 21


Some how, we had to let the world know about 'Lady Justice' and it was up to us to do it.

Authorhouse had done a fantastic job producing the book, but after that, it was all on us.

Obviously, our connection to the outside world was the Internet. Some how, we had to get people to our website, www.booksbybob.com.

We were on all the social networking sites, but we needed more.

The marketing guy from Authorhouse had sent us an email with links to sites he thought might be useful to us.

One was a website listing all of the newspapers in the United States, state by state.

I had read that Authorhouse would prepare a press release for me --- for a fee, and submit it to selected papers, but again, I could do that for myself, so I studied press release construction and prepared my first press release.

The process was grueling. I had to pull up the newspapers in a particular state and then open their website and find the appropriate email address for press release submission.

I spent as much time as I could spare, and over a two week period, I sent press releases to EVERY newspaper in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and New York.

I have no idea if any paper actually published the releases, but they certainly received them. We did get responses from a couple of newspapers who offered to review 'Lady Justice' if we sent their book editor a copy, which, of course, we did. We haven't heard back from them yet.

We did learn a trick. After I sent all the emails the first time, I pulled up the sent messages and put the email addresses in a special newspaper address book. It would save me hours of labor on my next press release barrage.

I had also found websites on the Internet,I-Newswire.com, PR.com, Free-Press-Release.com, and Prlog.org, on which I could post my first release. I used them all.

If the world didn't know about 'Lady Justice', it wasn't for lack of trying.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 20

Chapter 20



The day of our first Arts & Crafts Fair arrived.

It was late October and the event was outdoors. Since we had signed up at the last minute, we were delegated to an'overflow' site. It turned out to be several miles from the actual event.

We were directed to a patch of grass between a hot dog stand and a table full of garage sale crap.

We set up our booth and waited anxiously for the flood of fans who would buy my book.

Someone must have given them bad directions, because no one came.

The few people who dropped by for a hot dog walked by our booth and never even looked in our direction.

We sat there four hours, froze our butts off and didn't sell a single book.

Not a very auspicious start.

Our next event was at the Harrisonville, Cass County Public Library. I had emailed and sent postcards to every old classmate that I could find. The library had posted a book-signing notice on the door and the local newspaper had run an announcement for us.

This was bound to be a success.

On the night of the event, I was thrilled when about a dozen old classmates showed up. Each bought a book and we had a great class reunion.

But not another single soul other than my old friends came.

I learned a valuable lesson. If people don't know you or you're not a celebrity, they just don't care.

Our next event was another Christmas Craft Fair. This one was inside and we had a more captive audience.

We noticed right away that people weren't drawn to our booth even though it was decorated to the hilt.

It was difficult to ignore our 12 x 18 poster advertising 'Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P.'and if that didn't get your attention a second poster admonishing

"Give Someone C.R.A.P. for Christmas", was hard to ignore.

We soon discovered that nothing was going to happen unless we made it happen, so we stood at our table and spoke to anyone who even glanced in our direction.

We found that once we got their attention, and our infectious personalities kicked in, most would listen to the story of "Lady Justice'.
We also found that if we could engage them in conversation, about 60% of them would buy a book.

We sold 37 copies that day --- a victory!

Our next event was in the library of our small town of Osceola, Mo, population 835.

Again, we posted notices all over town and the local paper had run ads for two consecutive weeks. We even sponsored a promotion for the local Food Bank; "Bring in a can of food and receive a 10% discount".

Four families showed up, all were close friends. No one else cared.

The rest of our events at craft fairs went much the same as the second one. Once we figured out how to attract the shoppers, we could sell the book.

We sold books at our ten events, but we could tell right away that if 'Lady Justice was going to be a best seller, it was going to take more than craft fairs.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 19

Chapter 19



My next contact with Authorhouse was with a guy in the marketing department.

They have a full line of services to help you promote your book --- for a fee, of course, --- a really hefty fee!

The guy I talked to was really helpful, but his job was to sell me more stuff. He said he would send me an email outlining some of the marketing programs that were available. The email came and I looked at the packages ---YIKES!

