Friday, June 29, 2012

Preview Now Available at Amazon.com

A preview of the print edition of the book is now available on Amazon.com. You can see the first chapter of the book, a random page or two from the middle, and the last couple of pages. I suggest you give it a try; when I did, I got to some of the fun balloon stuff in the middle of the book.

Let me know what you think!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Learning To Promote

Now that I've written a book, if I want to sell it, I have to: (1) tell enough people that it exists, and (2) convince them that it is worth parting with four or eight bucks to obtain and however much of their life it takes them to read it.

Promoting a fetish book that's written under a pseudonym is an interesting challenge. Since my friends don't know about my fetish, and probably don't know anyone else with a balloon fetish (or at least they don't know that they know anyone), I can't well go to my Facebook page and announce the book to the world (although I often feel like it; it's so exciting that it's really hard to keep quiet).

I've had, as of this writing, nearly 1,000 page hits here at the blog, but only 9 copies of the book sold (all though Amazon.com, and all but one a Kindle edition). That's about a 1% turnover rate, which isn't horrible, but isn't exactly going to make my little book a blockbuster either.

Not that it needs to be, but I would be happy if more people were interested in reading it.

I've created a page at a book review site called Ask David. I don't yet know whether it will bring any business my way; it takes up to three weeks for the page to be created. It looks like a pretty busy place, though, so I'm hopeful.

I did get my very first review on Amazon.com (Thanks Carlos!): five stars, and a glowing review. But it won't do me any good unless a potential reader sees it. So, the other eight of you who bought the book, can you do me a favor and review and rate it? I appreciate it.

And if any of you are Amazon.com affiliates, and really like the book, and have a fetish-related site or blog (my, that's a lot of ifs, isn't it), I'd love you to include an affiliate link to the book. After all, you'll make a little money, too, if I do.

And one more favor (I ask a lot, don't I?): if you see the book mentioned anywhere besides this blog or Amazon.com, would you drop me a line and let me know? My address is balloonfetishauthor@gmail.com. If you forget to write in down, it's also in the Afterword of the book.

Hint, hint.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Balloon Fetish Book

There is a now a novel featuring two balloon fetishists as the main characters. It is entitled "Blowing It!" and you can read more about it at this blog.

I wouldn't say that this book represents globophilia coming into the mainstream, but it is an interesting turn of events, and probably one that was inevitable. After all, there have been many balloon stories published on the 'Net over the years, and there was one guy (I assume a guy, though the author is just JC Fetish) who did a balloon fetish chapter in something called the "Book of Fetishes" (although I found his understanding of balloon fetishes, and the origins of fetishes in general, profoundly lacking).

This book was written pseudonymously, by someone who calls himself Tim Popper (Timid Popper in the forums where he, occasionally, posts). It's not a long book at 132 pages, but it seems to be just long enough for the story. I think it's worth a look.

If you like it, do the author a favor and rate it on Amazon or at least post a comment in his blog. Being an author, especially in a narrow niche like this one, can be really lonely. It's like sending your baby out into the world and holding your breath to see what the world thinks.

Even if you don't like it, give him some feedback. Maybe he'll write more.

(And by the way, I've noticed that none of you has commented on this blog either. What does a guy have to do, post something really insulting? Just sayin'!)

Face Palm

I just received my first copy of the published version of Blowing It! and, of course, I found a mistake right on the back cover. I've accidentally claimed that this is the first book-length work of erotic fiction. Punctuation error. It should read:

Blowing It! just might be the first book length work of erotic fiction written by a real balloon fetishist.

The rest of the copy is the same as the header of the blog, except that I misspelled "separate." Good thing I don't currently rely on the back cover to sell the book (since you can't buy it in bookstores). At some point I will make the correction, but it pulls the book off the market for a day or so, and so I think it can wait.

Of course, nobody is perfect, and I expect that, at some point, readers will begin sending me many other grammatical and typographical errors they find in the book.

But right on the back cover? Sheesh!

