Please give a huge warm welcome to debut author Steve Dressing. Steve joins me today with a great guest post, which I’m sure you will enjoy reading. Steve’s book Game Keepers was published on 14th May 2018, however, I will tell you more about that later. So, I now hand you over to Steve.
Needle in the Haystack
I’m a new, self-published author with a book I think will be enjoyed by many if they can just find it. Game Keepers is the first of what I hope will be several books I publish over the next few years through my own publishing company, Number 6 Publishing. Turning from my career as an environmental scientist to a publisher and author of books for kids is quite a change. It has been a lot of fun, but there have been many new things to learn, most of which come with an unpleasant price tag. The world isn’t particularly kind to authors in my situation, but we’re a group that doesn’t give up easily.
Getting to the point of selling the book was probably the easiest part of the journey for me. Marketing has been a huge challenge, particularly after purchases by friends and family dried up. I know that the faithful have told others about the book but even with my large family that only takes you so far. It feels like my book is simply a needle in a huge haystack competing against the thousands of books neatly displayed in huge bookstores and featured on major websites. How do I get people to even bother to check the haystack to see if there is something worthwhile inside?
Multiple outlets are being used to advertise the book, including social media, libraries, and book stores. That alone doesn’t set you apart, however, because this business is very competitive with an ever-growing group of talented new writers. Of all the possible outlets, I want most to be able to share my book with the local community. Game Keepers has a baseball theme, and I am currently a coach and an umpire in the neighborhood Little League. I find it unethical, however, to use my platform in the Little League to advertise. That has caused me to seek other outlets to reach this same community, outlets such as the local hardware store. One day I would like to do a book reading at the store with both new and old faces from my community.
I haven’t yet dreamed of being lost in one of Van Gogh’s beautiful piles of hay in his “Haystack in Provence”, but sometimes I feel that way. Sometimes I feel as if my story is covered by layers of inescapable hay. My hope is that people will come by, pick up a fork, and tear apart the haystack. Quickly the needle lost in the haystack becomes treasure.
Thank you so much, Steve, for the guest post. Writing and completing your book is hard, but I always think that the marketing side is even harder! I (and I’m sure the readers of my blog) wish you every success with Game Keepers.
Game Keepers by Steve Dressing
Baseball is no longer fun for the kids in the Waterfalls youth league after the playoff game ends in an ugly argument among parents and coaches. The players leave the ballpark in shame, but big George Starr kicks at the ground and everything changes.
An amazing adventure begins as they discover a magical world underground, Down Home, and encounter strange and magical beings who help them play better and have fun. Trouble begins, however, when several players break the rules of this new world.
An intruder presents them with a far greater challenge. Can they stop this trespasser and save Down Home without breaking even more rules and risking permanent banishment?
Purchase links: Amazon UK, Amazon US
About Steve Dressing
Writing has always been a passion for Steve Dressing. Throughout high school and continuing through graduate school, Steve turned to writing in the forms of poetry, creative writing, and story building.
When Steve and his wife decided that one of them should remain home to help raise the kids, Steve agreed that he should be the one. At this point, the children were beginning to write in school. Steve’s oldest daughter, Courtney, would frequently come home with a different story she had written. This and his experiences helping out at school and coaching caused Steve to rediscover his own passion for writing.
Steve found the stories that deserved to be written from his observations of the world around him, stories that empowered children, allowed kids to find their own meanings to life, and argued that children should be wide open to the many opportunities of their youth.