A difficult day. I've devoted most of it to a job I've been putting off, namely sending off emails to (almost) everyone I can think of in an effort to interest them in my new book. If you haven't received one don't breathe a sigh of relief - I haven't done them all yet!
Self-publishing unfortunately means self-promotion; nobody else is going to help publicise my book (not that my publishers were especially active over publicising its three predecessors, either). I say "unfortunately" not because I'm averse to blowing my own trumpet - I'm quite egotistical enough to bask in the limelight as long I can! - but because I've learned over the years that I'm just not very good at it. I'm too self-conscious: the secret to not boring people is to project total confidence in yourself and what you're doing, and I've never been able to do that. It's a very common failing among writers, of course - it's one of the reasons we become writers in the first place, because in many cases we're not so good at talking to people. So I probably won't be trying to give any talks or readings or sit on any panels, but I shall go on sending out emails until my fingers fall off.