We're experimenting, boys and girls

Spent the last weekend in Denver, Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's Conference. An interesting weekend. And yes, if you ever get a chance to attend this one . . . they have it every year . . .  I highly recommend it. Writers, well known authors, lit agents and major book publishers show up every year.

Really, this conference is not that much different from other conferences held around the country. New writers get an opportunity to pitch their book ideas to agents and publishers, plus take in a lot of interesting tidbits and techniques in writing/promoting from those who have had some success with it. It is well worth your while to attend two or three of these events over the lifetime of your career.
But here's the main point I'm aimlessly meandering toward. Serendipity. Sheer accident. A casual conversation with a stranger while eating breakfast in the hotel's restaurant might turn out to be a fantastic discovery in putting my name, and my books, into the view of a far larger bank of potential fans.

My wife Susan and I sit down to breakfast in the restaurant. Beside us is a fellow writer. But one far more successful than I. But even more intriguing, one of her side businesses revolves around her efforts in working the internet to her advantage in selling ebooks. For herself and for clients she agrees to take on. Her contacts range all over the world. Not just selling books in the good ole' US of A. But selling books all over the world. Lots of books.

Apparently she has clients who sell five books a day to hundreds of books a month. Big numbers, if you ask me. And yes . . . maybe a little too much to believe. But on the other hand, how would you know what is the truth and what might very well be a huckster throwing a line of bullshit out to a potential customer, unless you try it out for yourself?

Ultimately, that is the risk, isn't it.  To succeed as a writer you have to take risks. You have to way the financial costs to what potential successes you might achieve. And if you're like me, you can only afford so much financial costs before you have to come to a skidding halt. Yes . . . I go into this little venture with eyes wide open. But if it is true that you have to expand your internet presence into an ever larger venue of interested, and potential, customers . . .how do you do it without taking any risks?

So we begin with the Smitty series. Every 30 days we're going to hit the market with something about Smitty. Starting on the 20th of September with A Dish Served Cold.  From the 20th through the 24th it'll be free. On the 27th of September, Dark Retribution, Volume II: Sometimes Nightmares Come True hits the airwaves for the first time.

We're experimenting, boys and girls. We're trying to crack the nut called Marketing. When the dust settles, we'll see if our efforts produced anything of merit. That's all we can do.