Promoting Penny.

I have found a helpful shop that might be able to sell some more Penny Down the Drain books, if I give them some advertising material. So far I have only managed a couple of posters. I’m so useless on the computer I can’t get a photo to turn round and I don’t want it on its side. I can do it when I want to print it but there doesn’t seem to be an option before that.

I got round it by landscaping the picture and the text but they are on different pieces of paper. Every time I tried to get them on the same sheet either they printed over themselves or on the back. It needs someone who understands mathematics. I bet if I did it again it would come out upside down!

I’m going to risk going into town tomorrow, hoping that there won’t be too many queues. We changed supermarkets last month and saved £20 each shop but the stuff went off quicker and I missed the soup I usually buy so we returned to our local store today. Funny how you get used to where everything is! We have been elsewhere three times and I still can’t find my way around. not only that, they don’t have bags for the fresh vegetables. They want us to buy in bulk. Anyone want some carrots?

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Penny found

At last Penny Down the Drain is on amazon and some other sites. At least now people will know it exists, even if they can’t afford it.

Penny and the Poorly Parrot is nearing completion, but I’m not in a hurry to publish. One book at a time, I think! I was so wrapped up in Penny’s world that I started a third book. That should keep me busy for a month or two. I treated myself to a new notebook as I always start writing by hand and only transfer to computer when I have finished the story.

I was going to have a go at a short story for the Sunday paper but I couldn’t think of an original plot. Reality is so dull at present I’m off to fantasy land!

More Good News

I don’t know how or why but ” Penny Down the Drain” has now taken off. A contact in London sold one signed copy for me and now has orders for five more. This while Amazon still list it as unavailable but Waterstones have it on file. This is a strange way to market a book but I’m grateful for any help under the circumstances.

I was holding back on promotions until the lockdown ended. Now I feel I should be doing something my end. Maybe I’ll go back on twitter. I spent the morning trudging up to the local village Post Office. At only £5 a copy it is a bargain as I advertised free postage and can’t go back on it. I honestly thought most readers would be local.

Promoting Penny

I have spent most of today trying to undo a previous error. I did actually find a human being to talk to, but it didn’t seem to result in any change. Maybe I’m just too impatient.

It just proves how careful one has to be when filling in forms on line. Never mind, Penny has has a good reception without amazon and I have written a short piece to send out when the lockdown is over as a kind of second launch. I intend to use a load of postcards as I cannot afford to send out free books for reviews.

Beverley Nichols wrote ” A Tree that Sat Down” in 1945 and in this updated follow-on Miss Smith, the witch, has three new toads and can order items on the computer, namely a drone that she uses over the magic mountain. I guess there aren’t many people who have read the original but if they have I hope they will be delighted to find she is still flying, but still thwarted by the animals and children in the castle.

Poor photography.

Maybe I should get a new phone. I can’t seem to take good photos with the one I have at present. I tried to take a picture of the back of ” Penny Down the Drain” to show the blurb and ISBN number but, as usual, it is out of focus. I’ll show you what I mean.

Never mind, I’m getting some very favourable reports from people who had copies as presents and am hoping to have a second launch in February.

Happy New Year, folks.

Following

I think it is time I started to follow some more folk. I might find more comments like that as a lot of the people I used to communicate with have gone.

It isn’t easy to make contact, especially when you are stupid enough to make an elementary error on line which results in amazon putting ” Penny PennyDown” in the title of my new book so nobody can find it. It was my fault and I hope it hasn’t done too much damage to sales. Now to find out how long it takes to get it corrected. I sorted it within a week but it doesn’t show yet.

Being on twitter has been interesting during the Brexit debate. I can see both sides but only time will tell is we get any benefit. I suppose it depends if the EU flourishes or dies.

Today is cold enough for me to try to defrost the freezer. I put the food in the garage while the ice melts. One task a day is enough at present. Best Wishes to all.

Thanks

Thanks to Pete for retweeting my post on twitter. I am still getting nagged by everyone to tell folks on facebook about my books but I don’t think they like it if that is all you use it for. Twitter seems to be full of people doing just that. I spend enough time on social media as it is, more, now, while the lockdown is on.

I have been doing some editing for a couple of days but need to take a proof reading course if I want to do it properly. Trouble is, it’s against my nature to concentrate on details and I don’t really enjoy it. It would be like taking my Maths GCSE to make up for failing it twice when I was at school. Torture!

I’m still wondering how to market “Penny Down the Drain” during this strange period. I know young children would enjoy it but maybe they will get too much at Christmas and I should wait until after January. It’s not knowing about the tiers that stops me, and everyone else, from planning ahead. We are told we could be back to normal by Easter. I wonder! Best Wishes to all.