To date, my books, when offered as ebooks, have been available mostly on Amazon. Some people don’t particularly like Amazon’s business practices or too imposing online market share and shy away from doing business there, and I understand the reasoning. So, while my books appear on a number of competitive sites, perhaps one of the best alternatives is the independent KOBO, where my ebooks are now on offer.
My books are now available on KOBO. Click here.
That’s mostly it. Prices remain the same as on other sites (I try to keep that steady across platforms.) Announcement done.
Thanks for dropping by and having a read. – Vincent
Posts Tagged ‘How to Find Yourself (or a reasonable facsimile)”’
My ebooks are now available via KOBO
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
Video of the illustrated version of my humor book “How to Find Yourself (or a reasonable facsimile)”
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
First there was my “How to find yourself (or a reasonable facsimile)”—-now there comes the real live super exciting mind-blowing not nearly over-hyped enough ILLUSTRATED VERSION of this classic that’s only been around a year or two (in its non-illustrated version).
So I made a video about it. To give my massive fan base a slurpy mouth-watering idea of the laughs and joy and the by god sheer freshness and marketing adjective marketing adjective marketing adjective so that each and every one of you and you and you won’t be able to contain yourselves and go buy one. Or two. Or more. For friends, relatives and those smarter, more upmarket pets of yours.
Buy
the ebook
or
print book
Oh, and see the video. Of course. Click here to view it and bring a little joy in your flippant modern day heart.
Thanks for reading to this discursive advertising message that wasn’t.
I’m done here for now.
2011 begins — some plans & thoughts of things to come
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011FIRST OF ALL: 
I have a short video greetings for 2011 if you want to have a look click here.
NOW.
For those paying attention, all five of you, after serializing Brussegem, a snug hell during the last limping weeks of 2010, I’m looking at this as my publishing schedule for 2011:
THE BOY IN THE SANDWICH (children’s fiction)
HOW TO FIND YOURSELF (illustrated version)
Stories on Stuff (Dot Hippo – kid’s textiles)
THE NICE GUY (first novel)
SLICES (novel on business)
INTIMATE DIALOGUES (short stories)
Stories on Stuff (Polite babies)
THE NEXT GENIUS (Novel on artist)
THE BLUE SPOT IN MY HEAD (Part One in fictionalized trilogy)
Stories on Stuff (3 & 4 – kid’s for Christmas)
“The Boy in the Sandwich” will be presented for the world to lick and look at very shortly. Will be putting some free chapters online on a weekly basis, along with audio clips from the novel.
The comes the new, illustrated version of “How to Find Yourself (or a reasonable facsimile)”.
Maybe a couple of chapters of that, too (again), and me reading some chapters. Also free and weekly.
These two books were supposed to see the light of day toward the end of last year, but things got reshuffled and re-organized. The first “How to” book had to be fully reformatted and laid-out due to errors I wrote about somewhere in this blog during the last year. We can’t have that again, so took time to reorganize the publishing work flow. I thought each book would take three months from finished manuscript to launch, but there’s far too much to do properly; properly takes time. So now I’m aiming at a four month launch of each book, from final period to book available.
And adjust accordingly if that still doesn’t supply enough space & time. See whether I actually keep to the publishing schedule this year….
As I have had occasion to mention: I have well over a decade of experience in international publishing in one of the top three media companies. But it is one thing being part of a system, and being the whole system oneself. So refinement in my hidden people venture was called for. To Get It Right. And no doubt this, like life, will be an on-going process.
Beyond books, next up is a final setting up with audio book distributors as I have three audio books just about done and wanting life. Same with my Stories on Stuff T-shirts and textiles and whatnot spin-offs (with “Boy in the Sandwich” and “How to” coming fully born with illustrations…).
Meanwhile, I’m thinking up stories on t-shirts and for kid’s nightwear. Then I want to make a video, or write a play, or write a 300 word story. So that’s what I do: Whatever Comes Up Next.
Thanks for dropping by and reading. –Vincent
Quickie round-up
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Usually, or rather, in the old days, meaning just before the summer, I had a nifty, satisfying schedule: Monday: audio — Wednesday: video — Friday: story/excerpt. That’s been blown out of the water since the summer.
Why? you may not ask.
Because I was perfecting the follow-up to all that, and lordy knows how long that takes.
