Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Handplanes Book Available in Europe
My recently-released book on handplanes in woodworking--Choosing and Using Handplanes: All You Need to Know to Get Started Planing by Hand--is now available in Europe from Amazon. It will be priced there in Euros or British pounds.
I'm proud to report this expanded availability and hope the book will be well-received by European readers.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Killing the Beast
I'm working, albeit deliberately, on a sequel to The Hero of Gucci Gulch. Called Killing the Beast, it features plenty of murder and mayhem just outside the halls of Congress and implicates leaders at the highest level. Who are the murderer or murderers? And who or what is the beast of the tale's title? That, of course, is the mystery that drives the action in this coming book.
I'm on chapter 22 now, with another few chapters yet to conceive. As is usual with mysteries, mine at least, even I don't know how it will end or the culprits will be found out. But that's the fun of writing!
Like The Hero of Gucci Gulch, now in production for an audiobook, I'll be releasing via Audible.com when it has been published, sometime later this year. I'll announce it here when it's available.
I'm on chapter 22 now, with another few chapters yet to conceive. As is usual with mysteries, mine at least, even I don't know how it will end or the culprits will be found out. But that's the fun of writing!
Like The Hero of Gucci Gulch, now in production for an audiobook, I'll be releasing via Audible.com when it has been published, sometime later this year. I'll announce it here when it's available.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Update on My Audiobook
As I mentioned previously, I began the process of converting my first novel, The Hero of Gucci Gulch, into an audiobook. I'm pleased to report that I received seven auditions for the narration before I made a final selection. I could have gone with any of three of the narrators. The one I chose, A. Bran Peacock, has both the voice and the interpretive skills that will bring my novel to life.
Over the next several months, he and I will review his initial performance to identify any pronunciation and performance issues. After that, he'll narrate the entire story.
I'm hoping the fully-narrated novel will be ready for release sometime this fall.
The Hero of Gucci Gulch, a murder mystery set on Capitol Hill, features a public interest lobbyist as amateur sleuth. It's an easily read novel with a lot of action that I think will translate easily into narrated form. When it has been released by Audible.com, I hope you will agree.
Over the next several months, he and I will review his initial performance to identify any pronunciation and performance issues. After that, he'll narrate the entire story.
I'm hoping the fully-narrated novel will be ready for release sometime this fall.
The Hero of Gucci Gulch, a murder mystery set on Capitol Hill, features a public interest lobbyist as amateur sleuth. It's an easily read novel with a lot of action that I think will translate easily into narrated form. When it has been released by Audible.com, I hope you will agree.
Highland Woodworking Now Carrying My Book
I'm pleased to report that my recently-released book, Choosing and Using Handplanes: All You Need to Know to Get Started Planing by Hand, is now being sold by Highland Woodworking.
They are a fine family-owned and operated company that sells a wide
array of tools and other resources for woodworkers at their Atlanta
store and via the web.
If you are interested in purchasing the book from Highland Woodworking, here's the link.
It's gratifying to have my book being carried by such a major internet vendor as Highland Woodworking.
Norm
If you are interested in purchasing the book from Highland Woodworking, here's the link.
It's gratifying to have my book being carried by such a major internet vendor as Highland Woodworking.
Norm
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Creating an Audiobook
Recently, I decided to investigate releasing my novel, The Hero of Gucci Gulch, as an audiobook. Frankly, it's something I never thought could be possible. I imagined the process as being too expensive, or something I'd have to narrate myself with equipment and skills I don't possess.
Still, I came across an invitation from Audible.com to check out their service, called ACX. I was surprised by what I found. First, there are tens of thousands of what Audible calls "producers" willing to narrate books, far more than there are books ready for narration. Second, while you can certainly pay high fees to have your book read by a well-established producer, you can also arrange to pay for narration by splitting the royalties obtained from sales on a 50-50 basis. If you are able to negotiate that kind of arrangement with a producer, it makes the whole project affordable and, hence, feasible.
ACX allows you to specify the kind of voice you want for your book, including gender, age, regional accent and voice quality in a wide range of types. This is very helpful in letting producers know what you are looking for and narrowing down the potential producers from the thousands available.
So, I signed up (free) and created a profile on ACX and uploaded a short piece to be used by prospective producers for auditions. ACX then notifies me when their auditions have been posted and I can listen to them and decide which is right for my book.
