Tudor Robins's Blog, page 18

Noisetrade

For any of you who don’t know about Noisetrade, this is where you can find it. Noisetrade is a site where artists (musical and authors) can give away selected work in return for contact information – an email address and postal code.

I like the look and idea of Noisetrade. I figure, if I’m going to give something away, I might as well get something in return – a new newsletter subscriber.

Noisetrade also allows readers to leave tips. I never expected tips, but a couple of readers actually left me some, which was quite sweet and heartwarming.

This is my Noisetrade page. As you can see, it provides quite a bit of information about me, with links to my site, etc.

So, do I recommend Noisetrade to other authors?

Yes and no (you knew it wouldn’t be a simple answer, right?).

Yes, I think there’s no reason not to put free material on Noisetrade. The format is nice, it makes you look professional. It’s easy to use, you might get a tip or two, and you will get contact information of people who download your work.

It’s one more tool, that doesn’t cost you anything, and I don’t see any harm in it.

Now for the no.

No, I wouldn’t pay for Noisetrade promotions. This is my personal opinion. When I first put my work up on Noisetrade, they contacted me and asked if I’d like placement in their newsletter. I only had very short, deleted chapters from Appaloosa Summer up there, and they were asking much more than I wanted to spend, so it was quick and easy to say “no thanks.”

Then, I uploaded Hide & Seek, and, not long after that, I was contacted again (note: I’m not sure how many authors get contacted re: being in the newsletters. I think a big part of why they reached out to me is because my covers – IMHO – look good. Their newsletters are visually appealing, and I think they want professional-looking books featured in them).

The second time Noisetrade contacted me, I felt like I had a more substantial offering (10,000-word short story) and they were offering me a significantly reduced rate. It was low enough that I could write it off and not worry about it.

So, I said yes.

It was great. It was a fun ride. The newsletter looked good. My downloads spiked. I got into the “most popular” romance, and children’s lists and was beside authors like Sophie Kinsella. It was a laugh.

Of course, I also got a lot of contact emails.

I dutifully entered them into my email / newsletter service (MailChimp), and sent out a newsletter.

LOTS of unsubscribes. In fairness, I guess it wasn’t that many – less than ten per cent of those who signed up – but I’m not used to having ANY unsubsribes – so it felt like a lot to me …

Which is no surprise – right? I mean, there are definitely going to be people who just go to a service like Noisetrade, and plunk their email address in to get something for free, and then have no intention of engaging with / following the artist.

I’m OK with that. Once. My problem is that the same people can come back if I put something else on Noisetrade and take it again, and put their email address down, and we’re back on the same roller coaster.

I know I should just shrug this off. It’s the cost of doing business. Who cares? I’m not that uptight about people getting my work for free – in fact I willingly give it away fairly often. It’s just that something about this bugs me.

I told Noisetrade I’d like to have a personal block list, so if somebody does the above, I can then block them from downloading further free items from me.

But I can’t. So … it leaves me a little less engaged with Noisetrade. I’ll still use it, and put my stuff up there, but I don’t feel inclined to pay for another promotion.

So, overall – use Noisetrade? I’ll continue to. Pay for Noisetrade promotions? I won’t again.

That’s my experience … anyone else have experience as a user or artist? Let me know!

10K!

I love running. I run for myself. For my brain, and for my body. I don’t need other people to make me run, and I don’t need races to make me run.

But I do love / hate running races.

There’s a lot about them I don’t like. I don’t like the crowds. I don’t like the hustle and bustle before the race. I don’t like how hard it can be to find, and stick to, your own pace when there are others around you all running faster and harder.

I hate how hard it is to get to a bathroom right before a race – because being nervous makes me have to pee, and I’m always a little nervous right before a race.

But, as soon as I’m running, I’m happy.

And, when I’m done, I’m delirious.

OK – maybe not for the first three minutes. Especially the first three minutes after the Wolfe Island Classic 10K. The wind, and hills, and burning-sun-on-hot-asphalt on that run always mean when I’m done I (a) want to die, (b) want to puke, (c) can’t wait to strip off my race bib and go swimming in the river – heaven!

But, very shortly after, I’m happy I’m done. This is what that looks like:

So, this year I’m jumping back in.

I’ve registered for the Ottawa Race Weekend – I got a 10K bib for the Ottawa Race Weekend, which is a bit of a feat in itself! I’m contemplating entering the Wolfe Island Classic again, as well … I don’t have to decide that just yet.

I started training this weekend because my son is going to run the Ottawa Race Weekend 5K, so we have to get him going (I may, or may not be running the 5k with him, first, and then the 10K – it remains to be seen).

I’m also training hard because I’m determined to run a sub-fifty minute 10K. Which shouldn’t be that hard, but I’m hoping it’s not going to be touch-and-go. I’m hoping it’s going to be a clear sub-fifty. So I want to be fit, and ready.

So, I have to train hard and I have to hope I feel good on the day and, now that I’ve declared my sub-fifty goal, I’ll have to report back on what happens.

