Barnes and Noble book signing event

I was invited to join a special book signing for local authors at Barnes and Noble. They call it their Authorpallosa. I haven't been to a book signing for a month now. I have been focusing on getting my second book done, titled - The Alien Darkness -. I wasn't sure what to expect, I haven't gone to a book signing with other Authors yet and I was excited to just be part of the event. I went today and I was very happy to be there. There were 29 other Authors there and it was really fun to talk with them and hear about how they got started and what their books were about. I had my picture taken many times, met several people who did blogs about books and Authors who wanted to write about me and others who wanted to do reviews of my book. I actually had a couple of people who read about my book and came to the event to meet me. I thought that was really fun. I didn't sell very many books but I had a great time and may have some really great leads for a traditional publisher, or something. Time will tell if this event will help my book grow in popularity. I hope that it will.

How I promoted my book and where it's at now

You just never know who will help your book turn into a success. I keep that in mind when I talk with people. I decided a long time ago that if I was going to get my book published that I would just tell everyone I met about it. I wouldn't be shy about it. So I told everyone I knew about my book when it first came out. I mostly used e-mail and Face book to spread the word. I then started two Face book pages for my new book. One for myself and one for the book. I only had a couple of members to begin with, but people keep joining both all of the time. I don't have very many followers for either one yet but I think that will change with time. I use them to inform followers of up coming book signings and fun facts about me and my book. I am really new to this whole Internet scene but I decided to give it a shot.
I took my book around to wal-mart, smiths, Costco, deseret book, seagull book, barnes and noble and a few small book stores to see if I could get my book placed with them. They all referred me to their corporate office. They all have different submission processes and I have yet to submit a book to several of them. I spoke with the store manager at the Costco in Lehi and we had a very positive conversation and he told me that he would personally hand deliver a book for me to the buyer of all the Costco's. That was early July or late June. I hadn't heard anything back from him since then so I walked in there the other day and we again had a good conversation but he didn't have any information about my book being accepted. It's so dang frustrating waiting when there is absolutely NO communication from the people you want to hear from. I feel like my hopes and dreams hand on a balance while my book is most likely underneath their desk, being used to hold their desk up. I tried to call them, to talk with the buyer just to find out anything, but it was a computer voice that doesn't give you a real person to talk to or another phone number so you can find out what is going on. For all I know the store manager never gave it to the buyer at all. I just want to shake people, while yelling, "Come on man! This is a great novel! Just give it a chance!" I am having a really hard time feeling up beat about getting my book out lately. Too much drama happening at home and I haven't had anything I would consider BIG happen yet. I sent my book to Shadow Mountain in the hopes of them discovering that my book is wonderful. That was at the end of June and their information page said that it might take 6 weeks to even get a letter telling you anything at all. Well it's now the last week and I haven't received any kind of letter from them yet. I haven't sent my book into any other publishers because I wanted to see what they had to say first. I keep having these things happening to me that seem like positive events but they haven't yet. I went around and set up book signings at libraries, got posters made and went around and put them up in stores to promote them. Both libraries I had book signings at I had my picture taken for the local newspapers but I only had a few people come and only sold around 10 books at each signing. Both libraries were really nice to me and invited me to do these work shops for them and then have a book signing afterwards. They both have then every 3 months. I said I was interested. The problem that I am facing is that I was laid off from my normal job as a Nurse and their just aren't very many jobs here, so I don't have a lot of money right now and if I want to improve my situation until my book takes off I'm going to have to move to another state. That is going to make it very hard for me to do any workshops. Things are happening but just not enough fast enough to be able to help pay the bills or anything. A big local news paper is going to do a feature profile on me, what ever that means. I am happy about it, I'm just not going to hold my breath that anything will happen from it. Who knows maybe it will. I was invited to a big book signing at a busy Barnes and Noble at the end of October and that only happened because I spoke to the store manager about getting my book in his store. My publisher that I went with has made it so that it is impossible for big book stores to order my book. I have to pay them to get that option. The only way I will do that right now is if Costco told me that they want to carry my book. My future is still uncertain. But I found out from both libraries that my books I donated are always checked out and they all have long -on hold- lists. I was also told that they have been asking readers if they liked my book and they have been told that everyone loves my book and they are getting a positive 2 thumbs up from everyone. That is really encouraging for me to hear. I am really happy to hear that people who don't know me at all, are reading my book and that they all really like it. For me this is the best news I can hear. I think their is still hope for my book even though it is moving at a frustratingly slow snail like pace.

My first step into the unknown

When my book first came to me I was so excited about being able to hold it that I didn't notice all of the errors with the text. I sold the first run of the books with errors as limited editions. There were 52 of them. I sold them mostly to family and people that I worked with. They all sold in just a couple of days. I was excited that they sold so easily but I was embarrassed of how it looked. My editor was a friend of mine with a bachelors in English and she missed a lot of things. So I went through the book myself, and had another editor friend go through it too. The revision process took 6 months but the book looks so much better now.
When it was all finished, I set up a premiere book signing party. I invited all of my facebook friends, co-workers, and everyone of my relatives to the party. Then I booked a DJ, got desserts, and drinks and then went to the local copy store to have fliers made to invite the entire neighborhood. I put one on the front door of everyones house. I decided that if I was going to do a launch party that I would do a big one.
The party was set for the first week in June and it had been unusually rainy. I was worried that the party was going to get rained out because it was going to be outside in my yard. The day finally came and it actually was a great party. I had around 200 people show up and I sold around 100 books which kept me busy signing books for 4 hours straight. I kept talking with everyone while I signed. It was alot of fun. I had absolutely no idea what to expect, how many people would show up, I was nervous to put myself out there to all of my friends, family, co-workers and neighbors but I love my book and wanted to share it with others. I believe if you don't take the risk then you'll never get the reward. So I just went ahead and completely put myself out there and I think the premiere party was a big success.

