Foreign Correspondent interviewed Mouse today. “So, you are determined to publish a book about the Dede’s first year on Instagram. I would say, 700 followers is not really a number that would justify the time and effort.” Mouse laughed out loud. “Time and effort, ha, that sounds so economical and so typical. Look, we Dedes wanted societal change, but the change we’ve got is not the solution. Our work has just begun.”
“It really annoys me that you Dedes seem to think life is just a big fat joke” said Monkey, as miserable as ever. “Truth be told, we will need to earn a living soon or we all have to go back into the big recycling bin where we came from.” Then he held up the book the Dedes created last year. If you want to support the Dedes, it is available from Amazon.com or Createspace.com
“If you just wouldn’t look so miserable, Monkey, you really put the punters off,” said Milky Bar Devil, the coverboy.
Mouse had taken on the promotion of The Super Dede Competition ebook, despite she has no clue about marketing. She did it basically because no-one else held their hand up (as usual), but somehow the book needs to be advertised. She was adamant it had to be an Instagram promotion, as the Dedes seem to be going well there. So she spent a day researching and then jumped onto the computer to create a regram ad with popular Chambermaid as the poster girl. Devil, who used to be the spokes person, poo-pooed her attempt and said no-one would regram an ad for a book of the value of US$3.99. Most of the Dede followers on Instagram have a particular aesthetic on their site and such a regram ad would stick out like a sore thumb. Mouse was still thinking about an appropriate response, when Harvey, the rabbit came along and said the book should be free anyway. This was too much for Mouse and she had one of her break-downs, that unfortunately happen all too often as she works far too hard. Devil could see: Yes, Harvey had a point, but so had Mouse. The book should be free to our followers, but we cannot do everything for free forever. At this point he volunteered to take over the ebook promotion. After all he used to be the MC for the “Super Dede Competition” and if the book sells it is in his best interest. His solution was to make the ebook free until Saturday, the 28th of May 2016.
So, head over to Smashwords.com and get your free copy. Enter the code VV39S before you check out.
Of course if you want to support the Dedes feel free to buy the book. If you like the Dedes, tell everyone about it. And if you don’t like it, keep your mouth shut. :)
“Really!” said Mouse, “isn’t that obvious? Do we have to say that? Oh, …I hate marketing!”
Yes, the Dedes are back to normal. Unfortunately part of their normality is their struggle for survival. They don’t want to have anything for free, but for some of them it is very difficult. Look, for example, at Rob D Light. He has been looking for a job for ever and lives under a blanket of newspapers. His old one is ripped and he gratefully grabbed the discarded ransom note because it was glued on 120gsm paper. That will be a bit warmer than the thin newsprint in the approaching New Zealand winter.
Mouse said Cool Cat should do some work to get noticed, but that is easier said than done. Mouse works relentlessly. She is a workaholic to be precise, but does she earn a decent income? No! She has put together the Artist’s Survival Cookbook which is available in print, and just two days ago, she put the latest publication The Super Dede Competition as an ebook on smashwords. The problem is the marketing. Not one Dede is an expert at that.
So, Mouse has taken charge of this now as well. She put the price on US$3.99, which for an ebook might appear a bit dear, but she argued it should be viewed as a donation to the Dedes. They don’t want to have anything for free, though it is obvious they can’t survive on thin air. “Look at it” she said defending her decision. “It is the price of a cup of coffee”. Then she went on to explain where the money is going. $1 from each book goes to Rob D Light and another $1 goes to L’Artiste so he can continue his carefree work. The rest that is not withheld by Smashwords for administration will go to repay debts the Dedes have accumulated in recent years. Originally she wanted to put it in the kitty for a rainy day, but no, it is better to get rid of debts first the others said.
So here we are: click on the image, buy the book, donate to the Dedes and tell all your friends about it. The Dedes will be eternally grateful.
xxx
Now we are at this stage again…. the Dedes are getting impatient with me! We had the big book launch, which went very well, thank you. And then they went quiet again. It’s coming up to Christmas and the Dedes will soon have their fourth anniversary. When I reminded them of that and asked what they wanted to do to celebrate it, Snotty Nosed Prince thew his hands up in disgust. “Four years! We should be more well known by now. What have you done in all those years, girl?” And he had support from the others. “You are useless as an artist, I think we should sack you!” Loudmouth crowed angrily and didn’t waste any time packing my suitcase.
I couldn’t take it anymore, “Well,” I said when I left the studio, “writing a book is the easy part, marketing it is much more difficult.” Personally, I think they should be a bit more supportive and come up with some ideas themselves. After all, I am only one person and there are 64 or so of them.
Time is flying. It seems like only yesterday that I had the booklaunch, but no, it is already two weeks ago. Must be because it is Christmas and there are so many things to organise before the end of the year. Anyway the Dedes are working in the background and for now, because it is Christmas, they have set up a giveaway on Goodreads. It runs from today to the 3 of January. All you need to do is enter by clicking on the link below. No questions asked (at least if you are a goodreads member, if not, you will have to answer a few questions about your reading habits to become a member) :)
Giveaway ends January 03, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Carly sent me the images she took at the launch of The Artist’s Survival Cookbook. It was so difficult to whittle them down to a few. I am really impressed. Click on any of the images to enlarge and see the slideshow. (c) carlyphotography.co.nz
The pop-up kitchen for the launch of the Artist’s Surviva Cookbook was a full success. The time went by so fast and there were plenty of people of all ages who wanted to have a go. There weren’t many kids, which was a bit sad, but you can tell that those who were there really enjoyed it. I heard someone saying: “This is how kid’s birthday parties should be.”
The photos were taken by Erwin Loosekot
Today is baking day. We are making a couple of items so we have something to offer before the first bread will come out of the oven tomorrow. Early this morning we started off with a yeast plait, and would you believe it, it got slightly burned around the edges. Cash Cow was very unhappy and her initial thought was, she will have to do it again, we can’t take that thing to our event. Alien, who has a very sunny disposition tries to talk her out of it. In his opinion nobody will notice once it is cut up. I don’t know. I leave them to sort it out :)
I use my oven all the time and it really should not have happend. This of course makes me wonder how the two ovens a the church will behave. I never used them before. We might head towards disaster.
And while I am writing this in a disgruntled mood, can anybody tell me where the spellcheck function in WordPress is hiding now? I can’t find the button, or am I the only one who needs a spell-checker?
dedepuppets 