Dave's Blog (well...blog-like)

Sort of blog-like. This is too small an operation to spring for blog software, so I'll just keep adding comments to this page. Please feel free to respond! Go to the Contact Page to send me feedback. I'll post the most interesting.

What Fun at the Mensa Convention!

July 8, 2008. Randy Cassingham, whom many of you know via This Is True, was slated to speak at the July 2008 Mensa annual convention in Denver, and he suggested I do likewise. (No, it was more like there was no option.) I had no idea what to expect. I asked for a "small" room (seats 40) and dithered for weeks about what to say. After all, the Mensans, by definition, are the brightest people around! Finally, I just decided to be myself. I said I wasn't there to tell them about creative writing or read a bunch of exerpts (although I read a few). I just started by telling them how a broom worked, along with all the engineering pitfalls. The crowd caught every one of my jokes and soon we were just all swept along having a wonderful time. Oh, the crowd? Well, it was standing room only. I sold books (both Broom 1 and Broom 2) immediately after and signed them as fast as I could. After our allotted time was up, I moved to a table in "author's row" and sat there for several hours, selling books continually. All told, I sold 88 books, which for an event like this, is phenomenal! As a matter of fact, I sold out of Broom 1 completely. I got an Internet order yesterday, so my wife is retrieving one from her art gallery so I can fulfill the order. And I called the printer today and ordered more--they should be here July 17th.

And so my special thanks to Randy Cassingham for twisting my arm. What a blast! (And thanks to Randy for the photo.)

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Latest News on the Sequel

May 29, 2008. Broom 2 (The Missing Wand) is off to the printer for a July 4th release date! And I'm greatly reducing the price. I've decided not to sell Broom 2 via Amazon, so that gives me considerably more latitude. For only $9.95 per copy, I can sell hard copies via the website and still handily rake in a tiny profit. I think most people will find $9.95 a reasonable price for a wonderful fantasy. By the way, The Missing Wand clocks in at 322 pages versus Genesis's 288 pages. That makes it an even better value proposition: only 3.1¢ per page! I'll probably have to raise the shipping and handling fee from $2 to about $2.50 because of the recent postage rate hike. (Note that the $2.50 is less than it actually costs me for the padded envelope and the media mail postage, so you're getting a bargain.)

I'll be updating the website in June so it includes both books. Just as a teaser, I'm including here a cover shot. I recently acquired Adobe Photoshop Essentials and invested several hours in the cover shot—and then my wife Loretta pointed out I'd omitted the GPS from the setup! So, I reshot everything and reassembled the cover.

I'm toying with withdrawing Genesis from Amazon and then dropping the price likewise to $9.95, although, oddly enough, the printing price for Genesis was more than that for The Missing Wand. Go figure. Opinions, anyone?

A Most Curious Reader Comment

May 29, 2008. After I uploaded the next block of free chapters to AWeber, I received numerous responses to my request that readers confirm they were receiving chapters again. Nearly everyone (and there were quite a few of you) responded in the affirmative. There were a few problems, which were promptly fixed.

Along with the responses came many positive comments. Jeff: "And a very nice chapter it was!" Mike: "...am very impressed as always." Tom: "...it's interesting reading." Hank: "Thank you. I really enjoy the book." Bobbi: "Thanks for keeping the free chapter a week - I look forward to it every Sunday." (Note that the glitch may mean it's no longer on Sunday...sorry.) Alf: "...we are enjoying the book." Carol: "Keep up the good work." John: "I am enjoying receiving the chapters to your book and look forward to each one." Alice: "Keep 'em coming - they're fascinating!!"

Gee. With all those good wishes, I feel pretty good!

But I got a most curious reader comment today from Deanna, who unsubscribed: "I do not have $$$ for more chapters/week nor for the book. Therefore since I get asked every time to pay for more and I cannot, I will just let you send to those who can pay."