Watch this space …

Overlooking the Obvious – Wednesday Riders Released!

So, some loyal readers (um, hi Mom and Dad) were kind enough to point out to me that I hadn’t actually mentioned the release of Wednesday Riders on my blog … duh … not sure how that happened.

It’s been just about everywhere else in the world, and I felt like I must have announced it here, but they’re quite right; I didn’t.

So, ahem, without further ado …

Wednesday Riders is out, and not only is it out, it has some nice reviews AND it’s selling really, really nicely. It’s actually been (and is now) on the Amazon Top 100 YA Contemporary Romance charts. That’s the chart The Fault in Our Stars, and Eleanor and Park are on – quite exciting (not mentioning which end of the chart they’re on vs. me, but it’s still a first for me, so I’m happy).

It’s the readers – all the readers – who’ve been doing this for me and my book. Reviewing, buying, charting.

Thank you very much.

If you want to buy it now, you can buy the eBook in Canada, the US, or the UK (or from Amazon in your country). I’ll remember to announce when the print book is out!

Remembering Deb

All through the month of February, I’ve been thinking back to last February when the world lost Debbie Knox.

Deb, with her children, at a Kingston Frontenacs game.

I met Deb when she was still Deb Greenwood. When we were on the island she cut my hair, she cut my sons’ hair, and she did my hair for my wedding.

Deb was the kind of person you wanted to have doing your hair for your wedding, because she always talked just enough, and never too much, and she was always bubbly and positive, but with an edge of funny, too. Like she saw the failings in the world but chose to tackle them with humour and happiness.

Which is why it’s just so frickin’ cruel that the thing she had to face wasn’t one that could be overcome with humour and happiness. Deb was assaulted by cancer. There’s no other way to describe it. I have never known anyone else to have so much thrown at her – to take so many steps forward, only to confront another step back. And another. And another.

But, in a way, her humour and happiness did triumph, because even in the face of everything she went through, that’s how so many people remember her.

Going back to my wedding day, I didn’t get married until four o’clock. Which meant I was able to go for a run in the morning, along all the same roads Meg runs along in Appaloosa Summer, and Wednesday Riders. Then my mom, my mother-in-law, my two sisters-in-law, and myself sat in the big kitchen / family room of my parents’ house, looking out over the St. Lawrence, and Deb did our hair.

It was relaxing, it was comfortable, and it was fun. And she did a great job …

I showed her a picture from a magazine – that’s all – just one picture, and she ran with it. This was the result:

Dancing with my dad – wedding hair from the front!

I really loved my hair that day, which was so important because it was one less thing to worry about.

The back of my wedding hair. Can’t decide if my husband looks terrified or happy … we were so young!

As a final note, Deb used SO MANY bobbypins, I kept finding them for days. I’m sure the maid who did our bed in the B&B where we stayed on our wedding night, must have found dozens of them in the sheets.

That’s it, that’s all, a small tribute to Deb. I hope it’s fitting. To me she was always a person who made everybody’s life better one day at a time, so maybe a small tribute is appropriate.

I wish all the best to her family.

Ski Boot Love …

So, we skied today, and it was AWESOME – mostly because nobody was in any danger of hypothermia, or losing digits to frostbite (first time all year), and also because of yesterday’s fresh snow! Oh yes … perfect combo.

Just now I was putting the liners back in my ski boots to pack them away until skiing on Friday (because I love my ski boots so much that I always take the liners out and dry them before putting my boots away) and I was looking at my boots, and thinking of Lynn’s recent post about her ski boots, and I thought, why not?

My boots deserve a picture, too.

Aren’t they cute?

There are few things in life as important as the right pair of ski boots. Previous to having these boots, I had a pair that were ten-out-of-ten on performance and about five-out-of-ten in comfort. My previous boots put a weird twist in my feet if I wore them too long, so my feet started aching and also, putting them on was like the opposite of childbirth – pushing frantically, with all my might, and to the point of tears, to try to get my feet in.

But … performance. They were junior racing boots I had bought many, many years before, and I really loved the way I was able to ski in them. I was so scared of losing that, so year after year I dealt with the pain, and put off buying new boots until, finally, a buckle broke.

I went to a ski shop for the first time in years to buy something for myself, and it was intimidating.

They kept bringing me out pretty boots – not as pretty as Lynn’s – but fancy, with sparkles and fur trim, and I would try them on and think, how bad would it be to ski with a broken buckle?

Then, finally, I’m not sure what the break-through was, but I got them to understand I was used to very painful boots, and I would like more of the same but, if possible, a smidgen less painful because now I’m older.

And lo, my new blue boots were placed in front of me.

I slipped my foot in and buckled them up, and it was like heaven on the ski shop floor.

The first time I skied in them I was not at all disappointed by the performance and, bonus, no foot twisting and only minor grimacing – no tears at all – when putting them on.

I’ve loved them ever since, and I loved them enough to take a picture of them tonight and post it here for you.

I’m delighted Lynn has found the joy of a pair of ski boots she loves because that will keep her skiing. Yay!

