Continuing on the theme of “Hits and Misses” in 2014:

Hit: Personal Development – Through the self-publication and promotion of my book, I have learned a great deal on how to present myself in a more formal/corporate way. It was a great experience to take a day off from work going to independent bookstores to promote my book.

Miss: I under-estimated the time gap between the purchase of a book and the reading of it. It may take some time for some people to read my book (though it is by no means a lengthy one); therefore, feedback and “word of mouth” may come later than I expected.

Today a colleague of mine told me that she had read my book during the holidays and she found it useful. She likes in particular the part on transformation of negative energy into positive one (under the section “Kiss the negative energy goodbye”, p.24-26 of my book).

On a different note, I heard back from a prospective Chinese translator in Mainland China. She will review my book and discuss with me afterwards.

I had a drink this evening with a friend whom I “gently” persuaded to read my book over the holidays. He told me that he plans to pick up piano which he was taught and trained for during his childhood. After reading my book, he was very much encouraged to go for it again.

It was music to my ears (and not off key this time). The best feedback I can ever have on the book is to prompt someone to take action to learn!

Yesterday morning I was at church and the worship team on stage began to play one of my favorite hymns called Bless the Lord. Even though I am tone-deaf, I could tell there was something wrong and I just could not join in. I soon realized that they were singing at a much lower key that I was accustomed to. I promptly adjusted myself so that I could be part of worship instead of giving up and letting the hymn pass.
It dawned on me that the idea of tuning in and adjusting is applicable in other aspects of life. For example, management at work may change and it is critical for the affected employees to “tune in” and make the necessary adjustments in order to contribute continuously, perhaps in a different way. My advice is to keep your ears sharp for changes.

Today I was invited to a new year lunch at a friend’s house and happened to sit next to David Keys who is an established journalist and author of two books. Unfortunately, the subject of my own book was brought up quite late in our conversation and I did not manage to “squeeze in” a sales pitch. I made a swift exit after concluding that there was no end to a heated discussion on the U.K. tax system at the table.

Sales opportunity lost this time. I will have an entire year to get ready when I see him next year :>

Even though it is technically not a year end for the publication of my book (first published in Sep-14), as it is a good time of the year for reflection, let me start the year with a series of blogs on the “Hit and Miss” of my book publication so far. I will include one “hit” and one “miss” on each blog.

Hit: A great experience of developing and deepening my relationships with those who helped me in the process including my editor Geoff, art director Damian (nephew), marketing research assistant Cameron (niece), executive assistant Gary and photographer Yvanne.

Miss: Marketing my book to book stores was far more difficult than I had thought being an unknown author with no contacts.

I am someone that loves to make New Year Resolution (fulfilling it is another story:>).
I have had an excellent 2014. To top it off, I have received 2 bottles of Champagne at work for 2 different events in the past 2 weeks. Thanks God – I love my Champagne :>
Continuing on the momentum (hopefully), in 2015:
1) my target for the book sale is 1,000 (2014 sales included) by Sep-10
2) concrete plan to take the book to the next step
3) taking courses related to personal development
4) write daily blogs and tweets

Have a GREAT start of the New Year Eveyone :->

Today is New Year’s Eve and let us look at some figures for the year end (it is technically the first quarter end for me as I have published my book in Sep-2014).
a) Copies of book sold = 252 (12-month target of 1,000 with 8 more months to go :>)
b) Countries where copies sold = 6 (U.K., U.S., Canada, France, Germany & China)
c) Amazon reviews received (US & UK sites) = 11
d) Blogs published = 105 (including this very one)
e) Twitter followers = 1,128 with 1,709 tweets (including retweets)

Wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best in 2015!

Far from being bitter or haboring negative feelings, I would like to share my view on how to deal with ingratitude.

Like most people (if not all), I have experienced ingratitude from others in life including not a word of thanks when treating someone for lunch or giving someone a gift.   I have 2 suggestions but am still pondering other solutions.
1) Calmly remind the recipient of your favor with confidence. For example, if the person did not say thank you to your gift, say “Btw, do you like my gift?”. If the person did not say thank you after you had paid for the meal, say “Btw, did you enjoy the meal?” No need to get upset. Stay calm and act confidently.
2) After a few such incidents of ingratitude from the same person, I suggest cutting your loss and NOT reinforcing such an unacceptable behavior. Say farewell to the person and his/her ingratitude.

I would like to use Amazon book review as an example to illustrate my point.
As a disclaimer, no hard or ill feelings intended for anyone.

Out of all the people who had told me that they would read an Amazon review after reading my book, I estimate around 40% of them actually carried it out.

How to deal with it?
1) As I mentioned in the previous blog, “let it go” after 1-2 gentle reminders. NEVER dwell on it. There are numerous reasons why the person did not do it.
2) Instead of second guessing what the reason may be, focus on the ultimate goal. If the “success rate” is 40%, then get MORE people to do it for you. For example, if you want at least 10 reviews, instead of asking 10 people, ask 25 people (for a 40% success rate).
3) Show genuine appreciation and gratitude to those who have taken the time to write a review for you. Don’t take it for granted.
4) Take it as a lesson on how to handle disappointment. Believe me – there is no shortage of that in life.