May is looking pretty strong

At this point in the game, I recognize that I am the brand behind Entertaining Stories. If you take this point of view, the brand is doing pretty well. This isn't the same as actual sales, but those will improve as the overall brand improves.

I finished up April with a fun post about writing short stories. On the first, I learned about winning the Planetary Award for short stories. I got invited to make a promotional post for The Playground, and that went over well too.

I was in a seminar on Tuesday morning. I had to be on my best behavior because I was a presenter at this one. I managed to snitch a look at social media on our first break. It turns out that I am the member of the month at the Rave Reviews Book Club. This comes with a gigantic media push by the members, and many non-members have joined in already too.

This promotion goes on for a month, and they put up a good page on their website for me. You can check it out here. I've always supported wherever I can, but this selection floored me.

I decided to strike while the iron is hot, and have another promotion. The Playground has been kind of smoldering along. This isn't the first book that did this for me. There are sales, but they aren't incredible. One of my earlier books, Panama, has smoldered along almost continuously and is my best seller. Starting Saturday, The Playground is going to be priced at 99¢. This will only last a few days, but a spike in sales might get it onto some of the charts, and I could get some reviews along the way too. The sale applies to everyone, not just members of my book club.

I also received a couple more guest post requests. One of them is kind of challenging, and I've been thinking about it for days. I'll get it right, then send it out.

Tuesday morning I also received the first of my new Lisa Burton blog art pieces. It looks pretty fabulous, and I'll probably run it out next week sometime.

Speaking of Lisa, I received two new requests for radio interviews and sent them out. I also received one back, and need to assemble it for final approval.

May is looking like a good month for my personal brand. I believe the sales will come with the extra publicity.

Now I need to assemble my critique submission and get it out the door for our meeting. Hope you folks are having a great week.

A day of celebration

I got to the writing cabin late today. I have family responsibilities on Sundays, and won't shirk those. I went into my office and started on all the things a writer has to keep up with.

I answered several emails, checked Twitter and Facebook, then proceeded to WordPress. Lisa* brought me some coffee, and I looked away from the computer. “Guess who just won a Planetary Award?”

“I don't know, who?”

“Me. My short story, Something in the Water, won a Planetary Award over at Planetary Defense Command.”

“Oh.”

“I thought you'd be more excited. I'm excited.”

“It would have been nice to have Bombshell Squad win something.”

“I get your point, but Something in the Water was a fun story, and it caught the judge's attention. Besides, you've been getting plenty of attention. Wild Concept sold some copies during its 99¢ sale, and the UK sale is still going on. They may even surpass the US store.”

“I suppose. It's just that you've grown as a writer. Bombshell Squad is a little better writing than Wild Concept.”

“I don't get your point. Something in the Water is just as recent, and reflects the same amount of growth as a writer.”

“Should we celebrate, or something?”

“I think we should. We'll get the enchanted beer horns filled up and drink them dry. Make sure you post a picture of the haunted biplane on the blog too. People may want it for a phone background, or even a computer. Besides, you're in the picture, and some people might like that too.”

“That's a good idea. I love my flight jacket.” Her eyelashes fluttered, and I knew she was online.

Lisa scowled. “I have some bad news too. It looks like someone held a kegger out at the island. They defaced the Moai with spray paint and left garbage everywhere.”

“That sucks, why do people have to act like that?”

“Don't know. Do you want me to take a sandblaster out there and try to clean it up?”

“No. Today we celebrate. Drop a note to the National Park Service fairies. They'll take care of it.”

“You're not going to make those poor fairies scrub those giant statues, are you?”

“It's kind of their job, but no. They use dermestid beetles.”

Lisa's eyelashes fluttered again as she searched the Internet. “Gross, those are the kind of beetles scientists use to strip bones clean.”

“Right, they use them for museum displays. I think even the cops use them to study the bones of murder victims. The fairies keep a large herd of them, because they eat garbage and even spray paint.”

<Snort>

“What?”

“Do the fairies use tiny little dehorning saws and branding irons?”

“I have no idea. I'll bet they have an informational page on their website. You should check it out.”

“I'm going to, and if they don't I'm going to shoot them an email.”

“For right now, let's celebrate.” I whistled for the enchanted beer horns, and they both trumpeted. Lisa filled them up while they wagged their tails and helped us celebrate. Lisa doesn't need to eat or drink, so I'll probably empty both of them myself.

*Lisa is my robotic personal assistant, and the spokesmodel for my books. She even has her own Facebook Page.