Win My Book! Or, Out-And-Out Bribery...

As much as I hate to beg, plead, and cajole, I would like to ask for some help in increasing the number of my blog's followers. If you look to the left and down just slightly from these words, you'll see my followers. I've had the same eight boxes staring back at me for pretty much the entire year to date. Actually, one was just added, between the time I first started writing this entry and my posting of it. 

Bear in mind, I'm happy to see your faces; I just want to see MORE, for two reasons:

1. Well, ego. I've been doing this blog for more than six months. It would make me feel good to know I've got a growing audience...
2. But this one really is the big one. I'm trying to interest an agent -- and eventually a publisher -- in one or more of my books. One of the things that both of these constituencies will try to determine is whether I have a following. And one way they'll determine that is by looking at my blog.

So, if you subscribe, but are not publicly following, please consider doing so. If you have a Google account, e.g., GMail, I think it's as simple as entering your Gmail account name (and perhaps your password). Then, please write to (at least) two friends and ask them to look at my blog. If they don't like it, so be it. If they do, please ask them to follow.

To sweeten the pot...

I'll tie this effort to a contest. I will offer an autographed copy of one of my books, your choice, to anyone who adds his or her name as a follower. If you're already a follower, refer someone, and have him or her post in the comments "I was referred by X." I will then put both of your names in the hat. If you don't have a Google account and don't want to create just for this purpose, I suppose you could just subscribe by choosing one of the "Subscribe To Absurd Person Singular" options just above the followers; you'll have to post a comment telling me that you subscribed in this manner.

The books are:

Haunting Valley
Scrappy Information Security
Scrappy BCP

The deadline is 9:00 p.m. EST Tuesday.

Let me conclude by stressing that I really would appreciate the effort. And I really do -- always -- appreciate the support.

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Administrivia....

I took a little time today to take care of a few "administrative" details regarding my books.

In a recent blog, agent Rachelle Gardner said:

I’ve heard from several sources that Barnes & Noble is paying attention to authors’ blogs and websites, and specifically, they’re interested in which links you include so that people can click through to buy your book. If you are linking only to Amazon, Barnes & Noble may choose not to carry your book.

I thought, "Haunting Valley isn't available on barnesandnoble.com. But I've been meaning to make it a Nook book." So I took care of that. Here is a link to it, should you want it for your Nook. (It makes a great Christmas gift.)

I also updated the "Fiction Stuff" page of my blog site to include the aforementioned URL. And while I was at it, I also added the URLs for Scrappy Information Security and Scrappy BCP on B&N, as well as their links on Books-a-Million -- which is another book-selling site that Rachelle recommended -- to my "Nonfiction Stuff" page.

Switching gears a little, I added myself as an author on Goodreads. So I now can be "liked" in a whole new place. Or, not liked, I suppose.

Sometimes, you have to do the little stuff in order to make a career of the big stuff.

Here's The Pitch...

I've always been a "swing for the fences" kind of guy. And why not? If you connect, it's out of the park. But even if you don't, and just make contact, it can still fall in for a single.

Enough baseball.

A perfect example is my friend Kimberly. Several years ago, my wife and I visited Kimberly and her husband in the Bay area. Kimberly had recently published her book, Scrappy Project Management. She asked me if I wanted to write a book for the Scrappy label. Her ultimate plan was to develop the Scrappy series to the point where someone like "For Dummies" would want to buy it, as in, buy the whole concept. So I wrote and they published Scrappy Information Security & Scrappy BCP. There are now several other Scrappy books as well. As far as I know, For Dummies has not come a'calling. So technically, she / we did not accomplish the goal of selling the series. Is she disappointed? Hardly, considering that Scrappy Project Management consistently ranks in the top-50,000 best sellers on Amazon. (That's good.) Mine, unfortunately, do not get that high...yet! And though Kimberly may not be earning "retirement money" from the sales of her book, I'm sure it's funding some nice dinners and fine bottles of wine.

The point is, aim high, but be satisfied with reaching smaller milestones.

So here I am. I would love to get some of my poetry published. Again, I'm trying to build up my resume, my CV, in the hope of 1) attracting general attention to my work and, 2) giving publishers a varied list of works that were good enough to attract someone's attention, in order to help boost my cred when they're considering whatever project I've submitted to them. I read somewhere words to the effect of, "Don't try to convince a publisher to release a book of your poetry. Get poems published in a number of magazines and anthologies, and then you'll have a book." Good advice, which I had planned to follow.

But...

While looking for magazines and anthologies, I came across Manic D Press, which says on their website, more or less, "Hey, send us 5 - 10 poems if you want to have us consider a book of your poetry." This is the same publisher I referred to a few posts back, when I presented my poem, "On Writing In Coffeeshops."

OK, why not? So I just sent 5 - 10 today. Worst case, they say, "No thanks," and I fall back on my plan of looking for magazines and anthologies.

But if they say "yes" ...