Promotion

Today there will be a trip to the post office to mail out 23 packages containing one advance reading copy of Hang Fire, one promotional sheet and one cover letter. These are intended for bookstores and libraries in Upper Michigan, northern Lower Michigan, and northern Wisconsin, and they propose a reading and autographing of the book. (A mailing of about 30 copies went out a month ago to review media.)

As I've mentioned, these tasks, once the sole province of publishers, are increasingly falling to the writer as publishing houses cut back on staff and expenses.

Now there is nothing to do but sit and wait. And, oh yes, produce an illustrated Keynote (PowerPoint) presentation. There will be one of about 20 minutes for bookstores, and another of about 40 minutes for libraries. Bookstores want presentations to be short and sweet in order to maximize foot traffic and sell books, and libraries want their patrons to be entertained for up to an hour.

The tasks of an author never end. Oh, yes, there's writing novels to be done . . .