I’m also happy she wrote about them, because it makes me realize there are certain pieces of sports equipment I wouldn’t trade for the world. Hmmm … I feel posts brewing about my paddock boots, running shoes, chaps … so many possibilities!

Curling! Bonspiel!

I suspect my non-Canadian readers might find this post more interesting than my Canadian ones, as most Canadians have presumably been in a curling club before, and have some understanding of curling.

Unless, of course, you’re like me, and curling is a very new, extremely friendly, ridiculously comfortable, winter sport.

This is the club where my boys curl:

It is – I just checked on Google maps – 1.84 kilometres from the house where I grew up. I drove by this club every single time I went skiing throughout my entire childhood, and during my teen years. I rode the bus by it every single time I went downtown. But I had never set foot inside until one day in April last year, when my older son had a chance to do a trial day of curling.

He loved it.

It doesn’t look exactly the way you’d expect a curling club to look:

I suspect the mural was put up to combat graffiti.

Inside it’s like a Tardis. Bigger than you’d expect. And also like a secret society of some sort. For here are leather couches. And a fireplace. And a TV. Chairs with arms. Locker rooms with carpeting and armchairs. A kitchen. A bar.

As a kid, my winter sport was downhill skiing. Curling, for spectating parents, beats hockey easily, and blows downhill skiing out of the water.

Today was our home bonspiel. It’s quite lovely. It’s a day of curling for the kids and a day of helping for the parents. Curling, you see, is very civilized / social. As each draw comes off the ice, they’re served either snack or lunch. There are a whole bunch of parents in the kitchen chopping, dicing, pouring, washing, etc. to make sure the tables look like this when the kids finish their game:

They sit in groups of eight – the four that were on their team, and the four they curled against. They chat. It’s nice. I’ll say it again – it’s friendly.

And, of course, there’s the on-ice fun.

This is my older son (on the right) conferring with his team’s skip. My kids really love the strategy involved in curling, and I love to see them talking through the game with each other.

If you prefer an action shot, here’s my younger son throwing a rock:

I think this was one of the times he didn’t fall at the end of his throw. I say that with respect – I curled at the club Christmas party in December, and I fell!

Anyway, not much to this post other than to show you how we spent the early part of our day today, which explains why I’m too tired to do anything else very productive for the rest of the day!

Are you a curler? Have you ever tried? I’d love to hear your curling stories.

For those who jump!

Or, those who are interested in jumping …

This is just a really quick post to direct you to a very interesting analysis of horse jumping position, and rider jumping position, and how the two interact.

The original post is over on Barbara Morgenroth’s blog and I, for one, really enjoyed reading it.

More to think about next time I’m jumping!

What I’ve been up to …

With apologies for the quality of the photos in this post (cell phone / dim lighting / pre-recording nerves), I’m still going to include them, because they show you where I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing:

Yes, I’ve been in a recording studio!

I’m recording the Appaloosa Summer audio book, and I never knew it would be so much fun.

As referenced above, it’s a bit nerve-wracking. My breath gets away with me sometimes, so by the end of a chapter I can hardly breathe. And sitting with Jake – the extremely talented engineer I get to work with – and listening to my own voice, reading out my own words, while we do edits, is fairly surreal.

But being able to go into a proper studio is amazing. And the dim lights are kind of nice. It’s like going into a cave where nobody can reach me for a couple of hours.

Here’s the booth where I stand, and I can see Jake through that window:

Again – image quality – sorry!

A sense of humour is one-hundred per cent necessary. There are very normal, every day, not difficult words that I suddenly can’t pronounce. And there are things I wonder why I wrote into the book – like coyotes howling yip-yip-aroooo … – come on! I did try to record that a few times, and then Jake was kind enough to play it back in my headphones and threaten to use it as his ringtone, and I asked him to delete it and move on. There will be no voicing of the coyote howls in Appaloosa Summer.

Also, this is where I find I’m relieved I was sparing with swear words and what we’ve come to call “quivering bits” – it would be very difficult to stand in that booth and read out anything more graphic than the kisses as I’ve written them in the book.

This has been an amazing experience. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve left my comfort zone. I’ve fed off the energy of working with other people who are as committed to what they do, as I am to my writing. For those things alone, it’s totally worth it – however, I’m also going to get an audio book out of it!

And, it will be free!

Something special for my readers – I’ll let you know when it’s available.

Not just yet, as I’m back in the studio next week and, of course, looking forward to it …

Wednesday Riders – Cover Reveal!

Without further ado, and with much thanks to my amazing cover designer, Allie Gerlach, here is the Wednesday Riders cover … book to follow soon!

Break Even

Thank you Appaloosa Summer, and everybody who helped me put it together, and mostly all my readers, because we have now broken even.

Break even is an awesome place to be six months on from publication.

Break even means Appaloosa Summer is now paying for her sister – Wednesday Riders – to be published.

I was pretty sure I made the right decision indie publishing APS and all I’m going to say six months in, is break even.

Happy.

Thank you.