Baron Alexander Deschauer
  • Home
  • Baron's Books
    • Concentration Camps of Canada >
      • TRC Reports
    • The Art of Wealth >
      • Art of Wealth--Read / Listen
    • Revelation >
      • Revelation--Read / Listen
    • Faust >
      • Faust--Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run I -- The Hildebrandt Dossier >
      • MOTR I--Read/Listen
    • Man on the Run II -- How to Get Rich >
      • MOTR II--Read/Listen
    • Man on the Run III--Conspiracy >
      • MOTR III--Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run IV--CHAOS 25-06-25 >
      • MOTR IV -- Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run V--Slaves of Circumstance >
      • MOTR V--Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run VI--For Richer or Poorer >
      • MOTR VI--Read / Listen
  • News/Media
  • Contact
  • Baron's Blog

Last blog of 2016--Recap of what i have done and will do

17/12/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
It is that time of the year again where we reassess what we are doing with our lives. For me, I am enjoying writing and the life of authorship. I have finished my tenth book and am doing the editing/pre-publishing elements for books 7-10 (Man on the Run Volumes 6, 1, 2, and Concentration Camps of Canada). In the last twelve months, I have published Revelation, Faust, Art of Wealth, and Man on the Run Volumes 3, 4, 5, 6. It has been an enormous effort and I look forward to writing more one-offs than series. I will only write volume 7 of my series once I have sold at least 100,000 copies of the series. This means 2017 will be about getting to grips with marketing. I have held off on this until now because people have proven resistant to starting a series at volume 3. I thought it was clever (a la Star Wars) but I have been proven wrong.

In addition to publishing to 35,000 outlets (so I am told), I have made (and am making) all my books into audio books. I have become hooked on audio books as I enjoy longish (20km) walks 3-5 times per week. They are the perfect companion. Naturally, for those of you who have friends, it is better not to be listening to audio books when you are walking together. 

I continue to have books translated into other languages, but I am going to halt this until my sales increase. Translators want to see track record. That being said, I have had Art of Wealth translated into French, Spanish, and Portuguese; it is currently being translated into Chinese (Mandarin). Revelation has been translated into three languages and is also being translated into Chinese. Faust has been translated into three languages. I anticipate these books to hit the market in the next three months.

I look forward to 2017 for a number of reasons.

1.  My newest book, Concentration Camps of Canada will go on sale. I hope to get it onto the curriculum of schools in Canada and the United States. If there are any of you reading this who can help, please contact me. It relates to Residential Schools in Canada and is a powerful story of a young boy told from his point of view from his first day in school to adulthood. I look forward to working with the First Nations in Manitoba and Canada in educating people about this chapter of Canada's history.

2.  My series will be ready for marketing. Man on the Run will be my primary focus and I look forward to getting the message out there. Naturally, I would be over the moon to talk to a distributor about this. The reality is that the Indie market is now more lucrative than traditional publishing for authors. Theoretically, I will make more money doing it myself. In reality, I am not doing this for money so I am happy for someone to take marketing off my back. The difficulty is that if I do nothing, my books will languish in obscurity. I would like them read!

3.  This is the most important: I look forward to spending more time with my wife.

4.  I look forward to getting back into the saddle re: business and development. I have been living the life of a retiree for five years. While it has allowed me to study French in France and Hebrew in Israel and write these books all while travelling the world, I find that I miss the buzz of business. Hyper-tech greenhouses, green energy, and creative financing are the most likely avenues I will pursue. Whatever I end up doing, I will ensure that I maintain my 2-4 hours of writing per day (either creating or marketing).

5.  Paper. I look forward to paper books (again). As I am travelling a lot, I converted to e-books. I love my kindle but it remains a sterile experience for me. I still love the feel of paper. I love to see the books on the shelf after I have read them. I miss the tactile interaction with 'real' books. I find that living in the ether of a paperless existence to be lonely. One one hand, I have the world at my fingertips. Google, downloads, and endless books, movies, documentaries, and research are available to me anywhere I can get wifi or an internet connection. While the world is theoretically limitless, I find that the algorithms of Amazon, Google, and the rest feed me what I am interested in. As a result, my world horizon narrows the more 'they' get to know me. I think there is still something lacking (for me) in the ether. I want to search, explore, and enjoy what is out there. The more I do, the more I come across the e-mining of emails and contact details from vendors and users of the net. This is because everyone is trying to accumulate their email lists independently. So, as I approach a site, I am required to enter my details. I dislike this so I click away. If I do enter my details, my inbox is bombarded. I can mark as junk or discontinue but somehow they continue to send me stuff. In the internet, you never truly ever leave a site. In real life, the door opens and then closes; you enter or leave as you want. You are drawn in or not and it becomes part of who you are. In the ether, an algorithm is defining who we are. The problem is that it is a reflection of who we are at the time.

