A Friend Read my Book and Laughed and Laughed!

If my book was a sad tale and I wanted to evoke sympathy for my struggling hero, that 'Laughed and Laughed' response would have worried me. But "Dog Buddha's Thoughts" is a humorous tale about Buddhism from a naughty, slightly snarky hound named Buster the Dog, and I'm thrilled with the response - Laughter is the best medicine for this author's self-esteem!

So the reader of my book loved it and found it hilarious, that is certainly a good first step! This book isn't 'out there' yet, but it is due to be launched on July 29, at the P/A Hotel in Gawler, during the Adelaide  Plains Festival of Words. This Festival is an important part of my writing life, and an important part of the writing group I'm President of, Adelaide Plains Poets Chapter and Verse.

And this funny book is "Dog Buddha's Thoughts" which I now know as the third book in the Buster the Dog series. When I wrote the book that I now call the first in the Buster the Dog series, the book that this whole blog is named after, "Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs", when I wrote that book, I had no idea of it going as far as it has, I just wanted to have a little bookish fun with my artistic friend, Ally Hean.

The first book has sold well enough that I keep on needing to order some more copies of it, and the second book, "Doggone It! Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View", has been selling copies every now and then too. I've been happy about the books selling, of course, but I have a funny feeling this third book will out sell the first two, and who knows, may actually make money into four figures, rather than just three figures ... Books are strange things, readers of books can be strange too, and you never know what people might want to read ...

Anyway, I have this set of three books, I'm getting ready to launch that third book, in a fortnight, and it's all fun and games. I just have to get the final editing of the book done, and corrections sent off to the printer, and all will be good. I imagine before next weekend, my car/office will be loaded up with the copies of "Dog Buddha's Thoughts" and my nerves will have begun upsetting my tummy! Nah, I'm not nervous, I've done this heaps of times, what could go wrong?

Hmm, I could get the books and my car could catch fire, I could crash into a bank and my car could be take by the police, I could suffer from amnesia and forget who I am, someone could say all of these Buster the Dog books are totally stupid and I should be ashamed of myself for selling them, cats could finally take over the world and ban books that are nasty to cats. Or cat owners all over the world could lobby and do the same thing on behalf of all cats. Or I could suffer from an acute case of low self-esteem and crawl into a small hole and refuse to come out again ...

I am a writer. I have sold my books. Some people have enjoyed my books. Some people have even found my books inspiring and have been helped by them (not any of the Buster the Books). I am aware of my ability to make others feel better about life, and smile. I am a writer, I will launch this new book and people will smile. Life continues to be good ...

Watch Out! Someone Let The Dog Out!

Well, they haven't let the dog out quite yet, but by this time next week, Buster will be out on the streets, and copies of his gardening book will be out there too!

Yes "Dig It! Gardening Tips For Dogs" is having its third print run, has been been reformatted and now has more pages! Yay, good times!

If you have a dog, have had a dog, know someone who has a dog, or know what a dog is, this is the book for you! It's all about dogs, and gardens, and life in general, really. There is much wisdom in this book, written by a dog that doesn't really exist. Or does he?

Buster and Carolyn Cordon produced the text for this lovely little book, Allyson Hean produced the illustrations, and you the reader will produce the huge laughter as you read it and see the pictures! There's no telling what Buster and Carolyn might come up with next, but rest assured, the X rated book some were waiting for is certainly never going to happen. Buster might be up for it, but Carolyn has a good reputation to uphold, and isn't interested in THAT project!

So, if you'd like to get yourself a copy of this great book, leave a message here, and we can discuss the details. The cost will be $15 AUD a copy, with no charge for postage (unless you want it sent to somewhere really expensive. Certainly no charge for postage in Australia.

Time For A New Print Run?

When a person self-publishes a book, it's up to them to decide when and whether it's time for a new print run. My book, 'Dig It, Gardening Tips for Dogs' had its first print run in late 2009/early 2010. I've sold or given away almost all of those books, and now that my name is out there, I feel it could be time to have more of this lovely funny little books for people to have.

