They say that a web presence can be a real asset when promoting a book. Anne Milstead (me) has a limited web presence on Facebook and very limited on Instagram, however, triciamanly (also me) has a fairly large presence on such sites as ModtheSims, SimFansUK, and Cinda’sSimStyle. For 11 years since my son, NedtheHead gave me the Sims2 game for my birthday, I’ve been hooked on building houses for imaginary families trying to work their way up to the top of their careers. You then package these houses to a file and upload to one of the above sites where fellow “Simmers” browse through screenshots of your houses and if they like one, they download it into their own game for their own Sims. It’s amazing fun! I don’t say it to boast (well, maybe I do) but I have a combined total of 1,988,912 downloads of my houses. Just imagine if that were book sales! Anyway, for my latest effort, My Talking Dachshund, I decided to combine my two lives by building the setting for the book, my own house and a neighbor’s in Peoria, AZ. I built a Sim facsimile of both houses, put in a lot of effort by creating custom walls, floors, and furniture. I also downloaded other “Simmers” files, namely a custom dachshund by Munchie, realistic palm trees by Alex Stanton, and dining chairs by LadyAngel to make my lot better and then uploaded the final result with explanation of the setting and links to my book. Hoping to get at least a lot of views! Mod the Sims has more than 2,000 on line at any given time!
By the way, my book is available in Spanish, Mi Perro Salchicha Hablador, (translation help from the neighbor who lives in the white brick house and from another dear friend) and it is available in Kindle for only $0.99!
Sims2 forever!
Puppy the Dachshund 
Great post! I think you have a great idea on linking your book to Sims! My nephew and his friends play the Sims games all the time. I wonder if there are other game sites where you could link the book to as well… Fantastic idea….
Tony, let me know when you write your next children’s story, and I will build the setting if you would like. I have done it a couple of times before, once for K.M. Alexander’s “The Stars Were Right”
http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=517808 and another time for “Josiah, the Reformer” by Jared Carter Wallace http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=517032. Not sure how many sales, if any were generated, but I’m sure some views were
Sounds like a great idea Anne! I will definitely get with you on this when I draft my next book.
Reblogged this on Tony A. Smith and commented:
Check out this post by Anne Milstead, author of “My Talking Dachshund” and “Puppy the Navy Seal Dachshund” – “Imagination and Real-Life Combine to Promote New Book”. Anne is a former teacher and has produced some great books that children will love. She is also a celebrity on Sims and has a fantastic idea for promoting books!
What a ‘novel’ idea to write abook about your beloved Dachshund. I’m sure it will be insightful and amusing. Good luck with it!
Ha Ha! I’m not so sure how “novel” my book is, but thanks so much for your comment LadyAngel!