Pro Bono Hardcover Now Available

Pro Bono was sort of my first "real book."  I had already done The Table of Truth before then, and had even printed a picture book of my movie Stolen Souls.  But Pro Bono was the first book that I really promoted and distributed.  It's where I learned how to do everything.  Thus, I got a lot of things wrong in the post-promotional period.  Still, it's remained my top selling book.

One thing I really wanted to do, but I had no idea how to do it, was make a hardcover version.  I couldn't do it on Createspace, where I do most of my publishing, so it went by the wayside for a while.  Then I discovered that I could do hardcovers on Lulu.  The problem was that by the time I got around to figuring that out, I had moved on to other projects.  So I've been trying to find time to do this ever since.

Meanwhile, as I was going to various talks, readings, and signings, people shared with me their memories of the Starkweather murder spree, and the ensuing trials.  I got more and more information, including an entire other case where the district attorney falsely accused another man of murder, and that man later sued the state for hundreds of thousands of dollars for it.  This other case was being appealed at the same time as the Fugate one, and the man's lawyers were often in the same courtroom just before or after my grandfather and father tried their cases.  I got more about this, and other elements of the story, out of my dad in the months after the Pro Bono paperback came out.

So now the hardcover is available here on Lulu:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/jeff-mcarthur/pro-bono-the-18-year-defense-of-caril-ann-fugate/hardcover/product-21985962.html

January Update of Promotions

Two Gun Hart has been available for pre-order for a month now and I’ve been doing all the pre-release publicity for it.  Every day it’s been going out to various locations to get attention for it.  Since we’ve been in the first of three months of promotions, I’ve been primarily focusing on places that need time to have an effect.  They include the following:

Reviews:  I went down the list of reviewers on The Indie View (http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers/) and I listed each one that showed some interest in non-fiction historical.  (Oddly enough, it’s a very small number.  Most on The Indie View are interested in sci fi and fantasy.)  I then went through each one on that list and followed their submission policy, sending the book when requested.  I was not very picky, but I weeded out any that I figured wouldn’t have much of an interest.  There was one, also, that I weeded out because her instructions were written in a way that can only be described as “bitchy.”  She almost seemed to be daring someone to ask her for a review.  I’m not afraid of bad reviews, but I don’t have time for people who have a bad attitude from the outset.  I also sent the book to several select places that would be interested in this subject, such as the Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska, and a couple places in Chicago.  One of my next steps is to send it to newspapers and other places with reviewers and hope that it can get reviewed in time.

Speaking Engagements:  I’ve contacted a number of bookstores and libraries to have talks after the book releases.  I’ll be having an event here in Burbank when the book releases in March.  I’ll then be heading to Nebraska and Iowa in April, and will have an event in Chicago in May.  I’ll then be speaking in San Francisco near the end of May, and will have a couple more events in Nebraska and one in Austin in October.  Several places are lined up, but I’ll have more specifics later on.  In trying to plan these, I’ve discovered that a lot of locations prefer to have multiple authors do readings/signings at the same time, as individual ones don’t usually bring in crowds unless they’re somehow a celebrity.  As such, I’ve been trying to emphasize the fact that I’ll be coming with the son of Richard Hart, (and nephew of Al Capone,) via Skype.

Interviews:  I’ve been following up former leads to do interviews; people who have asked me to let them know when this specific book was coming out.  I wanted to make sure they had the first opportunity to get the story before anyone else.  One of the podcasts, Outlaw Radio, will have an interview with me the weekend before it releases, (March 14.)

Goodreads giveaway:  I began a Goodreads giveaway that will end on February 1^st.  I will then get the book to those who won it so they can start talking about it.

Press release:  I did a press release through PRWeb and got a very good response.  Tens of thousands saw it, and close to 5,000 read the article.  Then a few hundred ran the story.  It said simply in the headline “Al Capone Had Long Lost Brother Who was Prohibition Officer”.  That caught a lot of people’s attention, so it was easy to do.  This is a story that is easy to sell to news stations because it is real news.  The difficult part is then converting readers of those stories into buyers of the book.  It also helped that I purchased the $250 level from PRWeb, which expanded the viewership.  The only problem is that few people seem to have purchased the book after the story ran.  I’m thinking it might have been a little too far away from the release date.  I’ll probably run one more story, this one focusing on his involvement in getting the money back from the largest bank robbery in history, closer to the release date.  This time I’ll probably just use the $100 release.

Preparing for Bookstores:  I’ve been studying what needs to happen to get books into bookstores.  The main ingredient is getting it listed with Ingram Spark.  Ingram Spark makes it sellable at bookstores because it will take returns.  This unfortunately means I have to pay $150 to register with Ingram Spark, and another $125 for an ISBN.  This ISBN can only be used for one format, so I chose to have it be hardcover.  That way the hardcover will sell at bookstores,  the paperback will be available through Amazon, and the ebook will be available through Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Smashwords, Apple, Google, etc.

