Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lesson learned: Lunch before book reviews

So I've been working recently to get book reviews for Death on Deadline. And as a publishing newbie, it's taken me some time to figure out how it's done.

But finally - success! I received a few emails the other day from interested reviewers. Would I mind sending them copies? One requested a .mobi file, the other epub.

Naturally I didn't mind. I was delighted. I ... just wasn't quite sure how to do it. And I wanted to make sure I did it right, so I didn't look like a doofus. I didn't want the first line of the review to be how difficult it was receive the book in the correct format.

So I woke up extra early the next morning. I downloaded the versions (very easy) then took a break for the morning routine - getting the kids fed and dressed and off to school. But I was so excited, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I kept fussing with my emails, messing with the computer. I was just about finished, though, and it was almost time to leave for school, when my young son came by and looked at me accusingly.

"Where's my lunch?" he asked me, looking in his backpack. "Did you forget to make my LUNCH?"

Um...oops. He glared at me. "Are you playing on the computer in the morning? We're not allowed to play on the computer in the morning!"

Busted. I had to run his lunch over later, parking in a no-parking zone and getting yelled at by the meanie in the school office.

There's a few lessons that can be learned here, but perhaps the most important one is this: School lunches before book reviews.

3 comments:

  1. You're so funny, Diane. The school meanie. ha

    Let us know how the reviews turn out. I would not have known a .mobi file from a, well, from anything. What the heck is it?

    Good luck and I'm raising my coffee mug. Here's to your getting great reviews!

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  2. Easiest thing to do is publish your book on Smashwords (which is super fast, unlike Amazon). You can have your ebook available in five different formats there. (And you only submit one version and they format the rest) Then, you create a coupon for the reviewers so that your book is 100% off. You email the coupon code, and when they download your book, they can choose whichever format they prefer. Easy as pie :)

    Then you won't have to worry about playing on the computer so much in the morning and neglecting the school lunches.

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  3. LOL! Thank you, Beth! A .mobi file is one that can be downloaded into a Kindle, I found. Who knew?

    And thank you, Angel! (No one is allowed on the computer in the morning because otherwise we're all LATE!!) My book is already on Smashwords, so it was really quick (and easy) to create the coupon! Yay!

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