Horse Lover and Author of a Few Books Here and There
Okay, I don't want fame, in the way that celebrities are famous. I mean, who wants to be chased by people who want a candid photo and a sordid story? I'm not even certain Miley wants that.
What I would like is to sell enough books each month to make a living. It doesn't have to be a Dean Koontz living (he's sold half-a-billion books, BTW). A middle-class, why-yes-we-can-go-winetasting-this-weekend living is fine with me. The way to do that, of course, is to become noticeable enough to readers that they recommend me to other readers and start pushing my books up the ratings chain.
Two things happened in the last two weeks to give my Snoopy book a boost.
One was a visit from Julie Preble of Horse and Rider Magazine to my table at the Pomona Horse Expo. I had sent FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH to that magazine, as well as other publications. Julie interviewed me for the Horse and Rider YouTube channel, and held a giveaway contest for a free copy of the book (click on over for a chance to win). Here's the video:
I pretty much hate seeing me on video, but I'm still happy to be interviewed.
The other thing was that I got a good-sized article in America's Horse about the book. America's Horse Magazine is an AQHA publication and goes to every AQHA member as part of their membership. That's worldwide, kids. I'd link to the article, but you have to be a member to read it. Here's a picture of it:
As icing on the cake, Snoopy and I are on the table of contents.
Did all of this rocket me up the charts? No. But it sold a few more books, which I hope will translate to a few more books, and a few more after that. Right now, I could pay the gas bill. Maybe soon I can pay the gas bill and the phone bill.
How about you? Do you have a passion that you'd like to make a living doing? Writing? Riding? What are you doing about it?
Congrats! That is awesome to get page attention in such a big equestrian magazine! And good for you for pursuing your dream :)
ReplyDeleteGayle--I just wrote a post on this very subject. So funny. I have been a published author for twenty years, and I had articles done about me in all those publications (and more) in my early years. I have sold a fair number of books (and I believe the articles helped), but never broke into the making-major-money category. So I don't know what exactly it takes. But I wish you the best of luck and hope you achieve all your goals.
ReplyDeleteLove your video, Gayle, and you were very brave to do that. Hope all this extra publicity brings you mucho sales. Great job!
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