One program was a "social media" package. For a mere $799.00, they would create pages for me and 'Lady Justice' on a whole slew of media sites and create a 'blog' that I could use to drive traffic to my website where, hopefully, people would click on "order book".

At age 66, while I am quite competent with the computer and the Internet, I've never cared about any of the social interactive sites.

Never needed to.

I've never Tweeted or blogged or any of that stuff, and now my publisher is saying I should do it if I want people to know about my book, or, they can do it for me for a measly $799.00.

As I perused the sites they would set up, it occurred to me that all of them were free. Why pay them the big bucks to do something I am perfectly capable of doing myself?

So I began.

Three days later, I had accounts on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Booktour, Classmates, Shelfari, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Yahoo, Google, LinkedIn, WeRead, Gather, Amazon, Bebo, Wordpress, AuthorsDen, MyLife and WritersNet.

WHEW!

No wonder they charge $799.00. It's a heck of a lot of work to set up a complete profile with photos and links to your website.

But I did it and it didn't cost me a dime!

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 18

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 18

My next contact with Authorhouse was a person who could help me set up a website.
This was not a part of my original publishing package. The fee to set up a site was $399.00 plus a monthly hosting fee.
Wow! More dollars out and none coming in.
I searched the Internet for other companies that sold, constructed and hosted websites hoping to find better deals.
Most were sites that required you to use one of their stock templates and were really cheap looking.
The company recommended by Authorhouse was American Author. They specialize in websites for authors.
I looked at a number of websites that American Author had created for other writers and the quality was really superior to what I had found for not that much more money. So I gave them the green light and bought the site.
The first thing they wanted was to sell me a domain name for what I later determined was a rather exorbitant price.
I had gone online towww.godaddy.com and bought the perfect domain name for $9.95.
Booksbybob.com
Authorhouse sent the information and graphics on ‘Lady Justice’ to American Author and in about a week, my site was up and running.
One of the things I really wanted was complete control of my site content and the ability to change and add things as needed.
As a Realtor for 31 years, I had considerable experience with Realtor websites and knew what I wanted.
I was thrilled when my site first popped up. It loaded quickly and was really beautiful.
After studying the tutorial, I found it had all the features I needed and I had total control of the editing process.
I went to work and in the next few days, customized my site to exactly what I wanted.
Now comes the task of letting the world know that Lady Justice Takes a C.R.A.P. is on the market.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 17

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 17

The creation of novel #2 stopped abruptly with the arrival of Lady Justice #1.
It was time to launch our marketing campaign.
First on the list was the local senior center. We were regular attendees at the Thursday afternoon tea dance and knew there were at least two hundred seniors there for lunch every day. I was almost afraid we wouldn’t have enough books to go around.
I shouldn’t have worried.
After talking to the senior center administrator, we learned that the company that manages the activities there don’t allow vendors.
Wait a minute! I’m not a vendor, I’m an author!
No, you’re a vendor and you can’t sell your book here.
To our dismay, we discovered that the same company managed virtually all the senior centers within driving distance.
So much for that idea.
Our next outlet was the local libraries.
The closest large town is about thirty miles from our home, but close enough for us to be called “local”. We contacted the library to set up a book signing date and were informed they only do book signings once a year when they sponsor a large event for any local author who wants to participate. The event was in September. We missed it by a month.
Better luck next year.
OK, Peg and I spent thirty years living and working in the Independence, Mo area, so we contacted the Mid-Continent library in our hometown. It turned out the Mid-Continent manages thirty branches in the Greater Kansas City area and we could submit our book for consideration at their next branch manager meeting.
We sent them a book and waited and waited ---nothing.
OK then, I grew up in Harrisonville, Mo and attended school there through Freshman year until my parents moved to Blue Springs, Mo. I had attended several high school reunions and kept in touch with several old classmates.
I called the Cass County library and was totally shocked when they readily agreed to a book signing.
Cool! Our first gig!
We also contacted the library in our little town of Osceola, Mo. population 835. They also agreed to sponsor a book signing.
So, two down, but where next?
In early October, before my book was in print, I had attended a book signing at the huge Barnes & Noble store in Overland Park, Kansas. The author was a friend of my step-son. I was elated when the author introduced me to the Community Relations Manager of the store as a new author, and he promptly handed me his card and said to call when the book was available and he would set up an event for me.
I figured this one was in the bag.
But when I called a month later to schedule the event, all I got was a run-around and eventually an email saying that all available time slots were taken for the rest of the year. Call back next year ---oh well.
So far, the only books leaving our garage were the ones we were giving to friends and family.
Not much profit there.
Three of our prime sources for sales had evaporated almost before we opened the first box of books.
Then, our copy of Rural Missourian came in the mail. They have a section where they spotlight upcoming events in the communities they serve. With the Christmas Season approaching, the events calendar was loaded with Christmas Arts and Craft Fairs.
We said, “ What the heck. Why not?”
So we contacted the event co-coordinators and scheduled four craft fairs around our two library appearances.
It wasn’t exactly the book tour I’d hoped for, but it was a start.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 16

