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Interviewing Bassists Stories part 2

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#362
I've been asked about autographed copies.

Now, you may not know this, but U.S. postal regulations have changed. It's now impossible for me to have you send me a book and a stamped self-addressed envelope and then I send it back to you. Ask Scott Thunes. He graciously signed a book for me for a member here, and it got sent back to me.

So, what we'll do is use bookplates, which are decorative, acid-free, adhesive paper rectangles that I'll sign and send to you, as long as you include a stamped self-addressed envelope. Please see the attachment.

Now, DON"T SEND ANYTHING YET. I believe there's going to be some kind of ad worked out with Talkbass.com. We need to nail down release date of the book first.

Due to the increasing number of crazy people contacting me, I won't be able to give out my home address. We'll have to go through a middleman who will send me the autograph requests in bulk.

I expect the craziness factor will only get worse from here on out, since the book deals with the notions of fate, destiny, life after death, and reincarnation. It's also full of sex and lust and boozing and drugs. Unstable people don't understand boundaries. You'll read about what almost took place the last time a fan overstepped, and how I had to restrain someone from committing murder to protect me.

And you thought the book was just about being a failed music journalist! Haw! I no longer have any patience or sympathy for potential attackers. I'm armed these days, and I have no qualms whatsoever protecting myself even from someone who admires my work.

So, I need to make arrangements for my own safety, and then I'll let you know.
 

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#369
AndGabrielFell said:
Hey Tom. Really looking forward to reading this book. Have you set up a FaceBook and/or Twitter account for it yet?
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Not yet. First I need to have a Web site made that'll promote all five of my books (soon to be six; I know I said no more military-history books, but I'm doing another one); then I need to be absolutely sure of the release date.

One of our members here is going to walk me through the process of how to set up and how to best use Facebook and Twitter.

It's going to be a huge temptation to start sounding off about everything, but that's something I'm going to force myself to avoid doing. Nothing's stupider than an entertainer who thinks just because people are interested in his or her entertainment, that means now our opinions on politics, social issues, or life are somehow valuable.

I'm going to be really careful to not insult, annoy, or alienate the people I'm asking to shell out hard-earned money for my book.
 
#371
AndGabrielFell said:
I totally understand fighting the temptation. You can always just use both platforms in giving little tasty morsels of what's to come. Just the little bits you've offered here and from the blurbs already posted has triggered a Pavlovian response in my reader's mind.
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My plan is to use the Web site and Facebook to offer additional info and photos that didn't make it into the book due to space limitations. Also I'll want to advertise radio and print interviews or reviews. I can't make personal appearances, but I have a couple of ideas that might make a big whoop-de-do promotion-wise. Couple of sweepstakes are in the planning stage, for example.

Also, to keep the price of the book at $14.99, we had to go black and white for all the photos. I want to put up a few color images, such as the painting I bought that finally allowed me to let go of the Cardinal Ghost after twenty years.

It deserves to be shown in color.
 
#372
Arthritic_Tom said:
One of our members here is going to walk me through the process of how to set up and how to best use Facebook and Twitter.

It's going to be a huge temptation to start sounding off about everything,
Click to expand...

I suggest you also have them set up a blog for you. You'll be able to talk about everything that your other websites don't include. Here is a list of "top ten" rated blogs. http://sixrevisions.com/tools/top-free-online-blogging/

Note that free blogs store your posts in archives by year. What I've been researching is blogs that allow you to store your posts in Categories which can then become threads of their own and much easier to follow. Something like: Invalid Link Removed

Looking forward to your posts, wherever they may be. :hyper:
 
#373
Stumbo said:
I suggest you also have them set up a blog for you. You'll be able to talk about everything that your other websites don't include. Here is a list of "top ten" rated blogs. http://sixrevisions.com/tools/top-free-online-blogging/

Note that free blogs store your posts in archives by year. What I've been researching is blogs that allow you to store your posts in Categories which can then become threads of their own and much easier to follow. Something like: Invalid Link Removed

Looking forward to your posts, wherever they may be. :hyper:
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The problem with blogging when you're a non-political writer is that it wears out your welcome. To be really long-lived without resorting to fake controversy, you have to hold things in reserve in order to keep people interested.

Also, it would be really unhealthy for me to blog about my thoughts. I don't want to do anything that draws attention to Tom Wictor.

Thomas Wictor is out there, blathering away and selling books, but Tom Wictor should stay in the shadows.
 
#374
I know it's not the same, Tom, but even if you can't play the bass guitar you can still write music and play it through a synth or software. The bass line to Thomas Dolby's Hyperactive comes to mind as a masterpiece of synth bass which happens to be barely playable on a real bass. Just a thought. Two things I love are music and photography and I always worry about how I would deal with the loss of ability to do one or the other.

As soon as your book shows up for pre-order on Amazon I'm on it.
 
#375
Spectrum said:
I know it's not the same, Tom, but even if you can't play the bass guitar you can still write music and play it through a synth or software. The bass line to Thomas Dolby's Hyperactive comes to mind as a masterpiece of synth bass which happens to be barely playable on a real bass. Just a thought. Two things I love are music and photography and I always worry about how I would deal with the loss of ability to do one or the other.

As soon as your book shows up for pre-order on Amazon I'm on it.
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Thanks very much. The book is my best work ever. I'm going to add a final photo to it which I'll take on September 7. My editor insists. I'll have to drive an hour to get there, so it's going to be tough, but I'm pretty sure I can do it.

I was actually a photographer as well as a bassist, but I lost the ability to take good photos because of my eyesight problems.

When some doors close, others open. It's up to you to decide whether or not to go through them or stay in the room, furious at your fate.

Nietzsche said, "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I never believed that. Suffering can destroy you. It nearly destroyed me.

I much prefer the thoughts of the German writer Ernst Jünger, who was a stormtrooper in World War I. At twenty-three he was awarded the Blue Max--Prussia's version of the Congressional Medal of Honor--for bravery, and he was wounded in action fourteen times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ernst_Juenger_inSG.jpg

He had a really wacky sense of humor, which was one of the reasons he lived to be 103 years old. According to Jünger:

"That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and that which kills you makes you strongest of all."
 
#377
Profania_bass said:
Tom! Please don't forget that there is already an FB page for your book! IT already has 45 members and I have been updating it with info from this page :)

https://www.facebook.com/GhostsAndBallyhoo

You're welcome to take it over once the book is out :)

I seriously cannot wait for this!
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I haven't forgotten. The thing is, I'm going to put up a Facebook page under my own name to sell all my books.

If you want to keep the Ghosts page going, I don't see a problem with that. You can poach material from what I post, as well as posting your own stuff. The more the merrier!

Today I took the author photo. Since the book is about catastrophic failure and horrendous, near-total loss, there was only one kind of photo that could be used.

Can you read the button?
 

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