Thanksgiving

As a Brit, I'm not supposed to "get" Thanksgiving. But I do.
Okay, as a vegetarian Brit, the actual eating tends to be a bit different. But the celebration and the spirit remain.

I get Thanksgiving enough to watch in horror as stores open earlier and earlier for Black Friday. The retailers are relentless in their attempts to link the holiday with purchasing stuff.

And then I had a realization. I actually have a product that is relevant to the holiday. If anyone should be promoting something this month, it's me!

But how can I do that without becoming "them"?

I'm not sure. So here it is anyway:

FREE SHIPPING until the end of November!

 

http://w.mawebcenters.com/scribbulations/ecommerce/gratitiude-with-attitude.cfm

New Website

...the crowds are gathering for the launch of the new and improved Scribbulations website.

I'm imagining picnic blankets; plastic glasses and bottles of champagne; small dogs chasing Frisbees; a droning voice reporting through a public address system news of parking and lost children; blue and white bunting with a large capital "S"; a sunny afternoon full of building excitement and camaraderie.

No, perhaps in the digital world we don't have the equivalent.

Nevertheless, the new website is coming. It has more about our authors, more about the books, more ways to spend money, and more and shinier graphics.

It's a nerve-wracking time. Will it work without errors? Will it be what people want? Did we spell "shopping cart" correctly? Will anyone visit?

Someone pass the Tums...

I will be at Lunacon this coming weekend. Lunacon is a sci-fi convention with an emphasis on books and art. If the technology works I'll upload a video or two...
Ed.

Twitter

There's an aspect of all this communications technology that is shared with old-style writing and publishing. It's the question of "is there anybody out there?"

What if I write a blog entry, or a tweet, and no one reads it?
What if I publish a book and no one buys it?

It's a worry. Of course, there is one guarantee; if you never write it, or publish it, then it's certain no one will read it.

That's why it's a mantra for The Write Group that at least one person out there will read your words and will appreciate them.

So, I'm on Twitter. Search for Scribbulations.

December: the month I finally created ebook editions of four titles.
December: the month ebook sales outstripped print sales.
December: the month my mind was well and truly boggled.
It's a funny old business...

A Moving Adventure

I really like HGTV's House Hunters!

Ed doesn't, but I'll swear that watching that show prepared me for moving house this year. Yes, we finally did it!

Our adventure began in mid-March when we called a realtor friend to "talk" about putting our home for the past twenty years on the market. Our thinking was to see what we had to do and then, maybe, put the house on the market in September. By the end of the conversation, we had committed to having the house ready for a brokers' open house the third week in April and a public open house the first Sunday in May. In the four weeks that followed that first meeting, we threw out, donated, sold in a garage sale, and put into storage our "stuff." Then we staged the house with the help of our wonderful realtor, Joanne. As Joanne said, waiting until September wasn't going to give us any additional time, and the market would only get worse. And she was right!

Though we had successful open houses throughout the spring and summer and constant traffic every week viewing the house, we had no offers. People "loved" the house but hated the yard! That was a new one, and a little disconcerting. But the real problem was (and still is) that there is so much inventory out there, if the buyers don't like one little thing, they just keep looking.

In the meantime, we contacted another terrific realtor, family friend Debra, in Pennsylvania to start the process of searching for a home there. Why Pennsylvania you ask? Because Pennsylvania is where my brothers and family live, and living expenses are less there, a consideration now that I am retired.

We created our wish list and Deb emailed us listings. Between those and other listings we saw online, we started to compile a list of towns and houses we wanted to see. Originally we thought we'd try Chester County, south of Philadelphia and rural, but the prices of homes discouraged us, so we looked at listings in Delaware County, which is more urban and closer to Philadelphia.

The end of June, we spent two days in Pennsylvania with my brother Joe, sister-in-law Patty, and Deb looking at houses. The first day we checked out the Delaware County listings. Nice but no love. The next day, Deb suggested we look at homes in Chester County. She said we'd pay more for the house, but we'd get what we wanted, and taxes and cost of living would be cheaper in the long run. She was right!

Long story short, the fourth house we looked at, in the Bancroft Woods development in Kennett Square--LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!! Everything we wanted, even FIOS!! So what was wrong? It was a short sale; no room for negotiation. If we wanted the house, we'd have to offer close to the asking price. And so we did. And this is where we entered into our own HGTV drama. The seller decided, on the advice of his attorney, to offer the bank a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. Our offer was rejected, but the house went off the market. Bad news but good news.

