Selling Books

Selling books, that's what I've been doing now for two weeks. When I wrote my book, 349 Days, I was just writing the book. I never knew what it would lead to. Now I'm learning how to sell books. This is a whole new experience. I remember my oldest son telling me, when I was in the early stages of writing the book, I was going to need to learn how to promote myself if I was going to sell any books. While the book was at the publisher getting tweaked and formatted properly I spent some time reading on this very idea. I had already joined Facebook and created my email distribution list and I began to send out "teasers" via both to keep the idea of my book in peoples' minds.

When the book came out, and the requests for it began to come in from my website (www.slaterdavis.com) I got lost in the busyness. This morning, two weeks after the book's release I have taken a few minutes to let everything that has happened in these two weeks sink in. I've been running to the post office every day mailing books. I've scheduled two book signings and have another in the works. I was on the local TV station for an interview. And I've started this blog.  Now, this morning, as I sit and consider all of that...I am humbled. I've been moved by the supportive reviews that some of you have posted on my book page at Amazon. I'm thankful. I am thankful for each of you who have contacted me about the book. And I'm thankful for each of you who have purchased the book. When I post on Facebook and then see that my post has been re-posted it is humbling. Then, I get an email, out of the blue, from someone I don't even know, and he is copying me on an email he sent to all of his group of Vietnam Veterans buddies promoting my book...well what can I say? It's overwhelming.

So this is selling books. It's a whole new thing I never considered. But I'm having fun, meeting new people and talking about my book and my experiences. Want to know how I'm doing? Here goes...I have mailed 76 books. Is that good? Who knows...I've never done this before. Becki says I'm doing great and I'm off to a good start. But what do I measure against? I just keep running to the post office. What about Amazon? Well, the statistics for Amazon lag a bit, especially for a new book, but I can tell you this. For the past few days my book has been in the top 100 in the Vietnam browse category in the Kindle Store. This morning it is at 70. A couple of days ago it was at 68, then 120. It bounces around and the placement is updated hourly. But, for it to be in the top 100 several days in a row is incredible.

Here is what it looks like on the Kindle version book page:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,229 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #70 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Military & Wars > Vietnam War
• #353 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Military & Spies
• #1263 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military
• 
  
• So today's blog is an update, but I hope you are hearing me say, "Thank You" to all of you for your support, encouragement, and of course, for buying my book.
• Oh yeah, if you haven't purchased yours yet, drop by my website (slaterdavis.com) and order one.

Life is good. God is better.

It's Friday again! Yippee!

It's Friday again! Yippee! Wait...I used to get excited about Fridays. The end of another week, a weekend ahead of me, lots of stuff to do, places to go...Fridays were a big deal. Not anymore. Nope. Friday is just another day.

Now I hope that doesn't sound negative. Oh no! It's not meant to be negative. Friday is just another day, as a matter of fact, these days I lose track of what day it is. You see, I'm retired now. When people ask me how I'm liking retirement I tell them, "Every day is Saturday except Sunday!" And that's the truth. So, today is Friday, but you know what, all day yesterday I thought it was Friday too. Ever do that? I just knew yesterday was Friday, but that would have made today Saturday and that's not so, because tomorrow is Saturday. So today must be Friday. That means yesterday was not Friday. Yesterday was Thursday. 

Are you staying with me here? I know it's tough for you folks who work for a living to understand this. I wouldn't have understood it just a few months ago, but now, I'm good with it. Ya know what I mean?!!!

Hey, tomorrow is Saturday. It's dark outside. That means this is Friday night. The wife and I just got back from our fire pit in the back yard where we made some s'mores. We were going to have two each but she only ate one. So, being the good husband that I am I helped her finish off her portion. You guys know what I mean, right? S'mores sure are good. Too bad we hadn't planned on eating 3 each. Maybe I'll be more involved in the planning next time.

Well, we are off to the church tomorrow to help do some work in preparation for Sunday morning. So...have a great evening and good weekend.

Life is good. God is better. See ya later.

Hey out there in cyber space. I am not going to chat about my book tonight. I heard something on the radio today that caused me to sit up and pay attention. You know what I mean, don't you. You hear something that really grabs you and you don't want to miss it. That's the way this was. Just a few minutes ago I pulled up my search engine on the computer and put in a little phrase to see what would pop up. Yep! There it was, more than once. I clicked on a link and read the article. The site was FoxNewsHealth. Then I went back to my search and found the information popping all over the place...The Daily Caller, WND, Worthynews, inquisitr, and more.
Headline: "Scientists witness 'flash of light' during conception..." Scientists were "wowed" and fascinated, as was I when I read about it.
Now there are some things that immediately come into my little brain when I think of this. The first thing I thought of when I heard it and what I continue to think about is GOD! Creator! Giver of life! Just think about it for a minute...you've got these cells just cruising around out there, an egg minding its own business and a sperm 'on the hunt', so to speak...just a couple of cells doing what they were designed to do. But then, all of a sudden, they link up and Shazam! A union! A flash of light! A new life! A unique creation! We now no longer have two cells just cruising around. We have a whole new being and the Creator signals this beginning with a light show. Can we all just take a minute and take a step back to sit in wonder and awe?
Ok, got that done? Now, do me a favor. Hold up one of your hands. Look at your fingers. Now...wiggle your fingers. Is that amazing, or what? And all that started for you with a flash of light in your mothers womb. It's been there all along. God created it that way. We have just discovered it. It took us all the way to the 21st century to figure that one out. What else have we missed? I will never again take for granted the act of wiggling my fingers. I hope you won't either.

