Nuts and bolts. Nails and screws.

 

Thunderstorms are lurking outside. Perfect day for settling in and tackling the gritty details of getting the book ready to publish. My task is to review each page of both print and e-versions of all three books. 1600 pages, give or take, make notes on anything in the presentation that looks wrong or awkward. Triple check ISBNs, links, etc. NOT reading it because: 

A. I start wondering who wrote this (good and bad) and get caught up in it, or 

B. God forbid I find something I want to change. Again. That activity could go on forever, so just don't go there.

Simultaneously, I learn to use a Chromebook which folds to become a tablet with a touchscreen. And Kindle and Dropbox and...new technology is exhausting. Thank Prime day and all the 'Zon competitors for making me a deal I couldn't refuse. 

I want to make a padded cloth sleeve for it, but that would be another couple of hours of procrastination that I can't afford. Maybe tomorrow when Charlie Monday resumes.

There was a great meeting with a good friend. For three hours we occupied a booth in an old favorite restaurant- an in-depth pandemic catch up. Talking about Prophets Tango and the other books waiting in the wings sparked something in me that's been on hold for a while. Writing with a purpose. But for now, this stuff. 

My main website needs to be torn down and rebuilt it with the focus being on the book. They say coding is like riding a horse, you don't forget how, but first I have to find the horse.

I also had a great conversation with a potential reader. This self-described Millenial was not who I was thinking about as a target audience, but she had some good news for me. They are rabid readers. "KU hoes" as one Book-tokker put it. Yes, I signed on with TikTok because this young woman advised me that the marketing potential of that app is enormous. People who do nothing but short videos reviewing new books have huge followings of book-hungry readers. 

The rest of TT is pretty repellent. I don't know what drives the content to me but for ten minutes this morning, I rolled through dozens of clips of unattractive people doing mean things for the sake of filming them. The general tone is ugly, mean-spirited, and cruel. 

Glad I don't have to be user to take advantage of it.  

Meanwhile, renovations at Casa Lacativa grind on. One day next week, the landscaping company will be here. I wish I could be elsewhere while it happens, but that's not what a good GC does.