So we now began a waiting game to hear what the seller's bank would do. But since we had no offers on Glen Road, we could afford to wait. Deb used the time wisely to find and become friendly with a contact at the bank and kept in touch with him all summer.

We did look at another house in Bancroft Woods in August, and even made an offer, but were outbid. Thank God! He knew we really wanted Brighton Circle!

The week after Hurricane Irene, suddenly everything came together: we heard from Deb that the seller's bank had rejected the Deed in Lieu offer (we were back to a short sale scenario), and we received three offers on Glen Road in the space of three days.

Deb's relationship with her bank contact was so good that he told her the minimum the bank would accept, so of course, that is what we offered, after having an inspection done to use as leverage. After a bank counteroffer and our response to that, the bank (and the seller) accepted our final offer. The closing, set for October 14, went smoothly, and we engaged a contractor to handle the painting and new flooring before we moved in.

For Glen Road, we accepted the "best and final" offer from a couple who were pre-approved for a FHA mortgage. The closing was set for November 15, with a deadline of November 7 for the buyers to get their mortgage commitment.

Sad to say, the drama continued on the Glen Road side. We sailed through the contract review, the house inspection (no issues to fix), and the West Orange Certificate of Occupancy inspection. On November 4, a surveyor came to survey the property. But no appraisal by the lender. Every time we asked, "When is the appraisal?" we were assured all was proceeding according to plan and not to worry. So we engaged the movers and set the move date for November 10.

Late in the day on November 7, we got an email from our attorney with a copy of a letter from the buyers' attorney that they were canceling their offer because they did not get their mortgage commitment--due to financial reasons. What!?! But they were pre-approved, you say. Well, a broker associated with our realtor's office reviewed the buyer's paperwork (in an effort to salvage the deal) and advised that the couple was in no financial shape on paper to handle a mortgage.

We were all left wondering how they were approved in the first place.

So we moved November 10 and Glen Road went back on the market. A couple immediately expressed interest and even made an offer, but it was less than the reneged offer and they weren't willing to negotiate, which indicated to us they really didn't want the house. We had an open house, and once again, lots of traffic viewing the house.

As of this writing, we are relieved to report we are under contract for a new offer from a financially sound couple who really want the house and offered more than the reneged offer. The house inspection and appraisal are December 20, and the proposed closing is February 15, which we hope will happen earlier in January.

So that is our little drama. We are not home free by any means, and I am not excited yet--not until we close. But we are breathing a little easier.

A good friend told us after the first buyers reneged that God writes straight with crooked lines. She also taught us this powerful mantra: By waiting and by calm, we shall be saved. In quiet and in trust lies our strength. The Lord will fight for us; all we have to do is be still.

We were still and the Lord has fought for us--through our excellent realtors Joanne and Debra. Amen!

When audiences attack!

I used to play in a band.

We got a gig at my company's Christmas social. A friend was making a recording at the back of the audience, and before we played, you can hear on the tape a young woman saying "I heard this band is rubbish!" It puzzled me -- I knew for sure no one outside the Social Committee had heard our tapes, and they booked us.

The cry of the marketer is "How do you make your product attractive to people?" With the band that night, we were facing some people for whom our product had already been made unattractive! We were starting from negative numbers, not even zero.

That's what Indie authors often face. "Who published your book? Not a big name? Sorry, it can’t be any good then; I've heard Indie books are rubbish!"

It's tough when, with some potential readers, you start from below zero. But having that knowledge is power. You can see your audience/market as made up of two groups.

The first is made of the people who have already "been gotten to" and are suspicious of you and your book. To this group you have to stress the professionalism of your product. Talk up your editor, your cover artist, your publishing services company, your own credentials. Point to successful Indie books that yours is every bit as good as.

The second group could not care less how you published the book. They want a good read. Tell them about the book. Tell them about yourself. Tell them what they'll get out of connecting with you through your words.

These two groups will separate out for you as you go along. How many of the suspicious types will be looking at www.indiereader.com, for example?

So don't be alarmed if you get a negative reaction as soon as you open your mouth, just be ready to vary your sales pitch.

By the way, the band really rocked that Christmas!