Dave Volek goes for a peaceful revolution with his books about Tiered Democratic Governance, including Circles of a Future Politician: How an Average American Saves America. Dave's using the novel format to get the word out about a political system that works from the bottom up, instead of the other way around. That's something that could make for dry reading.

But it's also an idea that wouldn't appeal to people who profit from the top side down system, so I shouldn't have been surprised that this book, the third in a series, starts out with an assassination.

https://www.amazon.com/Circles-Future-Politician-Average-American-ebook/dp/B09QLFCM8C

The idea is fairly easy to follow, so although I haven't read the second book, it wasn't hard to pick up. This time we follow Eli Weasel and friends on the Tankosin Indiana Reservation, as they attempt their own version of the TDC idea. It's progressed slowly for the group, until other events challenge them to get more active. The story follows them for the next few years, as the concept gains popularity both on the Reservation and in nearby communities. Dave means to challenge the readers' thinking about government and, if read with an open and serious mind, it does.

The story is meant to guide the reader through the theory and the process of building a TDG, so of course there are scenes that move more deliberately than you'd normally expect in a novel. I was more surprised about some scenes of excellent writing, following Eli's thought processes as he goes about his normal life in addition to his efforts to improve his community. It's hard to balance out a book like this, but Dave makes it work--and gives us something to think about.

The author and I don't see eye to eye on every political issue ... but that doesn't make him wrong this time.

You can read a slightly different version of this blog on the newsletter:

https://mailchi.mp/0baf142adc82/our-new-book-is-out?e=2b1e842057

 Or, you may gotten the newsletter three days ago, in which case ... never mind. But don't forget our author appearance this coming Saturday at the Art and Author Fair, which you can read all about here:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2022/04/were-coming-to-kendallvilles-art-and.html 

And now, back to our regularly scheduled blog. 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, this might get complicated.

As all fourteen of my regular readers know, my first published novel was Storm Chaser. When my publisher, Whiskey Creek Press, heard I was writing some short stories to promote the book, they offered to print them as a separate collection. That was the unfortunately titled Storm Chaser Shorts. I'm explaining that because chances are you haven't read it.

Storm Chaser sold so well Whiskey Creek Press published a sequel, The Notorious Ian Grant, which I personally think is even better. Later we self published The No-Campground Girls, which is set in the same universe and includes some of the same characters.

Then Whiskey Creek Press was bought out by a larger publisher. They continued to offer the books for sale, but otherwise forgot them and never reduced the prices even years later--prices I thought were too high for an unknown author to begin with.

In addition, Storm Chaser Shorts suffered from being too short for my publisher to do a print version, and many of my readers prefer print. Sales were poor, like me.

Eventually I got the rights back for all three works, which is why you can no longer find the e-book versions for sale. The new publisher still offers the print versions, despite the signed paperwork reverting the rights to me.

I told you it was complicated.

Our plan: to reissue all three books independently, with new covers and a lower price. We got delayed by COVID and other issues, but ....

Wait for it ....

This is also going to take some explaining.

The original title for the short story collection was no good, and I now refer to it as "The short story collection title that must not be named". I can see some browsing customer now:

"Wait ... Storm Chaser Shorts? Is that, like, padded underwear for storm chasers? Is it for protection, or scared bladders? Do they make them in boxers?"

So for our reissue we changed the name, and Emily designed a new cover, but wait--there's more!

We wanted a print version, and, if the original was too short for that ... let's make it longer! So we did. And now you can order either the print or electronic versions on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YGJ1XR6

In fact, the new version, Storm Squalls, is almost twice as long as the Shorts. Of the sixteen stories, six are original to this new edition (they tend to run longer than the originals, too).  Seven of the stories take place before the events of the original Storm Chaser, while three aren't set in the timeline, so if you haven't read any of the Storm Chaser books you can still check those out. Sadly, it looks like we won't have the books available in time for the April 30 author appearance, but we'll have a pre-order sheet for anyone who stops by.

This is getting lengthy, so I'll talk more about it in a later blog. But just so you know, later this year we'll reissue Storm Chaser and The Notorious Ian Grant, also at a lower price. Hope you'll check them out!

