THE BIG RELEASE & REWARD
It’s time for another blog posting. It’s been quite a while, but I do have plenty of excuses – like: My dog ate my notes, amnesia, supply chain issues, or the never-fail, one-word, sure-sell excuse…..Covid. Fortunately, none of these are true – except the dog part, that really did happen.
The truth is – there’s a lot of work in the final stages of a book release. Final spell checking and proofreading – not just once thru, but several times thru, even utilizing the “Read Aloud” feature on MS Word to have it read to me, and I’m sure I missed a few even then. Typically, these tasks are provided by the publisher. However, due to the type of book it is, a word for word transcription, these services really apply and I had to do it myself.
To be honest, with the release of the book, “I’m in the Army Now, World War 2 letters of Glenn Max Whitacre” (always promote the brand), life has been very busy – plus I’m not sure anyone is reading these blog posts anyway.
The book was released on Amazon.com on July 6th, 2023. Since that time, it’s been expanded to Walmart.com and Barnesandnoble.com and hopefully many others. There’s been a media push which includes static images and short video clips advertising the books. I’ve distributed copies to the contributors and personally made several donations to the USO and various school systems. Next on the list will be a trip to Bowling Green, OH to meet some very special people in the area and hopefully meetings with the Wood County Museum and the Mayor of Bowling Green, OH.
In a perfect world, perfectly imaginary I guess, there would be lines around the block to purchase the books, rave reviews, and fame and fortune. However, reality is typically very “the perfect world.” Sales have been good and obviously it takes time for the word to get around – and that’s fine. These fantasies, although entertaining to think about, were never the intended goal anyway.
The primary goal was always to preserve the content of the letters, in an effort to learn about the uncle I never knew. But it wasn’t just me. I have two brothers and an extended family that this information was kept from, and I was sure they’d want to know as well. Once the letters were preserved, by scanning them all into PDF format, they could then be read by anyone without risking damage to the originals.
This is when the next goal presented itself. If you’re reading this blog post, then you’ve most likely taken the time to look at some of the original letters contained on the website www.iminthearmynow.com. As you can see, they can be a challenge to read. Not only because of my uncles writing, but because of the varying types of paper and/or pen he may have used. I knew I had to make them easier to read, or they’d be too much of a chore to read very many of them at one time.
This is when the next goal (challenge) sucker punched me in the gut. All the letters would need to be transcribed if I ever expected my family to be able to enjoy them. This process took quite a while and went through several variations of format and presentation. It wasn’t until I was about half finished that my son suggested putting it into book form as a way to present the letters. Good idea, I thought. So, there we had it, the final goal would be to put the letters into book form, creating a permanent record of the information that all members of my family could read and learn about our uncle Glenn.
When I contacted a publisher and let them know what I was working on and that I’d like to get twenty-five copies for my family, they were more than happy to assist with the project. However, they had a little more in mind, considering the subject matter. They were interested in publishing the book on a much wider scale.
Little did I know this would involve things like cover design, formatting, writing the preface and introduction, as well as something called a “blub” – the paragraph on the back of the book…very Important I’m told. So, I learned a lot, and that’s important, that’s why I like trying new things – you always learn from them. So now, I guess I’m a published author…..who’da thunk it. It was a very exciting day when UPS dropped off the boxes containing the first 25 copies I’d ordered for my family and the contributors.
Accomplishing a self-imposed goal is a really cool thing to do. It makes you feel good about yourself, to know you’ve accomplished something you saw as insurmountable, is a great confidence booster. Also, to know that I was able to pass along the unspoken memories my grandmother held in her heart, and secretly saved in a box for almost eighty years, in hopes that future generations might read them, is very special. That was the reward, and it far outweighs the effort put forth.
Those memories and much more are now in the hands of those intended, as well as anyone else who chooses to enjoy the story. Anything beyond that is gravy.
Thank you for your interest and support.
Be Swell
Marty Whitacre
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