Alas. I think we have a failure to communicate. Anyone can receive free chapters for as long as they like. And...gee...free...doesn't it have to be paid for somehow? All the free stuff I get comes with advertising, and likewise so do the free chapters. In this case, the advertising is for an upgrade subscription or the hardcopy book. Seems pretty harmless to me! Many of the free chapter readers are also subscribers to This is True, as am I. In fact, Randy and I live only three miles apart and are great friends. Randy's free edition always has an ad for the premium edition. And Randy was the one who suggested the free chapters! So, I bid a reluctant goodbye to Deanna and am grateful for all the free subscribers who send such nice comments as recorded above.

This brings up an interesting point. I do have some expenses, and am hoping for more Premium and PLATINUM (always capitalized) subscriptions to help defray the costs. But my blandishments aren't working all that well. Only $6 one time fee! Suggestions, anyone?

And I'm advertising via Google Adwords. That's bringing in a few new free chapter subscribers. In fact, if you Google "flying broomstick," I'm right up there on the first page! But (sigh) I don't seem to be reaching those who want to buy books about flying broomsticks in Ridgway. I've tried over a hundred keywords, but am not getting to those people who wish someone would write a cool fantasy set in the midst of a real place (a genre called "urban fantasy"). I am open to ideas.

Oops...the Free Chapters Ran Out...at the Worst Possible Time!

May 16, 2008. I was sitting fat, dumb, and happy as a delegate at the Colorado State Democratic Convention (I have never seen disorganization on such a massive scale!—see picture—I'm the one with the gray beard and dark shirt) when a note came in from Don.... I sent out the following to the Free Chapters distribution list:

Folks,

Don points out that free chapter 15 hasn't yet arrived. That, unfortunately, is a mix up on my part. I only had 14 chapters loaded, figuring that meant I had 14 weeks to catch up on other business before adding more chapters.

Well, the 14 weeks caught up with me, and have caught up with me in a place I can't do anything about it. I'm currently in Colorado Springs for the Colorado State Democratic Convention where I'm an Obama delegate. The convention finished today (you would not believe the noise and the level of disorganization!) and I'll be back in Ridgway (where my broom files are) on Monday evening.

I've already loaded the entire book for the Premium and PLATINUM level subscriptions, so I have all the stuff ready to go for those. A couple hours with AWeber will fix the problem with the free chapters.

And so...my apologies to all of you looking for your weekly broom fix... it will be taken care of soon.

BTW, the next book in the series, The Missing Wand, is coming out on July 4th. I've decided NOT to offer it via Amazon, which means that I can lower the price. I've got to get the estimate back from the printer before I can set the price, but that will all be done this month. The second book will be launched on July 4th at the Mensa Convention in Denver (no, I'm not smart enough to be a Mensa, but I will be speaking to them). By the end of this month I expect to have the website up to date with information about The Missing Wand.

"What?" you ask? You say you're only 14 chapters into Broom 1! You have a few options...simply continue the free chapters...upgrade to a Premium (chapter every 3 days) or a PLATINUM (chapter every day) subscription, or simply order the book either via the website (preferred) or via Amazon (some people would simply rather deal with Amazon, and that's fine).

What's the new book about? Well, flying, of course. But now lots of people have brooms. And you would not believe how this gets the FAA all worked up. And the book includes broom races too. Oh, and the duplicate wand that is actually my workaday wand gets stolen. And must be recovered, because it turns out it has some previously unrealized powers that make it too dangerous to lose.

So, stay tuned. I'll have those free chapters coming shortly. Thanks for your patience and your continued interest in The Story of the Great American Flying Broomstick.

The Bad and the Good

March 27, 2008. I've had great reaction to the free chapters each week. I thought I'd play around a little with some formatting to spice them up, but the reaction was universally negative, so I immediately dropped the formatting. In fact, one 74-year-old grandmother told me the print was so tiny she couldn't read it. I sent her the chapter in plain text. And that's the way they'll continue for everybody, "just text."

I also floated the idea that some people might like a "premium" version, say a chapter every other day, and a "platinum version" with a chapter every single day. I thought I might charge a one-time fee of $4.99 for the Premium and $9.99 for the Platinum. Wow! The response was overwhelmingly positive. It took me a few days to figure out how to set up AWeber to make it work, but with Randy Cassingham's help, it's a go. So, give me a few days to upload everything to the new lists. Then I'll put buttons on the site you can use to get the Premium or the Platinum via PayPal.

