Fragments From Floyd

I guess I haven't been too guilty of book-chat of late, so maybe a few words in that direction this morning.

I've now presented at one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner for the Rotary clubs--in Roanoke, Floyd and Radford, respectively. They have been receptive audiences, and I'll probably try to contact a few more for slots in October and November. The fall calendar is far too open, if I'm hoping to tap into the Christmas season surge in book buying.

Today, I go back to WVTF for my second dose of reading for the Radio Readers. The first time was a bit sobering, realizing that I probably won't end up with Slow Road sound files that are worthy of turning directly into an audiobook. What I may have is a "rough draft" that gives me an idea of which pieces are better than others from a listener's point of view. It may be that in the end, I'll be content with a relatively unpolished, abridged, one-CD "book" that I distribute only via the webpage and not bother with marketing and distribution to a wider market. We'll see.

While I was at the studio last week, Sandra Kelly, editor of Prime Living magazine, came over for an interview--a very pleasant first meeting and nice chat. That piece will be available on October 1. I think I'm correct in saying that this magazine is free and available at grocery stores and similar places around Roanoke. I think the piece will feature an image or two from the Fragments archive along with the interview.

I'm in writer's limbo on several fronts. While I imagine I'll have ample boxes of books to get me through Christmas sales, I'll most likely be approaching my last cartons shortly thereafter, and will need to decide what to do about ordering a second printing. I don't think, unless things change for the better and more visible soon, that I'll want to do the one-to-one direct sales I've chosen to follow with the first printing.

Handing it over to a distributor will put more distance between me and the book, and of course, also reduce my returns per sale. But it would also free up my time and energy to think about what--if anything--comes next in the writing and photographic realm. Perhaps I'll shop the book around to potential publishers, so that my "illegitimate" self-published book might catch the eye of reviewers and book festival committees that won't give an "author subsidized" book a second look. Not sure yet.

The second "undecided" matter is what comes next in terms of a subject and format. One thing that keeps revisiting my thoughts is something that combines the images (of insects and such, naturally) with text that is both interesting, informative and a mandate toward care of and responsibility for the health of the natural world. I'm imagining something not so lofty, more colloquial and accessible. Maybe even a book that could be picked up by junior high or high schools. I see a landscape-oriented book with 5 x 7 images on one page, and 600 thought-provoking words of text on the facing page, total of maybe 30 to 40 such paired pages. Like I say, I'm just at the thinking stage, but hope to put feet on something very soon. I need to sink my teeth into a new project for winter.

Thanks to friends David and Gretchen, I now have a tent to sit under on Saturday at the "Harvest Festival" at the ball field off Route 8. I think I have set my expectations of this event for my purposes at an adequately low level so that I won't expect too much. I'd predict that I will sell 3 or 4 books for manning the table for 6 hours (and not counting the time to set up and take down the display, the tent, and such) so the return for investment (that also includes a $25 fee) might be "break even." But every time Slow Road Home is seen, it lowers the threshold among the readership. "Oh, I've seen that book before" the passersby will say. The next time they see it they'll say "I'm going to take a look at that" and the third time, they pick it up, and a few buy it. Something like that.