I know last update I was struggling with Max and I almost thought we had reached the point where he would start getting better, but no. By Wednesday, he was miserable, and there was nothing left that we could do to improve his quality of life, so we chose to let him go. It's been hard on both of us, but we're doing better. Our vet and his staff were wonderful. And they provide cremation services. We've already got a spot picked out in the house for him to stay and I'll be doing a memorial grouping of pictures to hang on the wall above it. He'll be on the top of the bookcase he was never allowed to jump on (but frequently did when we weren't looking). All of his canned food has already been donated to a pet rescue organization.
But life must go on, and Max was always a cruiser-cat who never let anything bother him, so the best way to honor him is to cruise thru this and get back to life.
To that end, I finished the proof-edits for BloodFlow last night. Then I emailed the book to my Kindle for a final read-through. I'll be doing that today so I can format this for upload this week. It should be available for pre-order on the 13th, as planned.
I also got the new cover for Wish in One Hand this past week. It's awesome. And thanks so much to Maria Zannini for finding the flaw - we all missed a period. :gigglesnort: The E in B.E. didn't have one after it. Jessica fixed it up right quick and it's uploaded again. She's working on the print cover now. I'll be getting with her on the 14th to start work on the cover for In Deep Wish - due out in Feb/Mar.
In sales news, I don't know what's going on, but no one's read any pages in any of the three books in a week. Is Amazon having another glitch or are people just not reading much lately? :shrug: I know I'm not reading much lately.
I read one book last week - The Hitwoman Hires a Manny by JB Lynn. It was freakin' awesome and just what I needed to take my mind off everything.
I also made a cake. Because Max would want me to eat cake. Chocolate with extra thick chocolate frosting.
And I went into the woods. Wednesday morning, after we made the decision but before we could actually go to the vet's, I took my anger and frustration out on some dead trees. I did more in the woods yesterday - because it was cold enough to not worry about being bit by a snake. Trail 1 is now cleared halfway to the bottom of the property. I knocked over another dead tree - which was so rotten it snapped off at the top while I was pushing it. Yep, bonked me right in the head. Lucky for me,
Okay, that's about it. Any updates to share with me this week?
Again, condolences on Max. Cruiser-cat. I like that. He's now cruisin' full speed ahead.
ReplyDeleteI've picked up a project put on hold for deadlines. I've put another project on hold awaiting word from my editor (and it's one of those deadlines so a little nail-biting goin' on.) NaNoWriMo will be a hybrid affair this year because of that.
October was a lean month for sales and pages read. I had one day with a huge spike in sales and I got all excited, until I checked numbers and nine of the books had been returned. That's...unusual for me. I might have one or two books a month returned. Never that many. I suspect someone bought the whole Moonstruck series then read and returned them. *shrug* Irritates me but what can you do?
I'll be revisiting the marketing/publishing plan this month. I have one book coming of KDP select and I make take it across the board. It's not getting many hits or pages read as is so we'll see. Also considering putting the first two Penumbra books on sale to see if that helps boost the series. And LG wants to talk to a friend of his (a voice-over artist) about doing audio books for me. I'm even considering recording me reading the first chapters of my books and posting it to YouTube.
Have I mentioned I hate marketing? Here's to a better week for us all.
Thanks again, Silver. I really appreciate it. Good luck with your writing and with your hybrid NaNo.
DeleteYa know, I had the same thing happen - sale then immediate return. So weird. I haven't had any returns in ages. (Of course, you need sales to have returns - as opposed to KU reads. LOL)
I need to think about how I want to launch BloodFlow and revisit my marketing, too. I had bigger ideas than usual for the launch, but then I got derailed. Now I'll just be happy to get the book launched without any more hitches in my life. :knocks wood:
Ugh, you and me both. Here here!
More hugs for Max. I like cruiser-cat, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteSales have been weird this month. I hope they pick up for all of us!
I launched 1C, Illusion's Child, with very little fanfare. My writing website is updated, but I forgot to blog about it. Still, I sold two copies. Yay!
Still puttering away on 4C. It's going slowly. I got distracted, but I can't remember why. Maybe the time change?
I hate, hate, hate marketing! I shouldn't complain about sales when I'm so bad at it.
Thanks, Deb. :hugs:
DeleteWait, you launched a book? Yay for the two copies sold but, girlfriend, you have to tell people about something like that - even a little. Post a blog, show the cover, put up a link. Is it available as an ebook? I know you hate marketing, but don't think of it as marketing - think of it as passing along information. People want to know stuff.
The hardest decision in the world is knowing when to let go. You guys went above and beyond to get him well.
ReplyDeleteMax would indeed want you to have cake. Hugs, my friend.