When it comes to publishing my novel Peace, Love, and You Know What, I am almost there. The cover by Michelle Gutierrez is done. You can see it above. I love the VW van rolling across a snowy road — a key scene in the book — the color scheme and typography. So did so many people who responded on social media. Thank you all.

Now, Michelle is working on the book’s design.

But as I’ve said before, there is writing, and then there is the business of writing. For this experiment, I am doing both.

Naturally, I’ve been doing research. The Internet is full of it. Some of it is dated. Some of it is misguided. But there is enough advice on pricing and promotion that is worth pursuing. (I can also rely on my author friend, Craig Dirgo, for info.)

I believe a biggie for me will be an author page on Amazon. Naturally, it will have my photo and a bio. But it can also have a link to blog posts, events, Twitter feed … and a video.

Weeks ago, I stood on the back porch of The Taos News, where I work, while Katharine Egli, our photographer, shot a video of me talking about Peace, Love, and You Know What. From memory.

I wrote the script and for weeks, I practiced it out loud on my drive to and from work. Luckily, for most of the commute I wasn’t driving beside another vehicle.

I posted cues on a post behind Katharine but ended up not using them. I flubbed a couple of takes. Once, we discovered she forgot to hit the record button. But we got one that worked. She sent the video to me the other day.

It’s tough watching myself talk into a camera. I am squinting a bit because of the Northern New Mexico sun. But I say my piece without a stumble. And it is only minute and seven seconds, about the right length for those used to quick stuff on the Internet. I hope it is enough to interest people into buying this novel.

I will let you know when everything goes live. Soon.