Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Chipping Away at the To Do List

In case anyone was wondering, I did not win either Lotto or Powerball with those tickets I bought on Saturday. Sorry, Galen, but I only matched one number on each ticket. I was pretty sure my good feelings weren't related to unexpected windfalls. My record with lottery tickets has not been good since the early 90s when my department (at a company in Florida) won $20,000 which gave us about $700 apiece. That was nice, but I've never won more than $3.00 per ticket since then.

However, there were other snippets (and chunks) of good news to validate my feeling that good things would be happening.

First of all, I received the signed contract from Harlequin Worldwide Mystery for my second mystery to be published by their Mystery Book Club in mass market paperback.

Secondly, I was accepted as a vendor author for the well-attended Holiday Market held at our Senior Center the two days after Thanksgiving.

In addition, my volunteer assignments were confirmed for the Colorado Gold conference in Denver, and I get to do all the stuff I wanted to do (which, by the way, includes introducing and watching over the agent panel and the editor panel).

Now, with any luck, the 500 bookmarks and 500 postcards I ordered from printingforless.com will arrive in time for the conference (yes, I did procrastinate a bit too long) I must say, the online .pdf proofs of both look stunning. When I get the real thing, I'll scan the rascals and post a copy on this blog so you can see what I did and how well my vendor handled my order. Two of the things I really like about printingforless.com are: (1) They are service-oriented and they call me on the phone from Montana, and (2) I can design my projects in Microsoft Publisher and upload it in that format.

I also designed a large mug at zazzle.com and ordered six for starters. Honestly, these folks couldn't make the process much easier.

That knocks my To Do List down to something a little more manageable, at least until the postcards arrive and I prepare my mailings. Here's an excellent article on marketing by Linda Faulkner at examiner.com (that just happens to feature my book cover) -- Shameless self-promotion: 9 ways to do it with postcards.

So what's on the lineup for today? Adding some more pages to my current project, ordering a box of books to use as inventory, catching up on a few more chores, and, best of all, getting my monthly massage. I hope you have a great day, too.

11 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

You're making me look bad! I'm just now getting around to getting postcards done.

Congratulations on the Harlequin deal! That's huge. I can only imagine how big that book club is.

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Natasha said...

Aren't you on a roll!!!
I would much rather have a day like this than win a lottery (specially since I am not likely to win too much more than $3 on a lottery in any case).

Patricia Stoltey said...

Elizabeth -- with the first book I didn't even do postcards -- I made a flyer, added a copy of one of my reviews and did a mailing to selected bookstores and libraries. I decided the postcards would be more versatile and cheaper overall when you add the cost of paper, envelopes, and postage.

Rayna -- that's exactly why I stopped playing more than once in a blue moon. I guess I just don't have the right vibes...

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your contract with Harlequin. I need to get busy with the postcard and mugs and stuff. Thanks for the links. I'll check them out today.

Stephen Tremp
http://www.stephentremp.blogspot.com/

Elspeth Futcher said...

Congrats on the contract and well done with the to-do list. Everything seems to be going your way so perhaps you won't need the lottery!

Elspeth

P.S. I'm the same way with lottery tickets. I tell people that I lack the 'gambling gene'.

joe doaks-Author said...

Very happy for about the contract, Patricia. In fact, lots of cards are falling your way. But, you make your own luck. You’re talented, work hard, and put yourself in a position to win. Small wonder then, that you do. Very nice. Oh, and thanks for the links.

Best Regards, Galen
Imagineering Fiction Blog

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, congrats on the contract with Harlequin.

Helen Ginger said...

Congratulations on everything. You really got busy. Especially congrats on the signed deal. Woo-woo!

Helen
Straight From Hel

Patricia Stoltey said...

Thanks on all the congrats. It will be fun seeing the books in paperback form.

Still have a lot to do to set up the rest of my Sept-Nov promo activities, but I'm learning to pace myself better so I still have time to write. See...old broads can learn new tricks.

N A Sharpe said...

Sounds like a great to-do list. You sound really busy - congratulations on that! Have fun with the monthly massage - that sounds like a slice of heaven!

Nancy, from Realms of Thought…

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

Congratulations on the contract! That's a terrific accomplishment.