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| A Land Remembered Journal |
2020: I thought last year's post below was pretty comprehensive. Sadly, running—and weight loss—didn't pan out as I'd hoped. Back in November I injured my knees by forgetting everything I knew about chi running and attempting to "boost" my locomotion with extra force. And I'd been doing so well. In October I ran 48 miles for the month—the most since February—including 5 and 6 mile days. I had recovered from my spring Chinese Covid slump enough to enter a Virtual Challenge and was crushing it. Plus my wife and I were signed up for a 10k in Mesa, Arizona slated for February 2021. (We're going to Mesa anyway, just not to run.)
Self-inflicted running injuries are the absolute worst. No one to blame but yourself and I HATE blaming myself.
As for writing, it blossomed as in former days. I finished several short stories, including a whopping 12k word job. Sending them out wasn't resulting in sales, though the rejections were generally polite. So I assembled this year's crop along with stories dating back to 2009 and published the lot—all nine—in ebook form. Death Honk is out now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and more. The paperbacks will arrive in January. This is the first fiction book I've published since 2016. I bask in such warm accomplishments.
But writing is only a fraction of the battle for the indie author.
Unlike previous book launches, I obtained a few reviews in advance. Also, unlike previous launches, I bit off a good chunk more than I could chew. By attempting ebook and softcover launches on Amazon and Draft2Digital, I found each platform operates with different rules. So four sets of formatting required attention, eating up time with an appetite most voracious. Because my wife and her vast publishing experience were unavailable—I never interrupt her paying work—I was forced to hunt in the freelance veldt. The woman who proof read Death Honk was outstanding. The man who formatted the print version less so. As mentioned elsewhere, the cover designer rocked.
No audio version for prostate, but I think that line has been jumped by Death Honk. We shall see how 2021 shapes up. I'd like publish a second edition of Hallow Mass with a new cover, add it to Draft2Digital, then write the second volume. Plan meet life. And for the second time in a paragraph I'll say: we shall see.
This November marked fifteen years of blogging. Over 2k posts with entries topping 100 for the first time since 2012. Not that my traffic is that hot. But inconsistency carries a cost. I've really come to loath social media. (Do watch The Social Dilemma.) But I should examine which platform provides the most pop sales-wise for an author's effort.
Canva proved a useful took in developing my own promotional materials. Even a digital butter fingers such as myself was able to figure it out. I highly recommend the website.
I end 2020 in reasonably good health, awash in efforts to publish two separate paperback versions of my anthology and eager to see what the future holds.
And a Happy New Year to you!
2 comments:
Happy 2021. Happiness and Health to you.
Good news, you'll hopefully be able to make headway with the running this coming year. What's winter like in California? I'm pretty sure I already asked, a while back, but my brain is a spaghetti strainer.
Chi Running. I recall my p.e. teacher in high school talking about running that didn't strain the muscles. Can't recall what she called it but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Chi related. Still, if it cuts down on injury, it's good.
Congrats on the productive writing time. But I totally understand your distrust/ dislike for social media. On top of being a time-eater, if there's maintenance going on, it's utterly unpredictable! There are new additions on Facebook, which MIGHT explain the site's temperament when you tried to log in. All the same, when you want to get work done, social media is a huge dilemma. On one hand, you need it, but having it too handy distracts from the very thing you want to get done. On the other hand, if you want to see the end of a project, you have to start on it.
SOOOO looking forward to adding your new book to my collection. Equally, I'm very much looking forward to getting my edits finished and send you a copy of a project I've been at for three years, on and off. I'll miss it but it'll be nice to get to work on something else.
Whatever else we do, let's hope that we can do so in an improving health situation. I've been joking that, given the colossal pain in the butt 2020 was, maybe the vaccine should be administered like a hemorrhoid ointment. 🤣
Run carefully. Write diligently. Enjoy completely.
Thank you. An excellent, safe new year to you.
Good luck on your book!
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