My Brother Had a Dream

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! Today I want to share with you a little bit about my older brother, who is one of the most amazing people I know. He's four years older than me, and he's always been a role model and a mentor for me. We have two other siblings, and we're all very close.

We grew up on a small farm in the countryside, where we enjoyed the simple pleasures of life. We loved running around barefoot in the summer, feeling the grass and the dirt under our feet. We helped our parents with the chores, and we learned a lot from them.

My brother was always very smart and ambitious. He finished high school a year early, and went to college on a scholarship. He joined the ROTC program, and after graduating, he became an air force pilot. He flew an F-16 fighter jet, which is pretty awesome if you ask me. He was ready to defend our country if needed, but luckily he never had to go to war.

He retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel, and then he became a commercial pilot for a major airline. He flew all over the U.S., and met many interesting people. He had a successful career, and he retired with honors.

Now he enjoys traveling for fun, especially to Scotland and Ireland, where our ancestors came from. He loves exploring his roots, and learning about our family history. He also likes to visit us, his siblings, and his nieces and nephews. He's always generous and kind, and he has a great sense of humor.

He's my big brother, and I'm so proud of him. He's gone from a barefooted farm boy to a lieutenant colonel to an airline pilot to a retiree. He's lived a full and adventurous life, and he's still going strong. He's an inspiration to me, and I hope to you too.

Hey, Mom and Grandma, If you have little ones or grandchildren, don't miss my books for preschoolers. They are fun and educational, and they rhyme too! You can get them as eBooks or printed copies. Sample pages below...

The Little Bear and the Lollipop Tree

The Cloud Show

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Hey, I know you hate marketing and advertising. I do too. They're annoying, intrusive, and sometimes downright deceptive. But let's face it: they're also necessary if you want to sell something.

Global advertising was expected to reach $780 billion. Of that, digital advertising was expected to reach $492 billion. It is estimated that the United States spent an estimate of $343 billion and an estimate of 63% was spent on the internet. That's an enormous amount of money.

But...

Think about it. How are people going to know about your amazing product or service if you don't tell them? How are you going to stand out from the crowd of competitors who are vying for their attention? How are you going to convince them that you're the best choice for their needs?

Marketing and advertising are not evil. They're tools. And like any tool, they can be used for good or bad purposes. It's up to you to use them ethically and responsibly.

That means being honest, transparent, and respectful. It means providing value, not just hype. It means solving problems, not creating them. It means building relationships, not spamming.

If you do that, you'll find that marketing and advertising can actually be fun and rewarding. You'll get to share your passion with the world, connect with your ideal customers, and grow your business.

I have to admit, I have very little to spend on advertising. I used all of my book royalties to advertise on Facebook, so I spend just about every day posting my products on social media, writing blogs and tending my website. It takes up most of my time, but that's the price I pay in order to get my products known.

So don't be afraid of marketing and advertising. Let loose of a bit of your income whether it's print-on-demand commissions or royalties from your book, or lots of time. Embrace marketing and advertising as an evil necessity if you're selling something.

Check out my children's books for ages 2 - 5. They're beautifully illustrated and make great bedtime stories.

The Little Bear and the Lollipop Tree

The Cloud Show

The Frustrations of an Author

I recently started advertising my new children's book, The Cloud Show, on Facebook. My book's potential reach is up to 120 possible purchasers. The demographics of those potential purchasers are women between the ages of 25 and 65. After doing research on demographics of mothers, I left the demographics broad since everything I do from now forward will be tests. And, I included older women because they're grandmothers or grandmothers-to-be. I didn't include education or interests or target parents because – again – everything is a test. My total budget for seven days was $5.

That was the easy part. The hard part? Ah... The hard part was trying to figure out why Facebook (FB) didn't accept my attempt to publish my ad. The worse thing about that is they DIDN'T TELL ME WHY I couldn't place my ad. I didn't know if it was my ad, my demographics, my credit card or the amount of money I was spending.

After working for probably 30 to 45 minutes reading and re-reading the application page, I finally threw my hands up in the air and signed out. I know when to stop, catch my breath, calm myself and take a day.

The next day, I signed into FB and headed to the ad section. Again, I attempted to place the ad. Nope. Ain't gonna happen.

Fine, let's play with the budget slider do-hickey. I slid the button to $8 and voila! The action button high-lighted allowing me to click it. Why didn't they just tell me my total reach for the budget was too low? Why?

Honest to gosh, I've had so many trip-ups self-publishing my books. Ingram doesn't furnish an ISBN number. You have to buy one. Amazon doesn't allow their ISBN numbers to be used in other print-on-demand sites. Barnes and Noble along with Google Play didn't like my meta data nor a couple blank pages. Amazon told me if I wanted to use the cheaper paper, I'd have to publish at least 72 pages. It was only after I researched that I found their paper type minimums. Again, they don't tell you outright. Amateurs don't know that crap.

If you want into a library, you need their wholesaler and an ISBN number. If you want to get into Walmart, you have to have a business license and an ISBN. If you want to go through Walmart's wholesaler, you need an ISBN number.

I know I could hire a marketer/publisher, but then I'd have to split my royalties with him/her.

Yes, yes, I know it's a choice I've made. I'm just telling you that selling your self-published book isn't as easy and simple as bloggers say it is. There's a lot that goes into getting your book on shelves and into certain print-on-demand sites.

I'm not giving up, though. I'm a tenacious sort. I won't be beaten. I'll find a way to make the money I need to buy an ISBN number, find a way to get my books into Google Play and Barnes and Nobel, and – by golly – I'll get into libraries. When? Well, it won't be soon, but that's okay. Working towards those goals gives me something to do.

Please check out my children's books for ages 2 - 5. They're beautifully illustrated and in rhyme. Both are available in POD or eBook.

The Cloud Show

The Little Bear and the Lollipop Tree