Tag: Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort

The Hustler

I sold a copy of my book to a telemarketer yesterday. Usually, I ignore numbers that I’m fairly certain are spam, but this one originated from Washington D.C. and I thought, Hey, it might be President Biden, so I accepted the call.

Turns out, it wasn’t Potus, but it wasn’t exactly a telemarketer either. Instead, the caller was from a charitable organization that I support. I politely listened to the caller’s spiel and then replied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t make a recurring monthly donation at this time. I’m a self-published author and I’m never sure what my royalties will amount to.”

“Oh?” She said. “What do you write?”

I grinned to myself. “I have a novel that was published in December. Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort.”

“She laughed and said, “What?”

I repeated the title.

“Oh my,” she said. “I’m buying that right now!”

We talked a few minutes more then said our goodbyes.

At the top of the hour I checked my sales on Kindle Direct Publishing. Now, I have no way of knowing if the kind caller was the purchaser of my book, but I did make a sale for an ebook that hour. And that’s why they call me, The Hustler. (Note: I think I’m the only one to use that nickname, but maybe I’ll start a trend.)

Peace, people!

Maybe next time….

Peace, people!

Hindsight is Twenty Something

A few days ago I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. Sales for Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort have been good, but reviews were a little light. The reviews the book received were outstanding; there just weren’t that many of them.

So, I thought, why not have a drawing on my Facebook author page? When the number of reviews reached 40, I’d draw a reviewer’s name at random and give away either a Scout’s Honor coffee mug or a signed copy of Mayhem. Cool, huh?

Except I didn’t take into account that many reviewers on Amazon use nicknames or initials instead of their actual names, so for the last couple of days I’ve been trying to figure out who “Keek” is, and who among my readers might be “Amazon Customer.”

Also, and this is both a wonderful thing and an almost impossible impediment, I don’t personally know at least five of the reviewers! How would I contact them if they won?

Sometime this weekend the number of reviews not only reached, but exceeded the 40 mark. I was able to track down all but two reviewers through connections on Facebook and friends of friends, but those two were untraceable. I felt awful, but went ahead with the drawing as promised, and notified the winner.

So, any suggestions for future giveaways are welcome. I believe this was good for book sales and review numbers, but as Mayhem wanders away from my core group of friends and followers, it might be impossible to track down a winner. This one has given me a massive headache. But I’m also smiling!

Peace, people!

An Inside Joke

If you’ve read my book, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, you’ll find this cartoon even funnier than it already is. If you haven’t read my book, you really should. You know, to be in on the joke. I knew there was a reason I loved The Far Side so much.

Peace, people!

Review Giveaway

My first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort has garnered nearly 40 reviews on Amazon! I’m pretty stoked.

When it reaches the 40 review mark I’m going to select one of the reviewers at random to win their choice of either a Scout’s Honor coffee cup (pictured below), or a signed copy of Mayhem.

Isn’t it adorable?

So, if you’ve read Mayhem and haven’t yet written a review, take a couple of minutes and let others know what you think. Reviews don’t have to be fancy or flowery, just sincere. If you’ve rated it, but haven’t left a review, I don’t have any way of knowing your name, so if you want to be included in the drawing make sure to write a few words.

If you haven’t yet read Mayhem, even if you read it and didn’t like it, I still love you. I really do.

The Kindle version is only $2.99! The paperback is available on Amazon for $11.99.

Peace, people!

Innocent Bystanders

Folks, I promise I’ll try to keep my sales pitches to a minimum, but as many self-published authors have discovered, we really are our own best cheerleaders. And who knows? I get new followers on WordPress almost daily and perhaps they have yet to hear about my book. Honestly, it’s a public service I’m performing here.

You see my debut novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, is my baby, and I’m proud of her. Oh, I’m well aware that she has a few flaws, but those just make her more adorable. And everyone knows that only grandchildren can attain perfection.

If you have a moment today, I’d love for you to visit Amazon, look up Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort and take a moment to read the reviews. Yes, some of them were written by personal friends, but most are from innocent bystanders. Innocent. Bystanders. Who genuinely seem to have liked my story and my characters.

