And I’m more thinking about what to eventually do with the book I’m working on now, which is closer to my heart than I Was A Thirty Year Old Paid Pervert. (And I do think Kim did a good job as my publicist, I just don’t know that my book tour, for instance, which cost me a lot of dough, was the most efficient way I could have spent that dough. This feeling/question is fueled by having received my most recent sales/royalty/whateverit’scalled statement from the publisher. Ahem.)

That said, thanks for the kind words about the potential for me to have a not-boring blog about my life and whatnot.

And it’s fair to note that maybe I dropped the ball a while back, as concerns promoting that first book. I heard from another author of a sex-related book recently, and noticed that she is self-propelling in some ways that seem to be working really well for her book.

In any case, thanks for all your feedback and ideas. Quite helpful.

Since I happen to know that your publicist got you into some unusual, non-traditional author venues, the money was possibly well-spent. That is more for you to decide. That being said, I think that you could, still, benefit from the right kind of blog. I am presuming that you didn’t reveal *everything* in your book. And we all know that sex sells.

This is where the fine line between personal and professional blogging comes into play. As I often note — mostly from personal experience — very few of us lead lives worth reading about on a daily basis. Some of us, namely you, have held interesting jobs that are rife with stories and life lessons. In some ways, you could remix your experience in a way that highlights your writing while establishing your expertise; heck, you could even look into working with an online service that matches experts with people who are writing articles, etc on specific topics. Being quoted in various publications (with name of book in a prominent place) is a very good thing.

And remember, I am not a professional marketer, but I do play one on this blog!

Google has stated that they are interested in creating a financial model — ebooks and micro-content seems to be their ideal choice. Microsoft seems to be treading the very altruistic ground. And the player most of us don’t discuss (let’s say it’s the sleeping giant) is Amazon. They are, from what I have seen, heard, and read, looking at models akin to what Google is contemplating.

When I recently discussed the issued of Simon & Schuster and their decision (now apparently reversed) to own a work for the life of copyright rather than the traditional “in print, out of print” model, the value of digital rights was a key point. That being said, I’ve spent many long, hard years working in the motion picture industry where rights are traded like Tootsie Rolls. Sure, mistakes get made when it comes to compensating the right party for the correct rights, but there is a general spirit of cooperation and more gets into the right bucket than you expect, considering how ownership rights are sliced and diced on a worldwide basis.

Oh yes, I could talk about this forever. Alas, Joan had a question or thought or both…

Could an author, for example, put their budget towards being one of those advertisements on Google, or in some other way taking it on herself to work with the search industry so that her book doesn’t remain one of those that falls in the forrest without a ripple?