Work, Work, Work

It's Sunday. Fired up the computer. Now where to start? Here's some of the things I have to do or think about:

I have to work on and finish the new book. That should be the number one priority, as it's been in progress way too long. I should have finished it by now. Right now I'm in the middle of a major overhaul. Not so much the content, but the structure. It just wasn't quite right before. But I got some great feedback from the writer's group I meet with, and when I put together a presentation based on the book I realized it didn't flow right. So, write.

I have to register and get everything set up on Amazon. The book already has a page there, but I have to more or less "transfer" it or take it over. Everything is there on the page, but they don't have any inventory and the price is still the original publisher's price.

I did update my consulting company website, the page where I show my book. That wasn't the top priority, but it was pretty quick and it needed to be done.

The inventory of books that I bought will be arriving any day now. What to do with them? By me estimate it should be about 25 cases. And heavy. I've got room at my place, but do I really want them there? Not really, but do I want to pay for a storage unit? Not really, but seeing as this is a startup operation, cash flow is a concern. Might be a good reason to do more purging of junk to free up some room.

Start planning the second printing of the book. I believe the book will sell at my new price, so I have to start planning ahead. Do I print it as-is, or do I "update"? As-is would be easier, I've got all the printer files, but what do I need to change since the original publisher reverted the rights back to me? I need to find out. But I'm more inclined to make some minor changes and publish it under Golden Ox Publishing. I'm planning on re-writing it (at some point) to make it appealing to a wider audience, but that's still down the road.

I'm planning on, or at least seriously exploring, publishing it in other countries and other languages. I've sent a copy to my magazine publisher in Vietnam and we've talked about the possibility of publishing it there. I'm also thinking about Korea and China, and am thinking about a Spanish edition for the U.S. market. There is already a Russian edition, but I think that publisher went out of business. France, Germany, and South Africa are possibilities. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know.

I have to look into shipping options and bone-up on the costs and advantages and disadvantages of each (U.S. Postal, FedEx, and UPS). It's not something I do every day, so another thing on my list.

Advertising and marketing. Hmmm hmmm... Got to do it, but what's the best bang for the buck with this book? My first thought is the APICS magazine. I'm guessing their ad rates are pretty much standard for the industry and reach, but it seems a bit high to me. Of course, that's probably just because I'm cheap. I'm going to contact some APICS chapters, the larger ones, and inquire about paid advertising in their monthly electronic newsletters. Other organization's magazines are possibilities too, especially ASQ and IIE, as they published good reviews when the book first came out. Which means that it's probably the right market/audience.

Well, there's more, but I've got to get working on some of these items, especially the writing. In between all this I have to write my articles for the Vietnamese magazine.