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Self-publishing expectations

9/17/2013

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I’d like to thank the scores of people who have written me to congratulate me on my book launch.  I was amazed by the well-wishes and offers of support.  It is so great to have good friends and supportive people all around me.

With that said, I realize I need to keep my expectations low since approximately one half million to one million books are published annually.  Only a small number of those become successful each year.  I’m talking a few dozen at most.  A large percentage of those are because the authors are already famous – think J.K. Rowling, Hemingway, Crichton, Grisham, etc.  For those who weren’t famous before they wrote their book, some percentage of them were purely lucky (i.e. Oprah decided to mention them in her show) and the balance did it through an incredible amount of hard work.  I unfortunately fit into the latter group. 

So, if only a few books out of a million are truly going to be best sellers and sell more than a few hundred copies in total (yes, that is the average number of books sold per newly published books), I am going to need to work my tail off trying to promote the book, reaching out to local and national media outlets, linking with all sorts of trekking/hiking/camping/outdoors sites, leveraging my social networks and much, much more.

I put a game plan together for The Trek over the summer while it was being digitally converted and while the cover was being designed.  I think it’s very comprehensive.  Yet, I knew going into it that it would still be a major challenge.  And even though I knew this in advance, maybe I wasn’t being as realistic as I should have been.  

I have an old friend who responded to my email a few days ago, informing him of my new book.  I will not reveal his name, but this is what he had to say to me when he found out I wrote a book:

I admire the effort and, believe me, understand the joy of the process.  I assume you know I tried doing this in earnest in the 90’s when (LARGE PUBLISHER) published my book. But this is the cold, hard reality  - there is no one who cares even a tiny, tiny fraction about the book the way you do and it’s almost impossible to get folks to put in even an iota of effort to help you get publicity or traction on it.  I always thought of it like I did with one of my kids.  Sure people “care” about your kids and how they are doing and all that.  But the real truth is that people have their own worries and interests and cares and at the end of the day, people show interest in how your kids are doing simply to be courteous.  So for you own sanity, I caution you to expect nothing from anyone with regard to the work you spent thousands of hours on and care so much about.   I know this is harsh, but it’s the honest truth from someone who has lived it and was so disappointed that no one gave one rat’s ass about the baby I spent years nurturing and perfecting.   This was even true for the people at (PUBLISHER) who paid me a large advance on a book that also had a movie option.  It was just another widget in their factory line.  Now, having said that, I hope your book is WILDLY successful and you prove me dead wrong. 

This note (although you may not agree with everything he said - particularly the stuff about "your kids") was the perfect advice I needed to receive since it will help keep me very, very grounded.  The simple truth is I never expected to make a living from the book.  It was something I’ve wanted to do for many years.  It’s done now.  That said, it would be foolish to not spend a month or two (or more?) trying to promote it now that it’s published.

The good news is that a few people have already finished reading the book and have had great things to say about it...even people that aren't my "friends":)  My only real goal when starting this process and writing the book was to tell a good story.  I think so many books (and even movies) go absolutely nowhere and leave the reader upset.  I never expected the book to be a prize-winner, but I always hoped I would entertain people for a few hours and take them away on a journey (pun intended) for a little while, so that they could forget about their daily problems.  If I have accomplished this, then I will consider myself successful.  If I sell lots of books in the process, then all the better.  But I’m certainly not counting on it.  Self-publishing The Trek was a great learning experience.  I'm happy I did it.  I hope you'll read the book and find it as enjoyable as I 

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Remembering 9/11

9/14/2013

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Twelve years ago today, I wrote this on my laptop as my associate Steve was driving the car.  We were on the tail-end of a nearly 3,000 mile drive from CA to NY, immediately after the 9/11 attacks took place.   I try to repost this every couple of years to remind myself of how great this country is, in so many different ways.

Here's my story.

I awoke at just before 6 A.M. PST and immediately turned on the television in my hotel room, as I always do when I travel in order to watch the morning news.  The first tower had been hit.  My heart sank.  I had arrived in California from New York the day prior.  I thanked the Lord I was alive since I could have easily been on one of those fatal flights if I had left Tuesday morning instead of Monday afternoon.  Minutes later, the second tower was hit, then shortly after the Pentagon was hit and then the Twin Towers crumbled.  At that moment, I truly thought the entire country was under attack.  If this was going to be an attack on the U.S., then a major city such as Los Angeles could possibly be a target as well.  I was on the 14th floor of a high-rise hotel.  I decided it was the wrong place to be and I immediately checked out.

All airports had been shut down.  I knew I wasn’t going be flying home any time soon.  As a matter of fact, I had no desire to fly even if I could.  My co-worker, Steve, had flown in from New York just hours ago as well.  He and I felt blessed.

We were not sure if some of the meetings we had scheduled were still going to happen, so we made some calls.  Surprisingly, they were still on.  We went to our first meeting, which was with a telemarketing firm which handled inbound calls from TV advertisers.  They had dozens of TV’s lined up on the wall, horizontally and vertically, and they were all broadcasting the exact same pictures of people jumping from the towers and the towers collapsing, over and over again.  It was awful.  Steve and I couldn’t stop thinking about our families, as well as those that were being directly impacted by this terrible tragedy.  We had to get home.  We decided to drive back to Connecticut.  Luckily, we had a rental car from the day before and Hertz was incredibly generous in allowing us to put the miles on the car for no extra charge.