I was perfecting my first issued book under my hidden people imprint, How to Find Yourself….”. Even though much care had been expended in its creation, planning and scheduling, the book had some formatting problems, mostly due to my giving the book to French speakers, and, in conjunction with my poor proof-reading skills, errors, oh horror, crept in. And declared themselves mightily only after the fact. I set about making sure that would not happen again. Switched interior layout designers, stuck in a greater number of review milestones. Now the book has been reformatted, errors removed, a more friendly font employed, the actual psysical book size made slightly smaller so it can boost creme rather than white paper, and ready to go!
I dislike perfecting the trade a bit as I go, and have any readers be dissatisfied, but that’s part of the this brave new world of Print on Demand and DYI. Anyway, this should never occur with future books.
Meanwhile, for a November launch, I’m busy formatting the illustrated version of the same How To book, which takes lots of to-ing and fro-ing between me and cartoonist. But it’ll be neat when done. Then many of these illustrations will find another life on t-shirts, cups and so on. Also for this November.
Brussegem, a snug hell, my next novel, is nearly there; have received the first proof copy in hand and voilà the interior layout formatting is not the way I like it. So I’ll push it again, re-do, and will roll it out as soon as I’m satisfied.
The Boy in the Sandwich, my kids’ book, is nearly done, as far as illustrations and interior layout go. This’ll also see the light of day, for ages 8 and up, next month.
And I’m getting ready to roll out audio books to these editions as well….
More stuff coming and coming more and more between now the end of the year.
Thanks for reading….
My two published novels from 2009 are now available on Kindle
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
It’s taken a while but I have my two books up and running as Kindle eboooks, via Amazon, of course.
You can find the “link to Self-Portrait of Someone Else” here.
You can find the link “How to Find Yourself (or a reasonable facsimile)” here.
Pricing is $2.99 from Amazon.com.
(Should insert “What a deal!” and other exclamation marks here.)
Purchasing these outside the USA will be higher than my stated price, as Amazon adds some suspect transfer fees, and as we know, it’s oh so much more expensive to download files in the USA compared to, say, Canada or Belgium. There’s little I can do about it currently, because at this point, it’s Amazon’s way or the highway. It will no doubt remain this way until Amazon, slowly but surely, gets its act together as Kindle distribution centers are established in the rest of world. *see below
Note: my base price stays of $2.99 is the same, no matter what you are charged.
Anyway, if you have a Kindle, you can get my books and have a happier summer, a more expansive life and all in all general all-purpose beatific experiences….
Thanks for reading.
* (Update Aug.6, 2010) I believe I was wrong when I first posted this. I just ran into this:
“…in most EU countries, taxes on e-books are double the taxes on p-books, thanks to a rather bizarre ruling of the European Commission, which decided that the supply of a “book on any physical support comes under supply of goods, whereas the downloading of an e-book is defined as a supply of services. Therefore different VAT rates apply.” This quite clearly means that according to EU bureaucrats, taxation on books should be lower, because they are printed on paper or stored on a DVD, and not because the book is a repository of culture and knowledge. Or to go one step further in this line of reasoning, for European bureaucrats the novels read on paper are culture, but the ones read on Kindle are not. I’m sure Marshall McLuhan would love this way of reasoning as it shows that European bureaucrats are true believers of his dictum that “the medium is the message”. However, in the context of the e-book trade, this puts European e-booksellers in a more difficult position than their American counterparts as they are burdened with higher taxes. ”
Link to this article.
Story – Mike Grange, automobile mechanic, finds himself
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
It’s hell now, just pure hell. Ever since I found myself, I see things differently, and it’s not particularly fun. It’s a whole new orientation. I sort of liked the way I saw things before, before I found myself. God, life, and me, were a lot simpler then. When I didn’t have a clue as to my real self was, I was pretty glad to just be living and sticking my hands in some nuts and bolts, proud when a motor purred. And after work, it was TV, beer, Sunday football games, the basics. It was a pretty good life.
Then I had to go and find myself.
And I discover I should’ve been a lawyer all this time. Jesus….
So now I’m attending night school, acquiring sophisticated tastes, learning big words, manipulating logical thought and instinctively looking for loopholes. I go to foreign films and like brandy. I read. Big books with small print. Front to back, even the footnotes. I’m hooked. It’s depressing.
But I just don’t know if it’s all worth it—really. This Self stuff. I’ve got all these new ambitions and worries. Career goals and financial liabilities. It’s tough. I wouldn’t recommend a true sense of self to anyone who’s been fooling himself for years and has already gotten used to who he thinks he is and has his habits, a beer belly, a life….
Maybe if I had discovered myself earlier, before I had all these pleasant memories when I didn’t know who I really was but was having a good time anyway.
