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Posts Tagged ‘Newcastle’

The Good, Bad and Damned Good Fun of Book Tours

Posted in book tours, Choosing the writing life, indie publishing, marketing fiction, middle grade fiction, Stories, writing life, tagged , , , , on December 18, 2015| 1 Comment »

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  1. Today, I had someone special to share a selfie with, the owner of Coffee Club, Kotara, who also happens to be my favourite niece
  2. I chatted with Coffee Club patrons about all sorts of things that reminded this writer there’s a world of stories out there to source
  3. I people watched and, being only a week till Christmas, there sure was plenty to watch…since when did store shopping bags get so fancy?
  4. The very old and very young still share a cuppa together
  5. People still give books as gifts
  6. it’s easier to say what my books are about with practice
  7. I need to get my next novel finished
  8. Kids still read
  9. Kids write
  10. The new Star Wars movie rocks (so my daughters tell me)
  11. My graphic artist is a whizz because people stopped because of his cover design
  12. i don’t look like my author pic…big mistake
  13. Never play the matching game with a six year old and expect to win…if she doesn’t beat you honestly, she’ll beguile you with her smile
  14. Make sure you have a paddock and horses to escape to when the day is done…our horse was chest high in the dam munching on water-lilies when we got home and there’s no better reminder as to why I’m a country girl at heart (and in this heat, it was tempting to join the horse in his play)
  15. Book tours remind us of our humanity…we may sell more books online but we don’t get near as much tactile pleasure out of the experience.

Thank you to Naomi, Shane and the Coffee Club gang for hosting our book signing. Your hospitality, generosity and love are much appreciated by me and my entourage (and the burger was great:))

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Coffee, cake and a good book, anyone?

Posted in book tours, indie publishing, marketing fiction, social media, writing life, tagged , , , , on December 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

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Book Tour: Week 3

We’re off again, this time to the Coffee Club, Kotara, in Newcastle to sign and sell a swag of books…or at least drink copious amounts of Nomi’s coffee trying.

And, as we did in Coffs Harbour, we will try to tweet our day (maybe this time it might even work).

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The Caravan Goes On: The Four P’s of surviving an Australian Christmas Book Tour

Posted in author signings, book tours, indie publishing, middle grade fiction, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2015| 1 Comment »

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‘Oh, yes, I almost forgot. She was a writing phenomenon.’

In 1932, Enid Blyton wrote a 90,000 word novel in a month for adults titled ‘The Caravan Goes On’. It was never published so I’ve purloined the title for our book tour next month…actually, the title could very well suit me for some time to come.

** note to self: organising a book tour in five main shopping centers on the east coast of Australia at Christmas is not one of your better ideas, Hammo…

Today, the east coast of Australia and tomorrow who knows?? That’s the good thing about caravan book tours…they need never end…except for the fact that I’m traveling with kids, dogs, cat and cantankerous Cracker aboard.

**note to self: brothers and sisters should never lock themselves  in caravans together for extended periods of time, especially in summer, and especially at Christmas..

The four four P’s of surviving the hair-brained idea of a book tour on the east coast of Australia with kids and animals at Christmas runs like this:

  1.  Planning – complete book tour in three weeks leading up to visiting Cracker and just hand him the cash in an envelope on Christmas Eve…
  2. Preparation – remember that  all the last minute ‘to do’ things on the list are crucial and all of them must happen prior to departure…there’s nothing like the deadline of Santa coming and Cracker waiting under the tree with his hand out to point to the critical issue of time equally days left to actually finish, upload and print the third Cracker & Gilly novel. It’s called incentive…
  3. Promotion – press releases, caravan signage, itinerary and packing boxes and boxes of books in the caravan, keeping in mind weight distribution, tare and making sure the tow ball doesn’t collapse under the weight of my ambitions. **note to self: what does a fully laden caravan weigh with kids, cats, dogs, surfboards, bikes, billy carts and boxes of books actually weigh??
  4. Patience – all good things come to those who wait…and wait…thank you Cracker for your patience…the Cracker & Gilly Mystery Series Book Tour in gathering speed and rolling your way…here’s hoping you and Santa are ready for us. ** note to self: do not, under any circumstances, even in good cheer, especially in good cheer, mention Book 4 until the New Year…nobody, not even Cracker, would deny his family the joy of plotting another mystery in that good old Australian tradition, camping at the Abercrombie…who knows what mischief the Cracker & Gilly team could get up to with a whole new year in front of them??

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