Weather Mania!

March 5, 2008. I've been spending entirely too much time on this, but as I recently acquired a weather station, why not put the data online? The Broom Series is very much tied to the San Juan Mountains in Southwestern Colorado, so here's a link between the book and reality. See the weather page, which has near-real-time weather (delayed up to about 15 minutes). Our weather changes frequently. Last Saturday was shirtsleeve weather, and Sunday we had a foot of snow. Go figure.

What about all of you who are receiving a chapter a week? I'd love to hear from you. Barbara in Florida writes nearly every week with comments--I've put some on the comments page. Please feel free to send those chapters to friends!

Oops...there goes the guestbook! And what about the book's selling price?

February 21, 2008. Alas! The guestbook is attracting far too much spam. So I guess that experiment didn't work. I've taken it down.

I've been working evenings on Broom 2, getting it ready for publication. I just finished another pass through the manuscript. I've been trimming the fluff, tightening up the action, and checking my grammar. In addition, I'm taking a pass through the Broom 3 manuscript, getting it ready for publication later this year. It needs some pretty radical rewrites, so I'm giving myself several months for that.

The book signing was a success and fun to boot! The folks at Hastings really go out of their way for local authors. Not only did they have a table for me, but it was right in front where everyone had to pass by. They had the table decorated with a tablecloth and a poinsettia plant (leftover from Christmas, no doubt). I sold several copies and had fun talking with folks. I pitched it at first as a humor-fantasy combination, but what seemed to really catch people was the assertion that the broom is a revolution in personal transportation. I've updated the website accordingly.

Some people wonder about the price, $17.76, thinking it rather high. The price was chosen for two reasons. The first is that 1776 seems like a bit of a pun on the "Great American" title. The other is much more serious—Amazon.com. I decided early on I wanted the book listed on Amazon. Amazon takes 55%. That's right! 55%! So that leaves me with $7.99 per copy. And that has to cover printing, shipping from the printer to me, and shipping from me to the Amazon warehouse. Ouch! I've wondered if I should drop Amazon and then drop the price to about $9.95. I'd make more money (meaning I'd be less in the hole) and probably many more people would spring for $9.95 than $17.76, especially for a paperbound book. What do you think? You can contact me via the contact page. Hmmm...but that would make it difficult for local bookstores to carry it. Hmph. Nothing works perfectly. Naw...I'd still make a little money. Maybe I'll do it. Let me know what you think.

Kicked off a marketing campaign

February 4, 2008. I found out about a great company called AWeber (see Technology) that manages mailing lists. I added the mailing list feature to the website—two in fact. One is a general interest newsletter for announcements now and then. The other is a free chapter a week. I then advertised in This Is True, an Internet newsletter run by a friend. The response was great! I hope people are enjoying a free chapter a week. If you're one on this list and you get anxious to know what happens next, just come back to the site and click on the "buy now" button that's on any page.

I'm doing a book signing this coming weekend, February 9th, 2008, at Hastings, a bookstore in Montrose, Colorado. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood!

I put up a technology page for those interested in all the various things associated with writing and publishing a book.

I've been pitching it wrong!

My personal contacts with readers tell me I've been pitching the book wrong. I described it as a humorous fantasy about an inventor in over his head. But what my readers tell me is they can't stop laughing!—I get this from nearly everyone who provides feedback. And you should provide feedback too! just go to the Contact page. So now I'll push more on the comedy aspects.

The second book is coming along

January 12, 2008. Book 2 of the Broomstick series, "The Missing Wand," is on track for a July 4, 2008, release. The book is completely drafted and has been through many revisions. Just this last week I completely rewrote the first few chapters to set the scene better. I think you'll enjoy it!

Website redesign for more feedback

January 12, 2008. I'm about to relaunch the website. I added two different mailing lists. The first is for those who aren't quite ready to commit $17.76 to a novel; this list provides a free chapter every week—all the way through to the end of the book! The second mailing list is for periodic news and events. I think "periodic" will be every two or three weeks. I hope you sign up and enjoy them!