You can read a somewhat more embellished version of this announcement on the newsletter:

https://mailchi.mp/c66094d4e0c6/were-headed-for-the-kendallville-art-and-author-fair

 Looks like we're set up for our first author appearance since December of 2019!

We took a short COVID break, don't you know ... which stretched into two years. The Art and Author Fair in Kendallville also took a COVID break, as did just about everyone, but it's back on April 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Art and Author Fair will be at the Kendallville Community Learning Center this year, and will feature art ... and authors. Hey, I just figured out where they got the name. If you're an artist or author and want to be a vendor, go here:

https://www.kendallvillelibrary.org/art-and-author-fair-10323

 Now, that's vendor, not bender--contrary to tradition, a good artist does not have to go on benders.

Um ... just a sec.

As I was saying, it's at 401 E. Diamond Street in Kendallville, of course. You can't miss it, unless you're on a different street. The CLC supports a bunch of good work for the area, including the Kendallville Public Library, which remains the host of the fair. Speaking of which, the Facebook page for the Art and Author Fair is here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/7037120029694075

 I don't know yet if Emily can make it due to work commitments, but I'll be there with bells on. (Not really--that didn't go over well last time, in the library.) More info to come!

Dennis Smith passed away a couple of weeks ago, but I got sidetracked by weather stuff in writing about it.

As I've said before, the term "hero" gets thrown around way too much these days, and often at people who haven't earned the title. There are many people I admire who aren't heroes. Those who truly are heroes will insist they are not.

Dennis Smith was a hero.

He didn't look like a hero. Heroes rarely do.

He was an author of sixteen books and otherwise led a successful life, but what made him a hero is the eighteen years he spent as a firefighter for the City of New York. He took the oath in 1963, and a few years later transferred to Engine Company 82: The busiest single fire company in New York and, it's believed, the busiest one in the world at the time.

He didn't retire for another ten years after his first book, Report From Engine Co. 82, became a best seller. In 1976 he founded Firehouse Magazine, which became the most popular periodical for firefighters in the world, and he was a civic leader in many other areas. He was an advocate for firefighters, and even produced a series of training videos.

Then, on September 11, 2001--almost twenty years after he retired--Dennis Smith showed up at Ground Zero to assist his brothers and sisters. He spent 57 days helping with rescue and recovery efforts, later chronicled in Report From Ground Zero.

He didn't have to. But see, that's what a hero is: Someone who does something for others, despite risks to their own selves, when they don't have to.

I became interested in firefighting in my late teens, and there were few books on the subject at our local library. One was Report From Engine Co. 82. I read it over and over, of course, then I went searching for his other books.

He had a spare, matter of fact style of writing, and when he told stories about his work in the FDNY he didn't brag: He just told what happened, straight out. The risks they take, the injuries they received, are shocking to the reader, but just another day for Dennis and his coworkers.

Dennis Smith influenced me as both a writer and a firefighter, and I'm forever grateful to have that influence in my life. Rest In Peace, Firefighter Smith. If anyone earned it, you did.

From Wikipedia:

Dennis Smith has written sixteen books in his career, among them:

• Report from Engine Co. 82
• Final Fire
• Glitter & Ash
• Steely Blue
• History of Firefighting in America
• The Aran Islands – A Personal Journey
• Firehouse (accompanying photographs by Jill Freedman)
• Dennis Smith's Fire Safety Book
• Firefighters – Their Lives in Their Own Words
• A Song for Mary
• Report from Ground Zero
• San Francisco Is Burning – The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires
• A Decade of Hope – Stories of Grief and Endurance from 9/11 Families and Friends
• Of Love and Courage

For children:

• The Little Fire Engine That Saved The City
• Brassy the Fire Engine

 I embarked on a fun experiment at the end of November, and by fun I mean it wasn't much fun, and by experiment I mean I had no idea what I was doing.

One of my goals has been to increase book sales, a goal for most authors. The problem is, when it comes to sales an author is competing with--well, almost all those other authors. Writers don't like to think of themselves as being in competition. Writing can be tough, and selling--well, that's way worse. So we support other writers, because we know just how hard it can be.