Friday, June 22, 2012

One More Step

Blowing It! print edition is now available on Amazon.com. That's my last publishing milestone for awhile. Now it's up to you, dear readers: read, review, and recommend.
And let me know what you think.
I'm all ears.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

CreateSpace Preview Available

You can preview the first chapter of Blowing It! by clicking HERE. I hope the first chapter will give you the flavor of the book and encourage you to read on.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Kindle Edition Available!

Blowing It! is now a Kindle book. I was up late last night struggling with the inline CSS in my book's file, but it was worth it to see all the chapter breaks and font changes preserved in the Kindle edition.

If you search the kindle store for "balloon fetish," mine is one of only two titles to show up (the other is a short book excerpt called "Blow Me"), so it's really easy to find.

And another benefit of the Kindle edition is that you can preview the first chapter (actually a bit more than the first chapter) online before you buy the book. I think I can do that on Amazon, too, but not until the book is available through that channel. (I check Amazon every day looking for the book to show up there—soon!)

Enjoy!

Monday, June 18, 2012

For Mobile Users

First, I just got around to looking at this blog on mobile and realized that the link at the top of the page is missing in the mobile version. So, HERE IT IS.

Second, I'm struggling with Kindle formatting. But once I get it right, I'll be published for Kindle, and then I'll see about epub for those of you who don't have Kindle readers or apps. Might still get it done before the end of the night (lots of HTML/CSS twiddling).

Sunday, June 17, 2012

It's a Book!

I have approved the proof of Blowing It! and it is now for sale in book form from the link at the top of this blog. It will also be available through Amazon.com in about a week. I have a little formatting work to do for the Kindle edition, but I'm going to try to wrap that up tomorrow and see how quickly I can get to the eBook market.

I hope you enjoy the book. Let me hear what you think!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Almost There

Marked up the proof, corrected the file, and uploaded the new version. In about 48 hours, I should get the okay for another proof. This time I have the confidence to review the electronic proof, which should take less than a day, and then Blowing It! will be available for sale.

For those considering self-publishing, by the way, I highly recommend physical proof copies of your book before you go to press. They make correction much easier. Of course, if you are doing an eBook, you don't have the option, but you can always print out physcial pages. Expensive, but worth it.

My proof copy, on the other hand, cost less than $10 shipped, and I got it in less than a week. Thanks to that, I am nearly ready, just weeks from finishing writing the book, to go to press.

I hope you enjoy it!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Proof!

I am holding in my hot little hands the very first printed copy of Blowing It! It was sent to me by CreateSpace, the service I am using to publish the book, and it is a proof copy.

I cannot describe to you the thrill of holding a book in your hands that you wrote, a real book that you can lie in bed and read. Something with all the elements of a book you'd buy in the store or borrow at the library: covers, title pages, and even an ISBN bar code. It has everything.

Including mistakes, and formatting problems, and little missing touches that I didn't realize were missing until I got hold of the book. It's the magic of the proof, a chance to see it all in book form but still make the changes I need to make before anyone else gets to see it.

The physical book makes this easier. I can read the book online, but I can't mark it up as I go with bold strokes and notes that I can refer to when it comes time to correct the electronic edition that was the original form of creation of the book.

That's my task over the next few days. And when I've done that, I'll send another file to the ether that will become the real book, the one you can buy and read. And while I'm waiting for approval of that, I'll prepare the Kindle edition, so that those of you who don't want to wait, or pay, or make room, for a physical edition can (I hope) enjoy my book, too.

Time to get out my red pencil!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Birth Of a Book

I just sent for a proof copy of what I think may be the first ever novel-length work of erotic fiction to feature two balloon fetishists as main characters.

Henry Wilson is an ordinary guy, a video editor in the Central Valley of California, married to a teacher, with two grown children. He happens to have a fetish for toy balloons.

As does a pretty young waitress who works in a diner near Henry's office. Her name is Melanie McConnell. She's a gorgeous redhead who loves to play with and pop balloons for her sexual pleasure.

To find out how these two manage to connect, and what happens when they do, you'll have to read Blowing It! when it hits the market in about two weeks. The printed edition will be available through Amazon.com or Createspace (link coming when it's available), and a Kindle edition should be coming right on top of the print version.

And if anything interesting comes out of the publication if this book, I'll be sure to write about it here.