Two Gun Hart - Prologue

Two Gun Hart

Prologue

Four men sat drinking and gambling at a lone, oak table in the lobby of the only hotel in Walthill, Nebraska. It was a small crossroads town left over from the old west. The hotel had once been its brothel complete with an overhanging balcony where the ladies plied their trade. The town sat within the borders of the Omaha Indian Reservation, a train stop from which to transport corn to Sioux City, and little had ever happened since its construction. It was primarily a place for white and Indian farmers to congregate, purchase supplies, and socialize before returning to their farms and ranches in the surrounding hills of northeastern Nebraska.

There was little to do in this quiescent section of the prairie, which made gathering at the hotel to gamble and buy drinks a popular pastime, despite the fact that both were illegal. Anti-gambling laws had never been heavily enforced, and went primarily unnoticed by the populace, who saw it as a common entertainment. In most places imbibing alcohol was not itself illegal. The recent passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, backed by the passage of the Volstead Act to enforce it, had outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and selling of alcohol. It said nothing of its consumption.

However, laws on Indian reservations had gone farther, prohibiting consumption of alcohol within reservation borders. Ever since the introduction of alcohol into their cultures, many American Indian tribes struggled with alcoholism, and the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment had inspired a movement to dry up their populations. While most of the rest of the country regarded Prohibition as government overreach, it was a godsend for Indians who desperately needed to overcome what was, in effect, a cultural illness.

These restrictions caused people in the area who wanted to drink to look upon bootleggers, who transported alcohol, and moonshiners, who manufactured it on nearby ranches and farms, as heroes. They were willing to pay many times the amount they had previously paid for a single glass of beer or flask of whiskey. Oftentimes it was not clear what they were drinking. The concoctions moonshiners put together barely resembled beverages before Prohibition when it had been regulated. Now a drink could be almost anything. Thus it was often dangerous, not only because it was illegal, but the homemade alcohol sometimes resulted in a poisonous mix.

But such dangers didn’t stop men from gathering at the hotel and partaking of what the moonshiners smuggled in from stills they had hidden in the fields and ravines outside of town, or what bootleggers had driven in from distant regions. Purchases were discreet, but drinking was in the open. The law seemed far away and they would have plenty of warning if they saw those who enforced it coming.

So the four men who were gambling did as men always did at the Walthill Hotel, they sat their glasses on the table where everyone could see, making no attempt to hide what they were doing.

One of the men, who had a thick-set jaw and wide nose and wearing dusty overalls, was new to town. He was a migrant worker, like so many who had come through the area. The northbound train out of Omaha passed by on its way to Homer, and then on to Sioux City, Iowa, where a lot of drifters traveled to work. Though clearly a white man, the stranger’s skin had an olive complexion, something he explained as evidence of his Indian heritage and his constant work outdoors. Aside from clarifying this one mystery, he spoke little, mostly listening and watching the others at the table and studying them.

The others, men who knew one another, talked about their lives their families, eventually turning to the subject of the drink they were sharing. The one who had made it disclosed its name, what was in it, and how he had brewed it.

The stranger in the dusty overalls abruptly stood. “You’re all under arrest,” he said sternly enough for them to know he wasn’t kidding.

They looked at him surprised, but no one moved. Something in his voice made it clear he was not to be trifled with, and they knew they were going to jail. He might even be armed, and none of them wanted to get into a gunfight. Everyone in Nebraska had heard of the notorious lawman, a master of disguise who carried two pistols and could outshoot anyone. It was obvious to all the people in the room, who were now staring at him, that this was that famous Prohibition officer.

Then the man said something strange. “Now I know who all of you are, and where you all live, so don’t you go anywhere or I’ll go find you. I’m going to be right back, so stay here.” Then he left the room and walked up the stairs and out of sight.

The three men sat dumbfounded at the table, unguarded and unwatched. Others in the room who were not under arrest stared at the men to see what they would do. Aside from looking at each other, none of them moved. Where would they go? They knew the stranger was probably telling the truth. There weren’t many places to hide, and he likely did know where they lived, especially after they had been talking for some time. He had listened to their entire conversation and knew everything about the booze that was being made and consumed in town. They didn’t want any more trouble, so none of them tried to escape. None of them even budged from their seats. They just waited in the uncomfortable silence.