I know eventually there’ll be less than stellar reviews. I’m trying to prepare myself mentally for those. An author in one of my groups said her favorite bad review was along the lines of, “This story seems to have been written by a constipated rock. Just let it GO!”

Oh, if you have read Mayhem, THANK YOU! Please leave a review. A few words mean so much and reviews are the key to keeping one’s book in the spotlight on Amazon.

End of sales pitch. Carry on (to Amazon). And peace, people.

Buy the Book

Last week I posted about an afternoon spent watching the film, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. https://nananoyz5forme.com/2021/02/01/the-ghost-and-mrs-muir/

The resulting comments from friends on WordPress and social media led me to purchase a copy of the book, and thanks to Amazon, I’ll soon be comparing the book to the film. Seldom do I do the reverse order thing. Usually I’ve read the book first and then often find the film disappointing.

As a newly self-published author I can’t help but imagine what the screen version of my book might look like. Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Express would work well as a movie, but I’m afraid one scene would need to be cut or altered and that would be a shame. Since Hollywood isn’t going to come knocking on my door anytime soon, I guess that’s a senseless waste of a good worry.

A couple of years ago I got to hear author Louise Penny speak when she launched one of her Detective Gamache books here in Tallahassee. Someone asked what she’d thought about the screen adaptation of her first novel. I can’t provide a direct quote, but Ms. Penny said she’d not been happy with the way the book was transformed for the film and that she’d felt as if she had let her characters down.

I totally understand that. My characters, Paula and Cassie, the 3M’s, and Dr. Hunky, are all important to me. They’re like family. I find myself wondering, WWPD (What Would Paula Do) in certain situations. As I write the sequel to Mayhem I ask myself that question multiple times a day. So if I allowed someone to take my characters and change them in ways that weren’t true to my images of them, I’d feel awful. Again, a baseless worry, but hey, that’s how my mind works.

So buy the book. Support those characters, so you too can think of them as family.

Peace, people!

An Angel Gets Its Wings

Every time someone purchases my book….

…I do a happy dance.

And every time someone writes a positive review…

I sing a happy song.

https://youtu.be/d-diB65scQU

It’s been a very good day. Thank you!

https://pin.it/3UXLXgW

Peace, people!

Walking a Fine Line

Back in 1964 when I was a young Brownie Scout peddling Girl Scout cookies, I came face-to-face with an ugly truth: I’m a lousy salesperson. My spiel when knocking on doors of prospective customers often included the question, “You wouldn’t be interested in buying cookies from me, would you?” Marketing was not my game.

Fast forward to 2020. I’m still not much good at selling my wares. Nowadays, though, it’s my little indie book I’m peddling instead of the highly desirable Girl Scout cookies. I don’t want to annoy you, my readers, but I also don’t want to miss an opportunity to say, “Hey, buy my book!”

I wonder if it would help to mention how much I think lovers of Thin Mints would enjoy reading Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort?

Hey, buy my book, and cookies, if you have the opportunity.

Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_8NMYZTRDRXF76H8Z20P2

Peace, and good reading, people.

Scout’s Honor Publishing

One of the sweetest surprises associated with self publishing was discovering that I got to create a name for my own publishing company. When my editor, Rachel Carrera told me to start thinking of a name for my enterprise I jotted down several possible titles, including “Scout’s Honor,” for our recently deceased cat, Scout, but thought I’d go with “Praying for Eyebrowz” in keeping with my blog’s title.

Then I spoke with my daughter, Ashley. When I told her about getting to christen my publishing company the first words out of her mouth were, “Scout’s Honor.” And that sealed it.

Scout was my co-writer, but died before we published.

For Christmas, Ashley had a friend design a logo for me. I cried when I first saw it. Studly Doright cried when he held it.

My photo doesn’t do it justice.

Now for a shameless attempt to encourage you to buy my book if you haven’t already:

Peace, people!

In Studly’s Hands

I finally got to hold a copy of the paperback version of my novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort. Sadly, it’s not mine to keep. I’ll forward it on to my friend and editor, Rachel Carrera first thing tomorrow.

Studly Doright wanted to hold it. “It’s huge!” were his exact words. I was pushing for “clever, poignant, skillfully done,” but I’ll settle for “huge!”

Peace, people!