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Friday, February 6, 2015

February 6th, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

I’m a bad person. Well, maybe not bad, but definitely a bit ditzy at times. Since the girls were little, we’ve always held their “family party” on the Sunday between their birthdays – Dani Rose is the 4th & AlyssaLynn’s is the 15th of February. So, this Sunday is the day, but with Lys off at college, I guess it didn’t occur to me that some people would question if I was doing a family party just for Dani.

My SiL, MiL, mom and three of my friends just said “what do you need me to bring Sunday?”, and I’m such a scatterbrain, I didn’t realize everyone who is usually invited didn’t know we were having the party. Then my mom told me she mentioned it to her sister, and then I get a text from my other aunt asking “Did I miss something?” I felt so bad that I didn’t extend an official invitation. Then I had to wrack my brain to remember who I said something to, and who I had just assumed would know. See, I’m a bad person.

I am going to take the easy way out this year as far as food goes. I’m ordering several half-pans of Chinese food. I’ve done this a few times in the past, and the food was always a big hit, plus, the Chinese restaurant by us gives me a really good deal – lots of food, not too expensive. I’ll be able to feed 45 people for under $100. It’s a beautiful thing.

I spent four hours this morning on Twitter related stuff. I created an Excel spreadsheet for Tweets, Follows and Retweets. I wrote a couple of dozen Tweets for each books so I can have them at the ready, and then I tweeted, retweeted and thanked. I took a small break to be able to make the kids lunch, and when I got back, there were over 2K tweets in my queue. I’m trying, I really am, but I’m still finding Twitter exhausting. However, even though it is making my head spin and my eyes cross, my books have been climbing in the rankings since I started this Twitter marketing blitz, so I guess it will be worth it in the end.

I finally sent Corporate Blues off to the Indie Next Generation Book Awards. I have been signed up since September, but never managed to get around to mailing them the three copies they requested. Then, two days ago, I get an email saying there was only ten days left to get the books to them. SHOOT! By the grace of God, I still had three copies left in my inventory – and ONLY three copies.

Needless to say, I need to order more books, but I think I’ll wait a little bit. I won’t have another book signing until April, so there’s no sense in ordering them now and storing them in the basement until I need them. I haven’t completed my spreadsheets yet for my taxes, but if memory serves (which is sketchy at best lately, but I try), then I’ve sold – or raffled or donated – 250 copies of Corporate Blues since it was published in March 2014.

Combined with A Second Chance and Taking Chances, I went through close to 1,000 copies of books in 2014. That’s just hard copies and does not include sales on Kindle. Now folks like Nora Roberts and James Patterson probably do that in a day, but considering the competition out there, I’m not complaining. Would I like the numbers higher? Well, DUH, of course, but I’m thinking, for being relatively new to this profession, it’s not too shabby.

Well, I’ve got places to go, and things to do, so TTFN. I hope you have a Fabulous day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

If I could return to any time in my life, knowing what I know now…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

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