They were still seated when they heard footsteps on the mahogany stairs again, this time much thicker than before, sounding almost like a hammer coming down on each step accompanied by a faint clang. A pair of cowboy boots complete with spurs and embossed with a heart appeared, followed by white pants, a white button-down shirt, and finally, a tall ten gallon cowboy hat. Strapped to his waist were two ivory-handled six shooters. He looked like he had walked straight out of a silent western movie. This was the man they suspected; this was “Two Gun” Hart.

Little did anyone know that Officer Hart kept a secret bigger than anyone could imagine. His real name was Vincenzo Capone, and his brother Al was the most infamous criminal in the world.

If you'd like to learn more about Two Gun Hart or read the entire book, go to: http://www.bandwagononline.com/Two-Gun-Hart.html

Review of What Worked for Two Gun Hart

Now more than six months after the release of Two Gun Hart, it’s time to review what worked and what did not with its release and promotion.  I point out six months because that’s typically the amount of time after a book’s release that promotions last before it is labeled a “backlisting.”

It’s hard to believe it’s been that long as it seems like it just came out.  But the time has flown by because I did so much for it; and yet it feels like there’s been so little result, or at least far less than there should have been.

The promotional plan was broken into four parts, each lasting three months, so I’ll go through each one here.

6-4 months before release:  The plan was to give people an idea of the story; sort of get them primed, if you will.  I did this by promoting the sister book, The Great Heist.  This had one chapter in it that covers Two Gun Hart, and the idea was to get people curious about it.  I also used this time to get it to reviewers so they’d be done with it by release.  This worked moderately well.  The Great Heist was difficult to sell as people didn’t know me or the book, and it would have probably done better just to give it away for free.  I did have a free giveaway for the Kindle at one time, which I think did the best good, but it would have been better to get it into more hands.  As for reviews, a lot more people promised to review it than came through.

3-0 months before release:  This was the big period where I tried to generate interest and did a pre-release.  Most importantly, I tried to get onto every radio show I could and to speak on every blog and podcast that would have me.  I also tried to get as much press coverage as possible.  I wanted everyone to buy during this time because all pre-buys would count as having released on the day of release, thus giving me the best chance of a best-seller.  I worked all day practically every day sending out press releases, emails, calling places, etc.  One press release I sent out got picked up by stations all across the country, but they all talked about the story and few even mentioned the book.  As for radio stations, especially NPR, I was mostly ignored.  Since I wasn’t a major publisher, they didn’t care.  As for fellow independent bloggers and Youtubers, there was silence.  Some even said they wouldn’t have anything to do with self-publishers, which is funny since they are self-publishers.

0-3 months after release:  My celebration of the release was to go and talk at as many places as possible.  This was mostly in Nebraska and Iowa where I had a tour with the Hart family.  Everywhere we went had a large reception, and everyone bought the book.  This was the best time of sales.  Any time I could directly talk to people, they were fascinated with the story and immediately wanted a copy.  Radio stations in Nebraska and Iowa had me on… scratch that, in Lincoln and Iowa had me on.  Omaha and most of the rest of Nebraska ignored me.  Strangely, Omaha is very much uninterested in independent endeavors; you can tell by the fact that few independent stores are anywhere in the city.  As for bookstores, only a few would take the book.  Even independent bookstores would say that since it’s an independent book, they weren’t interested, all the time not recognizing their hypocrisy.  I did manage to get it into the Barnes & Noble system and a few stores bought it, but not many.  There were a couple of the ones that have always been supportive of me, such as A Novel Idea and The Bookworm, both of whom had signings for me.  And then there were a few other stores that opened up to me since I had it printed through Ingram Spark which made them returnable.  But I only made a little bit above what it cost me to have them printed through that company.  I’m not sure that even includes the listing I paid for that went out in Ingram’s catalogue that supposedly goes to bookstores everywhere.

4-6 months after release:  I learned along the way that a lot of clubs, such as Rotaries, want authors to come speak, especially if they wrote about an interesting non-fiction subject.  The bookstores were often empty when I went to speak at them, but organized events were typically pretty full, so I gave it a try with a new visit to Nebraska.  This has worked better, with the captive audiences always enthralled, and almost everyone buying a copy of the book.  It’s a bit inefficient, however, as I have to go to each one, and after a two week trip to Nebraska, I just barely paid for my flight there and back.  I also learned to sell the book at specific markets that are interested in this sort of thing.

