Aaargh!

It won't be the first time that balloon fetishism has been presented on national television. I know of at least two other segments, the most recent on Strange Sex. But when National Geographic does something, you expect a nice, straightforward, factual account.

But if the preview on NG's YouTube channel is any indication, the upcoming episode of "Taboo" will be the most sensationalized, and misleading, portrayal of balloon fetishism I've yet seen.

The preview features Dave from Arkansas, who doesn't pop his balloons or, according to Dave, have sex with them. I don't know if I'd even categorize that as "fetish," but who am I to split hairs. The fact is, I've managed to find out a bit more about Dave than that little clip; he has posted and commented on YouTube in the past.

He has strong feelings about popping balloons, but he comes across in his YouTube persona as a pretty nice guy, and no stranger than many other people I see on the Internet. In fact, a whole lot less strange than some.

But at the hands of the folks at National Geographic, he comes across as really, really creepy. Even the music they edit into the end of the segment makes him seem completely bizarre. This is just sensationalist crap, and unworthy of anything that bears the National Geographic name.

I am swayed toward the view expressed by Tim Popper in the afterword of his novel. He talks about there not really being a single balloon fetish, but a huge variety of fetishes that happen to involve balloons. And the more I see other balloon lovers talk about their particular likes and dislikes, the more I think that this is true.

Dave, as unfairly portrayed in this hideous video, does not represent the panoply of balloon fetishes. But then, no single one of us could. It's bad enough that people who know nothing about us write term papers and magazine articles. But to use the most blatant tricks of the motion picture trade to make us all look truly insane is beneath contempt.

And it makes me cringe even more to hear the term "looner."

Need Some Advice

I want people to be able to buy "Blowing It!" in a more private way. You know, not have a telltale charge show up on a credit card statement and have a significant other ask questions.

I'm considering using PayPal and making an ePub version of the book available via email. Do you think PayPal is private enough? Is there some other method that's both secure and private? I could also offer a print copy of the book, although if it was ordered through me, I would have to charge about $4 extra to cover the additional shipping step (and I wouldn't be able to offer that option outside the US).

I'd really like to make more people comfortable buying this book. I know that, although erotic fiction (like erotic images and video) in general is now more widely acceptable, fetish fiction is still a much more private sphere of many people's lives. I'd appreciate any advice on how I can make buying this book a little easier.

New Prices Are In Effect on Amazon.com

The new prices have propagated through the system, and now appear on Amazon.com. I hope the lower price will encourage you to read my book and recommend it to your balloon-loving friends. Enjoy!

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!

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.

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!