My just released book

[headmount]

Just finished the book. Loved it, great story and even better writing. Don't sell yourself short on this one.

Wow that means a lot to me.  Thanks.  Still in holding pattern about print options.

[magentawave]

Thats good to know. Thanks. Would the best solution be to have the formatting done outside Amazon by someone that knows how to format so it works with CreateSpace and then you'll have the source file and be able to print books outside CreateSpace?

Createspace offers a free option, but you have to ensure your book is completely ready for print. If you use any of their services to improve the quality you can get into substantial costs, and you don't own the formatting--you can't choose to get the source file and take a less expensive route later for producing print books--you have to start over. Other than that it's fine if you want to do only on demand printing. You won't be selling any copies to bookstores or libraries and the only outlet is Amazon, but if that's OK then it's a great service.

[LaPerouseBay]

Yesterday I'm talking to a co worker.  He's 65 and tells me of his youth spent skiing Colorado and surfing Kauai back in the 70's.

"Do you know Bill Boyum"?

"I never met Bill but I knew Mike".

So I tell him about Bill's book and a few highlights. 

Big catamaran surf trips, Bob's death, Afghan adventures...     

So he tells me about metal boats and machine guns.  Adventures on the high seas running hash out of Cambodia. 

Get going on that sequel HM!  There's another movie!

I'll finish The Martian  this weekend (Mutiny!) and eagerly anticipate rereading Journals From The Edge.   Woo Hoo!



 

[magentawave]

The problem with "normal" publishers, as I'm sure you already know, is that there is very little profit in it for the authors. You get bragging rights and certainly more room for negotiating a better deal with your next book if it becomes a best seller though.

Check out James Altucher's podcast channel on iTunes because I think he's done lots of stuff on self-publishing. The guy is brilliant and super generous with freely sharing his knowledge. He has two channels on iTunes and one is called "Ask Altucher" where you can text his phone and ask a question and he will answer it personally or feature it on his show. http://www.amazon.com/James-Altucher/e/B001IOBN80

Like this discussion about print.  What I've also heard is regular publishers won't have anything to do with you once you've gone to Createspace.  Still, it's no $ up front that is obviously a gamble.  Been told that I would definitely lose money printing.  So I'm waiting a bit.

[PonoBill]

Thats good to know. Thanks. Would the best solution be to have the formatting done outside Amazon by someone that knows how to format so it works with CreateSpace and then you'll have the source file and be able to print books outside CreateSpace?

Createspace offers a free option, but you have to ensure your book is completely ready for print. If you use any of their services to improve the quality you can get into substantial costs, and you don't own the formatting--you can't choose to get the source file and take a less expensive route later for producing print books--you have to start over. Other than that it's fine if you want to do only on demand printing. You won't be selling any copies to bookstores or libraries and the only outlet is Amazon, but if that's OK then it's a great service.

Not necessarily. It's worthwhile to realize that very few books by unknown authors sell more than a few hundred copies. If that's the case for you then Createspace is fine. And the "problem" of doing your printing elsewhere is one that's very good to have. If you need to take that path it's not that big an issue. But every avenue has it's good and bad points.

This is a fine time for people to fulfill their dream of writing a book, but not necessarily the dream of getting rich from doing it.

[stoneaxe]

I'm reading this like it's a fine brandy. Taking small sips, feeling it in my mouth, enjoying the complexity and the bite. Only small tastings each time because it's the last bottle. I know I'll only get to experience reading it for the 1st time once.

[headmount]

I'm reading this like it's a fine brandy. Taking small sips, feeling it in my mouth, enjoying the complexity and the bite. Only small tastings each time because it's the last bottle. I know I'll only get to experience reading it for the 1st time once.

Yeah Stoney.  You're the good son!

[headmount]

It was August 1964.  My father and I had just crossed the country from Coronado to Alexandria.  I had dreaded leaving surfing and also the thought of driving alone with my Dad terrified me.  But that trip with him turned into something very endearing.  We actually talked like real people for the first time.  I thought that maybe he was calming down from the way he had been all those previous years.

But after settling in to Alexandria, I saw headlines of the Washington Post, about an attack on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.  The Pentagon began  calling him into work on the weekends and he spun back into his old paradigm.  That was the point things began to slip away  between me and my Dad but of course you have no idea of what is happening when it happens.

My brother Mike returned from a hell raising trip to the Bahamas.  He was just about to begin college at GWU.

“So tell me how you survived that trip across the country with Dad.”
Everyone and everything is changing, and telling Mikey about Dad is complicated. I don’t even understand it myself, especially now that he’s changed back.
“You know, it wasn’t bad.”
Mikey rolls his eyes.
“No, Mikey, he was different on the trip. It was cool. But since we’ve moved in here, he’s…”
Mikey lifts his eyebrows at me. “The same old Dad?”
“Mom says…”
“Mom’s always making excuses for him. But hey, it’s all cool, man. It doesn’t matter what the old man thinks. That’s his world. There’s a different world out there that is fun and happy.”

