Media mogul

Even as Rupert Murdoch's media empire crumbles, mine is taking shape. My book, as of a few minutes ago, is on the Amazon best seller list! Actually, it's number 147,389, but hey -- that's the top 150,000, and there must be millions of books out there, right?

I also have a movie deal in the making. OK, I admit that I'm starting to sound like a spin doctor (my old profession) and that may be hyperbole, but there is some truth to it: my friend Suzy Ginsburg introduced me (via e-mail) to a movie producer who wrote me immediately and requested a copy of my book. Keep your fingers crossed. A movie deal is about the only way I would expect to make money from "Makeovers," but I also think it would make a good movie. (He said, modestly.)

More good news: I have just found that the Tattered Cover is carrying Makeovers, beginning tomorrow. The TC is one of the largest independent bookstores in the United States, and I've been shopping there since the early 1970s. It will be a big deal for me to go there and see my own book on the shelf! (No, I won't buy another copy just to make my sales numbers go up.)

iPad now available

As you know, this entire process -- publishing a book -- is all new to me. I can't believe how much I've learned -- or how much I still don't know. For example, I couldn't figure out how to get the book into the Apple store for the iPad and today my friend Cynthia (in Houston) sent word that she just bought it there. I looked, and sure enough -- "Makeovers" is now available for the iPad. Nice.

Also, my friend Geoff Simpson, who lives next door and who has been one of my biggest supporters from the outset, posted my first review on the Amazon site. This meant a lot to me, because Geoff isn't the type to say something if he doesn't believe it, and it was a very nice review (and totally unsolicited.) Another friend has already asked if Brad posted the review! (No, but I should suggest it.)

Facebook frenzy?

I will admit I'm not a huge Facebook fan. I joined initially because my kids and their spouses are on it and it's fun to follow them. But, depending on what happens today, I may change my attitude. I posted the news that "Makeovers" is now available. I also noticed that I have an even 200 friends, which caused me to briefly think "wow...I'm pretty popular." Then, for fun, I looked at the profiles of some of those friends. My friend Neil has 497 friends. My own daughter has 333. Joanne has 1,542 and my friend Bill takes the record at 2,123. (What can I say; he's indiscriminate.) However I look at it, I'm a loser and, by comparison, practically friendless. Still, if each of my 200 friends buy a book...THEN I will believe in the Power of Facebook!

Stage fright

The house lights have gone down and the orchestra has played the overture. The curtain is about to go up. Why, then, are my feet glued to a spot in the wings?

Amazon finally made the paperback version "live" yesterday. This morning I've told a couple of my favorite people, but for some reason I'm dragging my feet on telling the world (my world, that is.) What am I so afraid of?

Well, criticism for one thing. I'm not one of those people who don't care whether or not people like them. I do care -- far too much. (Furthermore, I don't believe the people who say they don't.) Not everybody will like Makeovers, I know that and I'm OK with it. I go to great lengths to tell people it's a "thriller" and that it's "trash fiction" and lately I've been adding, somewhat disingenuously, that my characters have such "potty-mouths." But even with all those disclaimers (and my friend Suzy Ginsburg would tell me to STOP IT), I'm still scared.

Maybe I should focus on people who don't know me. I did give one of my little "book" cards to the clerk at the dry cleaners yesterday, and you would have thought she won the lottery. She hasn't bought a copy yet, though -- I check the Amazon stats every ten minutes. I also told the guy at Starbucks yesterday and he, too, was so ecstatic you would think I'd promised him a share of my royalties -- which, in a sense, I have, given the amount of money I spend at Starbucks.

Stay tuned. Let's see if I get over my trepidation and get on with it...

Still waiting

I am not a patient person, I admit that. It seems like I've been waiting forever to hear from Amazon that my "page" is up and "live." This makes me crazy, because now that I've seen the real book, that is, the paper edition, I want to tell everybody about it. But there's no sense in doing so until they can go on-line and order it (as I'm sure they all will, immediately.) Hey. I can dream can't I? In the meantime, I've made real progress on "Howdy from Franny Country" -- which will be fun and, most important, will be something I can show to my granddaughters. (No f-words, unlike "Makeovers.")

Hello

I was about to write that this is my first blog entry, but the truth is I kept a blog for three months last year while we were in France. That blog is still up, if you care to read it, but even I will admit that it's mostly silliness. (The French will do that to you.) Go to http://brex2010.blogspot.com/ For those of you who enjoyed that blog, you may be interested to know that I am converting large chunks of it into a book entitled "Howdy from Franny Country." Be sure to e-mail me if you'd like to be notified when it comes out.

But...I haven't been keeping a blog since we returned to the States, until today, because I tell myself I've been too busy. (Translation: I've been too lazy.) I'll do it now, though, because so many people I meet ask me about the writing "process" that perhaps I'll save time if I just blog what I'm learning.

Case in point: although none of my friends know this, today my book MAKEOVERS went "live" in the Amazon Kindle Store and on Smashwords. I don't plan on telling anybody until the print edition is also available (also through Amazon) which won't be for a week or so. That's when some of you will first hear about this blog. I hope you'll let me know you found it.

For those of you who don't know, Smashwords (smashwords.com) is a place to buy e-books for other platforms besides Kindle, e.g., iPad, iPhone, Sony Reader, Nook, Kobo, and several others. You can also purchase books and read them online, on your computer -- although I don't know why anybody would want to do that. In addition to finding my book (search for it!) you will also find lots of other authors -- and books ranging from free to a lot more money than you probably want to spend. (Mine is $9.99, and I'll tell you how we arrived at that price in a later post.)

Good to go? Not quite.

Big excitement around here a few days ago: I received a proof copy of Makeovers -- the "final-final" edition.  I assumed I would simply flip through it, sign my approval, and send it back.  It would supposedly be available for sale a few days later.  Wrong!  I made at least 50 changes.  The first one I found was a typo: "an" instead of "a" -- which sounds idiotic. Grrr. After the first change I didn't care about the others, since I knew I'd have to send it back anyway.  Now I'm waiting for the next proof -- but I don't think I'll look at it because I know I will find things I want to change every single time I read it -- and I plan on never reading it again.  That's your job!