Physical pre-orders:  So far, Amazon only allows ebooks to be pre-ordered.  However, I want people to be able to purchase hard copies in pre-order.  Therefore, I’m going to be having a Kickstarter campaign which is not intended to raise money for the book, but rather to have a place where people can order paperbacks and hardbacks.  Getting the orders through Ingram Spark is expensive and difficult, so the books for this campaign are being printed through Lulu.  It doesn’t come with a barcode, but books going through them are only intended for giveaway type situations.

So January comes to a close with the initial phases of beginning word of mouth being done.  Now it'll be time to start ramping up interest in the push to release.

Pre-Sales Have Begun

I have now been in phase 2 for almost a month.  This is the phase where I try to get people to purchase the book through pre-order.  This is a difficult task as people have to pay for something they don’t get right away; something I don’t like to do, let alone people in today’s instant gratification society.  I would normally agree with them and not bother with pre-orders, but, as I mentioned in my last entry, all sales in pre-orders go toward one day, and are more likely to put you in the bestseller list.

This isn’t so much of a prestige issue as it is a practical one.  Books on top 10 lists typically get far more sales.  Plus, when mixed with the fact that a lot of people are talking about the subject when it releases, others who then see it in the top 10 list feel like they have a history with it, and are more likely to buy.

So the way I go about achieving this goal is by appearing on as many media outlets as I can.  I made a huge list of radio, television, and newspaper locations, focusing primarily in Nebraska, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Austin.  (I’ll probably add Florida to that, now that I think about it.)  I’m sending out a general press release, then emailing them afterward so they hear about it through the release, then are reminded through the email.

This book in particular plays well to this specific type of promotion, as it’s a very newsworthy story.  A long-lost Capone hardly anyone knew about has finally been discovered, and he was one of the most successful lawmen in the country.  Headlines mean the most in this step.  I want to attract the producers and editors first so they’ll have me on their show.  Then the public will hear me.

I’m following this up with sending bits of information to bloggers and podcasters to get them to pick up something about the story.  During the first part of this phase, it’s less important for people to see where my book is available to buy, and more important for them to learn that the story exists.  If everything goes as planned, they’ll have heard about the real person so much that by the time they see the pre-order, they’re already sold on purchasing it.

#Presale #Promotions #independentpublishing #selfpublishing #amazon #barnesandnoble

Pre-Publicity Phase Complete

The first quarter of this year is fully dedicated to the book Two Gun Hart, which is about Al Capone’s long-lost brother, who was a Prohibition officer in Nebraska.  It releases March 20^th, and we are right now in the pre-sale stage.

There have been three stages to these promotions:

Pre-publicity – Where I get the first draft of galleys printed and sent to the people who will give it initial buzz, such as experts in the subject, listings, reviewers, and a few people who can give us blurbs to put on the book.

Pre-sale – Where the book is available for people to order so they’ll get it on the day it’s released.

Release – Where the book is available for sale, and I give talks and book signings.

The first stage was done during the last few months of 2014.  From 6-4 months before release, I gave out these early copies of the book to places that will list it, such as Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and ForeWord Reviews, as well as some places that will want to review it early.  As I mentioned earlier, it also went to people who could give it early buzz, such as experts, and people who have followings relevant to the book.  Many of these people I want to get blurbs from, but some of them I want to see it because they’ll start telling other people about it, and this was the point to start generating early buzz about it; just getting people to initially learn that the story, and soon the book, exist.  I’m also giving copies out to friends to put up reviews on Amazon.  The more that are up before the book releases, the better.  Reviews on Amazon, and on some other sites, are what sell a book more than any publicity can do.

In addition to all of this, I’ve begun spreading the word by putting up the cover on my own Facebook timeline as well as others’ groups.  There’s also an ad now running on Goodreads which gets close to 10,000 views a day.

All of this was just to get people talking.  That’s started, and now it’s time to move on to the next phase.  The book has gone onto pre-order as of Christmas Eve, so now the big work begins, getting everyone to pre-order.  The important part of this phase is to get people to make that purchase before it’s released.  The reason this is important is because all sales that happen during pre-order are considered as occurring on one day in relation to the bestseller lists, such as the ones in the New York Times and on Amazon.

#Prepublicity #Presales #Kindle #Amazon #Barnesandnoble 

My Big Push

This year is my big push.  One can always say that every year is their big push, and New Year resolutions are as cheap as paper and dissolve as easily, too.  But this year is a true make or break year for me.

For one thing, it marks my 20 year anniversary in southern California.  I’ll have been here longer than I’ve ever been anywhere before.  And it’s getting a bit ridiculous having struggled for so long and still not having a career.  The film career didn’t really go anywhere, (you can read more about that in my blog “Tales of a Failed Filmmaker”,) so now it’s on to the writing career.  I don’t want that to linger in the same way, so I placed a limit on it.  Succeed at writing, (or one of my other two possible careers: video producing or gaming,) or choose another career on which to live.

