Indie Publishing - Update 3 - DONE DEAL! PUBLISHED ON KINDLE! April 2011

Whew!

 That was work!

I spent all Easter weekend and this week

rewriting, revising, and trying to solve formatting problems.

In the end, I pretty much rewrote the book.

So, here it is, in all its little glory:

 Emergency Medical Spanish for Travelers - Kindle/Amazon

 Now, on to more fun stuff!

Next book is titled Take Next Boat.  Not Coming Back.

The love story of my parents and their early days

in Hawaii, circa 1937, starring my mother's

journal letters back to her family in Los Angeles.

A big shout-out to Felipe Zapata for helping me find my voice

and for helping me find where to begin my story.

Yay, Felipe dude!

Stay tuned for more blog posts on Mexico:
a day with famous Mexican potter, a trip to Chiapas, and purchasing
artesania from the Mayan women in the surrounding
indigenous villages.

Not mention a book on living in Mexico - 
from the Mexican Trailrunner point of view - 
of course!

Now is a great time to be a writer!

If you have bought my book in the past or buy it now,

please leave feedback on the Kindle page!!!

Thanks, all.

Things That Make You Go Awwwww. . . . April 2011

Kitten playing peek-a-boo with me
in potter Martín Ibarra Morales' 

studio in San Juan Evangelista, Jalisco.

Indie Publishing - Update 2 April 2011

Indie Publishing 

Indie Publishing - Update

Ok, where were we. . .oh, yes.

Our hero, The Mexican Trailrunner, is going to bust

through the indie publishing industry,

make buckets of money,

and live like a rock star.

not

The plan was to put the 4 Emergency Medical Spanish

language books up

on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords

so folks can read them on their digital devices.

Good idea!

So, I revised them for digital.

I did hours and weeks of research on how to do it.

I joined Amazon's KDP -

Kindle Direct Publishing

and pressed onward.

I did a few more hours of research.

Then I was ready.

I embarked on the "Easy 3 Step Process"

to publish my little books.

Step 1 - no problem.

Step 2 - no problem.

Step 3 - Houston, we have a problem.

I loaded the book and when Kindle finally digested 

the accepted format and spit my book back out,

it was gobeldy-gook.

I did more research and even resorted to Kindle's forum,

support, FAQs, and a few WTFs.

Turns out, the Kindle format REALLY likes novels,

not so much books with lots of lines, lists, bolding,

indentations, foreign languages with accents,

and other freaky abnormalities.

sigh

So, back to the forum and an appeal for help.

Was advised to seek help from professional 'Formatters'.

who knew

They were all very nice, very responsive, and very helpful.

I submitted my book to them and waited sleeplessly for

their verdicts and price quotes to format the books.

cool

Not cool.

First quote came in at $275 US to format a 64 page book.

wow

Second  quote came in significantly lower at $150 US

with a request for lots of revising from the formatting people.

that's better  i guess

Then there was the "better cover" suggestion.

Ummm, ok, how much is that dynamite cover going to cost?

Ohhhh, $375 US

times 4

That would total $600 US to format 4 little books

that I wanted to sell for 2 bux each. . .

and a staggering $1500 for 4 new covers.

I did the math.

It didn't look very good.

I would have to sell 1,050 books just to pay for the formatting

and covers.

back to the drawing board

Plan B

flexibility is a good thing

Three of the language books are now up for sale on eBay

and all 4 are for sale on this blog.

Here it is:  Emergency Medical Spanish for Travelers and Expats

 The book is on CD and the price reflects the added expenses - 

not the least of which are all the nickles and dimes that go to eBay.

sheesh, ebay used to be cheap to sell on

The books will always be available on this blog for less

as they will be a digital ebooks.  

They can be loaded onto digital devices via email, 
downloaded to computer,
or printed and kept by the phone or in the glovebox etc.

If you want them on CD, see eBay.

So, that's where we're at.

Now for the fun part!

I get to concentrate on writing my next 2 books for Kindle.

In NOVEL form!

Saving the Dogs April 2011

When I first moved from the US to Mexico,

some 7 years ago,

I knew what I was getting into—well, in most respects.

I had, however, forgotten what canine testicles

looked like!

What are those things bouncin' around back there on all these dogs,

I asked myself.

After decades of travel in this country,

I knew that the highways of Mexico were littered

with carcasses.

Particularly in the night and early morning hours.

Over the years I've had the displeasure of seeing dogs, cats,

horses, cows, burros—and even a man.

Shortly after arriving here at Lago Chapala,

I was invited to a wedding.

It was there that I was introduced to Gudrun Jones.

Gudrun asked if I needed a dog and said she had a

ranch FULL of them, all available for adoption.

Forty dogs, pick one or two, volunteer to walk them,

donate money to feed them - whatever, she said.

Then she gave me a business card

with her signature on the back.

Whenever you see a dog with balls, she said,

grab it, throw it in your car, and take it to this vet.

They will do the surgery, charge it to me, and call you when

the dog is ready to be picked up.

Then, you take the dog back to where you found it

and drop it off!

WHAAAAAT???

Yes, she said, just do it!

At that time, there were plenty of dead dogs on the

carretera and it was the same old heartbreaking sight

in the mornings when I drove into town.

Since then, thanks to Gudrun, Anita, the Animal Shelter,

Dr. Pepe Magaña, LFA, and Nick. . .

I can't remember the last dead dog I saw on the highway.

And I'm not kidding!

These people are saints!  
These people have changed

the world.

At least our little corner of the world.

Meet them:

The Animal Shelter

Gudrun's Spay and Neuter Ranch

Anita's Animal Sanctuary
Lakeside Friends of the Animals

Dr. Pepe's Paws and Claws
Nick has no website

Any of these people will be more than happy to show

you their animals, 
each animal desperate for a forever home.

ADOPT ONE TODAY!

DONATE TODAY!

VOLUNTEER TODAY!