A mixed bag of productivity, plus totally unrelated travel photos
Today has been both productive and unproductive, depending on how you look at it.
Productive:
After a few rounds of proofing, the paperback version of Laika in Lisan is finished! It’s currently available on Amazon and CreateSpace.
Today was the first day I made the Kindle version of Laika in Lisan free on Amazon (I enrolled the book in their KDP Select program, which gives me 5 days to give it away for free as a promotional strategy). At this moment, 41 people have downloaded the book for free. I’ve read that many authors will get thousands of people downloading their books on “free days,” but I don’t consider my small number a failure. In fact, I’m thrilled! If just one of those 41 people read the book and rate/review it, I’ll consider it a win. I started with 0 reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, so every review is a meaningful one. (Last week the book got another 5-star review from a complete stranger on Amazon. Whoo!)
I spent the entire afternoon finding and contacting people (e.g., book bloggers) who might have an interest in reading and reviewing Laika in Lisan. It’s only been a few hours, but I have one taker so far and that’s enough to make me happy. I know the book has to reach a “critical mass” of reviews and ratings before it’s worth the time (and money?) to begin marketing it more heavily.
Unproductive:
I originally meant to spend the day working on a manuscript that received a “revise and resubmit” decision last week. (The editor didn’t request any new data, so I feel fairly confident the manuscript will be accepted for publication after making the requested revisions.) This is the type of work I need to do for my real job—you know, the one that gives me a steady paycheck, health insurance, and retirement contributions—so I really should be prioritizing this over promoting Laika in Lisan… Oh well. The manuscript revision will get done, just not today.
I had also planned to go the gym today… Hmm… Yeah. That’s probably not going to happen.
It’s amazing how much of my day is spent in front of a computer. Work (i.e., real job) = using the computer to write, analyze data, send emails… Fun work (i.e., fiction writing and promoting my book) = using the computer to write, edit writing, contact potential readers…
Fortunately, I just spent a few days hiking around the Columbia River Gorge that forms the border between Oregon and Washington. It’s my favorite place to visit. It was wonderful being outside all the time, the weather was pretty awesome, and the scenery was perfect. Three days of hiking was a very nice break from constant computer work.
On the first full day of the trip, I completed the most intense hike of my life to date: Dog Mountain (2800 feet elevation gain, approximately 7 miles roundtrip). Five days later, my legs still hurt! But it was totally worth it. A few photos from the trip are below.
Dog Mountain (as we approached the summit, we were hiking in clouds! It was… wet.)
(The last photo was taken from the summit. The tiny mountain peak behind me is Wind Mountain, which we climbed last year. That was a challenging hike back then, so it was a big deal to hike the much taller Dog Mountain this year!)
The bottom of Mount St. Helens is visible (the rest is behind clouds) between my husband and me.
On the Lewis River trail
Mount Hood, as seen from Hood River Mountain
Mount Adams, as seen from Hood River Mountain
Elowah Falls
I can’t wait to return to the Columbia River Gorge in August! Next time we’re also driving south to visit Crater Lake for the first time (gorgeous lake + volcano = LOVE LOVE LOVE).
