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    Do you still buy real books? Advice sought for my first published book!

    Vidya Moksha
    Vidya Moksha


    Posts : 1301
    Join date : 2010-04-17
    Location : on the road again :)

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    Post  Vidya Moksha Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:59 pm

    Hey all
    thanks for the feedback..

    I think I am giving up! I just spent days making an ebook and uploading it. Blurb wanted me to buy the ebook before I could put for sale, and then I find I need an apple device to read it... which I dont have! and who does? dont most people use kindles or suchlike? Not impressed again

    to answer your questions BBB, yes I would like my book out there, which is the main reason for producing it. I have never charged for a yoga class, but I was always in a position to offer them for free. I dont have any money at the moment and had to borrow some just to publish my book, so I also need to recoup that investment.. once I have done so I would be a lot more open to giving the book away, or exchanging it in some form.. It has taken me months of writing, after years of studying.. it cost me a lot to produce, is that not worth some form of exchange?..

    I dont know if I will bother with the ebook, I cant even check the formatting without an apple device.. I have had enough Wink

    I like the blurb books as physical objects but I am less than impressed with the process and their methods of charging...
    orthodoxymoron
    orthodoxymoron


    Posts : 13316
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    Post  orthodoxymoron Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:18 pm

    I hate to say it -- but sometimes I wonder if one should seek some sort of an experienced and reputable agent/coach FIRST -- who proceeds to do market-analysis relative to your expertise -- and THEN tells you what to write, and how to do it!! One might meet with them on a monthly-basis for progress-reports and new-instructions!! I HATE thinking like this BUT perhaps one should treat writing as a business RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING!! I certainly have not done that over the past few years -- but what if I had??!! Instead of being despised and destitute, I might be rich and famous!! I'm sort of joking -- and sort of serious!! I'm actually prepared to NEVER write a book -- and just keep doing what I'm doing -- even if it kills me -- and I wish I were kidding. I once attended a writers-conference where Frank Peretti was the keynote-speaker. You might find this interview to be somewhat instructive. Namaste.

    Vidya Moksha
    Vidya Moksha


    Posts : 1301
    Join date : 2010-04-17
    Location : on the road again :)

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    Post  Vidya Moksha Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:35 pm

    orthodoxymoron wrote:I hate to say it -- but sometimes I wonder if one should seek some sort of an experienced and reputable agent/coach FIRST -- who proceeds to do market-analysis relative to your expertise --

    im my case
    agent " You want to write a yoga book? Lmao "
    agent " have you any idea how many zillions there are out there already? Hypnotize "
    Agent "my fees are $1000, total sales should be around $25 Toast "

    books are big business, for the publishers!
    mudra
    mudra


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    Location : belgium

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    Post  mudra Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:34 pm

    Hi Vidya before you give up look at this publishing house. What they are interested in amongst other things is Yoga literature.

    Arrow http://www.shambhala.com/submissions

    And here  " How I managed to publish my yoga book " . I thought the story might inspire you :)

    http://www.namasta.com/bornyogis.php

    Another article that may be of interest here  : Publishing: 7 Things Lessons Learned From My First Book Deal

    http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/07/10/first-book-deal/

    Better know before you go.

    After all the energy you spent on that book over the years I personally believe it ought to be brought into the open so that you may
    get back a fair exchange for your work while others benefit from it's content.

    Love from me
    mudra
    B.B.Baghor
    B.B.Baghor


    Posts : 1851
    Join date : 2014-01-31
    Age : 73
    Location : Druid county UK

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    Post  B.B.Baghor Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:32 pm

    Vidya Moksha wrote:......
    to answer your questions BBB, yes I would like my book out there, which is the main reason for producing it. I have never charged for a yoga class, but I was always in a position to offer them for free. I dont have any money at the moment and had to borrow some just to publish my book, so I also need to recoup that investment.. once I have done so I would be a lot more open to giving the book away, or exchanging it in some form.. It has taken me months of writing, after years of studying.. it cost me a lot to produce, is that not worth some form of exchange?..

    Oh, Vidya, I can't remember having asked you if you would like your book out there Question To me that is evident from the start.
    Did I ask you that? I'm sorry that you feel like giving up. If I may ask, Vidya, keep in mind that I imagine you invested energy
    and time in your yoga-class teachings as much as in writing your book, why didn't you charge for them? You now would've
    had some savings, if you had. Am I obnoxious now?

    Can you give yoga classes, Vidya? Or can you be in a place with a job, working for an income? It's very frustrating, I guess,
    to not have money now, while in the process of publishing your book, after having made such efforts and years of study.
    It shouldn't be doubted by you that that's not worth some form of exchange. You'll have to make that a reality, if I may say so.

