Running fast – Day 9, What’s missing?

This fast started as a water-only. I was allowing myself one banana a day to fuel the daily run that I was determined to keep as part of my routine. In the back of my mind, I suspect I regarded this as cheating. After six days, when the banana seemed to be a continuing problem for my stomach, I made the decision to switch to a juice fast. Now I really feel like a cheater. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, I drink five to six ounces of vegetable juice, about thirty-five calories each for a total of one hundred and five. And yet that little bit has eased my minor stomach issues and it apparently has triggered some type of resurrection, running-wise.

I went four and one-quarter miles today, my longest run since I started the fast. The feeling I had while I was running is hard to describe; the background feeling of being slightly numb was present, as it has been for several days. Of course  I was tired, but somehow I also felt stronger than I have for a while, even from before the fast. I’m now sixteen pounds lighter than I was the evening I started and I’m certain that is most of the reason. My legs are carrying a full ten percent less weight than before. Imagine wearing a sixteen pound backpack for a long time and then setting it aside. All the aches and pains that I usual have to deal with while running have been conspicuously absent. Everything that requires moving is a little easier, even if there isn’t much to fuel my muscles. My mile splits were 9:40, 9:13, 8:34 and 8:37. I did work a little harder, but even that seems like a good thing; I could work harder and not feel like I would collapse.

So, what is missing? The almost spiritual feeling of lightness and serenity that I had experienced in March has not been very strong. I’m certain that the main reason is that I am so incredibly busy with getting ready for the release of my book, interacting with the publisher, getting marketing materials ready, on top of all the networking, blogging, facebooking and other social media stuff. Add in the running, and I’m not giving my mind and soul as much time to cleanse as my body is getting. I think I’ll set aside some time tomorrow to just relax and let the joy of the final day of the fast soak in.

There is no mystery to marketing

There have been a lot of blog posts from new or indie authors begging for the “inside scoop” on how to market their books. For a while, I was searching  for it too – that one magic key that would unlock the glaring spotlight of publicity for the release of my debut novel “Harvest of the Heart”. Within the first hour of combing the web, I discovered that there is no such thing as a magic key. After that failure, I kept searching for the easiest, most efficient and guaranteed reliable book marketing method. It has taken me many more hours to find out that doesn’t exist either. None of the marketing methods out there are magic; none are easy; none are guaranteed. If you have a lot of money to burn, there are certainly a boatload of marketing gurus and websites more than happy to take it. I haven’t found one that will guarantee your book’s success. or any level of success at all.

It isn’t that some aren’t good. It is just that they are in the business of making money regardless of whether you make any or not. I’d love to see a marketer that was willing to go out on a limb and say, “I love your book. I’m certain it will be a success. Instead of charging you upfront, I’ll take 10% of the royalties up to my fee.” I’d be willing to pay a marketer/publicist like that double their usual fee, just to see them tied to the success of my book.

Since- A) such a marketer doesn’t exist, and B) I don’t have the money to pay a marketer, I am wading through this marketing morass on my own. Valuable nuggets have been gleaned from discussion forums and OPBs (other people’s blogs). Carefully studying the information available from Amazon, CreateSpace and various marketers has yielded a lot of useful advice.

Blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting, Networking, Goodreads, BookBuzzr the list goes on and on. They all take time away from my writing, but it seems I don’t have much choice if I want people to buy my book when it comes out in December. Time to pull on my boots and keep on wading.