I'm a writer, covering a range of genre, from this book of humour, to my first poetry collection that is serious and sad/to positive, and my current work in progress which is a memoir in verse, about my new life with my new chronic illness of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

I've written a lot about dogs, and have various articles online at this site, some serious, some funny. I also have another blog, focussed on dogs and family here.

Having this broad range of books, will give something for everyone, at least that's the way I'm thinking. If someone has suffered as a child, I have the poetry book to help them to find hope. If someone thinks dogs are hilarious or if they're being driven mad by their own digging dog, I have the book to help them find the funny side. And if they have MS, or know someone who has it, I have a book that tells them how living with MS has been for me.

So, decision time - obviously, I need to get the money for another print run, these things aren't free. I need to suss out the market for such a book - I know a couple of people who would probably buy a copy of the book, but I need more than just a couple of buyers to make it worthwhile.

So this post is to see if anyone out there thinks they's like to have a copy of my little book. I think it's funny, and the pictures done by my talented artist friend Ally Hean are wonderful, and well worth looking at. The cover picture on this website gives you an idea of her talent, and the illustrations inside the book are terrific. This book would appeal to anyone who's ever known a dog, or had a garden. 

Dogs don't do gardening the way people do gardening, and the chapters in the book should give you a giggle! And if you'd like to know more about me and my writing, click on the links and read what I've written!

If you think this book is one you might like to see, let me know! If I get enough of a response, I'll get the second print run happening. It's all up to my readers!

Time for a New Print Run

Hello,
It's time to face some facts.
1/ My time is finite
2/ My things to do are ever increasing
3/ Writing a sequel to 'Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs' was probably never going to happen
4/ I love talking to people about dogs
5/ I can afford another print run at the moment

Add all of those things together and you come up with the inevitable 'yes' do it!

So, in order to make sure you can get your hands on a newly printed copy, why not send me a message and I'll put one aside for you.

All Out of Books!

I sold two copies of 'Dig it!' last week, a good thing, yes?

Maybe not - I've completely sold out of 'Dig it! Gardening Tips for Dogs'! Now I have to make a decision - do I do another print run, or do I relax and just cruise through life without the stresses and strains of book distribution?

I'll leave the decision up to my followers and interested others. The book is fun and funny, the illustrations are terrific, and connecting with other dog lovers is always great.

But the cost! The worrying! Please give me some feedback and help me make my decision!

It all adds to the joy and strain of self-publishing. Fun, fun, fun!

Human versus Canine

We have finally taken back control of the back lawn. Last Friday great work was completed by the men of the family in clearing the path of encroaching grass. This grass was then planted out in the bare sections on the area that used to be lawn.

It was then watered in, and the watering has continued when possible, and it is looking so much better now. It used to look like a bomb site, not it looks like a lawn in progress. The culprit, La De Dah is now only let outside there if he is being watched.

He's coping just fine, spending lots of quality time on the sofa, or down in the back run, where is allowed to dig as much as he likes. As long as we stay committed, this will work!

Man rules, and don't you forget it dog!

Book sales

My sales of 'Dig it! Gardening Tips for Dogs' continue and I'm connecting with dog owners around the place. Just about everybody I talk to about the book has a funny 'dog in the garden' story.

Then there are the amazing dogs that don't do anything naughty in the garden ever. I'm not certain these dogs really exist, but people assure me they do. I hope that your dog brings you joy and happiness in the garden as well as lots of fun and laughter!

Self-publishing My Book

How did I go about self-publishing? OK, first book first “Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs”.
This little book started out as an amusing article in a dog club magazine. It then sat in the drawer for more years than I care to think about, before I decided to do something with it. I read it, expanded it, edited it, then I mentioned it to a friend who is quite good at drawing. She asked to see a copy, I gave her a copy, she did a drawing (very good).

We talked about the whole thing and decided to have a go at printing it ourselves. The friend did more illustrations, I organised an ISBN number and barcode, my friend put the whole thing together, I took it to a local printer and Hey Presto, I had a book.