That doesn't change the fact that there are only so many readers, seemingly fewer all the time ... and a lot of those readers are writers. They can read only so many books--I only managed about a dozen or so last year. So, while we'd like all authors to succeed, we all have to fight to be heard ... I mean, read.

Social media, once a great way to get the word out, has in the last few years bombed. Why? Because the people who run social media sites have realized they can get money from people who are trying to get the word out. As a result, they've changed things around so that an author finds it almost impossible to reach people on the internet, unless they pony up some cash, first.

And most of us can't afford a pony.

"Wait ... no ponies?"

So I tried promotion websites, and I tried Facebook Ads. Both gave me a few more sales, but not enough to justify the money I spent. Here's a fun fact, kids: If you spend more on advertising than you make in sales, it's bad. (It does sometimes work in the short term, like those "loss leaders" offered in stores.)

And so I turned to Amazon Ads.

Honestly, I'd rather sell direct, through our website or an independent bookstore. I'd also rather eat chocolate for all meals and be 25 years old again, forever. But never mind that--in this case we're talking about Amazon, the Godzilla of online selling. (I've heard Apple is the second biggest online bookseller.)

Figuring out how to run an Amazon ad is hard.

I mean, driving in a NASCAR race when you've never actually driven at all hard.

I had to learn about impressions, clicks, targeting, keywords, and, most important of all, ACOS.

That means Advertising Cost of Sales. In other words, how much does it cost you to sell a book? If ACOS is over 100, you're spending more money on ads than the book itself sells for. This is bad. If your ACOS is right at 100 you're still in trouble, because Amazon takes a cut--you're still spending more than your' making. The best number is right around 30, give or take, so you're making at least a little money.

I decided to experiment with my latest published novel, Coming Attractions. I set up an Amazon ad for the book, which hasn't sold a single copy through Amazon since November--of 2020.

On November 27 of 2021, my Coming Attractions e-book Amazon rating was 2,931,646. That's almost three million books selling better than mine. On November 28, the rating was 264,568.   It peaked on New Year's Eve at 63,798. That was the book's highest Amazon ranking ever, including when it was first published--when I labored long hours to publicize it.

 My goal for last year was to sell an average of one copy of our books every day. It didn't happen. In December it did: 37 e-book copies and two print copies of Coming Attractions, and one copy of The No-Campfire Girls sold in a little over thirty days. Here's what it looked like:

After a few weeks of joy and celebration I checked my numbers, and what I found made me very unhappy.

I was indeed selling a lot of books, but when I checked the ACOS, I learned that for every 99 cent e-book I sold, I was spending almost nine dollars to advertise it. This, for those of you who don't care to do the math, is unsustainable, unless you're a millionaire who's not concerned about spending money. I'm not a millionaire. I don't think I'm even a thousandaire.

So, like any sharp businessman, I panicked.

I spent the next several days tweaking all the details, including the list of terms I mentioned earlier. My sales dropped, but as of the first full weekend of January I've gotten my ACOS down to 56%. For me that's about breaking even, so still not great, but at least I'm not bleeding money. They don't make bandages for that.

I'm going to try again, of course, this time going in a little wiser. I haven't decided whether to try one of my other published books, or wait until the next new one comes along, but for once in my life I haven't been cowed by math. Much. I should add that most people who use Amazon ads say it's pretty common to have high ACOS ... ACOS's? ... at first, although I suspect my early numbers would have made them faint.

If you decide to try it, my best advise is to learn everything you possibly can about the process, first. The homework might save you some cash. How have you other authors been doing in your sales attempts? Any tips?

Don't make me send the Santa Mafia after you. They're always present.

 

So that’s my pitch, and if you spread the word I promise I’ll continue to be funny and entertaining. 

Okay, I’ll try.

