Hello,
It is often said that to achieve great things, you need to focus your energy on one thing. You can't spread your energy over many many things or you won't excel at anything.
I guess I am programmed to be mediocre. Ha ha.
I kind of timed things wrong. You see the audio version of
Alzheimer's Trippin' with George has just been launched. With that launch is the task of writing and sending out press-releases, putting posts up on social media, and giving out lots of free copies to experts and audio-book fans in the hope that they will leave a review on Audible or Good Reads.
I just got my first review of
Alzheimer's Trippin' with George on Audible!
This book was great! I was a caregiver for my mother who had Alzheimer’s for 10 years!
It
was very hard when she did get angry and aggressive. This book gave a
sense of calm and patience. I look forward to the second half when it
gets much more difficult to see how it is handled. Being married for 45
years now one of the things we do anticipate is what we would do if one
of us gets this dreadful disease!!!!!
Thank you for sharing!
When you launch a new book on Audible they give you 25 free
audio books to give away.
If you want to listen and give an honest review I would love to give you a code. Just send an email to me, susan at susanstraley dot com. I still try to give my email in code to avoid spammers. Giving out the free codes and getting reviews is the best way to promote the audio-book.
If you want to join Audible, use this
link because then I get credit. I think a membership at Audible is $14 something a month. I joined recently and the first book I listened to was
Becoming by Michele Obama. I like listening to books when I ride or walk alone.
Back to talking about the work involved after the launch of the first audio book. The work would be just fine if I didn't
also plan the release of the ebook and audio-book of
The Journey Continues for early December. That also requires press releases, social media posts, and events.
So I am feeling like a squirrel... first I head one way, pause and run the other way, and then end up dashing in front of someone almost getting squashed in the process.
My emotions fly from excited to nervous to confident and calm to unworthy and not confident at all. I have taken up a bit of meditation. Only 5 minute blocks of time throughout the day. Sometimes it helps me stop the squirrel and find the stillness where I might encounter insight, direction, and peace. Boy is it
great when
that happens!
There is a bit of pressure to get a lot of press for
The Journey Continues in November. Because from now until December 4th the ebook is available for pre-order.
So what?
Soooo... if I get alot of pre-orders (say 100), they all download on the day the book releases. Amazon will take notice, maybe give me best-seller status for my book categories, and help find buyers for the book. That is why pre-orders are important.
Last I looked I have 15 pre-orders. Only 85 more to go!
You can help!
Send your friends to
here to pre-order their kindle today. At the special discounted price of ONLY $2.99 during the pre-order period.
I have found a few folks through some facebook pages and even twitter that wanted a code. I keep my fingers crossed that they will leave a review.
Events
If you are in the Tampa or Inverness area, I hope you can join me for one of the launch celebrations. This time I hope to spend a few minutes in the beginning reading from The Journey Continues before I sit down to sell and sign books.
Also the Citrus Writers Club is hosting a book sale at the Citrus Memorial Library in Citrus Springs, Florida on November 24th.
Speaking of signing, I was talking with my neighbor that is also a new author. She just is in the process of producing her second book. She shared with me that her emotions are high and low too. We might be feeling low and then we hear from a reader that was touched by our writing and our emotions soar. It's a crazy ride.
Friday I went to a fundraiser for Dementia Education at the Hen House Cafe in Inverness. Two friends joined me, and I also saw and sat with two Dementia Divas and their princes. I had donated ten books to the cause. I guess they had decided to give them away as door prizes. But one lady came up and asked if she could buy one for her friend. Sure! I donated the money to the cause.
Dementia Education helps educate businesses in the area. And they have two booklets they have created. One is about dealing with fire-arms, which is something I didn't have to worry about with George. I know of several caregivers that do have to figure out how to deal with fire-arms in the house.
Anyway, the very next morning after the fundraiser, I was back at the Hen House for our bike-group's Saturday-morning breakfast. A waitress brought a white-haired woman back who was carrying
Alzheimer's Trippin' with George in her hand. The waitress told the woman she read the book in two days, "It was very good." The woman, (her name was Adele), wanted me to sign the book. She was just thrilled to meet me. I felt so high... "I am a celebrity!" ha ha.
Short-lived, these highs drive me to keep going, keep working to spread the news about the books. Sometimes I wonder why, then someone says that if I feel driven it is what I
should be doing.
I am feeling driven by some unseen force. Maybe it is angel George with his hand on my back that is nudging me forward. George had high integrity and showed people respect. To me he was better and kinder than some evangelicals I have met who don't have integrity or respect. George also had Athiest beliefs... or let's just say he didn't believe in the stories that churches tell.
I am open to knowing that I don't know what happens after our heart stops beating and our brain-waves stop waving. I am one to think that we can pick and choose our beliefs. Each of us can find the stories that make sense to us and help us through tough times. For some that is the story of virgin births and salvation, for others it is the story of angels watching over us. For some it is the idea that our thoughts create our reality or the law of attraction. I say, whatever toots your horn, it all might have some truth to it. Just don't blast that horn in my ears. If there is a all knowing being, I choose to believe it is full of love and forgiveness and kindness... flowers, butterflies and puffy white clouds.
See what I mean? How did I get off on religion and philosophy?
Oh yes, I was talking about feeling driven... and unfocused.
A bit About Care-giving
AARP Bulletin has a great article on financial stress and care-giving. Mostly it is talking about the financial burden on caregivers. Extra medical care, neglect of their own medical care, less savings, more debt, less paid hours of work.
What they didn't mention is that spouses carry the burden of poor financial decisions by their partner. Decisions made by the person with dementia that were made before they are diagnosed. And those with dementia in these early stages are especially vulnerable to spammers and con-artists.
Other Stuff
Besides working on the books, I have been riding trike, attending parties. I even entered a walk/run and got second place. So I signed up for another one, the Jingle Bell run/walk.
I hosted a party here. My hip didn't start hurting until people arrived and I had to stand and find counter space for stuff and utensils and prepare the last-minute stuff.
The very next night I had Warmshowers guest. This was a couple from Turkey that were making their way up Florida to New Orleans. I enjoyed having them here and I had some left-over chili and ice cream from my party so they were very happy.
Of course they both wanted to try out my lovely trike. And I was happy to show them how much fun it is.
Ok, I have yammered enough. Now to dash off in a different direction.
Til' next time, enjoy your moments.