How the Dream came to life

Like so many people I have met in my life. I had a dream that I wanted to achieve and I did nothing about it for 10 years. I just thought about my magic world and would jot down ideas whenever they came to me, usually when I was at work doing something completely boring, like working in house keeping for a hotel. Uhhh, I hate being bored. Why is it that most jobs are so mind numbingly boring? So after "living" in my dream world for 10 years to help me cope with the boring real world, I decided to start actually writing. In all fairness to myself, I was a lost soul trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. I worked every job known to man, I think, and hated most of them. So I started writing my book at work on pieces of paper from the printer. I was working as a bellmen at a 4 star hotel at the time and would usually have a couple of hours of down time. I loved writing! It was so great to finally get the world out of my head and onto paper. I found that I was happiest when I was writing and would really look forward to when I could get back to it. Stupid real world job kept getting in my way and I had to go to school to keep my feet grounded in this reality. haha. It took me 2 years to write my book. I first wrote it all out long hand, at work, and then I typed the whole thing into my computer, which actually was a good thing because I changed alot of things and polished it up while typing it. Every step was a lengthy process. I liked every step except for the editing and revision process. I couldn't stand either one, they both take FOREVER! It took a whole year to get the editing done and the interior pictures. I had an artist friend of mine, Joseph Gale, do the interior artwork. He did a great job but he didn't think I would actually finish the book so he wasn't really motivated to work fast on them and he is very hard to get ahold of. The publishing process took around 6 months and then the revision process took another 6 months. It took almost 2 years after my book was done to get it made into an actual book. It about made me crazy! But I wanted it to look good, so I put up with the lengthy process. My next book better not take that long, I think I'll go loony. So how did I get it published? I got some how to publish your novel books from the library and then I sent my manuscript to every agent in the book that was even interested with a fantasy book and every one of them told me no or didn't respond back to me. I had one agent who really liked my novel but decided to go with another one that was more in line with what they did. They did more romance type books. Mine is an action fantasy novel so I can understand why they would go for the sappy book over my exciting one. lol. To each his or her own, whatever floats your boat. I gave up on that route, I was too anxious to hold my book in my hands, so I went with a self publisher called Mill City Press. They are associated with Amazon and I think they did an amazing job with my book. They had an artist do the cover of the book for me and I love it. They were great to work with. A little pricey but I have books now that I can sell and I can tell people that I'm an Author. It feels really good to finally be able to say that.

How it all started

A long time ago in a city far, far away. I was frustrated because I couldn't find the fantasy book that had everything in it that I always wanted. So the idea came to me that if I couldn't find it then I would have to write it. That was more than 12 years ago. I went and bought myself a 5 stars notebook and started putting ideas down for what my perfect fantasy book would have in it. Thats how it all started as a hobbie, I have always loved inventing fantasy type things such as magic rings, spells and such. My brother and I use to play D&D as kids and we decided to create our own role playing game. I created all of the spells and magic items. While he worked on monsters and character races and classes. I know, I'm a big nerd. Inspite of the stereotyping. I also love the outdoors, playing sports and have a beautiful wife. I just happen to love all the nerdy stuff too, or as I see it. I love everything awesome. I am also a great shot with a .45 hand gun, machine gun, shot gun and anything else that can blow something up. lol. Anyway, my beginings with writting were just the desire to create something that I would like and the ideas just kept coming to me ever since then. I have worked just about every job known to man I think, in my persuit of trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and having that other world in the back of my head all of these years really helped me get through some of the hardest times in my life. Like when I was in the Army  in georgia and I was standing outside in formation with my platoon in the middle of summer with my nose touching a hot metal dumpster. Ahh, good times.  The dream world is still alive today.

Ninja super power fantasy author

Hello World! This is my first blog ever. My name is Paul Talbot, I am 38 years old. I've been married for 16 years now to the same wonderful woman and we have 6 kids. I am also a brand new author of the young adult fantasy novel called Wizard Magic. I thought it would be fun to blog about the bumpy road of getting my book from idea to a book I can hold in my hands to hopefully a national best seller. I am a dreamer, my cup is always half full even though the way my life goes is usually down the toilet. lol. I have A.D.D. and so I see life in a unique way. I often have my mind and hopes in the clouds and have often been told that I am the kind of person that people watchers look for. I am the prized oddity to be found. It's true I've never followed the crowd but always done things my way. I hope that I can help anyone who feels down about life or who thinks dreams can never happen. I am really big into believing in your self and following your dream. Most people want to do something amazing in their lives, a bucket wish dream that they have. My mount Everest is my story. I have lived in a fantasy world all of my life. I can't help it, it's just the way my brain is wired. I often feel like I have one foot in this reality and the other in the one that goes on inside my head. lol. I want to say for the record that as far as I know I am completely sane, at least I feel that I am. I would also like to share my crazy life with anyone interested to show that even though your life is a whirlwind racing around you. You can do anything you want to do. Hopefully your dream isn't committing any crimes, although being a Ninja would be so sweet, just having the skills of a Ninja would be fun. I have mastered silent walking and hiding in the shadows but the other skills yet allude me. I would like to become a expert in martial arts and sword fighting. Come on I know almost every guy out there has dreamed of being a Ninja. Don't lie to me. Anyway I haven't yet discovered my superpower or mutant gene so I live in my mind and put it down into books for now. One day I might just make a door close with my mind. :)