After many months and even more bottles of ginger ale and orders of chips and queso, I’ve finally finished editing and proofreading the penultimate draft of my novel, Shattered Glass.  Now it’s in the hands of the beta readers, those hardy souls who have agreed to read my handiwork and then tell me why I shouldn’t try to be a novelist and next time, could I pass them some chips and queso, also?  So now the question is, what next?  Especially as I am currently out of chips.  And queso.

As I’m self-publishing through Amazon KDP, my next task is to begin the marketing blitz for my novel.  Although given my lack of any skill as a marketer, perhaps a marketing blintz would be more effective.  Sadly, I’m unaware of any bookstore willing to allow me to set up a hotplate and crepe pan to prepare blintzes with strawberry topping (or plain, if you prefer) while hawking my book.  I’m not even entirely certain how to go about getting a bookstore to let me sit and autograph copies of my book, with or without the blintzes.  For that matter, how does one autograph an e-book?  I don’t imagine anyone would care to have me scrawl my name across the front of their Kindle or Nook.  Maybe I could sign my name in strawberries on a blintz.

There are of course a number of other steps I need to take:  design a book cover, activate my mailing list, season my crepe pans.  Try to post on this blog more than once every eight months.  Good suggestions, all, but I feel like there’s still something I may be missing.  Oh, yeah, right:  I really should actually publish the book and make it available for sale.  The crepe pans can wait.