I have recently indie-published my first book, an anthology of short stories and essays Just for Fun.

Now the hard work begins—promotion and sales. The conventional wisdom is using Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media, not forgetting that an author MUST HAVE A WEBSITE!

I have had website for several years, www.henrytobias.com, because with the help of free website creator sites, I use Weebly, it is an easy thing to do. Many authors and others who decide to have their own websites prefer Wordpress, but I am happy with what I’ve got and it is apparently cheaper and doesn’t have any catches—so they tell me.

Although I have had a website for some time, I only recently started blogging, initially during Israel’s war with the Hamas and other terror organizations in Gaza, then to promote my book.  Blogging is a different experience from creative writing because I can be more relaxed about the no no’s of creative writing, like repetition and using clichés.

I have been watching You Tube videos teaching indie-publishers what to do and how to do it. Some are, of course, better than others, some are incomprehensible in that the presenter may know their stuff, but are hopeless at presentation.

Then there are the books, downloads and webinars. Usually the FREE stuff is not worth reading or listening to, except for one or two. Here I mention David A.Cox of PC Classes Online.com and Netmark University—both are free, although David Cox does ask for donations, but I think he gets some funding from Apple because he promotes their products. I do not have a financial or other interest in either of these sites or any other product mentioned in this blog—except my book--Just for Fun.

I recently signed up for a free webinar. The useful content was minimal, but now I am being flooded with emails telling me of a course on how to help me find readers for my book. The course costs $497, but I have been offered a ‘generous’ discount of $100. You can work out how many books I have to sell at $3.99 – the price of my e-book – just to break even, for yourselves. Now 100 books may not sound like much, but how many authors, indie or traditional, sell 100 books? It is true that I have spent very little so far, $50 for a permission, (use of an Andy Capp cartoon), $1.00 on cover design (Canva.com) and $65 for a series of portrait photos (Andrea Brownstein of Maale Adumim – Israel) for the back cover of my book, website and social media pages. I am also using Createspace for a print book and ordered 5 books to proofread at $2.15 each + postage—and I still need to approve the print book and order more proof copies. I will need to order at least 10 books, if not more, to give to friends and relatives for FREE. So the expenses mount.

Hence, I’ve come to the conclusion that if the purveyors of these webinars, books, etc., etc., etc., can get the hang of Social Media and promotion I can too. A plus to doing it myself, is that I will learn more by my own efforts and interaction with other like-minded authors and if medical science is to be believed, I will also prevent or at least delay the onset of Senile Dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.

As I see the situation of doing-it-myself (D-I-M) it is a win-win situation.

Comments please!  

 

This last week I have been very busy writing the eleventh chapter of my next book, tentatively titled ‘Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother’ – a story of the Kindertransport , which saved ten thousand children, most, but not all of them Jewish, from the Holocaust. This is a re-write after having put it aside for the last two or so years. The outline of the original story is the same, but I’ve added characters, filled out those who were just incidental. In short I’ve added body to the skeleton that was my first draft.

My original draft was well received by my wonderful friends of my writing group. If not for these friends I would never have had the courage to publish my eclectic anthology of short stories ‘Just for Fun’.

Our group meets every fortnight on a Wednesday, giving us a chance to meet our deadline without too much pressure, although I must admit to following Parkinson’s Law, which in short states "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".  Although I’m continually thinking about my book, even when I wake up at 3.00 a.m., I don’t start with the actual typing until the Friday before, leaving me only about 4 days to submit – to allow my fellow group members time to read and critique my writing – its raison d’etre. Needless to say I have a few worrying days, but until now have had complete success. I’m quite proud of meeting my deadline consistently for the last ten years.

In the last few minutes I’ve sent off my next chapter to the group. Now I have to get back to work, blogging, tweeting, pinning and all the other tasks an author must do to promote one’s book. Some of this stuff comes easier than others. Blogging and tweeting, I’m getting the hang of, more or less, but I still have to work out this pinning business. There are loads of videos on You Tube, but that is the problem, to sort the wheat from the chaff. I love this blogging – I can use as many clichés as I want, without retribution – very liberating.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think, so much to do to promote my book, so little time. Now that I’m retired, I’m working harder than ever, or so it seems, but also having more fun. My philosophy is this: my book will be on the internet for eternity, and although I’m mortal, if I do the work now, success will eventually come. So if I don’t benefit directly I’ll leave all the rights and proceeds to my progeny, as did A.A.Milne and Agatha Christie.

I would be happy to hear from other authors of the baby-boom generation how they cope with the work and of course the technology.

I designed the cover of my book using Canva - a great site. I don't benefit by this recommendation - at least not yet.

I recently acquired a great book on Italian cooking. Savouring Italy by Michele Scicolone, (Time-Life Books, Copyright 1999 Weldon Owen Inc.) not only has recipes, but also gives the reader a taste of the country and the people. It was first printed in 1999, but good food does not go out of fashion. The photographs of Italy are beautiful and the recipes look mouth-wateringly appetizing. The book also has measurements in metric and not only in cups/oz, as is often the case with books by American chefs.

The recipe is a Ricotta Cherry Tart – which has its origins in the Jewish Quarter of Rome. Michele Scicolone has given me permission to publish the recipe in this blog, but as she does not hold the copyright, I have asked the publishers, and so far I have not received and answer. If I ever get permission, I promise to publish the recipe in a future blog, but I cannot afford to be sued. If you can lay your hands on a copy of the book, don’t hesitate to read it and try some of the recipes.

I also used the recipe for pizza dough, and although I have made many pizzas this dough was both easy to make and crispy and tasty. There is also a recipe for a Hazelnut cake—which I will bake as soon as I’ve taken off the one or two pounds I gained from the delicious Ricotta Cherry Tart and pizza.

I have always love cooking, learning from an early age when an old family friend, Auntie Sadie – of blessed memory – lived in our home. My mother – of blessed memory – worked all day and Auntie Sadie, was at home when I returned from school. I remember that there was even talk of my parents sending me to culinary school—something that never came about. My daughter is a pastry chef—maybe I passed on my culinary genes.

I made the Ricotta Cherry Tart for my friends at my writing group, a group I have belonged to now for about ten years. Thanks to these wonderful ladies; I have been the only thorn among the roses for most of my tenure; I have improved my writing ability to the extent that I had enough courage to publish my eclectic anthology of short stories, Just for Fun, which is now available at all retailers as an e-book for only $3.99 and will soon be available in print from CreateSpace. 

Please buy my book, read it, enjoy it and please post a review on Amazon, Goodreads and all other retailers.

For those of you who are interested in my foray into publishing I will happily blog about it some time soon. 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/517883

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24910678-just-for-fun?ac=1

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Fun-eclectic-anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00X664WBI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1432975348&sr=1-1

A note about my blog on bread. This week I made another loaf of sour-dough bread and left more moisture in the dough. The dough rose more than previously and the loaf was much lighter. Moisture is the secret ingredient to good bread.

Comments are welcome!