memoir – Page 3 – Norma J. Hill

I can hardly believe it! I’ve actually written a full book … and it is at a local printer – Get Color Copies, Ltd., in Vernon – right now! Well, at least Dexter is sending me a “proof copy” to check over carefully … and then he’ll be printing copies for me to sign and sell at my book launch and distribute through local stores, museums, libraries, markets, and so on. Meanwhile, I’ve also been setting up on Amazon, and the book will soon be available there as well, in both e-book and POD (print on demand – paperback) formats. I’m looking into other online options as well and will be updating my website to feature the book!

An important reason I’ve done this book project – and written about the journey: While I am pleased simply to have written and published a book (after much encouragement and begging from readers of some of the previously published stories now included in the book), I am also happy to be able to share my personal book writing, publishing, and marketing experiences—especially with my editing clients! In the past, I’ve done plenty of research on those topics, but it’s a whole different thing to go through the book creation journey oneself. I hope that my editing clients will receive extra value as I’ll be able to share personal advice when they have questions about the writing and publishing process. (If you’re wondering about my editing experience, you can check out my list here, and if you want to check out the many blog posts I’ve written in the past related to writing and publishing, you can find a full list and links here).

So what have I accomplished in the past couple of weeks on this journey? Let’s see:

Check and double-check the manuscript before sending it to the printer
Set up my book account on Amazon—big thanks to my designer, Dawn Renaud, who came by and helped me with the set-up; yep, I was nervous, but I have it figured out now, whew!
Decide on prices ($20 for local signed copies); $17.99 POD and $8.99 e-book on Amazon, I think!
Researched the differences between Amazon, Draft2Digital (which now includes Smashwords), and Ingram Spark
Checked out the “Heritage Week” activities at the Summerland Museum (and join the museum, sign up as a volunteer, and submit a favourite old family recipe to their recipe book project); and checked out the heritage displays at the Cherry Lane Mall in Penticton (got some great ideas for marketing, such as interactive pamplets).
Keeping track of responses to my online marketing on my blog and social media. For example, between February 21 (when I posted the #15 Summerland Stories article) and February 26 (just short of one week), I got 2 likes on the OWL Facebook (FB) page; 33 likes and 10 comments on the BC Writers, Authors, and Editors FB page; 37 likes and 3 comments on the Summerland Hometown Memories FB page; 29 likes, 4 comments, and 2 shares on the Summerland Open History FB page; 186 views, 4 likes, 2 comments, and several new followers on this normajhill.com blog; and 62 likes, 16 comments, and 2 shares on my personal FB page! Very encouraging!
Dig into boxes in my closet to gather “memorabilia” I can use for displays at my book launch; also pull photo albums and scrapbooks from my bookshelves; come up with lots of book launch ideas
Check out other authors’ book signings at the local Coles store – to support other local writers … and yes, get ideas for my own book signings down the line
Go through my many, many photos related to the book’s time period and sort them into topics, for future marketing use (like creating pamphlets, doing slide shows, etc.)
Get a copy of the new 2^nd edition of Elements of Indigenous Style, and watch a webinar about it (just in case I might give in to all those folks who want me to write a book about “building bridges” (check out my website https://haidagwaiibuildingbridges.com/ )

What do I still need to do? Hmmm:

New photo/headshot (ugh!)
Check the “proof copy” of the book and then order copies to sell locally
Complete the setup on Amazon (and possibly on other online outlets/distributors)
Work on marketing: plan my book launch (I have some really exciting ideas for that!) and other marketing activities; update my website to include a specific page for the book; new business card and other marketing materials); Legal Deposit; and much more ….
Of course, there are dozens of other things I can also do related to publishing and marketing—if you’re curious, check out my previous blog post: https://normajhill.com/2025/02/20/summerland-stories-15-my-project-is-coming-along/
Personal email updates and thanks to people who’ve helped with the book (e.g. beta readers), local writers’ group members, family, friends, etc.

Have my Summerland Stories posts provided ideas for your own writing, publishing, and marketing journey? What else do you want to know? Please share your thoughts in the comments! Thank you!

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Norma J. Hill

a pen and paper mama site

Category: memoir

Summerland Stories #16: My book is at the printer!

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