It looked like winter today. And it was fairly cool when I stepped out the door. By the time I reached the trail though, the weather was ideal for running. I’m not yet in a strong running routine and I did well to get out there, but I overdressed. I suspect I was compensating for not wanting to get outside. I wanted to remain warm and cozy.
I won’t sugarcoat it, running overweight sucks. I have to walk up some of the bigger hills still on East Boulder Trail. And I don’t like other runners passing me. At the risk of me too backlash, I especially don’t like girls passing me like I’m standing still. It’s not good for my self-image.
Honestly, the last couple of weeks, I’ve felt overweight in every aspect of my life. Work has been hard. Traveled last week and had to spend 14 hour days with 4000 of my closest friends. I’m somewhere in the middle on the extrovert/introvert spectrum, but together time like that leaves me totally exhausted.
Then there are my book sales. Or lack of. I’ve been advertising and the click-through rates are awesome. But that just means I’m spending money, because my conversion rate sucks. I’ve discovered and fixed some mistakes but for the most part, my problem is a lack of reviews. People don’t buy online without reviews and to date, I have zero reviews. I should probably stop advertising until I get some.
Sorry to bring you down but I blog what’s on my mind. Right now, my mind needs to lose some weight.
Good post. Have you thought of giving away a few books to friends or family members and asking for a review in exchange. I don’t know if that violates an author’s code of ethics or not. We have been extremely busy here and I haven’t had a chance to look for your book.
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“Author’s code of ethics?” I might have missed that in my studies. Honestly, Amazon does have some guidelines on reviews. Probably monitored by algorithms.
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Surely you know some avid book-readers that would write reviews? You could give copies to libraries and hope someone follows up, or leave a little message as a bookmark: “like this book, write a review.” Maybe people in nursing homes? Though it might be challenging to find someone interested in the subject and savvy enough to write a review.
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Thanks, Cass. I have a marketing plan. It’s going to take a few weeks to execute.
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Thanks for the continued posts Ed – just bought Full Spectrum and promoting to my network. Keep on writing and running!
On Sat, Apr 13, 2019 at 4:50 PM A Runner’s Story wrote:
> Ed Mahoney posted: ” It looked like winter today. And it was fairly cool > when I stepped out the door. By the time I reached the trail though, the > weather was ideal for running. I’m not yet in a strong running routine and > I did well to get out there, but I overdressed. I” >
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Thanks, Tom. Tomorrow I’m going to put together a list of influencers, security podcast hosts, people like that, and mail them a copy.
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Is your book in “book” form ? We’re not on Amazon Prime. Weight loss is slow but beneficial. Dad
Sent from my iPad
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I have a paperback, but have yet to format a hardcover. Do you never read ebooks on your iPad? I use the Kindle app on mine. I stopped drinking a few weeks ago and am losing about one pound per week. Slow is right.
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I guess by reviews you mean self-initiated “regular” readers on the book delivery site. You could also solicit official reviews from publications and use those reviews in your overview. Find your niche and target it—-security and maybe your geographical area.
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