The Pro Files
Rebranding and Reorganizing
It was time for a change.
For over ten years I had been writing erotica. Last October I pulled all of my ebooks from Amazon. Between lowering the prices of my books without my knowledge let alone permission, and the way they screwed writers with that TikTok Read and Return challenge, I had had enough. Plus I was ready for a change.
What I had been doing no longer worked. It was time to shake things up. I decided to rebrand. I’ve got three of my own books in the works (they’ll be paperbacks, published through a different publisher). But those came to a screeching halt when my piece ended up on page 28 of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Dog. At that point, all writing stopped while I planned the book tour. Yes, I planned it. CS sent out a press release to the local media. That was it. Everything else was going to be up to me.
I attempted the traditional route. I showed up at stores dressed in business casual and put on my salesperson persona. It got me nowhere. Disgusted I nearly gave up. I had to ask myself why I was trying so hard. I had gotten my payout from CS so I didn’t have any skin in the game at that point. Simon and Schuster as well as CS would make their money with or without me.
The answer to the why? I wanted to build a network. That way when my books came out I could circle back around and do the old, ‘hey, remember me’? thing. Maybe then that tour would go smoother since I would have an established reputation locally. There was my ROI. I wouldn’t see it up front but further down the road.
Then it occurred to me that there was more than one way to skin a cat. That was in February. Fast forward to now and I have a case of CS4TS books here. I’m getting on MeetUp and booking dates, times, and locations of events. Meet the Author. They will be intimate gatherings at local restaurants mostly over lunches. There will be one breakfast on a Saturday morning for those who still work.
Using MeetUp makes it a lot easier for me. I just post it and publicize it. It’s up to whoever wants to participate to sign up and show up. I’ll have copies of the book with me so anyone who doesn’t BYOB (Bring Your Own Book) can still get one and have it signed. $20 for my autograph with the book thrown in. Plus you get to hang out and break bread with me. Honestly, I think that’s a steal! The net proceeds will go to a local not-for-profit hospital that survives solely on grants.
Another new project
With the book tour details hammered out and humming along I thought I’d be able to get back to at least clean out the nearly 50 drafts I have here. Nope. I’ve pecked away at a few but not nearly as many as I’d like to have. Why? Twofold.
One, I opened a Substack account. For me, it’s a steep learning curve. I’ve spent three years on Medium and am finding Substack difficult to navigate. True, I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to figure it out either. I don’t have a lot of time to figure it out at the moment. Besides my health deciding it wanted to have its time in the sun (🙄) I had the audacity to have a great idea.
I pitched a new healthcare initiative to that same local hospital. I’ve gotten a preliminary yes. It was to be bumped up the food chain this last week. That project has thrown me into overdrive at a time when I am living on painkillers. I’m taking them daily at this point. But in between drug-induced stupors, I’ve managed to formulate a line of children’s books which also meant doing online research for local banks to set up an account expressly for the selling of the children’s books.
I’ve also downloaded a ton of images to reopen my online store. Again for ongoing fundraising to get this initiative off the ground. No, they haven’t given me a final yes as of yet but I’m not someone who’s going to sit around and wait and then be under the gun to perform. Besides, if they say no I already have a different hospital in mind to pitch to next.
This project is going to happen one way or another.
So there’s the rebranding part of this writer’s life.
The great reorganization
With all the balls in the air that I have at the moment I’ve found that typing from my bed no longer works for me. So I’ve done something radical, unthinkable… I’m now getting a home office put together. Literally. I have the writing desk still in the box lying on the living room floor. The parts of the office chair are unpacked. I work on it for a few minutes here and there. I have a filing cabinet that is 98% complete. Floor lamp, paper shredder, printer, extra storage for paper, toner, paper clips, etc.
Friday I’ll be getting seven shots in my back. I’m hoping by Monday I’ll feel well enough to knock out those three semi-started projects so I can really rock and roll up in here! Shots in both knees next week and I might actually be able to climb the ladder to hang the curtains. HOO BOY! I’m getting a huge room-sized rug with a royal feel to it. Think golden meets royal red. Yeah, that. It’s probably too late in the season to get my hands on a corner fireplace but I’m going to look.
Of course, it will have at least one plant, maybe two. I already have a new CD player and my CDs in there. I can’t have noise while I write but I need my 70s music when I handle the business end of writing.
And naturally, I have a back massager for the chair.
It’s going to be a loved, beautiful, serene, comfortable space that I’m never going to want to leave. Which is a good thing. Because with all of the writing I need to knock out in the coming weeks, I’m going to need it.
If you see this guy sitting on a table, come over and say hi! He’s the mascot for the fundraising events!