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 16

In about 10 days, UPS showed up with a package from Authorhouse –my author’s copy!
It is a long and arduous process from conceptualization to writing to editing and finally, to waiting for the finished product.
We excitedly opened the package and held in our hand the fruits of our labors.
Lady Justice wasn’t just a figment of my imagination anymore ---she was real!
Feelings of joy, pride, accomplishment and fulfillment flooded us as we held our new creation.
Not to be overdramatic or to trivialize the comparison, but the feeling was not unlike bringing new life into the world.
We hugged and laughed and examined our baby from cover to cover. She was beautiful --- everything we had hoped for.
I had received an email from Authorhouse saying they would not start production of our order until we had received and approved our author copy. I sent the email and called my book sales representative. By this time it was nearing the end of October and my goal was to have the books in hand for the Christmas shopping season, so I begged her to rush the order and she said she would.
During this down time, two things happened:
First, my mind wouldn’t shut down and the next adventures of Walt, Maggie and the other senior characters started popping out. I began writing the sequel to Lady Justice before the first book was in print.
Second, Peg and I spent hours on our deck, rocking and planning our sales campaign. Since the story was senior oriented, we decided on book signings at every senior citizens complex within 100 miles. We now live in a small rural town, but spent most of our life in the Metro Kansas City area, and we knew of dozens of libraries that could host a signing for us. And, of course, we were sure that once the book was available, all the bookstores would be excited to sponsor a local author.
So we rocked on our deck and planned and dreamed --- moving a thousand books would be a piece of cake.
My philosophy has always been, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it”. Unfortunately, sometimes reality gets in the way.
Finally, the day arrived and we saw the UPS truck coming down the driveway. He backed up to the garage and started unloading box after box after box. When it was all over and 1,065 books were stacked in our garage, we looked at each other and a wave of panic hit us.
What have we done?

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 15

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 15

My manuscript was now in the hands of “Team Pearl” of Authorhouse.
I had negotiated a “rapid release” in the package I purchased. Knowing that most publishers state in their website, “ If we accept your book, we will publish within 2 years”, I wondered if rapid release meant a year and a half.
Imagine my surprise when I received an email in just one week with my completed galley and cover.
The next step was to read the whole thing again looking for errors or editing we had missed.
We were told that everything was on hold until we either accepted what had been sent or submitted corrections.
We were cautioned that once we sent our approval, it would cost our firstborn child to make any other corrections. We felt pretty secure since we were both over 65.
Finding no glaring errors, I sent the email confirming acceptance of the galley and cover and we were on to production.
I was told I would receive my author’s copy in about a week.
With Authorhouse, I was given the right to set my retail price and I was given a program to calculate my royalty based on varying retail prices.
Tough decision.
Naturally, anyone wants to make as much as possible but if the book is priced too high, no one will buy it.
I decided on $10.95 for the paperback and $14.95 for the hardcover, my royalty being just over a dollar a book.
At that point, I was introduced to two new departments at Authorhouse, marketing and book sales.
The package I purchased included a marketing kit and a book signing kit. I was sent an email requesting the verbiage I wanted on the materials. The marketing kit contained flyers, postcards and business cards and the book signing kit contained a large poster, bookmarks and more postcards. We decided on the verbiage and sent the email.
My next contact was the gal in charge of selling me my own book. Her first order of business was to negotiate a price per book depending on the number of books I wanted to order. I informed her that I had already negotiated a price and told her the terms. She seemed surprised and asked that I forward the email with the negotiated price, which I did.
In a few days she responded and said they would honor the price for an order of 1,000 books or more. I asked for a price breakdown on lesser amounts and the increase per book was astronomical!
I had negotiated two cents per page plus $1.28 for the cover, making my 180 page novel cost $4.88. With shipping, my price per book was $5.35.
If I was going to sell books on my own, it only made sense to order a thousand.
What the heck! In for a dime, in for a dollar, and I placed the order.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 14

