Chomping at the bit wanting to go to press but can't. Why? Well, first I had a Library of Congress Number for the hard cover version of Jolt but still needed one for the soft cover.  So I applied for one for the soft cover but instead was sent a second one for the hardcover. Yesterday I sent an email requesting a correction and am waiting a response. Rule of offset printing: Either it all goes or nothing goes. (Just learned that.) So without the S/C LCN, nothing goes.

In other, I'm hoping Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) will like Jolt and decide to promote it as a fundraiser.  What a great way that would be to get the word out!  And a fire chief mentioned informally that he'd like to have me come to speak to his firefighters on the day they do their annual training on weapons of mass distruction.  It wouldn't be because I am an expert. More, I think, because in talking about the struggles of the people in Jolt I could point up the need for practicality in emergency response situations--sort of an awareness-raiser in particular for the new recruits. It would be a challenge for me, but I'd like to try it.

Did you order your pre-publication copy of Jolt yet? If you haven't, it sure would help if you did. Writers' coffers are notoriously low and mine are no exception.  Meantime I just keep checking the PO Box and  hoping. I still have the other half of the payment to put up for this upcoming first printing.

RMR in Po-Town, Coasting

I have a few acquaintances who write. I think I'll invite them to blog in with me.  For now, I will ask each to submit a blog entry in which they tell us about themselves, talk about the craft of writing, highlight something they have written, and mention any links they have that might take you to their publications. I think it could become interesting. Will let you know when I know more.

RMR in Po-Town

Emails: Last night Alva Press, Inc. received an email asking about the meaning of "a rural noir": I think of Jolt as a noir because, although the intent is to inform and entertain, any time the topic of nuclear events comes up, the world does seem to darken. For Jolt, however, noir is dark-but-not-depressing; reading Jolt should serve to make nuclear survival more speakable and therefore less dark, and in so doing, if anything, add to our hopefulness.

As for rural, it refers to the fact that much of the action in Jolt takes place in a small village in the northern mountains of an imaginary part of the United States. Definitely country: The village of Locklee has a population of about a thousand and lacks even cell towers for phones. (And, despite the story beginning some ten years from now in time-forward at a time when we anticipate being even further into global warming, winter there is really cold. So, I guess Locklee is really far north:)

Pre-Publication Book Orders: I've received five pre-publication orders for copies of Jolt: a rural noir, proof I'm not dreaming. It is real! I am a writer-publisher. Still, it would be nice, if prior to my having to make final payment on printing costs, the number sold should climb to one hundred.That would sure make life easier. So I'll keep you posted and let you know when Alva's at the quarter-, half-, and three-quarters-to-one-hundred marks.

BTW: Ordered your autographed copy yet?

As for Alva's email link, it helps me keep record of what you'd like me to write when I sign Jolt for you. So do write and tell me.

WebBlog: Do blog back now that the comments link works. I think you'll find it fun.

Moving forward: Yesterday I sent off checks to cover the initial payments on the soft and hard cover editions of Jolt. Today we're working on storage and shipping costs.

Me: As for me, I'm liking my new identity. Me the author-publisher. Me the one who wants to reach out and share. Me, just glad you're there.

RMR in Po-Town

Talked to loads of people this weekend. High school reunion. Three days running.  Lots of warm fuzzies among us. Dear friends that date back as far as sixth grade. Still themselves. Just wanted to hug a bunch of them. And did.

Also handed out bookmarks celebrating Jolt's publication. Everybody seemed interested. Hopefully some will check in at both this and my personal website. And maybe even blog back.

I'm not sure people really understand they can do so as so very few have. But maybe things will change.

So if, as it happens, you are among those to whom blogging is new and you are not sure how to blog back, do send me an email from the Contact Us page and I'll explain the process more fully. Or better yet, click on the word Comments below, type in your blog response, and post it back for all the world to see. (You don't have to give a name. Your initials or nothing except the comment would be fine.)


