Blasting

The big task today was sending out an email blast announcing my book signing this Saturday from 5-7 PM at Barnes & Noble. I scanned the announcement poster, wrote a little blurb, and emailed to the same mailing list--minus those who showed up at The Open Book. This signing should be interesting. I'm expecting lots more traffic but many fewer people I know. Good-bye, comfort zone!

Also today I contacted a local vendor for our books and asked whether they represent a church that I'm interested in placing books in. Perhaps that avenue will prove more fruitful. I researched an award site and found an award for a book on Africa published in the U.S. I passed this information along to my publisher with a hint that perhaps we could score in such a niche. The award is called the African Studies Association Children's Africana Book Award.

On my to-do list before Christmas is to send a couple more "celebrity copies" out. I'm going to send two tomorrow--one to an online book reviewer whose name popped up first in a Google search and one to First Lady Laura Bush. I figure the Bushes could use a good Kenyan story right now. (Is "Kenyan" a noun or an adjective in that last sentence? You decide. Oooooo, I just love grammar!)