Tuesday, June 30, 2009

CAMPFIRE CULTURE: A WEBLOG IN TRANSITION

Today begins a sea-change in my Campfire Culture weblog, away from an information-packed outdoors sheet to one of dual-purpose that will also include periodic entries relative to my understanding of books, magazines, radio and literature.

As will become apparent, the change is triggered by our soon-to-be-released new self-published book, The Dogged and the Damned, a novel inspired by real events occurring in the land where Jane and I became next-door sweethearts. The Dogged and the Damned is a tale of an unfortunate psychologically impaired World War II veteran of several terrible New Guinea campaigns; how the mentally impaired former war hero repeatedly escaped incarceration to live by his wits, sometimes for months at a time, amid the surrounding wilds. The story includes a Federal Veteran's Psychiatric Hospital and its well-meaning staff (coincidentally located only a few miles from the setting for Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) who were hampered by the era's rudimentary understanding of "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder"--a term much in vogue during today's news reports of returning servicemen from Iraq and Afghanistan, but still evolving in that place and time.

My story also includes a County Sheriff confounded to the point of bewilderment in his attempts to bring in a fugitive sensationalized by both local and national media as "the Umpqua Wild Man."

It was not my original intent to self-publish The Dogged and the Damned (I feel the best book I've written), but with the twin cataclysms of desktop publishing and internet distribution lobbing galactic strikes into the Big Apple's iron fisted control over what America reads, it was self-publish or perish. Fortunately, with 12 previous self-published books behind us, Jane and I have more than a rudimentary idea of how quality self-publishing should be accomplished. (To view our previous books, access reviews, and even read the first chapters go to: www.rolandcheek.com )

What's new to us in today's self-publishing climate are the many book distribution opportunities afforded by dynamic developments in internet promotion. That's why you'll see a flashing red button on this page that for the next 13 weeks will provide brief three minute excerpts from The Dogged and the Damned. Those excerpts will be read as podcasts by the author; simply hit the button, turn up your audio, and sit back and listen. Hoist one for Janie and me if you wish.

Also beginning with this Campfire Culture will be an introduction to Roland's past radio programs. The weekly presentation will, of course, be available at no charge, though offerings will be packaged on certain topics for purchase by those interested. The packaged programs will be available as downloads directly to your computer at nominal cost and will be specific to certain topics, such as: Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, elk hunting, river rafting, crosscountry skiing, flyfishing, grizzly bears, wolves, campfire humor, etc.

Thus far I've regaled you with what's exciting for us--Janie and me. But don't be dismayed--I have no intention of turning Campfire Culture into a personal advertising billboard. Nope, it'll continue to provide information of value to its readers, just as it always has--though its focus will be modified. For instance, I once began a treatise on self-publishing, but was advised by my editor to set it aside for a decade or so. Now a decade has passed (as has my much-loved editor) and the entire publishing world is in paradigm panic; from the book industry's Mount Olympus to major newspapers to magazines of all stripes, they're all running scared. Of necessity, more and more writers are ruminating on the once unthinkable idea of publishing their own work, as well they should. Parallel to writers interest in self-publishing are masses of readers disillusioned by the spate of single-track offerings from New York's Gutenberg Mafia who, like deer caught in headlights, are afraid to move from their comfort zone. Translated, that means they'll only publish and promote works from their own current stable of mainlist authors.

The time is right for me to resurrect Rules of Four: A Winner's Guide to Self-Publishing.

Look for that on-line symposium to begin during next Tuesday's post. There'll be a bunch of information there; it'll come to you in installments over a period of time, and all free. However, don't look for it every week--I may want to write an occasional post on flyfishing wilderness rivers, or watching grizzly bears in Glacier, or hiking Utah's Anasazi Canyonlands. But you can count on many of my posts for the foreseeable future to provide information for emerging writers.

And as an added offering, I've read quite a few books over the years; some I rate as life-changing. I'd like to share which ones ... and why.

www.rolandcheek.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAMPFIRE CULTURE

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