Our Last Sale
I love the new term “indie author” and I think I may become one. Two years ago, I wrote a book about canning, gardening and a few recipes that I have gathered over the years. I tried so hard to get an agent to no avail. That’s not really a bad thing because many famous books have been turned down up to 60 times by agents and publishing houses. However, it IS frustrating! My book is about basic recipes and very small batch canning. The kind a person might want to do if they lived alone or with a partner and did not want or have the room for a case of blackberry jam.
My daughter is a writer and she has encouraged me to join the wave of indie authors who have written eBooks and are selling them through any number of venues. eBooks do not cost nearly as much as hard copies and also do not have the up-front investment for self-publishing and it also doesn’t have the crazy pay-out percentages for publishers and agents that traditional paper and ink books have. That appeals to me on so many levels.
Thank goodness my husband has a degree in Journalism and my daughter has a penchant for grammar so they have become my editors.
I have another secret talent besides canning. I am a whiz at making money at yard sales. I don’t mean a few bucks, I mean consistently making around $1,000 each time we have a sale. The funny thing is, I read all the “tips” listed in magazines and other publications about how to have a profitable sale and I laugh. Some of the tips are pretty vague and some of them are flat-out wrong! We decided to have a sale 2 weeks ago and my daughter encouraged me to photograph it and then write about it. What the end product is turned into an eBook and we will be publishing it later this month. As soon as that book is published, we will begin editing the very small batch jam and jelly eBook with pictures as well. Not bad for a Social Worker! A Social Worker with a whole lot of help!
I have attached a picture of the sale. If you look really hard, you can see me way in the back telling my husband what to do! It was pretty cold that day but we had scads of buyers and my book will tell you how to as well. I will keep you updated on its publication and of the canning eBook as well!
