Category Archives: Books

Updates and the iBookstore

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This has been an unusually busy work week for me. It is a real wonder that I can even find time to blog right now. I have had to create several “plans of corrections” this week for the state of Alaska who visited my facility a couple of weeks ago. That has been keeping me pretty busy, but I have somehow manage to find a moment here and their to make more progress on ‘All That Matters‘ and my second book.

The self publishing thing has been quite a learning experience. Most of it is fun, but some of it can quite literally make you pull your hair out. I have spent a good part of my evenings this week contacting bloggers who do book reviews and asking them to review my book. I have met quite a few great ones out their. Between now and the next few months blog posts should start popping up all around the net about my book. The other bit of amazing news is that those who have already read my book only have good things to say about it. I even got a five-star review on Goodreads.com saying:

Raw and beautiful. This book moves you in ways unimaginable.

When I read that I was left speechless. Someone out their really liked my book! It made me feel like all the time, money, and effort I have put into this project has been worth all of it.

The part about self publishing that makes me want to rip my hair out is related to getting my book in the iBookstore. As a self published author can not go to Apple directly and submit my book to their book store. I have to go through a third party. In my case Lulu.com. Lulu takes my book and submits it to Apple’s iBookstore. If your lucky, your book is accepted and you can move on with life. If you’re like me and your book is rejected, you are not told why. Most likely it is the cause of an ePub formatting issue. I have spent the last two weeks trying to figure out what is wrong with my file ePub file. Barnes and Noble was happy with it, but Apple is not. Apple also gives me no advice on how I could fix my ePub file. Just a note saying that I can try submitting again. That’s it. I am almost at the point of giving up on this. I will continue trying to make it work till I go on vacation later this month, but if I can’t get it accepted by then I think I am just going to walk away from the Apple iBookstore. The Kindle software is available for all Apple devices. I have read quite a few books on my iPhone using the Kindle software and I think it is a better reading experience anyway.

Another goal I have before I go on vacation is to make the physical copy of my book available for purchase from Amazon.com. I am pretty sure I can have this completed before I leave.

My second book has been taking shape rather well. I have an outline and a cast of characters. This week I managed to get a couple of hundred of words written which completed the fourth chapter. I would love to have written more and normally I can, but with these ‘plans of corrections’ due at work I have just not had the time or the focus. Which is sad because I really like posting on my Twitter and Google+ account how many words I write a day.

Comic Book Frames

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I got a great e-mail from Hamp Freeman this last weekend who read my post on IKEA photo frames hack for comic books and decided to drive 3 hours to his nearest IKEA to pickup a set of these photo frames for his own comic book collection. He was kind enough to share with me some great photos of his comic now proudly displayed on his walls. Check out his e-mail to me below.

I’m from Raleigh, North Carolina, where I went to NC State to get a Master’s of Industrial Design. Comics were a minor interest as a kid, but came out even more when I went to the College of Design. I found it really interesting to see how they have affected entertainment and popular media through their design over the years, especially within the past few years. Recently, I fell into some rare comic books (my girlfriend’s father gave me a few of his old comic books when he found out how interested I was in them, and they happen to be some of the earliest issues of The Amazing Spider-Man) and this got me very excited to not only collect these amazing covers, but find a way to show them off. I never wanted to be “that comic book guy” who hides his collection in boxes to keep them safe. I was proud to own these books, and wanted to share their history with those that came by.

I scoured the internet one day, looking up “how to frame comic book covers” and like you, found that most of the products out there are pretty expensive, something a recent college graduate couldn’t afford, especially not in the mass quantity I wanted. I finally came about your blog post (drawn in by the mention of IKEA) and became really excited about the idea of a D.I.Y. IKEA solution that was affordable. I had to drive to Charlotte, NC to get them, but it has made all the difference in the world. I bought 16 while there, and plan on getting another batch soon.

