As for personal contact, that is by far the way I sell the most books. I love meeting new people and sharing resources as well as making new friends and fans. No matter where I go (wineries preferred of course) I sell tons of books and it is definitely more rewarding than keeping an eye on my Amazon rank.

So continue to have fun with your new journey, savor these moments of friendship with fellow authors, and make sure you have enough time left over to bake cookies with your kids!

I am adding your Blog to my Website because I love not only the mustard background, but the thoughts. Fantastic! FB = 7,000 friends, YT = over 100K video hits, Twitter = 39 Followers. I’m not savvy enough to be poised to “use” this to sell my books, but my Friends have been following my Life for 6 years. I’m a doctor who was in a severe car accident with my daughter, who was okay. I struggled out of a brain injury, a vertebral artery dissection, and something called dysautonomia.

After reading this thread, my Saturday morning Break, this is my conclusion: Just be Yourself. Since most of my audience is women aged 25-35 years old, and many of them are disabled, I will keep using Social Media. Hey, sometimes people simply can not get out of bed. And since I’m going back to work after a car accident 6 years ago, I will be shaking many hands. What a Grand Adventure it will be to have my book bare my soul to so many strangers! Yet we will all learn, grow, and be inspired to be here for one another. That, my friend, has to be the best feeling in the world. Knowing that we are making a difference in some one’s life.

Madison, I am *fascinated* by these additional details you provided. I hope people will return to this post to read your comment, because in many ways the unification you describe is like the brass ring of “non-marketing”. Two loves, joined in a book, with a natural (ha) audience for the one that will carry over to the other.

I would love it if you wanted to write a Made It Moment for my blog when the time is right.

Many of the commenters who are sharing their own tales of frustration, hope, burnout, questioning have already contributed Moments. But if anyone has not–you are the people who make this blog what it is. I hope you will get in touch so we can spread the word about your book, which in the end is really at the heart of this whole marketing beast.

Jenny, my publication journey is convoluted, haha. I am beginning to combine my love for nature and herbalism with my fiction because in my stories there is always the influence of the wilderness around me. In general, people who love the subjects I do are likely to like the books I write, so I’m trying to “gather my kindreds” so to speak. Until now, those two sides of my life have been kept apart, like both were bastard children to different mistresses. I’m much happier now that it’s all coming together rather peacefully So the way forward will be interesting. I have some virtual herbwalk presentations I’m planning to release as $2 downloads on my writing and my nature blog later this year, so we’ll see how it goes. I get invited periodically to speak to garden clubs and just turned down one at a survival/preparedness fair because of schedule conflicts. So this might be a good angle for me.

Good luck with your ventures!

The only thing I’d disagree with–there *are* bookstores. We’re seeing hundreds of them packed and thriving, and there are thousands we’re not getting close enough to see. My guess is that bookstores and other physical locations are going to experience a resurgence even as the web increases as Sunny predicts.

So…how does everyone like the new blog color? Or if you’re a first-time visitor, welcome! and–does it work