So far I've received three auditions and am expecting at least one more in the next couple of days. I'll wait a week or so, then select the one that seems best for my book and start negotiations on terms, that is, whether we can agree to split royalties or whether I need to pay a per hour of narration fee to go along with that. My book is estimated to be 8.1 hours long when narrated and I offered to consider payments of $50-100 per narrated hour.
I have some work to do yet. I'll need to make notes for the producer on the pronunciation of key words and on the accents I want for key characters.
What will this do for sales? Frankly, I have no clear idea. But given that Audible.com is very popular and publicizes its offerings well, I'm hoping that sales may be good, even if the asking price is low. In any case, it seems to me that it's worth taking a shot at it.
Have you written a novel or a non-fiction book that's suitable for narration? If so, I encourage you to check out ACX at acx.com.
Still, I came across an invitation from Audible.com to check out their service, called ACX. I was surprised by what I found. First, there are tens of thousands of what Audible calls "producers" willing to narrate books, far more than there are books ready for narration. Second, while you can certainly pay high fees to have your book read by a well-established producer, you can also arrange to pay for narration by splitting the royalties obtained from sales on a 50-50 basis. If you are able to negotiate that kind of arrangement with a producer, it makes the whole project affordable and, hence, feasible.
ACX allows you to specify the kind of voice you want for your book, including gender, age, regional accent and voice quality in a wide range of types. This is very helpful in letting producers know what you are looking for and narrowing down the potential producers from the thousands available.
So, I signed up (free) and created a profile on ACX and uploaded a short piece to be used by prospective producers for auditions. ACX then notifies me when their auditions have been posted and I can listen to them and decide which is right for my book.
So far I've received three auditions and am expecting at least one more in the next couple of days. I'll wait a week or so, then select the one that seems best for my book and start negotiations on terms, that is, whether we can agree to split royalties or whether I need to pay a per hour of narration fee to go along with that. My book is estimated to be 8.1 hours long when narrated and I offered to consider payments of $50-100 per narrated hour.
I have some work to do yet. I'll need to make notes for the producer on the pronunciation of key words and on the accents I want for key characters.
What will this do for sales? Frankly, I have no clear idea. But given that Audible.com is very popular and publicizes its offerings well, I'm hoping that sales may be good, even if the asking price is low. In any case, it seems to me that it's worth taking a shot at it.
Have you written a novel or a non-fiction book that's suitable for narration? If so, I encourage you to check out ACX at acx.com.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
My Book on Handplanes in the Woodshop Released!
My newest book, Choosing and Using Handplanes, has just been
released. Intended for the beginning and newer handplane user, its 90
pages include nearly 100 color illustrations. In this book, woodworkers will
learn:
For woodworkers who are hankering to learn how to use handplanes, I think they'll find this a useful guide.
I used CreateSpace to publish it, which automatically also posts it to Amazon.com. It's a very easy way to publish. It only requires a properly formatted pdf file. I chose a glossy cover (which I photographed and designed myself) and color interior on white stock. The photos and drawings (nearly all of which I made myself) reproduced quite nicely; the color was faithful to the originals. I'm very happy with the result. Now my attention is focused on marketing it to the thousands of woodworkers around the world!
Norm
- The types of handplanes, names and functions
- The first planes you should get
- How to set up and adjust your planes
- How to sharpen your plane blades
- The kinds of sharpening stones
- The different bevels you’ll want on your blades
- How to hold your work for planing
- The body positions that work best
- How to determine the direction to plane boards
- How to plane cupped, bowed, and twisted boards
- How to plane end grain
- How to buy and restore old planes
- How to store and care for your planes
- Sources of new and used handplanes
- How to solve handplane problems
For woodworkers who are hankering to learn how to use handplanes, I think they'll find this a useful guide.
I used CreateSpace to publish it, which automatically also posts it to Amazon.com. It's a very easy way to publish. It only requires a properly formatted pdf file. I chose a glossy cover (which I photographed and designed myself) and color interior on white stock. The photos and drawings (nearly all of which I made myself) reproduced quite nicely; the color was faithful to the originals. I'm very happy with the result. Now my attention is focused on marketing it to the thousands of woodworkers around the world!
Norm
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