Sunday, December 12, 2010

Getting Late....

Hi folks.  I’m sorry not to have followed up with more Music Theory for Poets, but I think I can explain why such posts are neither flowing from my keyboard or my guitar. 

As you know if you’ve been a regular reader here, The Spring Ghazals was published in February of this year, then re-published with better distribution in September.  The book is available on Lulu.com as well as Amazon & its international outlets.  It may be available from other sources as time goes on. 

However, in the time the book has been out, it’s sold seven copies.  In order to break even on the distribution package, I would need to sell 25.  That struck me as a realistic goal, but at this point it really is kind of a questionable proposition.  No books have been sold since some time in October.

Given this fact, I’m really questioning the purpose of this blog, which was intended to introduce people to the book in hopes that folks would buy it.  However, at this point the readership has dwindled to a handful of people at most, & I suspect a high percentage of those who do drop by (based on what I see in the stats) are folks who’ve already bought The Spring Ghazals.  Obviously, I appreciate those folks a lot, but the blog wasn’t intended to “preach to the choir,” as it were.

This being the case, I believe I’m going to lock the door & shutter the windows here, at least for the time being—not to say it’s permanent, but Robert Frost’s Banjo, my main blog, is a going concern & everything takes time.  I’d also like to finish my translation of Apollinaire’s Alcools (which is being posted in book order on my blog of the same name), & that project has stalled quite woefully.

I do think Music Theory for Poets is a good series, & I’m thinking of moving it over to Robert Frost’s Banjo, re-running the first two installments, & then adding more.  It’s possible that over time I’ll move most of the content from this blog to Robert Frost’s Banjo.  Given the much wider readership, perhaps I’ll have at least some more success marketing The Spring Ghazals from that site.

There are some other plans in my mind about The Spring Ghazals, & because of that, I’ll keep the blog online in case I want to return to it at some future point.  For now, I’ll just say thanks to the people who participated here, & especially to those who bought the book, & even more especially to the people who wrote wonderful reviews & interviews in an attempt to promote it. 

Hope to see you at Robert Frost’s Banjo!

5 comments:

  1. Good luck. I know what a hard slog it is sometimes, juggling all these oranges, trying to sort out what works. Definitely keep your options open.

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  2. Thanks Jacqueline. I guess it makes more sense to try some promotion on a blog with a bigger readership. I'd at least like to break even, not because there are large sums of money involved but just on principle. I really have appreciated your support a lot.

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  3. Lulu still won't let me complete purchase. Can I buy a copy directly from you, John?

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  4. Hi Dick: Lulu--#%&^$%*&^%--adding insult to injury. Of course I'll be happy to send you one--signed even--but right this moment I don't have any myself. Will drop you an email when I have some more--hope to by the end of the month.

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  5. Or perhaps that should be #^%(&%^(%^ Lulu.

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