We started the trip at 3:00 PST on Tuesday.  We went on the Mapquest website and printed out the suggested route toward our homes in Connecticut.  The plan was to take 40 East out of California into Oklahoma, 44 East to St. Louis, 70 East into Pennsylvania and then straight into the NJ Turnpike through NY and back home.  Basically, it would only take a few roads to drive all 2,900 miles.

It is now early on Friday morning, the 14th of September and I’m typing on my laptop computer while Steve drives.  We decided to drive all night last night.  We have driven over 40 hours in total so far, just briefly stopping in Flagstaff, Arizona and Tulsa, Oklahoma in order to catch a few hours of sleep the previous two nights.  There were very few cars on the road the entire trip.  We have eaten almost every type of fast food along the way.  We have driven past some incredibly tall mountains, through the Red Rocks of Arizona, through massive canyons, past flowing rivers, and deep valleys and flat plains as far as the eye could see.  Every mile we drove, we were more and more astonished at the natural beauty of this land.  If you haven’t driven across this country, do it soon.  It is truly magnificent.

The most incredible part of our journey, however, was not the scenery.  It was the people and their show of patriotism which was exhibited wherever we were.  As we drove into each city, we saw American flags everywhere.  Almost every hotel or gas station we passed had a sign wishing America well.  We drove under hundreds of overpasses with banners hung over the highway which read “God bless America”.  We listened to hours and hours of Talk Radio.  Nationwide, people were calling into voice their opinions as to what America’s plan of action should be.  Although these opinions varied widely of course, there was one common theme – an unyielding, impenetrable will to survive and to defend this country – a nation which must be defended for the good of mankind.

We are on the New Jersey Turnpike now, passing the New York City Skyline as we hit our final stretch home.  Something is clearly missing from the skyline downtown.  Although this tragedy was the only thing I’ve thought about for the past three days, it still seemed like it was just a terrible nightmare – until this very moment.  The massive Twin Towers, which I had always cherished as a teen, no longer soared above the rest of the city.  They were gone.
 
When I was younger, I was an avid photographer and would take pictures of the Towers constantly, as well as take pictures of NYC from the top of them.  As a young, single man living in NYC, I would take my dates to Little Italy for dinner and then go to the Observation Deck of the Twin Towers at night.  The city glistened from there.  Every young person has their own way of creating their romantic moments.  This was mine.  The Towers will always have a special place in my heart.

As we come upon the final hour our trip, we are listening to some music on the radio.  We hear “Imagine” by John Lennon and “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson.  I listen to the words and wonder whether the world can truly “live as one” and whether we can all, in fact, work together to “make it a better place”.  I don’t know if we can, but I know we can’t stop trying…for our kids, for our future generations.  We must persevere.

We should all offer our friendship and our prayers to those directly impacted by this tragedy.  Donate blood, support the economy, do whatever you can to help.  Explain to your children that good things will ultimately come from this horrific event.  Tell them America will respond and will become stronger.

I sit here typing on an American-made computer, in an American car, listening to people and music from across the U.S.A.  I’ve been reminded of something on this trip, as most of us have started to realize the past few days…something many of us unfortunately take for granted.  This country has more to offer than any place on earth.  Beyond all of the natural beauty of this land, each individual has the freedom to practice religion, to pursue his or her goals, to communicate with their neighbors openly, to live their life the way they see fit.  Stand tall America, and hold your head up high.  Be proud to be an American, for America truly is beautiful.
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Few more weeks to go

8/5/2013

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I just emailed my manuscript into a digital converter house to be uploaded on to all of the various ebook distribution platforms including Smashwords, Barnes and Noble (Nook), Amazon (kindle), Kobo, Diesel, Sony and more.  I never knew there so was so much work involved AFTER I finished writing my manuscript!  

Once the book is complete, it needs to be converted into different file formats depending on the digital eBook distribution platform. Some sites require .epub, some require .mobi and some require .doc.  If the book isn't formatted corrected, then it won't work at all, and I also wouldn't be able to get Premium Status, which enables me to get into the Smaswords premium catalog. (basically means nobody would see it.)

So this has been quite a long process.  I never thought that a two week trek in the Himalayas to go to the summit of Kala Patthar and Mount Everest Base Camp would turn into an almost ten year journey, but it has.  And it has been quite rewarding in the process...particularly the last eight months.  I have spent 40 hours per week in the library or in my basement writing my manuscript, and then editing, and then reading it, and then starting all over, time and time again.  I need a vacation, but definitely not a trekking vacation:)

So where do I go from here?  Well, I figure I will spend a few weeks trying to heavily promote the book, sending it to various places to try to get some exposure, promoting it through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and plenty of other social conduits.  When this is all done, I need to decide the next path for me.

A few people have asked whether or not I would I do it again?  Well, possibly.  I'm going to wait and see how this all turns out.  I have a few other ideas for future books, one of them an historical fiction and another non-fiction.  I think both would make for great reads.

First, I need a little break.

I plan on updating all of you every few weeks as to the status of the success (or lack thereof) of The Trek.  I urge anyone who has any questions about self-publishing, or trekking - whether in the Himalayas, or any high mountain summits in the United States - to please get in touch with me and ask away.

Thanks for reading my blog and staying connected.

-David





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    David Schachne.  Author of The Trek and author of this blog.

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