    I know how it feels to live without any or with very little money. My plan to move overseas has taken 4 years, due to that
    condition, partly in circumstances that were not caused by my doing. These were bizarre tests on trusting my intuition and
    living by it, while people around me had lost their sense of reality. How to make others see what you know? While dependent
    on their willingness to offer me an income? It was all about power games and money acrobatics in governmental organizations.

    At times I've been annoyed, with a girlfriend who sits on her money like a chicken incubating her eggs. It's hard, to see others
    without any reason to be concerned about money, very attached to it, never at ease, turning each dime before spending it.
    I myself have always managed to make ends meet without disasters or damage to others, but I'm skilled in selling the skin of
    the bear, before he's shot, compensating a misjudgment by eating oat-porridge as my only food for weeks. I can count those
    times on the fingers of 1 hand and that number is the amount of bears escaping with their lives Cheerful

    My girlfriend would like to invest her money, which is in the bank Blink but she trusts no one, so she "sits" on it with much
    anxiety. Security is her priority and she has none whatsoever, in this way, it's hilarious and sad. She and I have honestly
    discussed our difference in life-style and our handling of money. We can have a laugh about it too. She shows me where I'm
    better off while thinking twice. Well meaning, she tried to compensate her greed by offering me warm meals now and than
    and we enjoyed meeting up with coffee and cake in town, on her costs.

    At some point, when I lived in stress, risking having to live on the street, end of last year, it slowly dawned on me that
    discerning living with little money from living in abundance and acting upon the last, creatively, was helpful in attracting the
    flow of money. In other words, my sense of "havingness" in sync with a confidence in making my life exactly as I like it to be,
    accompanied by discipline and patience. Sharing this with others who are in the same boat, asking friends and good neighbors
    to co-create with me, to achieve living in abundance both ways, which is more about being okay with enough and less about
    wallowing and indulgence, see? Talking about changing life-circumstances with those in the same boat with you, helps much.

    Since I've made it happen that I'm in abundance every moment, whatever my outer world shows, I find people helpful and
    supportive, specially now that I'm starting a new life in the village here, in the UK. On Sunday morning I opened the curtains
    and found a bouquet of lovely lathyrus flowers and a box of eggs, a welcoming present from a villager with whom I had walked
    to town, the day before, and who looks at the world through young girl's eyes too. She told me "I think we'll probably make
    waves together." I agreed and we laughed.

    I think, Vidya, that once you've managed to free yourself from being annoyed and frustrated, maybe relieved with having
    money to spend, also on your book, a confidence will resurface in you that your investment of time, energy and love for what
    you do, which I presume is expressed in your book, will attract the people to you that really "get" you and share that havingness
    with you, in being able to pay for it. And possibly for your yoga classes too. This post is more about money matters and less
    about publishing a book, how to be successful in that endeavor. Sorry if that has caused your loss of interest, Vidya. If you like,
    you're welcome to visit and share a warm meal, with your friend and me, in my home.




    Vidya Moksha
    Vidya Moksha


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    Post  Vidya Moksha Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:30 am

    More tired lazy typing on my part perhaps.
    The book is published and has sold some copies. I have a box of them with me now. What I am giving up on is the ebook version, so I made my book available as a pdf...

    My frustrations are more do do with the publishing company and their hidden charges and lack of flexibility, and their awful publishing tools, but they are probably the best of a bad bunch. Money isnt really the issue, it comes and goes, its not so important to me, if I am warm and sheltered, fed and watered I am doing something right, remember folk I have been on the road for over 10 years now, having no money is a way of life, I seem to get by.. its just hard to invest in something that requires cash when you dont have any!

    I know a few published authors, and they all complain about the publishing houses and lack of royalties, so it was never an option for me. The book is out in the world, it will do what it does..

    I will teach yoga if the opportunity arises, but I am not so keen to do so in the UK for many reasons I would rather not go into here. if the situation arises I will offer my help if its asked for. I am not actively seeking to get involved in yoga here, and I am actively seeking a way off the island, so hopefully not in the future either Wink

    This has been an interesting social experiment on some levels. I know a couple of people who claim to be 'into' yoga and have talked about wanting a copy of my book, they are both well off financially and both have now said that they have 'no money', even asking for a free copies. I have other friends who I know have little cash, and they are waiting till pay day to buy the book when I know they cant really afford it, and they have declined my offer of a free copy as they want to help me out. Funny lot us folk arent we? In general the people who complain about having no money are the ones who really mean they dont like to spend it.

