Will Rachael Ray Endorse Adirondack Nightmare Book?

Today I'm focusing on book endorsements. I've been fortunate enough to get one from Sid Couchey, Gordie Little and John Mitchell. I've been thinking and emailing and asking and I came up with an idea. Why not ask Rachael Ray?

Rachael Ray was born in Glens Falls and grew up in Lake George. Her first job was at the candy counter at Macy's in NYC. (Hey, I worked there when I was in college!) Anyway, she also worked at Mister Brown's Pub at The Sagamore, a very famous hotel on Lake George. Then, she became a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in suburban Albany. My husband, daughter and I watch her 30 Minute Meals show and love it. My daughter, Amanda, has her book, Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals For Kids, and loves it. Amanda's 10-going-on-11 (as she puts it) and has made meals for us using this book.

I've heard her talk about her working in Upstate NY on her show. She says very clearly that they've helped shape her into the popular TV personality she is today. What an Adirondack success story!

I think the michigan sauce recipe in our book would catch her attention. It's so simple and fast and perfectly delicious. It just might be the type of thing she'd dig. I hope so. I've sent a copy of our book to her office in NYC with a letter and some promotional material. My fingers are crossed.

Ok, now on to try to solicit more endorsements. Have a good one.

Learning to Blog to Promote Our Adirondack Book

Ok, I've spent quite a few hours getting used to this blogging stuff. It's pretty fun! I changed my template so many times that I finally gave up and am happy 'nough with what I have now.

I need to learn how to connect with other bloggers in the region. Any suggestions out there? I'll take all the help I can get. I learned a lot by looking at other blogs and paying attention to what caught my eye. I think I need to learn to have some patience with blogging and not rush things.
I'm learning that labels are pretty important and when I rush, I miss labels.

I have a problem with patience. I'm working on it as fast as I can. Ha ha ha.

My husband, Jim, wants to know where the word "blog" came from. He thinks it's a weird name. He called me a "blog" and I told him I'm a "blogger" not a "blog". According to Peter from peterme.com, it began in 1999. He writes, "'Blog' would have likely died a forgotten death had it not been for one thing: In August of 1999, Pyra Labs released Blogger. And with that, the use of blog grew with the tool's success."

So, I googled "Pyra Labs blogger" and came up with this link, http://www2.blogger.com/about. It's an interesting article, you should check it out if you're a noob like I am. My son, Nick, told me recently that the new word for "newbie" is "noob". Feelin' groovy now, I am.

Ok, since I'm getting off topic, it's time to end my second post.

Pounding The Pavement In The Adirondacks

Well, this being my first blog post and all, I guess I'll try to catch folks up on what I've been up to. My son, Nick, is a sophmore at Peru Central School and he is the illustrator for our new book,
"Adirondack Nightmare: A Spooky Tale in the North Country". The book is published and it's time to get it into stores!

I have a distributor but, well, a little legwork doesn't hurt. I could use the exercise and fresh air. I've gained some weight (ok quite a bit of weight) this winter and really need to do something about it!

So, on Friday, April 22nd I grabbed a bunch of books and fliers (for our upcoming book signing/presentation-our first, gulp) and hit the road on Friday. It was sunny and beautiful out. Sold books to 2 bookstores, 2 museums, a beauty salon, and 1 to my kids' orthodontist. The only retailer who said "no" took a flier to display. So did all the other retailers. One museum is going to let us do a presentation at the end of June! A good day.

On Tuesday, April 24th I went to a school book presentation. The authors are Gary and Justin VanRiper, a father and son writing team residing in Camden, New York of the Tug Hill region. They write the "Adirondack Kids" series of books and are very friendly and supportive. They've been doing presentations for a long time and since we have our first one coming up I thought I'd go to get some ideas, meet the authors, etc. I showed up at the wrong time and the presentation was just finishing. I asked when the next one was and found I had 2 hours to kill. I hit the pavement. I went to 6 locations. Two local pharmacies (I've learned that small towns have pharmacies which carry local books) and sold to both of them. They're in two different towns. I sold to two apple orchard giftshops (the book has an apple recipe in it) and will return on Thursday to two other places when the owners are in. Got back just in time for the presentation, learned a lot and hooked up with another local author team. Good day #2.

Wednesday, April 25th, I made 2 follow-up phone calls to 2 important retailers. It looks like a big NO from both of them. Drat. Not such a good book selling day.

Thursday, April 26th I hit the road again and traveled deeper into the Adirondacks. I was able to get our book into 4 giftshops and 1 bookstore in 5 different towns. After 3 weeks of trying, I decided my book WAS going to get in our local Borders store in Plattsburgh. I had faxed book info to the manager, sent him some info in the mail and followed up with an email. The employees would tell me to stop back in each time I went, as he was always on a conference call. Today, the manager was in the store after being on the road for a bit. When I went in, he was on a conference call. So, this time when the sales clerk asked, "May I give him your name?" I said, "Halle Barry" with a straight face. He eventually got off his conference call and when I met him he said he'd already ordered the book through my distributor. When I asked how many copies, he said, "Dozens". The most I've ever sold at once is 10 copies so I'll find this interesting when I see them in the store.

Well, I've caught things up to speed here. I'll keep learning how to live in blogosphere and plugging away at getting our book in regional stores.