September 23rd Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! I tried, but I just didn’t have it in me yesterday to make a blog post. I was wrecked after the two day book signing. Sunday, I had intended to walk the festival after the signing and get pictures of all the displays so you could see, but I was spent. I was literally fighting to stay awake during the drive home. I will be back at Peddler’s Village next weekend (not this weekend), and I will get the photos for you then.

I did well on Sunday, not as good as on Saturday, but it was a good day nonetheless. It wasn’t quite the same without the two Karens there. Karen Scheuer was not feeling well, so she was unable to return on Sunday, and Karen Hluchan had a prior commitment. I did however get to spend some quality time with Joanne Holliday, and I have decided I thoroughly enjoy the woman. Her and her sister Lucy were a riot! I look forward to seeing both of them at future signings.

I did have a nice surprise on Sunday. Do you remember me telling you about meeting Jessica at a previous signing? She was the aspiring writer and jewelry maker (I told you about an upcoming craft fair she will be attending). Anyway, she stopped by to say “Hi”, and it really made my day. She brought along her husband and her mom, who barely looks old enough to be her big sister, let alone her mother, so I got to meet her family. It’s moments like these that warm my heart.

Yesterday the only writing I did were email correspondences and I did jot down some notes on a story idea which popped into my head. It may or may not turn into anything, we’ll see. If it does, you’ll be the first to know.

I also spent part of the day hammering out details for this weekend’s event – Milford Alive. I’ll be honest, I have no clue where Milford even is, but I am happy to report, it is only about half an hour away. I really should do a little more research before I agree to do these things. My friend, Kathi Kurz, an author of children’s books, will be joining me this weekend. I am picking her up early, we are packing up my car, and heading up there. We will be sharing a tent, so if you happen to be in the Milford, New Jersey area on the 27^th, please come by and say “Hi”.

So my big sale started on Sunday, and things are going a little slow which is surprising. I’ve only sold about twenty books so far, and they have all been on Amazon.com. Not a single one has sold on Amazon.co.uk, and I’m not sure why. All three books are either at $0.99 or £1 – that’s a 67% discount. I created an event on Facebook and invited over 800 people. If they’d each share it with two friends, I’d be able to get the word out.

The last time I ran a sale, I did almost no advertising for it, and the amount of sales surprised me. So this time I figured, if I put forth a little more effort, they would be even better. Logical, right? This is just one of the many mysteries of book marketing for me – truly not my forte, but a necessary evil all us authors must endure.

I have received several direct messages requesting the link to my radio interview. Really? WOW. Thanks! At the risk of no one seeing this post on Facebook, I have decided to chance it, and post the link here. (If you are reading this directly from my blog, this comment won’t make much sense to you. You see, if I include any pictures or any links within my posts, Facebook severely hobbles the number of followers the post reaches. It is very frustrating.)

Okay, I should go. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

I’ll set the stage: A crowded room, lots of people are chatting, you notice one person standing alone…

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.

September 21st Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! My Facebook readers are not going to be happy with me this morning because I told them, "Sorry, today's blog is all pictures, so it wouldn't make sense to even post it here, because you would have no idea what I was talking about. So jump on over to my blog, so you can see everything." Hopefully they'll forgive me.

Karen Scheuer, Karen Hluchan,
Samuel Knight, Wayne (the owner of
 Canterbury Tales Forever Bookstore),
Me and Joanne Holliday.

So yesterday's book signing went really well for all five of us - that's right FIVE. It was a packed house at Canterbury Tales Forever.

We had such a picture perfect day, not too hot, the breeze was perfect, although one gust did wreak a tiny bit of havoc, the crowd was fairly constant, and we all sold books. Who could ask for a better day?

I got to meet and work with two new authors, and I will tell you about them and their books.

Karen Scheuer

Karen Scheuer, is a second grade teacher and she wrote A Bug and A Wish. It is a wonderful book about bullying. The illustrations are amazing, and the message is powerful. She did an amazing job on the book.

I also found out she will be attending the Collingswood Book Festival. She is in booth 154, so if you are planning on attending Collingswood, please stop by and say "Hi!" to her as well.

Karen will be back at Canterbury Tales again today, but she won't be arriving until noon.

Joanne Holliday

Joanne Holliday (I couldn't find her Facebook page. I'll give you the link when I find it) is the author of Sammy, the Unhappy Clam. It is another children's book, but this one is about you being able to be who you want to be and not just what other's think you should be. The illustrations are adorable, and the children who Joanne read the story to, really seemed to enjoy the book.

I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to spend with Joanne because we were at opposite ends of Author's Row. Hopefully we'll get a little more time to chat today.

Samuel Knight

What would a book signing be without my main man Sam? I thoroughly enjoy spending time with Samuel Knight, author of Monty, A Christmas Story. He is such a fun guy to be around. I just wish his book was available on Amazon so all of you could get a copy. I've told you about him and his book a million times already, so I won't do it again today.

He too will be returning to Canterbury Tales today, so since this is the ONLY place you would be able to pick up Monty, A Christmas Story, you should swing by if you can.

Karen Hluchan &
Terri Schwomeyer

Author, Medium and my friend, Karen Hluchan was there as well. Not only did she have her fabulous book, How Have You Loved?, she was also doing free readings up on the lawn. Although she needed to be on the lawn for the readings, I wish she would have been down by us for the signings. I missed being able to chat with her during the day.

The crowd kept growing and growing.

She had three different readings, at twelve, two and four, and she drew a nice crowd at each, the second reading had between fifty and sixty people. She did such a great job. I am going to give Terri a little shout-out here as well, because I know Karen would not have been able to pull things off so smoothly without Terri's help. Terri, you were a Godsend, and as always, a sweetie-pie. I too feel blessed to have the privilege of knowing you.

I'm a little bummed that Karen won't be back again today, but we will be together again on October 4th and 5th, and I'm sure Terri will be coming with her as well. Yeah!

So, as you know, I am not a fan of having my picture take, and certainly not of posting pictures of myself. A Selfie Queen I will never be. However, I will be posting two photos today. I have to show off my new banner and t-shirt right? Unfortunately with five authors there yesterday, I got stuck with one of the shorter tables, so the banner didn't hang exactly right, but you get the idea. I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Noemi & Ivy

I know I've said it before, but I am going to say it again. The best part of these book signings is the people I meet. I had one return customer, Bill, stop by to say "Hi". This time he came and picked up a copy of Corporate Blues. I'll admit, I did not remember his name, but I did remember him. I also got to meet these two lovely sisters. They were so much fun. We chatted and laughed for quite a while. It's folks like this that make all the long exhausting hours all worth it.

"Oh my, shoe fly pie"

I have to do one final shout-out. Tina, bless her heart, was just walking by when I accosted her. I wanted to get a photo of her shirt for today's blog. I'm telling you folks, the Scarecrow Festival is loads of fun. You should come out to Peddlers' Village if you can. There's live music, tons of food (a zillion different renditions of fried dough - Lord I'm trying to be good), games and entertainment for the kids, creative scarecrows, and let's not forget all the fabulous shoppes.

YIKES, it's time to go and I'm not ready yet. I hope you have a fantastic day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

Sometimes you meet the nicest people…

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.