Your solution is incredibly effective. Not only for its affordability, but also because the IKEA frames allow me to quickly change out the covers to show off different collections in the same area. I have a few different sets of collections going right now and I plan on switching out different collections to keep my room’s art always changing. Right now I have three collections going at once. The first are classic issues of my favorite Marvel characters, chosen by their cover designs. The second are homage covers to Spider-Man #1. I really find the concept of “paying tribute” to past covers by recreating the design with updated characters to be very interesting and visually stunning (something that can’t quite be completely understood until you see them all up together). My final set of collections are the “Marvel Zombies Homage Covers paired with their originals”. Basically their is a comic book artist, Arthur Suydam, who created amazingly painted covers for a yearly series “Marvel Zombies” where he took classic covers recreated them to have zombies in them. You can see the Spider-Man#1 zombie counter part in the previously mentioned picture, but also the 2nd picture shows the classic “Spider-Man Wedding” matched its zombie counter part. Suydam’s covers are really interesting and you can find a list of the covers at his wikipedia page.

So that pretty much sums up the whole process. I apologize for getting a bit long winded, but finding your solution really rebooted my interest in comics, and I’ve been incredibly excited to show off everything.

I think it is so great when people like Hamp share stores like this with me. I hope this becomes a thing on the Internet where more and more people take pictures and share their comic book photo frames with me. Feel free to contact me if you have done a project like this. I would like to hear about it.

I’m On The Nook

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Well, It took a little bit of work, but I was finally able to get my book on the Barnes and Noble Nook. As of right now you can go over to Barnes and Noble’s website and download ‘All That Matters’ for 99 cents. You can even download a free version of ‘All That Matters’ for your Nook that contains the first three chapters. You can find the free version on the books website AllThatMattersTheBook.com. So please check it out and let me know what you think!

‘All That Matters’ Is Now Available On The Kindle!

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I am so excited to tell the world today that my first book ‘All That Matters‘, is now available for the Amazon Kindle (US, UK, DE) e-book reader. The book is free of all DRM and only costs $0.99! 

‘All That Matters’ has been the result of ten months of hard, but incredibly fun and creative work. Staring late last September I wrote multiple drafts of the story to get the right flow and timing down. Hired a proofreader to go through the book and make sure all the ‘I’ where dotted and ‘t’ were crossed. Gave out several copies of the book to willing readers to make sure it was an enjoyable story. Formatted the book for various e-book readers. Designed a book cover. And created a website for the book at www.AllThatMattersTheBook.com. There anyone can learn more about the book and download the first three chapters for free! 

I have a little bit more work to do before the book will be available for the Barnes & Noble Nook, or from Apple’s iBooks store and others ebook retailers, but I will make an announcement the moment they are available.

‘All That Matters’ also has a listing on GoodReads.com which is a great website for people who like to read books, track the books they read with their friends, and follow authors. Think of it like Google+, only for books. So please be sure to check it out along with my GoodReads.com author page and Amazon Author page.

‘All That Matters’ Kindle Book Cover

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All That Matters Kindle Cover

All That Matters Kindle Cover

This is pretty great! I recently asked my readers to help me pick out a cover for my book ‘All That Matters’. Today I was able to load the winning cover and the entire book up on my kindle and it looks beautiful!

It’s a surreal feeling to be holding my own book like this. All the hard work and time I have put into this project has produced something I am so proud of. I can’t wait for everyone else to be able to get their hands on it.

I plan to launch ‘All That Matters’ publicly in the next few days. At first the book will be available as a download for the Amazon Kindle. Then in the following days I plan to make it available for the Barnes & Noble Nook, and most other ebook readers. There will also be the option to buy a physical copy of the book if you want. I am doing this one step at a time because the whole process is still all new to me.

I want to thank everyone for all your amazing support and encouragement throughout this process. It has ment the world to me.

The Winning Book Cover ‘All That Matters’

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All That Matters Book Cover

The Winning Book Cover for 'All That Matters'

I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on my blog, Twitter, Google+ and E-mail me their favorite book cover for ‘All That Matters’. The response I got was great and I am so excited to show off the winning cover to everyone.

Now I am going to work on getting this bad boy on my Kindle and launching my book in the next couple of days.

I Need Your Help

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Like the title says, I need your help! I have made several book covers for my new book ‘All That Matters’ which is about to be release. After a long process I have finally gotten the cover choices narrowed down to four options. I just can’t seem to pick one for the cover of my book. So I am hopping all of you who read my blog can help me choose the best cover.