 

 Ordinarily, rather than posting the details from my newsletter here, I post a link to the newsletter and beg you to subscribe. But this is the announcement of our newest project, so I figured I'd give everyone a heads up.  Just the same, subscribe to the newsletter! The link is here:

Our new project goes back to the Storm Chaser universe! Well, kind of new. Back in 2011 my first published book, Storm Chaser, wasn't out yet when I mentioned to my editor that I was writing related short stories, which I planned to post to generate interest in the book. Much to my surprise, my publisher offered to put them together into a collection, which became my second published book: Storm Chaser Shorts. The title is my fault. It was a working title and I never really liked it, but I couldn't come up with anything better. The collection of stories came out exactly one year after Storm Chaser, on June 1, 2012. A lot of people don't know that. A whole lot of people. The problem is, I'd generated local and regional interest in Storm Chaser, and as a result I made a lot of direct paperback sales myself. I couldn't do that with Storm Chaser Shorts, which was so short my publisher felt they couldn't justify a print version. So it was e-book only, and I had trouble generating sales among print book lovers. "So ... what happened next? Don't leave us in suspense!" Fast forward several years. Sales for my first three books lessened, and although they'd been out for awhile my publisher had them at the same price--which in my opinion was too high, especially for Storm Chaser Shorts, which was, after all ... short. I decided to get the rights for all three back, so I could publish my own editions of them. And by "I" I mean my wife, who has the talent to actually do that kind of stuff. It was a huge struggle to make contact with anyone at my publishing house, which by then had been taken over by a larger publisher that put the e-book versions on the Simon and Schuster webpage. There they were generally forgotten. It took a couple of years, but now they're mine again (although for some reason they're still up on the S&S website). We'd meant to publish new versions in their original order, but the story collection seemed so neglected we decided to go there first. The stories mostly took place before or just after the original Storm Chaser, so to a certain extent it's a prequel, anyway. Not for long, though, because the new printing will include several related stories I wrote and posted for the fans over the years. In addition--and here's the big news: Storm Squalls--formerly Storm Chaser Shorts, which always made me think of someone wearing swim trunks--will include a brand new, never before seen 6,000 word short story! And a price drop! (Well, for the e-book version. You can't reduce what never had a price to begin with.)

And a new cover because, well, the cover art doesn't belong to me. I don't know what the new art will look like, but Emily will as soon as she's created it. So let's review: As soon as Emily has recovered from her knee surgery enough to concentrate on it, we'll be putting together a short story collection with a reduced price, new cover, more material, and a brand new short story. It will be renamed Storm Squalls ... or Storm Showers ... I can't remember what we decided on at the moment, and Emily's asleep. But stand by! We'll be announcing more as the release date gets closer. And happy autumn! Okay, I may hate fall ... but maybe some of you don't. http://markrhunter.com/ https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 Some books just shout out for me to read them. In this case, my main attraction to Putting Out Old Flames was the number of parallels between it and my own first novel, Storm Chaser. Both have male protagonists named Chance who are also firefighters (although mine is a volunteer); both have characters who, like me, are emergency dispatchers; both are set in small Midwest towns (mine in northern Indiana, this one in Michigan). They even both climax with a desperate car ride.

 Both are also romances (mine's a romantic comedy). It's a good thing to keep in mind, because no matter how good Putting Out Old Flames is--and it is good--it remains in the romance genre. If you don't like romances and are determined to remain a non-fan, then this obviously isn't for you. If you do, then follow the link for the requisite quirky characters and steamy sex scenes.

https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Out-Old-Flames-Pineville-ebook/dp/B0912VJ86T

 Jane Willoughby is our heroine, 911 dispatcher and confirmed single since her high school boyfriend broke up with her--via greeting card. Novelty greeting card. Jane has been put in charge of organizing a charity fireman's ball, and she discovers the hard way that her partner in the job is Pineville's new Assistant Fire Chief, Chance McGovern, who doesn't really seem all that sorry for the horrible way they parted.

The old attraction is there, but Jane is still, and justifiably, angry with her former lover. Chance has just survived a rocky divorce, and is trying to find some stability for himself and his four year old son. They're both older and wiser, and the town is actively rooting for them. But she needs to learn to forgive, and he needs to apologize--a LOT. Of course, complications ensue, among them Chance's ex-wife and sister, and Jane's rule-breaking hippie mother.

 It's a fun story, if sometimes frustrating (Apologize, already!), and worth the read. For those wondering, Allyson doesn't make any major mistakes in her portrayal of 911 dispatcher or firefighters, and for that I'm thankful. Jane doesn't seem as stressed as I am on the job, though.

(I received this book as an Advanced Reading Copy, in exchange for an honest review. Believe me, if I didn't like it--you'd know!)