All in all I learned two important lessons.  First, the way to sell a non-fiction book is through personal interaction.  If you have an interesting subject, people will want to hear the story, see the pictures, then they’ll give it a chance.  It’s a good idea to have elements from the book, such as pictures, clips, and evidence of what you’re talking about, so people can see for themselves that this is true and fascinating.

And second, I learned why someone said something I read a while back.  He said that he published his fiction independently and his non-fiction through major publishers.  I didn’t understand why at the time, but now I do.  For non-fiction to sell, you need the aid of news and radio organizations to give you some legitimacy.  There aren’t as many online locations to build interest in your work.  There’s also a stigma with non-fiction in self-publishing.  People believe that if it’s traditionally published, it’s gone through a gambit of editors who are checking on its accuracy.  This is not true, as editors with big houses are looking for what is profitable, not what’s true; and the idea that they’re checking over your accuracy is a myth.  In fact, traditionally published books are less likely to be accurate because of their motivation to make money.  But most people don’t know this, so they’re only likely to buy a traditionally published non-fiction book.  To add to all of this, most history readers are themselves traditionalists, and are more afraid of technology than embracing it, so it’s very hard to reach your audience.

Fiction, on the other hand, has a lot of readers who are likely to try something new, especially in the areas of science fiction and fantasy.  As a result, I’ll be focusing my efforts on releasing and promoting Relic Worlds and my fantasy story, then doing non-fiction on the side from now on.  It’s unfortunate, but I want to make a living writing, and if readers, and especially the media, refuse to see the value in independent non-fiction, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Two Gun Hart Documentary

It occurred to me that I probably have not posted my own documentary about Two Gun Hart.  I've been using this as a 10 minute promo.  (The original documentary had stuff about Al as well.)

Here's the 1 minute version:

I Will Be Giving a Talk at the Burbank Central Library Today at 7:00

I will be speaking at the Burbank Central Library today regarding my newly released book Two Gun Hart, the true story of Al Capone's long-lost brother who was a Prohibition officer in Nebraska.  He was also a cowboy, complete with two six-shooters by his side, cowboy hat, and horse.  He was a war hero during World War I, a stuntman in a Wild West show, and a BIA agent who learned the language of every American Indian tribe with which he worked.

Discounted copies of the book will be available for sale, and I will be signing copies.

This long-lost brother's son Harry will appear via video, along with a short documentary I made about the subject.  The event starts at 7:00.  Below is the information for the event, so come on down!

http://www.burbanklibrary.com/event/2015/mar/author-visit-jeff-mcarthur

In the Final Stretch to Release

I missed a week of describing my promotional efforts because I've been so busy getting everything done for the big, last push.  I'm in the final stretch now, just over a week before the book releases.  I've always known that March 1st to release day would be a huge time filled with a lot of work, and I'm now there.  I had hoped to be able to record it in this blog, but when you're author, publisher, promoter, distributor, etc., you have to make priorities.

The big issue is the fact that this is a merging point between pre-release promotions release promotions, and post-release promotions.  I cannot push back anything that needs to happen before release, and I need to promote things that are timely with the release.  Plus, I need to do post-release promotions on a schedule.  So everything gets jammed into this one period of time without any room for adjustment.

Additionally, all distribution has to happen now.  Many places won't consider the book once it's already been released, and if other places have already started selling it.  Therefore, most distribution has to happen at the same time.  I've been setting this up for a long time, but some elements were not ready until recently, or they got pushed back due to other things that needed to get done, like reviews.

It's finally getting under control, and I'm wrapping up the majority of promotions for Two Gun Hart.  I had to have most things done a couple weeks before release, so the week before will include mostly just contacting some news organizations, and telling the public about the release; so I'll be able to take some time to describe in greater detail what I did to promote and distribute this book since I won't be too busy doing it.

I'll be starting these blogs tomorrow, and will release them each day for the next couple weeks.  I might forget some details, but hopefully it will be enough to help anyone who might read this in the future.