Little Distributors

I'm beginning to get some positive feedback on the little distributors. A kid here sold one to his school library, one in Boston has sold two books and I've got the payment system working (PayPal is awesome, and easy). I've sent out some more books and we'll see how it goes.

Happiness!

Joseph

Oz Bookshop!

I've got an Australian bookstore carrying the book. Called Book Street (with an London underground logo), they seem like a very nice store. We'll see how it goes, but I've got someplace to send whatever business I can drum up ::)

In other news, I've sold more books direct. I sold one to the owners of a motel we were staying at - to some friends of my mother-in-law, to a school library here and next week I'm doing a reading at the largest Jewish day school in Melbourne :)

It should all be fun.

Happiness!

Joseph

Fun Stuff

One reader asked me for a plot for her class Chanukah play... I figured, what the heck, I'll post it here :) Tennessee Williams I ain't :)

The Real Story of the Chanukah Miracle:

Not everybody knows this, but it was permissible to use any of the temple oil for the Menorah. The whole priest's seal things was just the Jews being a little extra machmir to set the mood (I learned this from a friend of Bec's Adrian Treger).

Or, so we think...

Actually, the problem was a great larger than a few broken seals.

Purpose of scene 1, with a few Greek generals talking: 'Folks, we're losing this war! We need to do something about these upstart Jews - something that'll really set them back a step.'

Scene 2, in Jewish command headquarters: A spy (probably a girl, boys tended to be soldiers), rushes in with critical news. Something very strange is going on in the Greek camp and they're not sure what it is - but lots of the army is getting rid of their armor and leaving (on orders!). Describe it and everything and they work out that the Greeks are trying to worship every olive tree in Israel so that none of the trees will be kosher. The Jewish command decides to send out two groups - one to protect a far away grove and one to try and stop the idol worshippers. The spy tells him that 50 soldiers took up the new mission.

Scene 3, group of Jewish soldiers takes up positions around olive grove. There aren't very many of them, most are fighting the main battle. They are pretty worried about how to defend themselves incase many of the 50 tree worshipping greeks are left.

Scene 4, a Jewish pursuit group tracks down a tree worshipper. He tries to climb away and so they call him a 'tree hugger.' (you can work in stupid jokes like this if you'd like.) Anyways, they cut him down. But afterwards they're worried. It's taking too long and they're not sure if they can catch all the tree worshippers.

Scene 5, The Jewish soldiers see a Greek (obviously unseen) army approaching in the distance. There are still 40 of them left! They are really in trouble. One smart soldier decides that in order to fight better they have to squeeze all the olives and make them into ancient-style molotov cocktails. They all set to squeezing.

Scene 6, the fight scene. Throwing oil this way and that.

Scene 7, the temple is taken and the war is over. But they don't know how to tell which oil is kosher. Not just sealed, but from that one unworshipped grove. And they squeezed all the oil out of the good grove defending it so they can't make more. One Jew (or Jewess) has a great idea. He says he can get out his science kit and does DNA testing on all the oil to determine which ones came from that grove. Another points out that they're an easier (and faster) way. The high priest's seal was actually a barcode and they can trace the oil back to its' precise grove and tree using the barcode system.

Scene 8, Noboby (but one person who explains it) knows what a barcode is - but they set to searching. They can't even find a single bottle with a good barcode. And then, low and behold, they find one. Everybody is very excited and holding their breath and hoping it is from the right grove. None of them want to do lots of DNA testing. A person walks up, and 'BEEP' scans the oil. When he announces the result, everybody shouts with joy!

The end!

Person-to-Person

I had a pretty good book day today. I went to shul this morning, and a guy who learns in the morning with me (for about 5 minutes, I show up late and he leaves early) was there because his son was putting on Telifin for the first time. His whole class was there with him.

Anyways.... I told his dad about the book and I had him read the first chapter. I told him, "Read it, and if you don't like it tell me - because while I can't change the book now, I can change the marketing." He started reading and his face just lit up. It was really cool to behold. So his dad bought the book and then announced after the kid's speech that I was an author. So I read the first chapter and the kids really seemed to dig it (and asked lots of questions about being an author). The problem was, I didn't have any extra books with me. So, I told the kid that I would give him $1AU for each book he sold. And so he's off making a list and he'll give me his order tomorrow and I'll give his dad some books. I thought, 'hey, I don't have a distributor here, so this is probably the best way for me to move books.'

Later in the day, a lady emailed me. She wanted 3 books (she'd already bought and enjoyed one). She was also going to check with friends so I could give her a bunch of books at once. I offered her a commission too (as she's basically a distributor for me). She took me up on it and is off and running. I'm thinking, readers really like the book, I can probably use this model everywhere.

The fact is, I'd thought about it before. My mom gave me a posting from an old newspaper. In it, Mark Twain (who self-published) was offering commissions to people to sell his books. Very aggressive commissions and very aggressive terms (you had to pay to see the contract). And he was a very successful author. But I didn't think it would work nowadays. Door-to-door selling (and things like it) seem a bit out of touch. But, after today, I think I might be wrong. Person-to-person sales, especially among people who know each other, has one major strength in my case. The seller knows and loves the book. So the seller can recommend it and close the deal right there - and more credibly than I possibly could.

The fact is, things get sold by force of personal recommendation. Especially books. A little extra juice to encourage people to close a sale, not just recommend a book, might work quite well.

So, I'm extending this. I'm going to sample it with some people and see if it is worth the bother. I'll let you know how it goes :)

Oh, and my Amazon ranking has tanked. I need to sell more online - and I'll do that. Nov 15, I have a newspaper review coming out and I'll be sending out a message for the Chanukah/Christmas season.

Happiness!

Joseph

The pain :)

Malunu wrote:
"I NOW HEREBY OFFICIALLY DECLARE "WHITE FANG" MY FAVORITE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!
(after which comes either "Harry Potter" or "Grobar and the Mind Control Potion". I can't seem to decide which!)"

For more see her blog.

Ah, the pain, the misery, the horror - not to have written the best book ever. The disappointment - it is a heavy burden.

Well, actually, to be mentioned in same paragraph as Harry Potter and White Fang, is really cool :)

Thanks!

Joseph

Another Nice Review

I got another nice review from a reader in Baltimore. I didn't know her before, but she's a friend of my brother's. Anyways, she wrote me (removing the brother related bits):

"When I finally had a chance to read the book, I read the whole thing over Shabbos (it would have been in one sitting too, but I looked at the clock and realized that shul would be over by the time I got there, and we were supposed to eat lunch at someone's house).

Anyhow, congratulations on a fantastic book. Even though it is written for kids, I really enjoyed it...

I don't ususally write to authors, no matter how much I like their books - but there is one thing that I have to tell you. When I finished the book, there was only one thought in my head - "That's it??? This guy Joseph is SUCH A JERK!!!" My feeling is that mediocre authors are allowed to write endings like that, but if you are going to write such a great book, it is just not fair to the reader. And the book said that the sequel wouldn't come out until 2006."

Again, readers love it - so I just need to keep promoting it. Hopefully, I'll have a article in the Jewish Review on November 15th and then I'll send out a Xmas/Chanukah message to bump up the sales a bit.

My adwords have been a total failure. 429 views, no clicks. I have to learn how to build them better. It is a real challenge.

Oh, and a friend at Penguin submitted the book to another friend at Penguin (the publishing penguin, not the international spy network) and we'll see how that develops.

Happiness!

Joseph