My old friends really think I’m crazy now. They say, “Come on, Mike, you’re crazy. Stop going to college. My carburetor’s starting to go on the blink.” But I explain to these people, “This is the real me, since I found myself.” They back off as though I’ve gone loony.
Who knows. Maybe they’re right.
Nowadays, I just try to keep me to myself, stop having these urges to bill people for my time, and suffer in silence….
Taken from the book, “How to Find Yourself (or a reasonable facsimile).
Here’s three things concerning what I’m doing and comes straight from my “Blog About This!!!” notes.
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
ONE
I am currently completing the writing of a short novel (short, the only kind I like these days) called “DON’T”. About a 69 year old guy in Brussels dealing violence and urban threats, some sex, foreigners, digital photos, long-term marriage and short-term lust, a Polish cleaning lady, a comfortable sofa, robberies, hit and run accidents, haircuts and gel, police, hospitals, comas, online porn, writing workshops, possible manslaughter, navel piercing and its seems I’ve got my hands full when putting it all out there like that. Maybe it’ll be done in another couple of months? No promises. Then let it rest in a dark drawer. Thereafter, baste according to taste.
TWO
Next to be published under my hidden people company later this year is the first in my series of ARTISTS, this one called BRUSSEGEM (A Snug Hell), and after that a kid’s book called THE BOY IN THE SANDWICH. BRUSSEGEM is all proofed and copy-edited, laid out, and ready to go except for the cover. Still have to photograph the village sign of Brussegem for the cover so the graphic designer can move forward but I’ve been waiting first for the snow to melt and now waiting for the rain to stop. Everything is completed with the kid’s book, but interior layout needs fine tuning and I’m having a meeting with friend/illustrator to do an illustration for the cover as well as for each chapter…which will then turn into t-shirts and suchlike spin-offs.
THREE
I have gotten a few kind interested souls wondering on how sales actually going after “How to Find Yourself” video campaign. Ah, thanks for asking, you and whoever, but I’m not counting at this point. My POD printer and Amazon only gives a statement every quarter and pay after 60 or 90 days. I’ll see when I see, but I’ll get on the ball about this and be A Serious Business Entity. My focus right now is creation with “the rest will follow” simple-minded hopefulness attached. This indie publishing company is based on a two year build. Meanwhile, more YouTube, more blog, more stories and social media and so on and very much so forth.
P.S.
I have a pretty good story I’m posting this Friday (the less-than-600-words kind), and working on another matches video for next Wednesday and a “Self-Portrait of Someone Else” video on the reviews it received. And Don’t Don’t Don’t….
Someone’s giving away a book of mine!
Thursday, February 4th, 2010Already jumping out of my regular schedule I promised only last week, just a quickie note to explain and link to Jane Steen on her web site right here to say she is running a competition and one of the prizes is my “How to Find Yourself (or a reasonable facsimile)” book. Worth a look….
That’s the cover.
On a technical level, putting together books for indie publishing
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Following up on yesterday’s post on initial steps to take when setting up a indie publishing company, on a technical level, here’s how I put the first two books together:
1.Set-up a publishing company, Hidden People Limited, bought a series of my own ISBN numbers fromNeilson — UK as it’s cheaper than USA branch.
2.Signed contract withLightning Source (which I knew about 10 years ago) as my primary printer–United Kingdom rather than the USA, as I am UK-based Limited company.
3.Book cover design by Fontana identity & design.
4.Since I work on every story for years (unless I get lucky and it comes out in a couple of hours), they don’t need huge amounts of editing. My “Self-Portrait of Someone Else” was edited by Viking-Penguin, and the pages from the original book was scanned and directly used in my paperback reissue. The Viking-Penguin editor suggested two paragraph deletions and a few sentences. I agreed with half. Otherwise, on proofing, after one less successful episode with an American proof-reader in Scotland, I do had two upcoming titles (novella and children’s book) line edited by Scribendi.
All this is ongoing and evolving and changes constant.
5.I’m still engaged in getting ebooks off the grounds via Smashwords and Amazon throughout the world.
6.Audiobooks, which I’m recording in my home studio, are still finding their best home via ongoing research and then more research.
That’s some of the basics that fills out yesterdays impressionistic piece….
Business & Identity – a story on finding yourself through business
Friday, January 15th, 2010
This week I offered a somewhat serious side to business, called The Job Interview. Today, a more humorous (or still somewhat serious?) story about a man who wants to find himself in business.
This story to read here is from my How To Find Yourself humor book. It is called Business & Identity. Or how to find yourself through business.
We’re just trying to keep the universe in balance here….
Enjoy….
