#story

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance (Hopefully)

Eric Vance Walton@ericvancewalton (81)1d

The title really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? 😂 Six more days until the book launch!

I’m several days deep into the marketing blitz on social media to help build anticipation. For me, marketing has always felt like drudgery, a necessary evil. In the past I never really enjoyed this aspect of a book launch—until now.

This time I’m really trying to have fun with it and use some creativity. It turns out The Muse can even make marketing seem like fun.

I used Grok to animate a still photo of myself sitting in front of a typewriter. The original photo was taken around 1975 when I was four years old. I’ll be using this in some of my promotional posts in the coming week. I guess almost any task can be made more enjoyable if you approach it with the right mindset.

Please connect with me on Facebook and X if you'd like follow the book launch more closely in the days leading up to the book release!

An Early Autumn?

We’re seeing signs of a very early autumn all around us. I captured this gaggle of Canadian geese practicing their formation last night.

The leaves are already turning colors and falling to the ground. The squirrels are fattening up and burying more nuts.

She's trying to use her powers of persuasion to get me to put more walnuts under the tree. Incase you're wondering...it worked.

The wood pellet stove got a deep clean yesterday and it's ready for burning season. We're prepared for whatever Mother Nature has in store for us—but I hope we get to experience the warm sunshine just a little while longer.

Summer Reading List

I've read more books this summer than I ever have in my life. This newest one, Tragic Sense of Life, recommended by @agmoore, was delivered on my doorstep yesterday.

I get a sense this is going to be an intense but impactful read. One thing I'm not thrilled about is the typeface is so incredibly small in this book. If I were to guess I'd say it's about 8pt. Although I don't use reading glasses yet I might need some optical assistance if I want to read this one. It's interesting getting older, that's for sure.

All for now. Make this a wonderful day.

www.ericvancewalton.net

Comments · 5

@bozz(83)· 1h
I've been reading a ton this summer too. Usually two books at once which is crazy for me. I noticed there are quite a few leaves off our maple tree already in the front, but, we have another hot snap coming next week, so who knows what will happen.
@hivebuzz(74)· 7h
Congratulations @ericvancewalton! You raised your level and are now an Orca!

Check out our last posts:

Hive Power Up Day - September 1st 2026
@waleedraza(59)· 12h
@coinjoe(73)· 1d
Looking forward to hear more as the book launch happens. Surely you are on pins and needles. Would love some cooler weather here. Seems we can't get a break though. Would love to hear about the Tragic Sense of Life once you have read it.
@agmoore(76)· 1d

the typeface is so incredibly small in this book. If I were to guess I'd say it's about 8pt.

That is ridiculous. I don't know if I could read that. My husband certainly couldn't.

Marketing a book is not fun. The only time I tried that was with my very first book, in 2011. Just something about a 'no' that is discouraging. Takes the fun out of writing. That first book I was lucky and received positive feedback from the Lupus Foundation, which featured the book in their monthly magazine. After that it was clear sailing. That's really the only book that ever sold. Still, I had fun. You never know who is reading your book, what impact it might have had. Certainly writing the books has an impact on the authors--us :)