I feel optimistic about the future. There are many reasons to dispair at local, national, and global news; but there are more reasons to be excited at the opportunities available to us--as individuals, communities, and nations. It is a good time to be alive and participating in history.

0 Comments

I don't really want to be writing this blog today...

11/12/2016

0 Comments

 
I read an article recently that says people who are very wealthy prefer to continue working because it gives them status, structure, and relevance. Once you have a few bucks, you can travel the world, sleep in, and do nothing. After a while, this ceases to appeal--especially if your mind prefers stimulation and interaction with others.

I have been blogging for almost four months and I try to put something out on a weekly basis. There is no fixed schedule. Sometimes, I think I am pithy. There are times where I am less so.

I have projected my life and tried to live my life without the boundaries that tie minds down. I instinctively push against structures, I am iconoclastic, and I aspire to making the world a better place. Today, however, I feel little inspiration.

So, while short, this is the equivalent of the dishelvelled worker who comes in, grunts hello, and goes to his cubicle. I am trying not to jettison this structure, however tenuous.
Picture
0 Comments

is it too early for merry christmas? My thoughts on free things...

4/12/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

I find myself not watching a lot of the vlogs and how-to posts as they begin to repeat themselves. I wonder how sincere the presenter is--do they really want to help us or are they simply creating content in order to gather an email list. In today's world, email lists are the most important asset for authors and vendors of all kinds. It is why we are given 'free' things in exchange for our emails. I am told in these vlogs that these free giveaways must have value and that any author or vendor should follow up the free giveaway with more free things. It is all about providing value to the customer. The hope is that people will then buy their books or widgets for sale.

I am becoming doubtful about this business model.


It is always great to receive free things. I love that I can download Adobe for free. But if I want to manipulate pdf files, I need to pay for the professional version. We get to download crazy games for free--but if we want certain goodies within the game, we have to pay for it. We get to search the internet for free, but we have to accede to advertisements. That's life. We are all used to it.

BUT...

In the world of books, I find that authors are desperately trying to create 'permafree' books on platforms to entice readers into their email / product funnel. It is a legitimate business model and I agree with it. However, many desperate authors put out shorter and shorter free books. Customers are expected to get a 'free' 30-page book. For me, that is called a pamphlet. Or, 50-100 page books that are crammed with pictures and graphs and large print. Again, the same 20-30 page pamphlet expanded to a short book length. The result: the consumer becomes wary of all free books and products. The hacks are ruining a perfectly good and respectible business model. The market is responding by becoming more savvy and more demanding.

I tried to go down this route but I quickly changed my mind (after a few weeks). I may not get the publicity and may be stuck in obscurity, but I think it is destructive for authors to not get paid for their work. It is a race to the bottom and no one wins. Consumers feel manipulated, authors feel under pressure to write-to-market, and the quality of writing deteriorates over time. 

I kind of like the idea of starving artists/writers who build their portfolio of pictures/writings only to be discovered by accident or after they die. Art is about something bigger than money. If you want to be entertained, great, there are lots of diversions available. Over 700,000 books are published every year in the United States alone. Another interesting fact: last year, 2.7 billion books were sold in the US. That seems like a lot but isn't when you realise that this includes all of the books ever published in the US. Most authors will not sell more than a handful of their books.

On that happy note, and conscious that I try to keep these ramblings brief, I would like to offer all of you a free e-book of your choice. I know, it seems to go against what I have just said but, hey, that's life. I want to say thank you to all of you for reading by blogs and vlogs (you tube ramblings). All I ask is for you to subscribe and email me the ebook you would like to receive. I will need your email details and the type of book you want (.mobi files for kindles; epubs for most others). Titles to choose from include: Revelation, Faust, Art of Wealth, Conspiracy (Man on the Run Volume III), Chaos (Man on the Run Volume IV).

At the very least, it gives you an early Christmas gift. I am happy for you to pass it on to your friends and family. Now you also know why anyone gives you anything for free: because they value your loyalty and want your contact details!

This offer is good until December 20, 2016. (That's when I turn off my computer until the New Year.)


0 Comments

    Author

    Baron A. Deschauer

    Archives

    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture
© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Baron's Books
    • Concentration Camps of Canada >
      • TRC Reports
    • The Art of Wealth >
      • Art of Wealth--Read / Listen
    • Revelation >
      • Revelation--Read / Listen
    • Faust >
      • Faust--Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run I -- The Hildebrandt Dossier >
      • MOTR I--Read/Listen
    • Man on the Run II -- How to Get Rich >
      • MOTR II--Read/Listen
    • Man on the Run III--Conspiracy >
      • MOTR III--Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run IV--CHAOS 25-06-25 >
      • MOTR IV -- Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run V--Slaves of Circumstance >
      • MOTR V--Read / Listen
    • Man on the Run VI--For Richer or Poorer >
      • MOTR VI--Read / Listen
  • News/Media
  • Contact
  • Baron's Blog