Friday Morning Cold Pizza and Warm Beer (for my college friends)

Let me tell you there is nothing better (nor anything cheaper) than making the previous day's dinner today's breakfast. Cold, slimy mushrooms and sour onions are just what the doctor ordered, eh?

While you're chomping off bites of that stiff pizza, check out the P5 for today:

(1) WAITING FOR THE WORLD TO END: 8,527 5
(2) SUFFER IN SILENCE: 21,624 5
(3) COOKIN' FOR LOVE: 96,932 6
(4) INFERTILITY SUCKS: 98,111 5
(5) THE CIRCLE OF SODOM: 219,873 6

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My dear friend, Lauren Baratz-Logsted (try saying that three times quickly with mushroom pizza in your mouth), tipped me off to a cool little thing going on over at Romance Designs in an effort to help pitch in with rebuilding/rescuing of the battered Katrina-zone.

This is a pretty cool thing for those of you who read romance/chick lit/etc.. If you donate $2 to the Red Cross through the Romance Designs website, you have the chance to win an autographed book by one of MANY romance authors. Authors include: Carly Alexander, Christina Skye, Kathleen Long and, of course, the aforementioned Ms. LBL!

How cool is that?
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Now, for a quick lesson in publicity:

We (writers) tend to complain we are not getting enough publicity for our books, whether it is POD (likely zero) or otherwise. It is never enough.

Keep in mind, though, that if you do get it (or it is forthcoming), please make sure you have written a quality book.

Did anybody watch the E! True Hollywood Story on Wednesday? They covered Meg Ryan. A solid quarter of the show was devoted to her mother (who gives us a frightening glimpse into what Meg will look like in her old age: not good) going on and on about little Meg and the struggles they faced in their younger days and so on.

Meg's mommy plugged her autobiography (to my count) six times. They even showed the cover more than once.

Being the curious girl I am, I immediately checked it out on Amazon. The book (with a cover that leaned toward the PODish) was ranked 932,945. When the show was over it was ranked 932,945. The next day it was ranked 932,945. Today it is ranked 932,945.

And the reviews (two of the three) on Amazon are quite harsh.

Now, we would all kill (not literally, for most of us) for that kind of publicity on a popular show like E! True Hollywood Story. But this goes to show that getting exposure is not the same as generating buzz. Why do some self-published books sell better than some traditionally published (though rare)? It's not about buying space in the NY Times Book Review or getting on NPR. It's about buzz, that indefinable property that makes one person say to another, "Hey, have you read . . . ?"

Lesson summary: Write the best book you can. Worry about getting the word out later. The latter is worthless without the former.
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Thanks again for visiting the Cafe. Hopefully we'll get the restrooms back in order for next week.

Stay tuned: The treasure returns Monday!