Pixels to Book Alchemy Underway!

Amazing! I'm right on schedule to print!
Amazing! I'm right on schedule to print!

What I initially expected to be a clear, straight, short path to turning 100 stories, grampa tales and essays into a book turned out to be somewhat of an agony. But that was then.

Monday morning I will send off the print-ready pdf of the book interior and psd file of the cover of What We Hold In Our Hands: a Slow Road Reader to Edwards Brothers of Ann Arbor, MI. Three weeks in process there, a week in shipment to Goose Creek, and if things go according to plan, on May 6 I’ll be sending books out to those of you who order between now and then.

I’m prepared to receive you order and books will be mailed in the order the forms and checks are received. After that initial mailing, I’ll send books via the regular surface mail within three days or less of receipt of your order.

I’d like to think my experience in early May 2006 with Slow Road Home will give me an idea what to expect: I carried three milk crates full of books, mostly in ones but some 5 at at time, to the local post office. I think I mailed sixty-something books that first day after the books came.

If you click on the order form above (or here),  a download link for the printable page will carry you to the form.

If you want to know more about the book, click here or the cover image of the book at the top right of this page.

Now. How to get the word out; to determine who is my audience; to find those audiences within a reasonable drive and set up more than one event per trip; to focus exclusively on the print version or think soon about an abridged audio, about galleries of images and of photoessays from the book; and do I create “visual essays” from the book for presentations that include the common message of both books?

Sorry, just thinking outloud..

Author: fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

6 thoughts on “Pixels to Book Alchemy Underway!”

  1. Great news — glad something worked out after all them trials and tribulations. Can’t wait to read it to my grandkids. (Or wait. Actually, I can.)

    Put me down for one too…

  2. Coming up May 14th through the 26th to work on the house. I’ll have cash in hand. Maybe we can meet in Floyd. It’s been so long, I don’t know who owes who a libation. See you soon, and congratulations.

  3. Have you thought about using Paypal? No muss no fuss and easy to set up. Of course you lose a small percentage of each sale but you make up for it in volume for sure. You’ll sell three times as many books. People are much more likely to buy if they can click on something and pay instantly rather than fill out a form , print it, and use snail mail. If you need help setting it up, let me know.

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