Telling a book by its cover

Ever wish you had two heads and four hands? Lately, that is how it has been for me. I am simultaneously trying to promote my novel, Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row, and write a new one for young adults. To promote the current one, I have had designed new covers to use at online vendors like Amazon and Barnes and Noble with their ebook versions. The hard copy version will retain its original cover that shows Attman's Deli's storefront. Marc Attman helped me a great deal with the launching of the novel with a book signing party at his deli. I believe I owe him that much. However, the existing cover does not show well when displayed at the postage stamp size used by the book sellers websites. Ergo, the new designs. They are more readable and use colors that attract the eye. Unless an author already has a large following, he/she needs visibility when their product pops up in an online search. Writers that already have a large fan base will only need name recognition for potential buyers to look at whatever it is they have written. Unknowns have to do anything they can to draw the prospect's eye. That includes changing the book's cover if necessary.
On my website, http://jamesbattee.books.officelive.com, I am doing a survey of several new cover options and have added sample chapters to read. A random respondent will receive a signed copy of the book. All will receive the author's gratitude.

Too long since my last post

Wow! Where has the time gone? I have been so wrapped up in trying to promote my book with book talks, book signings and such, and with craft fairs, promoting my handmade jewelry, and that I have not taken the time to keep up with my blog. Sorry about that. The experts tell me that blogging is a good way to promote the books that I write, but sometimes it just becomes a chore. I do a lot of my promoting on facebook, so the blog has suffered. The new book I started is for young adults, and I am eight chapters into it. The writing is not going as fast as I would like because I keep making changes in the plot. I guess this is not unusual for most writers even if, like me, they have a prepared outline to follow. It seems, every time I make a change I have to go back and make changes elsewhere. This, of course, means a lot of time spent on rewriting. It is making the going slower, but, hopefully, a better end product.
While looking for something altogether different on the Internet, I found something that makes writing e-books much easier. It is an extension to Openoffice.org's Writer. It is called Writer2ePub. Since I have not had a chance to fully assess it, I shall have to await doing so before making any comments as to its efficacy. On the surface, it appears to have all of the elements required to produce a finished ePub product. My first book, Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row, is done in several electronic versions including ePub. Since electronic publishing is rapidly gaining ground, and printed books are losing it, it makes sense to make sure that anything you write goes into electronic formats, ePub and Adobe's .pdf being the most popular. ePub is the format used on the Apple iPad, Sony, and many other popular readers. Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com both have proprietary formats, which the writer is compelled to use. With the proliferation of e-readers, it only makes sense to make your product available to this wide audience. Many people still value the printed page, but with the use of e-Readers, Smart Phones, the Kindle, and the Nook that can download a book from the Internet to be read while traveling on an airplane, waiting in line at a doctor's office or for an appointment with a client, this option is being used more frequently. My advice, do whatever it takes to get your writing into the hands of the largest audience possible, and it looks to me like electronic publishing should not be overlooked. I will experiment with Writer2ePub and will report my findings later.

Writing is only part of the process

When I finished writing my book, Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row, I thought the hard part was over. Boy, was I wrong! Writing it was the easy part. Getting it into print has consumed a good portion of my life since I finished it. Next came trying to get it published. I sent it to what was supposed to be a traditional publisher, but turned out to be a self publishing outfit that wanted up front cash to start the parade. I couldn't do that at the time because I could not come up with the money. My wife had been unemployed for eight months and we were just getting by. One of the reasons for finishing the book was to make money, something that didn't look like it was going to happen. When I told the people at the "publisher" that I had no bucks, they suggested CreateSpace. com and Lulu.com as an alternative. BTW, the "publisher" had reviewed my book, and said they thought it was probable that I could sell 2500 or more copies, if I was prepared to be active in promoting it. They had all kinds of "plans" of which I could partake, but they, too, cost me. Internet radio, a blog tutor, professional editing, et cetera. What I finally did was put the book out on CreateSpace which is part of Amazon.com in both hard copy and Kindle eBook. I have blown my own horn to get publicity, and so far, have two news articles and a book signing upcoming. I have sent out press releases, and done anything I could to promote it. Slowly, but surely, it is beginning to sell. Buy it, please, I need the money!!!

Will the dream die with me?

Disillusionment has set in. What I believed was a real publisher was actually just a "come on" for one of those self publishing outfits. Whom can you trust? There are so many bogus entities floating around out there in cyberspace. It is difficult to separate the scams and the shams from the legitimate. I guess the old saw about things too good to be true is right. For now, it is back to square one. I believe in my book, "Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row," and I thought the "publisher" did, too. They played me like a Stradivarius. Now, my greatest fear is that I will die before it ever gets into print. It's a story about identical Jewish twins separated at birth and living dramatically different lives. It is the kind of story Barry Levinson would like because it involves a Baltimore landmark, Lombard Street's Corned Beef Row, a deli owner, and spies fighting over a secret weapon stolen from the Israelis. The way things look now, he will never know it exists.
At 71, diabetic, overweight, and arthritic, I am running out of time. It took me two years to finally get my book into what I believed to be really enjoyable reading. Were those years I could have put to better use? I loved/hated the process. Envisioning the story, I loved. All of the editing, and re-rewriting was a chore. Unfortunately, only the reading public will determine if it was a worthwhile endeavor. If that ever happens. Sometimes, life really sucks.

If not NOW, when?

I may be getting in over my head, but I have been looking at the possibility of converting my manuscript to an electronic format and doing an ebook before an ink and paper one gets produced. Is this crazy? Has anyone else ever done something like this? I am in a situation where I am not getting any younger, and I want to see the work of two years out in the public eye.
Writing my book, "Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row," was something I thought of doing Decades ago. Not this particular book, I started a vampire novel thirty years ago, but never finished it. I have mentally kicked my own butt for years for not finishing what I started. There were art projects, too. Not to mention home remodeling and maintenance items than never got finished.
That has been one of my great failings. Not finishing things. Project after project has gone incomplete. I have been guilty of the same failure all of my life. Now, after toughing out the writing, editing, rewriting, reediting that went into the book, I want to see it through and into print. Or, at least in some form, in the hands of others so they can appreciate what I have done.
Am I being conceited in thinking what I wrote is worthy of appreciation? Isn't that what every author believes? What I am considering may constitute literary suicide, but big risks often have big payoffs. And, I don't have forever!