On the right path

 

 

Publishing Progress Report

 

 

It has been almost two weeks since the book went to Amazon.com and was published as an eBook. All in all the progress is going as expected. Sales are coming in, problems are being discovered and reported and finally fixed. For the first time publishing anything I think we are ahead of the Boeing 787. At least the book hasn't been grounded. Having accomplished this much takes a large weight off of my shoulders. But, we are not home free. You see during the last 9 months of writing this blog a trend has developed. The good and the bad thing about blogs is that everything is tracked. The number of hits, where they originate from, etc. At first I was surprised that visitors to my blog were primarily from Eastern block countries and Asia. Who am kidding. Although I did not necessarily intend these to be my intended readers, they were the source of my writings. Once word got out that the book was published, I started to hear from people I had never met. Most of the questions were standard, nothing I could not or should not answer.

 

 

Now that the book is out almost 75% of my blog readers are from Russia or China. I'm sure the people who are reading this were not even born at the time it all came down. They are just trying to find out the truth just like the people in the Western World. Question is: "Can they handle the Truth?"

 

 

So now it's crunch time. Get back to work on Volume II. Although the material for this volume is less bothersome for me it does present problems within its contents, I am no longer in a "sterile" environment, miles removed from the action I came to explore but now it is hands on. Facing the enemy and all they they could do to stop us. It was not what I had volunteered for but nevertheless it was my duty to perform my tasks.

 

 

Besides writing the next chapter I also have to make arrangements to have the book produced in hard copy. I have had many request for appearances at book clubs here in Delaware, signed copies and even my presents in class rooms to enligthen the children. So for a few moments I will enjoy the tranquility that has come to our house and then on with the new chores.

 

I want to thank all the people who have purchased the book. I really appreciate your support.I do ask that you might take a moment and write up a little something to give me feedback. Thanks again.

 

 



Another day and more questions than answers

Every day brings something new. As I mentioned a few months ago, I am new at this, by that I mean communicating through blogs and twitter.I have given up many years ago to attend schools in order to learn something new. I buy gadgets and when I get them home I assemble them without looking at the instructions. Why, you ask? Because that is me. I continue to learn every day without formal training. One of my occupations I practiced for a number of years was cooking, but for me it was not just cooking. It was creating dishes that looked good and tasted out of this world. Many times I was asked where I received my formal education in the culinary arts? My answer was always: OJT - On the Job Training. I worked with some fantastic people and I watched and I learned. I am still that way.
So here I am some 4 months into my blog and I learn every day. Blogs contain so many secrets that it hard for me to take them all in at once. When I was in my hay-days, I would usually worked on one secret at a time. Yesterday I found a shocking example of how my blog keeps track of who looks at my pages. Now it is not unusual to find that most of my viewers are from the USA. Then I have some from the UK and Australia but the most shocking was that my second highest hits are initiated from China. (Perhaps they more more about my adventures than I thought they did. Maybe I should have my book translated into Mandarin and see how many copies I can sell there.
As I previously mentioned, I will use kickstarter.com to raise the funds to publish the book. If any of you have looked at this site you will notice that it is ordinary people who fund these projects and they receive a reward associated with the project. I'm currently working with a company in Vietnam (yes, Vietnam, it has been many years and we must all forgive and forget - or not) to produce a mahogany desktop model of a WB-57F. I also am working with a company in China (because no one here is doing this kind of work here yet) to produce the model from crystal. I am really looking forward to seeing the prototypes arrive stateside. In addition to these great rewards, there are 10 original drawings contained in the book and some of my contributors will receive lithograph copies of these drawings. I will keep everyone abreast of the progress we are making.
I have started to pen my notes for book two, the years 1968 to 1982. I don't want to get into any of the details until "Number One" is out there and reviews come back in.

 Just a couple more photos from my collection. Top photo is of the "Felsenkirche" Church in the Rock with the Burg Bosselstein sitting on top of the rock. The lower picture is of Schloss Oberstein. Perhaps some day I can get into the story of the Church in the Rock.

On a totally different note, I am proud to have been a Lane Goodwin follower and supporter and I am saddened that Lane lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday.Lane should be an inspiration for all of us who have had a family member or friends taken from us because of the decease. Lane knew his chances were not good but he never lost faith. He smiled 'til the end. He now has his angel wings. I have asked my two best friends in heaven to look out for him and take him under their wings.