I’m not sure that too many people are reading my blog at this time, but if this site becomes more popular in the future and these blogs actually get read, it will probably look like I can’t stay focused on one project for more than a month or two (y’all don’t even know the half of it).
Promotion Plans
The next step for promoting Frozen Secrets was going to be ordering a print run of 1-2K to giveaway to school libraries throughout the country. The idea there being that a print run like that would probably cost around $2-3K plus shipping from China, and would be about on par with advertising in a library journal (half or full page). But at the end of the day (admittedly after being seen by thousands of librarians) the library journal is thrown away (or archived). If the ad isn’t impactful enough to get them to order the books, then that money is gone forever. Sort of an all-or-nothing shot. My experience with advertising when I owned the electric bike shop was spotty. Some campaigns would earn back the money, others wouldn’t. On the other hand, I use the advertising money to purchase and give away thousands of copies of my book, at least there is a residual positive outcome. Even if the librarians don’t look at my book and immediately want to order more copies for the library, hopefully they’ll put it in the hands of eager readers (ones who enjoy realistic science fiction), and then more people will find out about it.
Quarantine Change of Plans
But the best laid plans of mice and men . . . Or however that quote goes. At the end of March, schools and libraries started to close because of stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus. That meant there weren’t any librarians ready to receive my book and put it in the hands of eager readers (or even on a shelf somewhere, for that matter). That meant I needed to change plans.
Back to Another Universe
I found myself at home with plenty of time on my hands. Some might say I should have used that time to get further along in the second Europa Academy book, but I’ve seen enough instances were people and/or companies were unwilling to change tactics in the face of an uncertain market. I don’t really want to spend excess time working on the next book until I know that there is at least some measure of success to be had in the first book. Also, I’ve seen the challenges in marketing a middle grade book online. It’s tough. So I’ve jumped back on the Skif Craw book idea (that’s the one that’s patterned after Clive Cussler’s Kurt Austen – sort of an action, mystery, thriller type of story – like James Bond, but in space). I’m about 3/4 of the way through the first draft right now. The biggest challenge I face (aside from writing so slow), is that I feel guilty that I have all this time in quarantine, but I haven’t suddenly become this prolific author. Slow and steady wins the race, they always say.