The first print run was for 50 copies, they sold or were given away, I did another print run, same story, sold or given away. Third print run. I still have about half of the third print run left, and won’t be going for a fourth print run this year, unless somehow there is a run on people wanting copies.

It’s been fun, but I know I’m not brilliant at marketing, I have a lot to learn.

Second book was quite different. “How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off”. I had this one done online by Lulu.com. I wrote a small book, and uploaded it to Lulu for publishing as an Ebook. The only copy sold was bought by me, and I would certainly use this method again. The copies are available from Lulu, but there are millions of books there, and mine doesn’t stand out, hence the lack of sales.

For both of these books have a website each, on Blogger.com, and they get a few clicks each, but it hasn’t led to sales at this time.


Adelaide Plains Poets Inc have self-published two anthologies, using the same local printer, who I think does a good job at a fair price. Grandeur Press is the name, in Balaklava.

So that’s my story

Dogs in the Garden

I was talking to someone the other day and they told me their dog doesn't do any gardening. Doesn't dig holes, or chew plants, none of that naughty stuff.

Then they remembered. Their dog likes to move plants around a bit. He digs plants up, moves them to another part of the garden, then replants the plant in the new spot.

The person said it almost apologetically, like they were sorry their dog wasn't destructive! I would love to have a dog that did what that person's dog does. One of our dogs had a real thing about a camelia we had in a pot.
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Helga, our first schnauzer, would dig the camelia out of its pot, time and time again, until the inevitable happened and we got sick of putting it back in the pot and just chucked it away. The camelia was looking sicker and sicker all the time. They don't like having their roots mucked around with.

Helga is also the dog that taught us how tasty bonsai trees are, or possible how bad out protective fencing abilities are. In the end the bonsai trees lived on a table on the back patio, surrounded by chicken wire and posts. It wasn't the most attractive display in the world, but it kept the plants safe.

In her defense, I will say that Helga was a puppy at the time, and she grew out of the habit. Or maybe she didn't do it any more because we moved house and the bonsai was kept in a part of the garden the dogs didn't have easy access to.

Anyway, our bonsai are safe from dogs now. It's just the bugs and the sun doing them damage these days.

Hanging baskets

My husband and I are dog breeders, and every year or so we have a new litter of puppies. The puppies stay inside the house for their first four weeks, then, depending on the weather, they get to go outside to explore.

I love watching the puppies as they discover brand new things, bravely venturing out, or sticking close to me for safety, depending on their character. One thing that always delights the little babes is the bits of plants dangling from the hanging plants on our veranda.

One plant in particular dangles nearly down to the ground when we don't have any puppies, and when we do have puppies it dangles just out of puppies' reach (they prune it). When I water the hanging pots the pups are fascinated by the drips and drops landing on the concrete, or their heads, or each others' heads.

One of the main roles of baby puppies is to amuse sometimes sour and cynical people. The puppies at our kennel fulfill this role beautifully.

What my dogs do in the garden

My husband called me to look out of the window about an hour ago. 'Look what they're doing,' he said.

So I looked, and it was so funny. I'm glad I looked. La De (show name Holkschter La De Da) was standing behind is little sister Missy (show name Holkschter Kiss Me Quick) and he was waiting for her to dig up some dirt.

She dug, he chased the dug up dirt. She kept digging, he kept chasing. I don't know if they're still doing it, but I'm sure they'll get back to it at some time again. It's usually La De doing the digging and chasing on his own, but today he had an accomplice. I don't know if that's better for the dogs, but it sure was funny to watch.

La De loves to chase, it's a genetic thing. Pharaoh Hounds are like greyhounds, they have an innate desire to chase. I don't throw the ball for the dogs, so La De does his own thing, with chasing the dirt. He used to like chasing water when I had the hose on, but with the water restrictions on in South Australia, that's not an option any more.

So that's gardening for a couple of our dogs - they're into the digging aspect of it. If only I could get them to dig where I want dirt dug up. I could hire them out and make a fortune!