RMR in Po-Town, off to the class reunion brunch at Cappucino's

Hey! Whoopee! I sold my first pre-publication copy of Jolt: a rural noir; and I have an estimate from the printer for its first printing. (Just have to sign it and send it back.) Although some place I read that before I give the order to print, I'm supposed to have already sold enough copies of the book as to pay for its first run. (If that were the case, then the seed money forAlva Press, Inc. might be used for marketing rather than printing.) Except my sister W. said that people don't want to tie up their funds in the purchase of book they may not receive for a month or more which lead to a go-round in which I stated that it depends, and she wanted to know on what.

So I said that first, it depended on whether or not the potential buyer really could afford to purchase Jolt now. Next, it depended on whether he or she planned to buy a copy directly from me after Jolt was in hard copy and, in so doing, wisely save the cost of postage. And third, it would depend on whether or not the buyer cared to help defray the cost of printing in the first place. 

NowW called to buy her pre-publication copy, came over, and had her checkbook out well before our go-round. So I'm sure she's one of those who wants to help. All the same, it will be a good month before Jolt'll arrive so I can autograph it and give it to her. (Turns out the printer needs at least that long to prepare and ship the order; a fact I regret, but about which I can do nothing.)

As I've mentioned before, W has helped me field test and work through the many glitches in the Alva Press website. Also we've discussed the importance of audience-analysis in book-signing presentations. That's because I'll need to talk about both the story aspects of Jolt as well as nuclear survival. In which case the challenge then will be to match the emphasis of the talk to the interests of the audience. And both W and I think some people will be more interested in the literary aspects of the book while others would prefer discussing nuclear survival. So what I am going to do is to talk briefly and then open up to audience questions. You think that's a good approach?

But we were talking about W and how grand she has been in suppporting my effort to get Jolt published. So I'm grateful we are buddies as well as a sisters. I say buddies, although W prefers I use the word friends. Still I like buddies better. Suggests longer and more significant continuity.

RMR in Po-town, Just truckin'

The gentleman in Nova Scotia with register.com was extremely well informed and pleasant. We must have talked by phone for well over an hour. I kept feeling sorry to be holding him there so long, but he insisted he was fine.  As a result the Alva site is now upgraded and I learned a great deal about how one goes about editing and improving a website. If you page through Alva's you can decide for yourself whether or not it is improved.

What really made me happy, however, was that he determined that the Alva website really can accept comments through its webblog page. The order in which one clicks on Post Comment in the upper right in the comment window is important, however. As it turns out we have to click it before actually beginning to write.

Do give it a try as I would love to hear from you.

RMR

Definitely a lesson in trial and error learning. It took me all afternoon, but yesterday I did manage to apply and pay for as well as upload Jolt: a rural noir to eCO, the U. S. electronic Copyright Office, for registration and certification. And, as the words flew off from my laptop to D.C., the earth shook there at the kitchen table in my sister Y.'s house with the end result that the extreme tremors in my extended arms confused my niece K and her friend J. At first they thought I'd left my tree until they, too, recognized the momentous nature of the event. Or, at least I think they did. But one way or the other, it's done. The certification should arrive a number of weeks from now; by then, Jolt should be available in H/C and P/B to anyone who would like to possess his or her own copy.

Today's effort was fruitful. I designed and ordered a thousand bookmarks with a summary of Jolt and a picture of its cover on the front and ten points related to nuclear survival on its back. Not very cheerful, I suppose.  But I liked it. And Y's neighbor asked if she could have one to keep after I pick them up tomorrow. So I figure that's a start. 

I have made a pile of Jolt: a rural noir bookmarks that I will send out on request to any interested bloggers.  If you'd like one, just write 'bookmark request' in the subject box and email me your address at robbiedobb@aol.com and I'll send you one. Or, if you have a friendly coffeehouse near you that would be willing to put out a few for customers, I could mail you ten or twenty to put out there for others to pick-up, use, and also learn about Jolt. On the back of each is a quick-list of key information related to nuclear survival.

RMR in Po-Town, tired but glad you're there