My new baseball card novel is out!!
HalleyGator
Posts: 136
Most of you know me as an avid vintage card collector and owner, so you probably won't be surprised to learn that I just released a fictional suspense novel about a kid who gets his hands on a whole uncut sheet of Wagners in 1909 -- and the chase that ensues for the sheet over the next century!
It's a very funny read, written in casual conversation with movie quotes, song quips, sports trivia, etc.
And best of all...I set the price at ZERO profit so that it would be as cheap as possible for everyone to enjoy! ($14) I don't care about making any money, I just want to share the story that had been building in my head for years.
Here is the link to preview and hopefully purchase a copy (or thirty!):
Click here - the link is fixed now!
And YES, I discuss card grading for any reader who is unfamiliar with the concept, and speak very highly of it and how it has turned cards into a liquid commodity for those who want them to be... but also a protection against fraud for even someone who never plans to sell.
Hope you like it!!!
- Hal
It's a very funny read, written in casual conversation with movie quotes, song quips, sports trivia, etc.
And best of all...I set the price at ZERO profit so that it would be as cheap as possible for everyone to enjoy! ($14) I don't care about making any money, I just want to share the story that had been building in my head for years.
Here is the link to preview and hopefully purchase a copy (or thirty!):
Click here - the link is fixed now!
And YES, I discuss card grading for any reader who is unfamiliar with the concept, and speak very highly of it and how it has turned cards into a liquid commodity for those who want them to be... but also a protection against fraud for even someone who never plans to sell.
Hope you like it!!!
- Hal
0
Comments
I want VOLUME.
The more people that read it, the more people will enjoy it.
Presumably someone who bought 30 would be giving them out to friends as gifts... not hoarding them. That would do nobody any good.
Believe me, I'll end up losing money over this folly... but luckily that's not as issue. I just wanted to write the book, and now I want to know that it's spreading.
Sort of a proud papa type thing.
1955 Bowman Raw complete with 90% Ex-NR or better
Now seeking 1949 Eureka Sportstamps...NM condition
Working on '78 Autographed set now 99.9% complete -
Working on '89 Topps autoed set now complete
I think the link you provided is bad, though--has an extra http in it. Here's what works for me...
http://www.lulu.com/content/972440
And if you REALLY don't want to profit from this, which is admirable, why not just give it away in text/pdf form?
Good luck with the book.
The Marinolli Treasure
<< <i>And if you REALLY don't want to profit from this, which is admirable, why not just give it away in text/pdf form? >>
I believe if you do an e-book through lulu, there's no charge to the Seller or Buyer.
Edit:
Lulu is free to publish but costs $2.50 to the Buyer (you get $2.00 royalty / $0.50 to Lulu).
Just refund the Buyer $2
I'm also protective of my work product, and it's pretty scary to just throw it out there where someone can take it for free and do who knows what with it. What would stop them from editing it slightly and submitting it in their name?
Or even just editing it to make it much different than my original... and then passing it on even with my name on something that I did not create. I could see someone adding a very inappropriate scene and then passing it around the net with my name on it. No thanks!
I want to have a real BOOK that I can give to people and kids and clients and family. THAT'S what publishing is about.
And No, I really don't care if anyone buys 30... but I do know you would enjoy 1 if you enjoy card collecting!
Don't mind the naysayers here, though.
Hal had the HOF registry set for a few years, until it was passed by a guy slabbing modern tribute cards. I can think of only a handful of fictional books about cards, and hopefully this one will help turn a few more people onto the hobby. it's certainly written by someone knowledgable about cards, unlike a recent book that focused on a different Wagner T206.
Hal, when you produce this on tape I vote for Tik to do the voice over.
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
I could probably get him to be the voice of Honus himself!!
Thanks.
thanks man and really appreciate your efforts
Steve
I'd love to read it
1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold Ozzie Smith
2006 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Chris Carpenter
<< <i>Because I wanted to publish a BOOK that people can hold in their hands and pass on to others. THAT'S what my dream was. Have you ever tried to read 213 pages on a computer screen? Headache city.
