Another Birthday!

 

Yes, I’m getting old. Next year I will reach the ¾ century mark. And you know what? I feel thrilled and blessed to have made it this far. Many in my family have not.

My father, Henry LaRay Lund, died at 37 when I was seven years old. He went to work one morning and never came home.

His mother, Margaret Imelda McNamara Lund, died at twenty-five when my dad was six. She left three children. My dad was the eldest. His sisters were three- and eighteen-months hold. Her children were raised by other relatives.

My maternal grandfather, David Methven, died at 54. He also went to work in the morning and never came home. Grandpa died in the old Broadway flagship store in downtown Los Angeles at closing time. Dad (his son-in-law) was with him. His last words were about me.

Dad died in the same store at opening time just over five years later.

My paternal great-grandmother died at 38 after giving birth to thirteen children. My grandfather was eight-years-old when his mother died. He was raised by an older sister—the same one who raised my dad after his mother died.

On the other hand, some of my ancestors lived a long time.

My mother lived to ninety-three, and her youngest sister will be ninety-seven on Friday. She is still sharp and a lot of fun.

 This year, with the pandemic going on, Larry still managed to plan a wonderful day. He invited two other couples over for dinner. He put up the awning in the back. It was the first time we had used this one. We haven’t done any in-person events since we bought it. Festooned with fairy lights, it looked magical after dark.

 We sat at separate tables spaced well apart. The canopy is ten feet square, so our chairs were close to the edges.

Larry ordered food from my favorite restaurant, The Harbor Grill, picked it up, and brought it home. Delicious!

He ordered beautiful flowers! They smell marvelous! He also got me a Chico’s gift card for when the pandemic is over.

Our Japanese son, Toshi, sent gorgeous flowers. I have both of them trained to go to my favorite florist. And they both know my taste.

 So, despite the situation this year, I had a marvelous celebration! And I celebrate my birthday all month, so the party continues.

Since I love giving presents to others on my birthday, the Kindle version of my book, Romance in the Time of Social Distancing, is FREE through the 28th 

 How do you feel about birthdays?

Giving Away Book copies

Since we write books and have them published, family members and friends sometimes expect to receive free copies. However, authors can’t afford to give them away, as much as we might like to. Here are the reasons.

AUTHORS PAY FOR THEIR COPIES

Publishers don’t just give authors copies of their books free. For print books, the paper, ink, and printing all incur cost. So does shipping. If a traditional publisher publishes the book, they usually provide editing services and the cover art at their expense. When the book sells, the publisher and the printer receive the bulk of the proceeds. The author is paid only a small percentage.

Publishers charge for author copies, although at a reduced rate from the retail cost. In addition, the author must pay for shipping.

For self-published books, the cost is reduced, but not enough to hand out copies to everyone who might want one.

Even though it is possible to self-publish at no cost, additional expenses are required.

COVER COSTS

To produce a professional book, it is necessary to pay for unique cover art as well as hire a professional to lay out the print cover. It is possible to download stock cover art at little or no cost, but your book will look “generic,” and others may share the same cover design.

For The Memory Keeper, our friend and artist, Robert Schwenck, allowed us to use his beautiful painting of the ruins of the old stone church of Mission San Juan Capistrano on the cover. We hired Melissa Summers, who designed quite a few of our other books, to create the print cover. We are delighted with the result.

Larry is an artist himself. Several of his pieces decorate our home. He was able to create the covers for his sci-fi series, The McGregor Chronicles, using NASA star field photos, which are in the public domain. He was also able to create his own layout using the CreateSpace templates. Because this series came after we had already published several previous books, he understood the requirements. Most authors do not.

PROFESSIONAL EDIT

Regardless of which way the book will be published, every writer should hire a professional editor before submission to ensure the integrity and professionalism of the finished product. I am a professional editor, but even I can miss critical issues in my own books.

MARKETING AND PUBLICITY

Additional hidden expenses surround each book launch. In the past, we ordered inexpensive business cards printed with the name of the book, and handed them out for several weeks prior to publication.

We've also created our own video trailers for each book. However, some of our author friends pay others to create professional trailers and post them to their social media and websites.

Every author should have both a blog and a website. Website hosting and web design can be quite expensive, but the site should look professional. We are blessed with a son who took over the design and maintenance of our site several years ago. He does this for a living, so he has the necessary skills to produce an eye-catching and user-friendly website (www.lornalarry.com). Most people do not have this resource, so they need to pay someone as their webmaster.

We also plan a book launch event in conjunction with each new book. During the event, we serve refreshments and hold a drawing for prizes. All incur cost.

Unfortunately, published authors make considerably less today than in the past for a number of reasons. Even ebooks are not free. We can gift copies to people, but we have to buy them in order to do so.

So, although we’d like to be able to give our books to all our friends and family members, we are not independently wealthy enough to do so. When we do give someone a copy, please understand it is a gift with inherent cost to us.