Ask Miz Ging

It's Wednesday, and time for another session of Ask Miz Ging.  I saved some of the questions I received last week so I'd have some to use today, so please...please, ask me more.  I need fodder for next week.

Michele has two questions:

1) what do e-authors do to gain publicity since we can't have traditional book signings.


Good question, Michele.  Anything we do to keep our name in the limelight is publicity.  Since many of us don't have print copies to sign, there are other ways to attend book fairs, festivals, etc.  I have used Vista Print to create postcard-sized copies of my book covers.  You can either leave the backside blank or personalize it with a blurb, tag or excerpt.  This still leaves room for you to autograph the card.  It's always a good idea to put the url where the book is available for download and your own website.  If you get promotional copies from your publisher...I received ten...I put them on business card CDs, made labels using business cards that displayed the cover, and I can autograph and sell those.

2) what age do you think is too young for an author to expect their readership to be in the e-publishing world? In other words, I have a MG book that I'd like to publish. Is it something that would do well in an e-publishing format? Or, since it is for children, would parents lean more toward buying traditional paper books?


Another good question.  Kindle, Nooks, IPADS, etc., have opened the reading world a lot wider.  Many young people received e-readers as holiday gifts, so it's up to us to join loops and groups that target their attention.  Even young children picture books are hot items these days with the e-readers that display the pictures in color at the touch of a finger.  I recently wrote and contracted a YA novel which I hope to promote through the local schools as soon as I conquer my current health issues.

 Larion aka Larriane Wills asks:

Miz Ging,why is it every time I'm in a hurry, the guy ahead of me in a no passing zone insists on doing the speed limit?

Lar, this happens to all of us.  I think it has something to do with Murphy's law...anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  If you weren't in a hurry, you probably wouldn't be as annoyed.  You can't change the stupid habits of others, but you can alter your own.  Leave earlier so you aren't in such a rush, enjoy the ride and smell the roses.  Then flip the creep off as soon as you pass him.  :) 

Diane Wylie asks

Miz Ging, why can't other people do what I want? After all, aren't I always right? LOL!

Gee Diane, we all like to think we're right all the time, but for everyone to agree with that would mean we would have to relinquish our rights to be right.  That ain't happening anytime soon, so just keep on thinking you're right and don't expect people to agree with you.  :)

Gail Roughton Branan asks:

Miz Ging, please elaborate on Barbara E's question, why are men so stubborn? Why are men men and couldn't there have been a better way to propagate the species?




Barbara E (Lionmother) asked this question last week, and I thought I provided a stunning answer, but I'll happily harp a little more on the topic.  Consider Larion/Larriane's question above.  Men are stubborn because it's their way of asserting power, even though it might be as minimal as driving slow in the passing lane.  We've created the monsters they are by always taking care of them.  Unfortunately, God in his wisdom decided we need two genders in order to procreate. Some believe God is a woman, but this decision alone provides a big shadow of doubt on that for me.  I think a female higher power would have made sexual encounters much easier, less time consuming, and eliminated the need for the headaches for which females have become so familiar.  Consider sex organs in the palms of our hands.  We could clasp palms wherever and whenever we wanted, and voile...the whole thing would be over and done in moments...no fighting, no fuss, no muss...and no need for lubricants.  I think you get the idea.

Heather Haven asks:

Miz Ging - I am suffering. I just saw Sex and the City II and realized I am deprived and fashionless. Is this true? or am I being too hard on myself? Am I 20 years too old and 60 pounds overweight? Help me! 

Oh, Heather, Heather, Heather.  Don't let TV be your fashion guide.  How many friends do you have that look like anyone you see in something like Sex and the City?  I think perhaps you might follow my lead and settle for something like the Golden Girls.  *lol*  True, they are all dead except for Rose (Betty White), but Blanche proved you can be older and sexy, and look at Rose...she's still going strong at 89.  What are a few pounds and extra wrinkles?  It happens to everyone.  Don't be depressed by something you can't change.  My mother used to say, "Clean your plate, kids in China are starving."  To you, I alter that.  "Cheer up, you can't throw a stick without hitting a fat and wrinkled woman in Tennessee."

Again, I apologize if your question didn't appear today.  That just means I'm saving it for next week.  Keep on posing these stimulating questions.  I love coming up with the answers.  Ask Miz Ging...if you dare.