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 14

Now that we had selected our publisher, Authorhouse, and tested the market, it was time to pay the piper and get the book in print.
We paid our fee and soon began receiving e-mails.
The first was from the team assigned to transform our manuscript from a word document to a real book. The e-mail was quite lengthy and gave us detailed submission instructions including type size, indentions, spacing, page breaks, etc. PAGE BREAKS! WHAT’S THAT?
Back to the Internet. After reading everything we could find relating to their instructions, it was back to editing.
We had opted not to pay the HUGE fee for professional editing, so my poor wife and I had been over the manuscript a bazillion times. Each time we found corrections. It’s amazing how many times you can read something and whiz right by glaring errors.
So we read it again, and again, and again, until we were relatively comfortable that all the commas, quotes and page breaks were in the right place.
My poor sweetie read the whole thing at least eight times. She’s a trooper!
The next challenge was the full color cover. This was included in our package price. We had been working on ideas during the writing process and knew with a title like Lady Justice Takes a C.R.A.P., we needed a “wow” cover.
My wife and I have a combined 51 years in real estate sales and I am blessed to have a partner who has mastered Photoshop and Publisher and has created beautiful postcards and flyers.
Authorhouse gave us a website to look for images to use on our cover. We soon discovered that it would cost us $100 to purchase the rights to an image at that site. Wow!
Back to the Internet. We found www.Dreamstime.com and purchased the rights to the perfect image for our book for $5.00. It pays to shop.
Peg put together a beautiful cover.
We attached the manuscript and cover to an e-mail, and pressed “send” and our journey had begun.

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 13

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 13

Having determined that we were going to publish with Authorhouse and negotiated a price, we decided to give the book a test run before we spent the big bucks.
We printed the manuscript and took it to OfficeMax and had ten copies printed and spiral bound. We distributed the copies to friends and family and held our breath.
Mixed reviews.
One copy went to my 46 year old son who was a 22 year police veteran. He immediately pointed out that police departments in the real world don’t operate like depicted in my story. DUH! I reminded him that this was not a “true crime” drama, but a comedy/mystery. It doesn’t have to be real! Naturally, I was disappointed, but then they gave the manuscript to my daughter-in-law’s eighty-something grandmother who LOVED IT. Right On!
We gave a copy to another published writer in our small town. Her book was an autobiography of her life growing up and published by a Christian based publisher. She liked the book but couldn’t give us a review at that time because of off-color language. OOPS!
We gave a copy to some “senior” friends of ours who are avid readers and own an orchard on the highway to Branson, Mo. When they read the chapter where Walt and Maggie take a trip to Branson, they wondered why they didn’t stop at the orchard, so I re-wrote the chapter to include the orchard. They loved it!
We gave a copy to Peg’s 87 year old mother who lives in a retirement village and reads a novel every two days. She has read hundreds of books and knows every author. She was the one who needed to love it because she was our target audience. She absolutely ate it up and passed it around the complex for her other senior friends to read. She said one lady laughed so hard she almost peed her pants. BINGO!
We soon discovered you can’t please everyone, but we pleased our target audience and you can’t beat that.
FULL SPEED AHEAD!