Don’t get me wrong.  My writing will always be there, and I’ll always have a passion for games and videos; but if, at the end of this year, I’m still having to supplement my income with a “day job,” then I will at last admit that I cannot succeed financially in any of my passions.  I know that others can, and I know that it’s possible; and I’m hoping that I will number among them as I want to be able to finish work and be done.  I’d rather not have one career job in the day, and try to cram all my passions into the evenings and weekends.  I’d rather do them during the day and have my free time be mine; with my family and friends.  But I can’t live like this forever, so I have to make things work now or surrender.

This year will tell.  This blog will follow that journey as I put my books together and try to promote them.  First up is Two Gun Hart, (about Al Capone’s long-lost brother who was a Prohibition officer in Nebraska,) which is currently in pre-order and will become available to the public March 20^th.  I will be touring after that, then going on to Relic Worlds the rest of the year.  (Relic Worlds is about an anthropologist searching for long-last alien relics.)  If you follow along, you can see how it goes.  I’ll be talking about other areas of this push in my other blogs:

Jeff McArthur

Relic Worlds

Tales of a Failed Filmmaker

Command Combat

#Ambition #Author #Independentpublishing #Independentfilmmaking #Gamedesign

Bringing Pick Your Path Books to E-Readers

When e-readers came out, it seemed that choose your own adventure style books would be an obvious choice.  Rather than having to go to a certain page that corresponds with your choice, you simply press a button.  It would be the book version of a video game.

It turns out, it wasn’t that easy.  Since there are no page numbers in e-readers, one cannot program the book to go to a certain page.  It has to be programmed in.

I met some people online who were making a program for this, and I joined them in creating content to go into their application.  Since I’m building on the Relic Worlds universe, I made three books that followed Lancaster and Little Jack.  The program turned out to be a failure for several reasons, but I had put so much time and effort into these, I didn’t want it all to go to waste.  So I set about finding a way to make them work with e-readers.

At first it was beyond me.  Their program had been quite complicated; an entire app dedicated to choose your own adventure style books.  I needed a programmer, or at least a pre-made template.  I looked high and low and couldn’t find anything.  The answer seemed so close, yet so far away.

Then I was talking with a friend of mine, Brent McKibbin, who’s a bit of a tech genius, and he said it was pretty simple.  All it took was making the various pages you needed to go to into chapter numbers.

You see, all e-readers have a table of contents page.  Each entry has a link to its corresponding chapter.  So you already have linking pages from there.  In a choose your own adventure style book, all you need to do is put those links in the choices readers make.

The first step, of course, was to create the choose your own adventure.  (I call mine Pick Your Path to avoid copyright infringement.)  I will be posting a blog with a link here at a later time going into detail about how I lay out and create a choose your own adventure style book.

Second, I lay it all out on the pages.  After every list of choices I have a page break.  At the start of every segment, I have a new page number.  I do not put page numbers on every page.  This makes finding them easier.  After writing the segment, I place the choices, providing the page numbers they correspond with.  This will, of course, become the paperback version, as the page numbers and choices with the page numbers will correspond correctly to a physical version of the book.  (Note, only place page breaks after choices.  Never place page breaks anywhere else.

Third, I select the first sentence of every segment and make it a chapter heading.  (I’ll put the technical aspects of this in another blog and connect it here.)  I title each chapter heading after its corresponding page number.  (Leave the page numbers there for now.)

Fourth, at every choice, I select the choice and link it to the page number it’s supposed to go to.  I then delete the page number listed after the choice.  (But I still leave the page numbers at the tops of every page.)

Fifth, When I have gone through and linked every choice with a page, I then delete every page number from the tops of every page.  Now, when a reader reads my book, they’ll go through the beginning, then reach the point where there are choices and it’ll stop.  The choices will be highlighted, and when the reader touches one of them, it’ll take them to that choice.

At this point, readers will be able to swipe to the next page past the choices.  This can be left there with an explanation at the beginning that readers aren’t supposed to do this.  However, it can be blocked through technical means.  This is a bit more complicated, which I’ll go into in the technical entry.

Early Vlogbrothers

I've been going through the history of the Vlogbrothers videos.  I think their work is important to study for anyone doing independent work in any field, (although, ironically, John Green has been critical of self-publishing, which I think is a bit hypocritical since his success is due largely to independent video production.  But I guess that's TOTALLY different.)

Anyway, so I've gotten through all of 2007 when they began, and I started 2008.  It's interesting to note the number of viewers for each.  Though they run one of the most popular shows on Youtube, some of them don't have a huge number of viewers, particularly in these middle years when they didn't have a huge amount of attention yet, and they're not the beginning that people go back to see for nostalgic reasons.  But here is one that's a spike.  I find these spikes interesting because they show something that people have looked for or stumbled upon for whatever reason.