I'm also protective of my work product, and it's pretty scary to just throw it out there where someone can take it for free and do who knows what with it. What would stop them from editing it slightly and submitting it in their name?
Or even just editing it to make it much different than my original... and then passing it on even with my name on something that I did not create. I could see someone adding a very inappropriate scene and then passing it around the net with my name on it. No thanks!
I want to have a real BOOK that I can give to people and kids and clients and family. THAT'S what publishing is about.
And No, I really don't care if anyone buys 30... but I do know you would enjoy 1 if you enjoy card collecting! >>
Hey man, I'm just giving you inexpensive alternatives. I enjoy holding a book in my hands, so completely understand what you're saying.
FWIW - Don't concern yourself with copyright infringments on e-books. The purpose of .pdf files is for protection.. Wouldn't make any difference if someone scanned the book.
Best of luck on your venture.
After all, if you really just want people to read it, the most number of people will read it if you make it the most convenient for them to get it.
This is something we've all thought of doing at one time or another. The fact that your dream came to fruition is very admirable.
Best of luck!
<< <i>No, I wasn't suggesting you guys were criticizing, but I just feel like a book is real and a "download" is like getting an e-mail from someone. It just doesn't feel the same. >>
So it's fully bound and hardback? That would be different. I can see charging $14 if it is. If it's softback or manuscript form, then that would be a different story.
http://booksandtales.com/
All I want are satisfied readers!
But he's right. I'm a lawyer, so I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon.
That money pays for baseball cards...and crazy adventures like this one!!
CU turns its lonely eyes to you
What's the you say, Mrs Robinson
Vargha bucks have left and gone away?
hey hey hey
hey hey hey
<< <i>Anthony you are the voice of reason... >>
Which is something we have no need for here. Thanks for nothing, Anthony
"The Marinolli Treasure" Press Release
so the only royalty we are talking about here is the "King of Crash"
<< <i>And FYI, we've only sold 52 copies thus far after all of my efforts...
so the only royalty we are talking about here is the "King of Crash"
Actually that's not all that bad for a POD book for starters. Very tough if not almost impossible to have a best selling POD book mainly because POD books are not usually found in bookstores for a variety of reasons. However a POD book, if it sells well, can be a good stepping stone to a possible contract with a major book publisher who will take some effort to market it. POD publishers as a rule do no marketing except if the author pays for it, and usually those marketing costs are a total waste of money.
You're doing it the right way. Promotion in baseball card forums and other venues of interest, and hopefully word will spread and sales will increase. Don't have any delusions about your book being a NY Times best seller even though it may be a very good book. It was pointed out to me one time that you can go to the library and find many thousands of good books, many of which may have not sold many copies.
One last word of advice - all things being equal, the difference between a poor selling book and a good selling book, is persistence.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
They didn't have on-line services back then.
Now all I have is the printed manuscript in the closet, but no way of finding the data on file, so I would have to re-type the whole thing. That was back in the MS-DOS days of WordStar. Yuck!
I think I'll just let that one sit in the closet and keep gathering dust while I work on another baseball-related one!
I don't know who BHL is, but he is apparently just helping a fellow Gator out.
I had a fraternity brother who was a big baseball fan with the initials BL, but I doubt it is him.
Go Gators.
What i thought funny was, who was you?
Steve
I get your point.
Gemmint would really have been me (pretending not to be me) outing another guy as being me (pretending not to be me) so that I could talk back and forth to the real me.
Perfect logic!
<< <i>Is it me, or does anyone else think that BHL2359 and halleygator are both Hal Lewis. Too funny...
What i thought funny was, who was you?
Steve >>
I am the boogeyman. Aww for Pete's sake, will you all just buy Hal's book, so he refrains from reminding us on message boards.
Steve
Hal doesn't even exist.
I'm really Joe Orlando... and this whole message board is just me logging in under different names and carrying on conversations with myself.
Then, that zany velociraptor, would escape the island and look for a PSA 10 52 Mantle.
What do you guys think?
Harry Boxbanger
and this is what he would look like...