Life is good. God is better. See ya later.

Big Day today

Today is Wednesday, April 27th. It's gonna be a big day for me. I will be appearing on a local community cable TV program called "The Cherie Show". My publisher asked me if I would want to do this and they set it all up. It's been a long time since I was on TV. I remember as a kid a group of us (hmmmm...was it my Cub Scout Den? I don't remember) traveled from Griffin to Atlanta to be on the Howdy Doody Show with Officer Bob. I got to play "oowie gooie" that day. That was a while back, and now here I go again. I don't think Officer Bob will be there and I sure hope Cherie doesn't play "oowie gooie" on her show.

Seriously, the show will be an interview about my new book, 349 Days. I don't know if the interview will last for a segment or for the entire show. I guess that's up to Cherie. The show is at 11 AM and can be viewed live at www.etctv3.com on the Internet. I think they also replay it later in the day. I hope I don't break the camera. LOL

As God would have it...this morning I was reading in my reading plan, from Joshua chapter 1. What did I read there? You probably know, but just in case you might not be familiar with that let me quote one of the verses for you. Verse 9 says this, "Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Now I could have read that yesterday and it would have been encouraging to me. Or I could have read it next week with the same result. But the way my reading plan fell out, I read it today. Isn't that just like God!!! Life is good. God is better! Have a great day.

What's it like to be an author. Nice subject, don't you think? Maybe I should rephrase it...What's it like to an author? See the difference? Do you know any authors? Maybe you should ask them. Maybe I should ask them.

Is this normal? How should I know? I've only been an author for 10 days! I had no expectations, so I'm doing great! Or am I? Well, I can't worry about that stuff.

Let me tell you what I know. I've been really busy for the past few days signing books, answering questions about my book with folks I have met at church or in the neighborhood, and running back and forth to the post office mailing books. And I've already gotten some comments from a few folks who have read the book and liked it. So far nobody has told me they didn't like it. That's nice.

Can you believe it!!! I have a best seller!! Well...that needs to be expanded on just a bit. But, just for a minute my book, 349 DAYS was sort of a best seller on Amazon in the Kindle Store. Let me explain. If you go to Amazon and look for a book, on the book page, at the bottom you will see the "browse categories" the book belongs to. The Kindle version of my book is in 3 different browse categories. The paperback is in only one, but we are working to change that. Anyway, with each browse category there is a number that indicates current sales position and if the number is below 100, the book is in the top one hundred in sales 'at that moment' of that particular category. That qualifies the book as a Best Seller. Yesterday afternoon I bounced over to Amazon to check on something and while I was there I noticed that the the Kindle Version in the "Vietnam" browse category was listed at 59. Wow! I wasn't sure I knew what that meant so I sent Amazon support a note just to be sure. Yep! They confirmed it. But, by the time I got back and looked again the number had jumped to 110. The stats are updated hourly, so for just a few minutes over this past weekend my book, 349 DAYS was a "Best Seller", sort of.

I'm in the planning stages for a couple of events with details to be announced soon. So, stay in touch. Leave me a comment, especially if you can answer the question in the first paragraph. Until next time...

This is my very first real blog post. Let me give you a little history. I am a brand new author. My book, "349 Days", was released a week ago. After I sent my manuscript to the publisher I began doing some things that they suggested to help promote the book. I built a website (www.slaterdavis.com), I created an email distribution list, I began telling folks I knew about my book, soon to be released, and I even signed up on Facebook. Now I never have been very interested in being on Facebook, as some of you who have invited me over the years know. But the publisher (Yawn's Publishing in Canton, GA) encouraged me to do this. So I took the plunge. I began getting familiar with Facebook, and low and behold, I started having a bit of fun out there. I even learned how to "Poke" a friend! Ever done that?
Another thing I was encouraged to do was start a blog. Not knowing anything a blog I kept procrastinating, and procrastinating, and procrastinating. Then I put it off a bit. But, I did the next best thing. I added some "Ramblings" on my website.  That made me feel better about the "blog thing". Could that be defined as a sub-category of procrastination? Hmmm...I'll have to think about that. Anyway, I was doing all of this before my book was released. I was trying to get all my ducks in a row before the "Big Day". Well, except for the "blog thing". Why was I so resistant to the "blog thing"?
Well, here I am. The procrastination is over. I'm learning my way around. And this is my very first real live blog. I did it! I took the plunge! Yippee!
I'll be blogging about my book a lot. But that's not the only thing I'll blog about. So, you'll need to check in from time to time, or even figure out how to follow my blog. I would love to tell you, but I haven't figured that out yet.
Tell you what...when I figure it out I'll let you know. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed my very first real blog.