Trippin' with Susan Straley

Hello! I was up real early this morning.  I couldn't sleep!  I had forgotten to record the video yesterday for the Count Down to the Launch of the Kindle version of the book, Alzheimer's Trippin' with George. This was recorded at about 4:00 this morning. They have Youtube live and I have been meaning to try it as well as facebook live.  But I think I need to get good at presenting.  I have to cut out a lot of UMMMMM, and silent thought still from my videos.  LEARNING so much. Anyway,  If you can share this blog pretty easy on your social media, just send them to http:www.susanstraley.com The front blog post will change daily during the count down. I am debating about whether to have an open or closed group on facebook.  Right now the group is closed so that my personal page isn't full of the book focus.  But, being close means that it is harder for the members to SHARE!! and those SHARES are so important if the book is going to reach folks that are seekin

Wow, that day went fast!  Already only 8 days left before the Kindle Launches. When you set a date for a kindle launch you have to have everything up and ready to go several days before you launch.  Amazon wants to make sure it can fulfill the pre-orders. So if the publisher (in this case me, the author) goofs up and tries to make changes after the deadline, Amazon will ban them from publishing ever again. That is scary.  I have had my book up and ready to launch for a long time.  BUT now I am working furiously to not only promote the books but to go in and make the pictures bigger and crisper (more pixels). See, what I didn't know is when you copy and paste, some of the density of the pixels is reduced.  Then Kindle provides a special software for the Kindle and that reduces the size of the pictures.  So the pictures are tiny and when I zoom in they are fuzzy.  I am going picture by picture and I would guess there are well over 900 pictures in the first book.  So it i

I just looked at the calendar and OH MY!  Only 9 days to the launch of the Kindle version of the first book in the Trippin' series.  I am excited!  I am going to TRY to make a video a day counting down to the launch.  Here is the first one.  Let me know what you think.  Comments are welcome. OTHER NEWS Gosh, so much! 1) I had my friends here from Wisconsin, Mark and Jane.  We went hiking in Potts Preserve!  If you have been following this blog a while, you may have seen the video I made of us at Potts . I was a bit nervous during the walk and let out a big cheer when we made it out ok. I went kayaking with them from Silver Springs State Park.  It is about an hour's drive, but worth it to see this crystal clear spring fed river and the wildlife along it.  Thanks to Mark for taking the pictures. They had a friend from Wisconsin, Tom, that came up to visit them from near Miami.  He was very nice and fun.  The picture below was something we all should fear wh

Get creative! Read in the sea,  by a tree,  with me,  sitting on a giant pea...  Read it with your dog,  on a log,  knee deep in bog,  next to a frog... Read it in a chair,  on the stairs,  at the fair... Snap a picture or video yourself reading your favorite part of Alzheimer's Trippin' with George I am excited about a promotion idea and I HOPE that you will get excited too.  I think it will be fun! I will talk about that first and then, after that,  I will give you a peek into what is happening now. Video Trailer I have learned that books have to have trailers now days. Just like a movie.  I bought one for cheap.   It is actually pretty good, considering.  I will share it in the next post, it isn't quite done yet. But I got an idea of just a video showing people reading Alzheimer's Trippin' with George .  Maybe I will add it to the professional video I have or make one on its own... who knows. BUT I would like to get picture

Yesterday I went and rode the Van Fleet Trail.  It is one of my favorite trails.  Some people find it boring, so very straight and not a single hill.  But it goes through the Green Swamp.  So we get to see wildlife. Yesterday I saw a wild turkey and three very LARGE otter.  I rode with a trike group that was visiting our area.  There were two velo-mobiles riding with us. I AM FEELING CELEBRITY I got a poem from Kathie Heimsoth, my neighbor and fellow author.  She framed it for me. Last week Heather that takes pictures for the trail newsletter was out with her camera.  Then I got my picture on the Withlacoochee Trail facebook page!  I love the picture. GOOD FEEDBACK And I have to share this news.  So excited to get good feedback on my book.  The book club in my neighborhood chose my book for their April book to read and discuss.  I gave them two copies to pass around.  One of the guys wrote me an email today and said, " I am reading your book and I can'

What fun it was this fall when my biking friend and neighbor returned to Florida to announce that she had just published her first book.  ME TOO! I said.  Well, almost.  It officially releases March 21, 2019.  Alzheimer's Trippin' with George - book 1 in the series - is now available to order and receive in paperback. THE KINDLE The kindle is  ready for pre-release orders.  Then it is sent to people's devices on March 21st.  On that date, the price goes way up! If I get 100 pre-orders and some good reviews, then Amazon will take notice and start helping promote the book.  Which would be great if more beginning caregivers could find it and feel more confident and competent because of it. SPEAKING OF... I have now three speaking engagements at Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Groups in the area. The first one is this week! If these go well I will be looking for engagements in other areas of the state. I stopped in at Trailside.bike where I used to w

If you had trouble getting the Book Cover Reveal Video to work, Click Here to watch it. I had so much fun!  Thank you for sharing in this moment with me. The morning after the reveal I recorded another video.  And below that are the links to the book on Amazon.  Don't forget to leave a fair review on Amazon!  I need those to get suggested to folks by Amazon.  Just one or two sentences is all that is needed to help others find the book.  If you can, use one or two of these key words in your review so others that you think might enjoy the book can find it!  Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Travel and Trikes.  I especially need reviews from folks who love someone with Alzheimers, are Caregivers, or who ride trikes and biketrails. Some people had trouble playing the video last night so if this video doesn't play for you, try this link . To get to the Amazon page with the sunset cover, click the picture below. To get to the Amazon page with the joy in the convertibl