Summer learning e-book publishing and life

The last few days have been unseasonably warm for early summer. I'd complain, but it was cooler in the spring and so we adjust to the weather. Sam the Wonder Dog is letting us know that it is warm and he doesn't want a full walk in the day...he just finds a patch of shade on the walk, flops down and refuses to move until we ask if he wants to go home. Dogs are smart. The cat sleeps through it. The cat might be smarter.

Generally, I've been learning a lot about publishing from the other end of it. The marketing end. As with any new field opening up more and more, there are things that have changed and it is a fast ever changing virtual landscape. At one time, people could advertise on Kijiji, but I have learned that this is no longer the case. I found out while researching something. It is actually no longer allowed. There is too much scamming is the reason given. Literally e-books are not allowed to be placed on Kijiji.

So, new authors must be determined and root out every valid possibility to market their books. It is no longer a case of writing a book gives you an in to getting sales. Now you have to be a one person show. You have to write, edit, find places to put your book up. Then you have to market and find ways to get your book sold.

As with any new thing out, even during the time of Gutenberg, his faster printing machine put a lot of monks out of business over time. Then there were developments and changes which resulted in the widely available printed book. Now we are seeing a surge in electronic books. This is hard on book sellers (physical book sellers). The market is once again divided. There are still adherents to the physical book, much like, I would assume, in the time of Gutenberg, there were still adherents to the beautiful script and art work of the monks. So, you see, with each change come improvements to a particular method of working, but also there comes a cost.

It was never realistic to decide to move to Prince Edward Island and then to decide to write books. If I let things discourage me...along the way, there would be plenty of things to discourage people...then I would never have written anything. So, when you feel discouraged in your daily life or in writing or any other art work, always know that you are growing and learning. Each time you grow and learn, something may be lost, but then there is a lot that can be gained.

As always, be realistically unrealistic. You'll never know what you can accomplish if you don't know what you can't do and reach for the sky. The sky is the limit. You can move forward and ahead. Even with bumps on the path, you are your own person and you can move ahead. If you learn something, then you have not failed. If you keep working at it, you might just surprise yourself at how far you can go.

Thanks for reading my blog and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!