    All good folk, sorry if I sounded a little down, I guess I am, but more frustration than any serious life issues, I am well, carving wood (have some nice apple and walnut woods to play with), playing with chainsaws and screaming at my computer ! :)

    I will stick an advert for my book down at the end of my hatha yoga notes, somewhere in the mist below, it will be in the right place there.
    B.B.Baghor
    B.B.Baghor


    Posts : 1851
    Join date : 2014-01-31
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    Post  B.B.Baghor Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:10 am

    Vidya's words: "In general the people who complain about having no money are the ones who really mean they dont like to spend it"

    That's an interesting remark of yours Vidya, as I perceive it, people who COMPLAIN about having no money and mean it when they
    dislike spending it, they live in fear for never having enough of it. In my experience, while without much money, having to create plan
    B and C, with others around me in the same boat, I've had interesting discussions about living with little or no money.

    But far more important, for the practicality of it, was our experiental growth of an attitude of sharing, no matter what, without strings
    attached, knowing that every tiny gesture of support helps in maintaining a sense of living in abundance. That can't be theorized, it
    has to be lived in real life, by stomach and heart. The felt sense of living in abundance doesn't depend on having money, although
    money is a tool to achieve and enjoy material wealth. The idea that we need money to live by, is a deeply ingrained concept in our minds,
    for eons. Look at the animal and plant kingdom, they've got no pockets to put money in, except the kangaroo.
    They use it for different things, as far as I know.


    Do you still buy real books? Advice sought for my first published book! - Page 2 Animal10


    orthodoxymoron
    orthodoxymoron


    Posts : 13316
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    Post  orthodoxymoron Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:40 pm

    Once again, congratulations for the publishing of your new book, Vidya!! Remind me how I can obtain a copy!! Somewhat unrelatedly -- I just had a random-thought about money. I would be VERY interested to see what lifestyle-level people experience relative to their actual net-worth!! I would also be VERY interested to see how genuinely-happy people are relative to their lifestyle-level and actual net-worth!! I recently noticed an article about a Millionaire-CEO who lives in a Trailer-Park!! I've joked about living in one or two 600 square-foot office-apartments (even if I were some sort of a Galactic-Somebody)!! I grew-up visiting the mansion of a very-famous Hollywood Orchestra-Leader -- but they were very down to earth -- and they spent most of their home-time in the KITCHEN!! It was a VERY nice kitchen -- with a view of the pool -- and they seemed to like it more than their VERY plush living-room!!

    A CEO with a net worth of $820 million has opted for the simple life by living in a trailer park instead of a mansion. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, can afford to buy any type of abode that he fancies including the pick of plush estates. But Hsieh, who is known as one of the most frugal millionaires in the business community, chooses to live in a Las Vegas trailer park. Tech CEO worth $820 million lives with his pet alpaca in a tiny Airstream caravan at Las Vegas trailer park called 'Llamapolis'. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos who sold the company to Amazon for $1.2billion, could buy any home he fancied -- but Hsieh chooses to live in 200sqft trailer in park that he owns after moving out of luxury condo last year. He preaches radical management and invested $350 million in Las Vegas to attract more business people. Residents of the Airstream Village share campfire space that Hsieh says functions as communal living room. Hsieh, who owns the park, moved into the location after giving up a 23rd floor condo in a luxury apartment building last year, according to the New York Times. However, the RV lot that the business executive calls home may differ from the the negative stereotypes associated with other trailer parks. The 'trailers' are gorgeous silver Airstream caravans, which retail for $48,000 for a 2013 model. Thirty homes are lined up in a neat row, each with about 200 square feet of space. And they're home to like minds as the trailer park tends to attract Silicon Valley computer programmers who live in the trailer park temporarily. Units have two TVs, Bluetooth stereo systems and wood paneling, though the size of the showers reportedly makes it difficult for large adults to bathe. Hsieh has nicknamed his caravan 'Llamapolis' and he shares his trailer with his pet alpaca named Marley. The Airstream Village also includes Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, wooden RVs that have about 130 square feet and do not have couches or kitchen tables. It was a vacant lot before he snapped it up and it's virtually unrecognizable since its makeover.



    Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
    Vidya Moksha
    Vidya Moksha


    Posts : 1301
    Join date : 2010-04-17
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    Post  Vidya Moksha Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:06 pm

    orthodoxymoron wrote:Once again, congratulations for the publishing of your new book, Vidya!! Remind me how I can obtain a copy!!
    Hi ODM.. thanks.. If you really want a copy, then be brave, use the scroll button on your mouse and go down to the spirituality section here in the mists, where you will find my old hatha yoga notes, and a new link from me detailing my book :)

    Im hoping for work in the next month or so and will live in a large van if I get it, there is something quite nice about being able to move your home around, and its a financially viable option these days! I need the work first though !

      Current date/time is Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:00 pm