When it comes to selling books and self-promotion and “platform building” and all the other things an author is supposed to do these days to establish and grow her “brand,” I feel like Snoopy.  Most of the time, I don’t even know what’s going on.

And like Snoopy, I feel like I’m standing in line with a lot of people who do.  Christiana Miller and Chris McMullen and a host of others who I truly admire seem to be so good at this.  I’m not.  And I’m okay with that.  Just knowing my book is out there, being read, makes me very happy.

I sold a lot of books this week.  That is primarily because an article I wrote touched a nerve with a lot of people (more than 50,000) who recommended it to a lot of other people, and a few of those people bought my book.

Did I know that would happen when I wrote the article?  Um…yeah…sure…
That was my plan all along.
Or to be more honest,
Oh hell no.

I had no idea that post would spark such a response.  Had I known, I might have been prepared to capitalize on it with a press kit that I could instantly send out to set up interviews.  I would have waited to post it until the audiobook was available (which will be any day now).  I would have posted it earlier in the week.  Would’a, should’a, could’a.  Sigh…

Now, I just need to get a new bottle and stand out in the storm and hope to capture lightning again.  Also, with so many awesome new followers to this blog, the pressure is totally on to be brilliant every time.  To hit that nerve, to reach that audience.  Yikes!  I’ll do my best, but seriously, the first one was just a happy accident.  I wrote about what I believe and a lot of folks agreed.

Hopefully, I can lather, rinse and REPEAT, but I know it’s nearly impossible to predict what will generate excitement like that (since I am unlikely to ever write about anyone named Bieber or Kardashian), so I just have to keep writing, be more prepared, and continue to be grateful that I’m able to stumble through this authorship minefield enjoying whatever rewards it provides while I get my act together.

In the meantime, two more reviews were posted by Amazon Top Reviewers and they were lovely.  On that note, if you’ve finished the book and sent me an email about how much you loved it (you know who you are, and trust me, you are not alone…), please take a moment to write a review on Amazon.  It makes a world of difference, and would be deeply appreciated.

At the beginning of the week, I asked the Universe to help me sell more books.  It responded, and I’m happy.  Now, it’s my job to pay the Universe back, and do some serious work before I ask again.

I probably won’t feel any less like Snoopy, but at least I’ll have something to do while standing in line.