Hip Hip Hooray!
Yesterday, my new e-book for middle grade readers, Bully at Ambush Corner, was to be released and available in all formats—Kindle, Nook, I-Pad, and Sony. Well, the publisher had a glitch and it didn’t happen as planned. However, last night it did appear on Amazon and is available for Kindle. Even though I’ve had eight books published, it was a thrill to see my first e-book pop up on the screen.
This has been a journey filled with anticipation and trepidation. Anticipation, because I am dipping my little piggy toe into the waters of self-publishing and hoping those waters are warm and welcoming. Trepidation, because the failure or success of an e-book rests mostly with the author and on the quality of his or her writing, editing, marketing, and promotion.
Marketing and promotion? ACK! But authors live to WRITE, my writerly self whispers in my ear. If writers wanted to be in marketing and promotion, they would have gone into those professions right out of high school or college and would be making oodles more money than the average writer makes. Right?
Right.
And wrong.
The book world has changed. Today, even traditional publishers require authors to promote their own books. So e-book authors count on a network of friends and colleagues to help spread the word across the Internet universe. Word of mouth—the best way to create a buzz and a demand.
Bullying is a serious topic. Although I have no expectations that my book will change lives, if it does no more than provide understanding and entertainment, I’ll be satisfied. But it won’t do even that if readers don’t know it exists. Connecting books and readers— a job made easier with the help of friends.
I offer up a heartfelt thank you to all those who helped me get Bully to this point. And thanks to those who will help readers find my e-book and perhaps give the young victims of bullying—and their tormentors—a few hours of pleasure and, perhaps, a smidgen of understanding.
Although Amazon allows you to peek inside the book and read the first chapter, to help spread the word myself I am offering a free copy of Chapter One of Bully at Ambush Corner to the first 25 people who leave a comment on this post. The chapter will be a PDF file attached to an e-mail, so be sure to include your e-mail address with your comment to receive your copy.
BULLY AT AMBUSH CORNER 
Karen, Congrats…you picked such a worthy issue! Our son, Jason was bullied several times by an older boy in our neighborhood. Jason was playing in our garage and I saw this boy ride his bicycle right into our garage to pick on our son. I marched up to their house and pounded on the neighbors door and told them the bullying needed to stop. I’m usually calm but it infuriated me! It did stop but ironically much later our son picked on the bullier’s younger brother! It was totally out of our son’s character and I stopped it immediately. Our son was still retaliating, so I knew I needed to break the cycle then! I was so lucky to be home and see all this when it happened.
My point is…bullying can be endless if it isn’t stopped!
Hi Karen
Well done on the book! I was bullied for 5 years and some 25 yrs later saw my youngest son go through the same thing. It was after this, I founded BulliesOut (www.bulliesout.com)
Bullying is such a cruel act that affects the lives of many. A zero tolerance to bullying must be adopted (and implemented) by all.
Hi Karen: Awesome job, your history is very interesting and inspiring as I attempt some kind of publishing with my book.
Bullies are out there even when you are older. I and others have been bullied at the work place and I tell you nurses can be mean. Have you heard the saying ‘nurses eat their young’ and I guess their co-workers in general. Management is often the culprit and are protected by corporate.
I look forward to readying Bully at ambush corner for my own enjoyment and admiration of your accomplishment.
I didn’t realize bullying was common in the medical field, although I did write an article years ago about how the nurses on a hospital psych ward had some excellent ideas about how to improve patient care, but the doctors wouldn’t pay any attention, supposedly because the ideas came from the nurses.