Book Sales Happy Dance!

Last Thursday night at about 8 o'clock, the UPS truck rolled up in front of our cottage in town and finally delivered our 50-book order of Impossible Beyond This Point! We were anxiously awaiting his arrival - in fact I had been checking and rechecking the tracking info online. Now that it's actually published, we wanted copies for family and friends, and a few to leave on consignment at the local book store. The books should have arrived days before but an addressing issue (PO box vs street address) caused a 6-day delay and nearly got the whole order returned to the sender!

On Friday morning, we dropped six off at Tammie's Books and she called Saturday morning to ask for six more. She hadn't sold all the original six yet but wanted to make sure she didn't run out beings there was quite a bit of interest just in the first day. And she gave Joel the best compliment ever when we dropped off the Saturday batch - she said she'd read a couple of chapters and could feel how "real" the story is. That's exactly what he was going for so it was gratifying to hear that he'd hit the mark.

We also dropped a copy off Friday with one of the reporters at the Trinity Journal and she may just write a review. How cool would that be? And we left one at the Jake Jackson Museum for possible placement in the gift shop. So that's what's going on locally.

And online? They're selling slowly but steadily there, as well. Amazon has cut the price several times, up to 22% off at one point. Right now I think Impossible Beyond This Point is listed for $12.70, which is 15% off the $14.99 list price. I don't know how Amazon decides what to discount and by how much but if folks can get the book for less than full price, I'm good with that!

Manage the Easy, Small Things NOW!

The following comes from Special Delivery, an eZine I receive from Stacey Curnow:

Lao Tzu reminds us that if you can manage the easy, small things now, you'll save yourself the time and effort of having to do the difficult things later.

Moreover, those small successes teach us how success feels, so we're more attuned to that feeling. Also, with the small things managed, we free our lives of clutter – and create more space for the truth to break in and show us the way.

Reprinted with permission from the author, Stacey Curnow. If you like this article and you want to give birth to your BIG dreams, sign up to receive her FRE*E eZine, Special Delivery, at http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/hello-and-welcome/.

My New Declutter Secret Weapon

You know how they say one man's trash is another man's treasure? Well, it's also true for women! And I've found Etsy to be a great secret weapon in my decluttering quest. Ok, so it's not so secret. But who knew there were so many people looking to acquire what I'm looking to pass along?

For instance, do you know anyone who wants Vintage 1990 Special Edition Skippy Beaver 100th Birthday of Peanut Butter Glass Jar Banks? Me neither - but someone did! And she wanted all three and was willing to pay $5 each plus shipping to get them. I guess I shouldn't be surprised - I've been hanging onto the cute little buggers for over 23 years!

But let me back up a bit...

My SIL opened an Etsy store a few months ago (September 29, 2013 to be exact). At about the same time she was removing barbed wire that had been strung between trees about 100 years ago, she noticed that folks were buying rusty barbed wire for craft and decor projects. So she figured she might as well sell it instead of hauling it to the dump. But you don't want an Etsy store with just barbed wire, right? So after some brainstorming and looking around to see what else might be saleable here on the old homestead, she settled on the name Rough and Rustic and began amassing a variety of items for her shop.

Then I got an idea. Why not join forces and add my decluttered treasures? She's a photographer and I'm a writer. You need pictures and descriptions of each item. It was the perfect pairing! So I jumped right in and have turned my unwanted items into $61 during the last quarter of 2013! I know it's not a windfall and is only about 10% of her sales but still...I'm generating a little cash from things I no longer need that other people want.

And what else have I sold?

So why don't you pop on over to Rough and Rustic and see if we've got anything you can't live without?

Impossible Beyond This Point is Published!

Yes, they lived in this shack...

My hubby's book about his family's struggle and triumph creating a self-sufficient life in the wilderness is finally published! While I hope there are no errors remaining, I realized that I will probably always find something I'd like to change and decided to quit obsessing about it. So I hit the go button and now folks can actually buy it on CreateSpace and Amazon!

I'm a little disappointed that ordering it through the CreateSpace eStore is slightly cumbersome (you have to sign in) but I was pleased that the book was available there immediately. For anyone considering ordering through CreateSpace but curious about shipping costs before they sign in and all, the shipping for one book was $3.59 when I checked.


Now, for those who'd like a little preview, here's a peek at the beginning:

My hubby's dad: Virgil Horn 1924-1990

First few paragraphs of Impossible Beyond This Point

Impossible Beyond This Point will also be available on our websites and Amazon.com but that takes a few days. This is so exciting!

Cute Hooks for Beach Cottage Bathroom Decor

For Christmas, my sweet SIL got me a trio of cute hooks for my upcoming bathroom redo. Won't these look great with the beach cottage theme? Now I just have to decide whether to scatter them about the room or hang them in a group. Hmm...

At this point, I have pine walls so I think I'll audition them. Once I have freshly painted drywall, I'll certainly want to know exactly where to make the holes to hang them!

New Year, New Opportunities!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day."

~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce