The People You Meet In A Week

It's Sunday morning, about 8:30, and I'm at my desk doing a little prep work for a phone interview I have this morning at 10:30.  It's with an American woman who lives in Rome and does volunteer work with the organizations there that feed and care for the multitude of cats living in the Coliseum and other ancient ruins of Italy. The woman is a close friend of a writer friend of mine and I think her story would be a good fit for any of the cat magazines I write for. She's state side until just before X-mas so I want to catch her before she leaves.

I was thinking this has been a busy interview week for me.  I've had at least one a day, if not more.  And as I thought about them, it astonishes me the breadth of people I've had the privilege to talk to in one week.

• Today is the woman who works with cats in Rome
• Friday was a 30-minute interview with one of the top literary agents in NY
• Thursday was an interview with a retired woman in Florida who breeds Affenpinschers and who--God love her--has the voice of Minnie Mouse.  She was a hoot and full of energy and love for her dogs.
• The week before that was a chat with a veterinarian to the stars
• And let's not forget local people!  Don't forget my possible "Austin Powers" car connection. (Click here to read prior entry and see pic, below).

I loathe talking on the phone and always dread doing these interviews, yet I always end up enjoying myself and having a grand time.  People are so interesting and once they feel comfortable, they'll start sharing stories that really make me feel like I know the person I'm speaking with.

Here's to a New Year filled with meeting interesting and unique people--in person and over the phone.

Sales Totals for Lessons In Stalking

My first online order for Lessons In Stalking came on October 6, 2005.  Since then, I've "sold" 450 books.  Not too bad considering I've mainly hit local sales.   And I say "sold" because, for example, I might drop 10 books off at Borders or The Fat Cat, but that doesn't mean they've sold.  That just means they're out there for public consumption.

My number one salesperson to date is, by far, Gwenn Lance at The Fat Cat here in Madison.  I think she's sold over 50 of my books and just put a order in for another 15.  I'm thrilled not just that the books are selling, but that they're selling so well in Gwenn's shop. It's a contemporary art gallery with aisles of fun, whimsical, unique merchandise and I wasn't initially sure my book would be a good fit for her store.  But Gwenn is a huge supporter of local artists and has gone out of her way to talk the book up.  Which I really want to go to a few other art shops in GSO that have my book but aren't selling many copies and say, "Hey.  The book will sell for you if you give it some attention. Take a page from Gwenn's book. "

I'm speaking at NSA University in January in Tucson and they'll purchase 100 copies of the book, so I'm slowly selling off my initial print run of 2,000.  The dream of course is to have such demand that I need a second printing.  I'd like to have all 2000 sold by this time next year, at the latest.  If I get to work in the New Year and start targeting gift stores and speciality shops, I see no reason why that shouldn't happen.

Until then, sales are book-by-book-by-book. But I'm having fun.

A New Year, A New Daytimer Calendar

One of my favorite things to do at the end of each year is to pick a new daytimer calendar for the coming year.  I will spend up to an hour in Office Depot, comparing Daytimers, weighing the pros and cons.  "Hmmm....leather is nice, but this one has pockets to hold scraps of paper.  But ooh, look!  A map of time zones and area codes.  Niiiice."

As you can see, I'm not an early adapter and shun all modern technology when it comes to my schedule.  Friends with Blackberries have tried to convert me to the cause but I just don't get it.  I love being able to flip open my calendar and see all my appointments and notes spread out before me. Having to press multiple screens to see my schedule would be enough to land me in a mental institution.

Which brings me to today's topic of a new daytimer. This is a scary time for me.  Since college, I have carried the "month-at-a-glance" calendar.  I like being able to see what I've got going for the entire month.  That way, if I'm swamped one week, with just a glance I can see that I might need to take it easy that following Monday and not schedule a lot. 

But I have stepped off the beaten path and for 2006 I have selected a "week-at-a-glance" daytimer.  As I start penciling in dates for January, it's freaking me out that I can't see my full month at once.  But I've decided I want to start scheduling my day hour-by-hour and this new daytimer gives me that option.  So, come January, I will know exactly how long I have to exercise, check e-mail, do fiction writing, journal, meditate, do non-fiction writing, etc. The "plan" is to spend a few moments the night before, penciling in my schedule for the following day.  I'm such a list freak that there's a good chance if I see "novel writing" from 10 am - noon, I'll do it, just so I can cross it off the list.  And since it's written down in the 10 am - noon spaces on the new daytimer, it's like a law.  It must be done.

Either this new system will be a raving success or I'll rebel on Day 3 at adhering to such a tight schedule and will spend an afternoon in a corner creating paper confetti out of the daytimer.  But I have high hopes for the new system.

And if anyone needs to talk to me in the New Year, call now.  I'll do my best to pencil you in.

Dena

Any Super-Hot Books Selling? Oh yeah, mine. ;)

I'm so happy.  I just received a phone call from the manager at our area Borders.  I've been sending people there who want to buy a copy of my book but don't want to pay shipping and handling.  A few people recently told me they were out of copies, so calling Borders was actually on my "to do" list for the day, anyway.

They want 10 more.  The manager said, "We were in staff meeting and I asked, 'So, are there any super-hot books selling?' and a few people offered, 'We've got a lot of requests for this Lessons In Stalking book.'"  So yea--I'm a red-hot book!  Many thanks to my friends who went to Borders to buy the book--keep it up! =)

What's odd is that I never saw my book on the store shelf.  I thought for sure I'd be in there Day 1 taking photos and I kept meaning to get by but never did.  But this time I'll get by and get a picture of me standing next to my title in a Borders Store--turning my book face out as all authors do, trying to up our chance for a sale.