|
|
Booklets:
Easy Entertaining
Easy Holiday Shopping
Once upon a time, Liz Voll and I were members of a local romance group. Liz wasn't sure she wanted to write romance, and I already knew I wanted to write mysteries. Still, we struck up a friendship and decided to have some fun trying to sell non-fiction while we waited for our big fiction break. But what did we know about anything? Okay, Liz has a PhD--she knows a lot more than me--and she also loves to give parties. Me? I hate to clean the house, let alone make hors d'oeuvres, but we split up the work and wrote our first tome Easy Entertaining. We thought we'd try to sell it ourselves, and that's where the fun came for me. You see, I love to do page layout. (I wish I'd known this years ago, because I probably would've become a graphic designer. Instead, I married one!)
One product was not going to be enough for two smart cookies like us! I love Christmas, but shopping for friends and relatives often left me feeling brain dead. If only I had a list of items I could try to match to the people on my Christmas list. So, I put together such a list, doing my research in gift shops and specialty stores all across the US. The first edition had over 500 items. The revised text lists over 700 gift ideas.
How were our sales? Truthfully, not great. (Distribution problems.) So I thought I'd try to sell them to the gift book market. Unfortunately, the rejections piled up faster than snow in Buffalo and I decided instead to devote my energy to marketing my fiction.
I'm hoping to one day sell these little gems to a publisher. In the meantime, if you're interested in obtaining copies, drop me a line at llb@lorrainebartlett.com. |
Ooh! A Contest!