Planning for a successful book signing

I've been doing so much research on book signings that my mind is buzzing.

I got a table, made the cloth, found a cute wooden bowl for candy; made up business cards and fliers. I even bought an instant camera to make a special bookmark for people who buy the book at the signings!

The to-do list includes getting a poster made up for the table and a new outfit! Gotta love an excuse to buy a new outfit! :)

If you know anything I don't about successful book signings and wanna make suggestions, I'm all ears!

Blessings!

The big box of books arrived today!

The big box of books I ordered for the book signings arrived today! The cover Joe (my ex-hubby) made for the book is just beautiful!

I'm enjoying the creative processes that is going into promoting the book. I made a table cloth yesterday for the table I'll take to book signings. Also, there are so many promotional materials to pull together!

I am so excited about helping people change their lives for the better. That's what the book is all about, making positive life changes. What an honor it is to be a part of such a wonderful transition!

The books are shipped and I've received an order for two more birdies!

Today was a super great day! Wow, what a week for me! I just checked lulu.com and found that my books have shipped and are due to arrive on November 22nd. In plenty of time for the book signing at Caffe Santoro! Also, I delivered the set of Goldfinch birdies that my neighbor commissioned and she ordered two more sets!

Ah, an excuse to make more art, what more could a girl ask for?

Today is a busy day!

Wow! I started the day at the DMV to get my motorcycle license (a life-long dream realized!) Then off to a client's to deliver a commissioned art piece. I have a client scheduled for massage at one office at 2, then an evening at Massage Envy. Christmas is coming and the kids will be toooo sad if there are no presents.

Also, promoting the book signing and everything else!!

My life is great and busy and wonderful!

I hope you're having such a opportunity filled day!

Blessings!

two pairs of goldfinches

I fell in love with the first set of goldfinches that I made for my neighbor, so I had to make a set for myself! The male is the bright yellow color and the female is a more brown. I chose the colors they display in Spring because they are more vibrant than any other time of the year. Each little couple also has a tiny clutch of eggs in their nest.

Walk in Your Own Footsteps is now avaiable for sale!

I can now say that I'm completely finished with all the writing, editing, etc! All that's left is marketing! hee hee As if that's the end! Im so proud of myself to have completed the book. I send it out into the world with the sincere hope that it helps many people define what they want from life and helps them achieve it! Here's the final cover. Thanks so my ex-hubby for making it perfect! While the changes are subtle, they are important. Thank you, Joe!!!

The tedious side of the creative process

Most of the creative process is so fun! The thrill of a new idea… the process of giving birth to a wonderful creation… the joy and satisfaction of sharing your new creating with the world! The task I’m completing today is not so glamorous, however. Today I am reading my book for the kabillionth time looking for anything that’s not perfect. The good news is that I still really love the book. I’m proud of every word and look forward to sharing it when it is printed. It’s just attention intensive to sit and read (mostly aloud) and consider whether or not I should add a comma or change a word to slightly shade the meaning…


Is this my first book or only book? Only time will tell. I felt called to write this one. For now, I don’t have plans to write another, but I didn’t plan to write this one, either.

Tomorrow I will upload the finished project to lulu.com and order a bunch of books so that I can have a big party to celebrate the completion of the book. But, today I will be spent doing a tedious, yet necessary job.

Goldfinches




Here are my little finches in their nest.



I've been working hard on making the book perfect so I NEEDED to break to play. Here are the little cuties I made for my neighbor. I hope she likes them. But, if she doesn't I guess I'll just have to keep 'em! If you scroll down, you'll see them in their just sculpted form. Painting makes such a big difference.



Close up of the happy couple



my first copy arrived today!

Woo-hoo! It's here! My first copy of my book! There's plenty of little changes to make and once they're done (hopefully next week) I will be ordering some copies to sell.

As a creative endeavor, this is a long drawn out one. There are so many ways to create. Writing a book, for me, has been a long and evolving process. It's definitely worth the journey!

A nest with eggs

I've been having so much fun making these little nests, I thought I should stash some eggs under the birdies. Having put this together, though... I think they look pretty cute with just the eggs, too!

my first birdie commission

Hand sculpted birdies before being painted

When I finished the last set of birdies, I thought they needed a proper home. Living in a Western Sierra Foothill suburb, I am blessed to still have little pockets of forest left alone by the developers. Trug in hand I headed down to the woods to collect natural materials to create a nest. I was in my own little world, mentally putting together the nests, when a neighbor called to me from her gardening and asked me what I was planning to collect in the woods. Once I explained the project, my neighbor asked me to bring it by when I was finished. Also a bird lover, my neighbor asked me to make her a set of birdies that are finches. Here's a look at the finches, sculpted but not painted.

It is published

Wow! After about nine years of writing (on and off) I can finally say, "I've written a book" instead of "I'm writing a book." Doesn't sound like a big distiction, but you'd be suprised how much different it feels. Now, whatever I may do with the rest of my life, I will have accomplished this one thing.

I was motivated by the hope that this book will bring comfort and help uplift people who are struggling to put their lives together. This continues to be my deapest hope.

We'll see....

The book's almost ready!

I've completed all the edits and converted the .doc file to a pdf using lulu.com's system. Everything is ready accept... The cover. I made one but it won't work because the resolution is too low. Enter my ex-hubby and knight in shining armor! He's gonna re-do the whole thing for me and make it work. I can't wait to hold a copy in my hand! I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take, hopefully not too long!

Anyway, here's a pic of the cover that I made. It looks funny because it will wrap around the book, so the back is in the front. I hope all your creative projects are flowing nicely for you.

Our Camper Mural

Hawk viewed as if flying overhead

Monarchs

Jim and I have been working on our little camper to get it ready for the wild out doors! Ok, the truth is, mostly Jim's been working on it. :) But, when he told me that he had to replace the large piece of wood that extends out over the cab of the truck, I had a vision! Jim set the wooden panels up for me on saw horses so that I could paint a mural on them. Since our camper is called the "Hawk" and we had a hawk in residence last summer, I decided to paint a hawk from the perspective of looking up in the air at him. So, here's a pic of the hawk up in the sky.

We also enjoy going to Santa Cruz to see the butterflies, so I figured, we needed some of those, too.

The Scrub Jay lovebirds in a tree

I thought it would be fun to photograph my new creations in a more natural setting. This Japanese Maple is so beautiful this time of year!

getting back to creating art

Well, I've been working hard on the book. If you've never tried it, let me tell you, doing everything yourself is really hard!!! My wonderful mother did a lot of the editing, other than that, it's been me. Writing, formatting, laying out the cover! Yikes! So, to give myself something fun for a break I created these litte birdies and made them a home. I hope you enjoy them, too. Here's a pic of them on a tea saucer, just to give you an idea of their size.