Multitasking

Some days, I can really understand how those old-timey one-man-band chaps, laden down with a big bass drum, guitar, harmonica and whatever else he can attach to any available limb, must feel.
Self-publishing is not for the timid. So many things to do, and only one poor sap – me – to do most of it.
Today, for instance, I've been chasing up various promotional possibilities for my first novel, 'How Soon Is Now?' while fine-tuning the book's various product pages on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Rakuten Kobo and Apple Books, tweaking the story synopsis (again) to make the book even more irresistible to its target audience (that's you, that is).
Simultaneously, I've been preparing for the February 14, 2025, launch of my next book, 'End of a Century', by making sure the book is safely ensconced on the relevant sales platform servers, while also trying to craft the kind of cover no reader will be able to resist when the book is finally unleashed upon a waiting public.
The task of cover creation has been made infinitely easier thanks to the skills of Hannah Nystrom, who also designed the witty, allusive and beautiful cover for 'How Soon Is Now?'. Hannah has performed a miracle again, and I cannot wait to share the cover for 'End of a Century' with everyone ... but that will have to wait until next year.
For now, I'm staring at the screen of my Mac, composing and recomposing the back cover text for 'End of a Century', sliding the title and author byline around the prospective spine and – very gradually – moving towards the perfect magical mix and placement of ingredients.
Meanwhile, the writing of book number three proceeds at its own leisurely pace, in between all this activity and the usual demands of family life.

Sometimes, though, it's wise to step back and – wherever possible – try to do just one thing at a time.
The frantic multitasking almost led to a disaster yesterday when, in the middle of trying to maintain design continuity between 'How Soon..?' and 'End of..' and lodging the latter's files on Amazon's servers, I managed to get confused between two open browser tabs and upload all 23 chapters of 'End of a Century' into Amazon's folder for the paperback version of 'How Soon Is Now?'
For a few terrifying minutes until I managed to rectify the error, there was the distinct possibility that lucky readers might nab themselves a unique collectors' item – a copy of 'How Soon Is Now?' containing the full text of 'End of a Century', more than four months early...
If you want to take a chance at nabbing one of those possibly mythical collectors' items, of course, you can buy as many paperback copies of 'How Soon Is Now?' as you want, right here.
Anyway, I'd better get back to it. There's a dog needing a walk and a logo that just doesn't look right down in that corner. Busy, busy – but I wouldn't have it any other way.
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