Fragments From Floyd

Fred, I might be able to plug this sensibly in an email alert sent out twice a month to my vendors. If I were to include it on a national level, it would be sent to about 60,000 vendors. I could also make the inclusion contingent on their location (i.e., only VA, WV, NC, etc) to tighten the focus.

A better idea would be to phase it in, possibly just a handful of states every two weeks to prevent a demand too great to supply for. I'm thinking it would be an interesting book for the small shops that are my customer base. There are scads of photogs, web design firms, copywriters, pr people, who live in the country and serve people remotely in metro areas. It would speak to them, methinks.

BTW, my flu fever broke yesterday, feeling much better today, so we can set up that Paypal configuration meeting as soon as you are able.

Sean

Fred is as interesting to talk to as his book is to read; a most enjoyable experience to interview him!

You have an interesting business model where you build off of your blog base: Build a blog, and run it over time. Get a following of individuals who get to know your subject matter. Next, discuss the prospect of a book. Come up with a book that is composed in some part of the past blog entries and material - effectively recycling to a degree. Finally put your book up for sale to people most likely to purchase as they have a past relationship with you and your blog.

Not bad at all, and I've seen it work in other industries. Would you believe that the bank I work for gives its data away only to purchase it back again? One company I know goes to all of the major banks and gets their data and aggregates all of banks' data together and then sells it back to those banks. Think about it...the company only had to aggregate someone elses information and then sell it back for a huge profit!

You could try selling your book personally first, and then you can try to place it with the "big box" stores. This way you can maximize profits by getting a better margin on books you personally sell and then getting a much smaller margin on the bigger world wide market. Essentially, you will have effectively segmented the market.

For what it's worth, I've had one other exposure to someone who was self-publishing. I met her last year, toward the end of her travails with her publisher, Alibris.

She was often frustrated with the speed at which progress took place, the unexpected issues that arose. But, finally, her proofs arrived which she duly checked.

The book went to press as she patiently awaited a small shipment for those of us who wanted to purchase one directly from her.

The last time I saw her, she had taken to her bed one weekend with no specific medical problem of which I was aware. When the weekend ended she had ended her sojourn here on earth, also, before receiving the small shipment of some of her books (thin large size paperbacks.)

Please understand, I'm not suggesting this is what will happen to you, I just thought it was a rather poignant story. :-) She was, after all, an older lady.

I did finally get a copy of her book entitled THE HOUSE OF DAVID, an interesting American family history. Her family began under very difficult circumstances in the South. She, herself, became a very successful professor at a prestigious college/university.

BTW, my check is in the mail. I will not hold my breath until a copy of your book arrives, as the previous experience I related above indicates patience will be a virtue. You may need some patience of your own! :-)