eReaders can be challenging

Annual Washington Post Neologism Contest

Thank you Washington Post for once again introducing some levity into the national conversation.


ANNUAL NEOLOGISM CONTEST

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

The winners are:
1. Coffee (N.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (V.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (V.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (Adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (Adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (V.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (N.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (N.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (N.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (N.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (N.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (N), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (N.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (N.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (N.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Mea culpa -- reversing the philosophy of the To Do list

First, I feel guilty for not having written much this summer. My last post was the day before my birthday. That was the last day I sat at my computer before sailing off to Spain with Alex aboard Aleria. I don't feel too guilty because in the two months we were there, I recharged. Limited internet, no TV, and no radio meant lots of reading, seeing new things and relaxing. Lots of new ideas and the desire to follow up ensued.

Expertise and self-publishing

Several years ago, a friend who lectures about how to deal with problem teenagers was telling us about her specialty. Alex asked her if she was ever asked for more information. She said 'always' and that she gives the parents a typed handout. He advised her to self-publish her notes in a book and sell it instead. She did just that and now sells enough books to have quit her day job and do what she loves full time.

Survey of Indie Authors by Smashwords Yields Interesting Insights

Smashwords does an annual survey of indie publishers results and this year's has some interesting revelations. You can read their blog here:  http://blog.smashwords.com/2017/06/smashwords-survey-2017.html 

And view the results of the survey in a slideshare here:
https://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/2017-smashwords-survey-of-ebook-trends-and-data

Significantly, they found signs that many indies who are selling ebooks well at $2.99 should probably experiment with higher prices.  In previous surveys, $2.99 and $3.99 were the sweets spots.  It looks like it's time to add $4.99 to that mix.

What's in a dream?

I have been unable to write much in the last few weeks. I've experienced a series of events that blocked me up.

• We went skiing to Livigno, Italy for a week and for the first time I admitted that skiing was getting to be excessive work (Am I getting old?). The conditions were great, and we had fun skiing with cousins from Germany until Celine tore her knee up like I did so many years ago. Perhaps the memory of that did me in. 

Promoting my book

It's hard work promoting a novel. We were travelling for much of the time since we released the book so I never had a chance to really launch it. We're also concentrating on Alex's new release Self Publishing for Success. He launched it at Books@One in Louisburgh to a small but interested audience in a very nice session. Next week he does a seminar at the Castlebar Library. But me, I'm not really doing much.

My book was on the table as an offering from White Seahorse Press at Books@One. I did post it on Goodreads and amazon.com. I did a book reading to post on our website and blogs. I have signed up to Reader's Gazette and they tweet my stuff out regularly. I did post when I had a chance on Women who sail Facebook group. I do occasionally post something on different sites but I'm not really working at it. Why? because I think this is a trivial book that helped me learn how to write a book. I am aiming for the next one to be the literary novel or memoir that I have to get out.