[KiwiSupGreg]

When's the movie?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Socalsupper70]

wow-just finished it Bill.

I was surprised by my tears at the end, im a sentimental soul and the youngest of three raised at the hands of a loving-but sometimes heavy handed father.
Humans are fragile things and the book had me re-living both good and bad times-i think most of us have been through similar, although for me no where near the level you experienced. My dad passed of cancer also-i was able to bury the hatchet and extend forgiveness. That in itself was a life changer and was the impetus to changing my perspective on how i raised my two sons. My brother is 7 years older and we decided to use his passing to make a vow that we would not repeat our fathers obvious mistakes, even though we have yet to this day to completely understand what was behind them.
Just a great read, i really appreciated the story telling, my review or how much i enjoyed the book is not really coming through but i will end it with sincere thanks for the opportunity to read such a fine book and taking me on a little bitter-sweet journey of my own.

[headmount]

wow-just finished it Bill.

I was surprised by my tears at the end, im a sentimental soul and the youngest of three raised at the hands of a loving-but sometimes heavy handed father.
Humans are fragile things and the book had me re-living both good and bad times-i think most of us have been through similar, although for me no where near the level you experienced. My dad passed of cancer also-i was able to bury the hatchet and extend forgiveness. That in itself was a life changer and was the impetus to changing my perspective on how i raised my two sons. My brother is 7 years older and we decided to use his passing to make a vow that we would not repeat our fathers obvious mistakes, even though we have yet to this day to completely understand what was behind them.
Just a great read, i really appreciated the story telling, my review or how much i enjoyed the book is not really coming through but i will end it with sincere thanks for the opportunity to read such a fine book and taking me on a little bitter-sweet journey of my own.

I think you did pretty damn good expressing yourself.  Thanks.  Are you Mike?  If so your comment on Amazon was great.  Really great.  Lots of positive feedback so far.

[headmount]

This is my brother Mike running down Kuta beach in the 70's.  He was a showboat in those days.  Pretty fit and so I took this pic as a goof with the lei and all.  Note the empty beach with a few motorcycle tracks on it.  The locals liked to buzz the beach back then.   It's bumper to bumper people now and that tree line ain''t nothing but buildings.  And also a pic of my brother on a screamer at "Speed Reef"  He had dabbled with it but didn't really get into surfing until he was 28 which is pretty old to enter the sport.  He dropped into it at one of the heaviest places you could ever learn at and certainly paid with some flesh on the reef.  But he finally got it.  I was fortunate and got to do a fair amount in my late teens which really makes a difference.

[SUPcheat]

Making my way slowly through the book.  My steps through the Naval Gulag were kindergarten: Oahu; first grade: Rhode Island; second and third grade: Alexandria;  fourth grade: Coronado, CA;  fifth and sixth grade: Corpus Christi,Tx;  seventh through tenth: Salinas/Monterey where my father was forcibly and traumatically retired.

I remember making skateboards from broken skates nailed to boards in Coronado. I also remember the tense road trips from place to place.  We had five kids in the family packed in a station wagon.  I remember that alcohol had a lot to do with my father's "military" personality, but in those days it seemed nobody mentioned post traumatic stress disorder from WWII.  My father also was dangerous and you never snuck up on him.  He almost stabbed me with a screwdriver when I did it once.

[eastbound]

i try to "watch video of myself" dealing with my kids. vigilance is required to not repeat the behaviors of my father which upset me so as a boy. we tend to repeat what was modeled for us.

[lucabrasi]

.........haven't even redecorated here, think their going to redecorate the war.......
.......Bananastan...
.....they spend more than chicks.....
(paraphrasing, sorry)


What a great read. I have looked up places all over after reading this and researched more on WW2. I could just babble on and on.
I will probably read it again before winter is done.
Cool to see some more photos here also, especially that Suzuki in that boat.
So, you have watched what you eat for a long time......"......boxes and boxes of noodles stacked everywhere..."
What kind of noodles? Do you still eat them? Yes, I really am curious about that.

.  The locals liked to buzz the beach back then.   It's bumper to bumper people now and that tree line ain''t nothing but buildings.  And also a pic of my brother on a screamer at "Speed Reef"  He had dabbled with it but didn't really get into surfing until he was 28 which is pretty old to enter the sport.  He dropped into it at one of the heaviest places you could ever learn at and certainly paid with some flesh on the reef.  But he finally got it.  I was fortunate and got to do a fair amount in my late teens which really makes a difference.

Your first few trips out there, did I miss it?.....I know the first time no, but.......how many locals came out and wanted to learn to surf? What did they think of the crazy white boys playing in the water? Do you go back often? I know there are other camps there now and it sounds like it has changed beyond imagination, which things do but was wondering how much it has changed. Perhaps that's another story.
I dabbled in skiing but never really got into it till my early thirties.......same results with it.

Once again, great book. It will touch many people for many reasons.