Below you will find my final four book covers. Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3 and Cover 4. Would you check them out and let me know which book cover you like best by leaving me a comment below? It would be a big help and it lets you in on part of the book publishing process. I look forward to reading all your comments and thanks for your help.

Introducing ‘All That Matters’

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I am so excited to introduce a project I have been working on since October of 2010.

‘All That Matters’ is a book I have written, a novella, about Ethan Wright who is just like any other high school kid. But one day he is lucky enough to meet the girl of his dreams. Throughout the course of high school he learns to cope with incredibly difficult odds to discover all that matters.

My desire to write a book came along as a result of having so much fun writing for my own blog and for a role playing game website called ‘Stargazers World‘. I wanted try and put my creative writing energy into a book. The result is novella titled ‘All That Matters’.

Currently ‘All That Matters’ is in the very final stages of editing and should be available on Amazon.com in the next few weeks and available on the Barnes and Noble nook shortly thereafter. I am really looking forward to hearing what people have to say about my first attempt at writing a book.

Ikea Comic Book Photo Frame Hack

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For a while now I have been wanting to find a way to show off my comic book collection in my office. I had done a lot of searching online for comic book picture frames and have been constantly turned off by the price of them. I have always been turned off by the price of photo frames, but that is a rant for another blog post.

I recently found a safe alternative to expensive comic book photo frames thanks to $1.99 photo frame from Ikea and I want to share my solution with you.

Comic Book Safety

Before I started searching for comic book photo frames I did some research regarding how safe it is to present your comic books out in the open. I was personally worried about UV fading as a result of having the a comic books exposed to light.

I found the answer to my concerns over at the website Frame It Again Sam.

There is a myth about UV protection implying that mysterious UV rays exist in all light and need to be filtered out. The truth is that there is no UV light inside your house unless you have fluorescent bulbs without a UV shield. And that should be a worry for you, not your comics. Remember that UV causes sun burns and skin cancer, and you are protected from UV rays in your home and so are your comics.

That being said, Mylar-D Bags have substantial UV-Protection built-in. The reason I use Mylar bags with the frames, however is not so much for their UV protection, but for their preservation qualities, incredible clarity and their longevity.

UV Rays are line-of-sight from the sun (direct sunlight). Not just any light as seems to be the myth. It has to be a straight line from the sun to your comics to have any UV rays in it. Even with UV protection you should still avoid putting your comics in the path of direct sunlight because infrared, another component of direct sunlight, is harmful to the inks in comics. Humidity, changes in temperature and exposure to fresh oxygen are the dangers you should worry about for your collection. Avoid hanging near doors and windows and under bright lights or rooms. And keep comics out of the path of DIRECT sunlight with or without UV protection!

Comic Book Frames

With my worries about my comic books fading gone I proceeded to search for comic book frames to present my comics in.

A simple google search will result in a lot of options for comic book collectors. A lot of the comic book frames I found that I liked where custom build-to-order. These frames where built with care. I was turned off by the price of these frames from the get go. They would be an option for me if I only had a comic book or two I wanted to hang up. The reality is that I have several comic books I want to hang up. I want to be able to pick out my comics that look great and hang them in my office. That means hanging more than two comic books up.

Ikea Photo Frame

During a trip to Ikea in Portland I found they where selling $1.99 black photo frames that would be perfect for displaying my comics in. I bought several of these frames and brought them back with me to Alaska.

To complete this project I also need to purchase a few other materials. Black Cardstock Paper and picture hooks. Below is a list of all the materials I had to pick up to display my comic books.

Materials

Steps For Displaying Comics Using An IKEA Photo Frame

Step 1. Flipping the photo frame over list the 6 black metal tabs so you can remove the back from the Ikea Photo Frame.

Step 2. Gently push out the hanger loop tap on the photo frame backing.

Step 3. Holding the back photo frame backing down on a flat surface wiggle the diagonal stand pice until it can be pulled free from the backing. If you are worried about doing to much damage to the backing I also found scissors to be helpful. (Removing the stand allows the photo frame to lay flat against the wall when hung.)

Step 4. Remove the paper from behind the plastic window of the photo frame. You wont be needing it.

 

Step 5. Remove the Plastic plexiglass like window from the photo frame and remove the plastic wrap coating.

Each side of the plexiglass is covered with a thin sheet of plastic wrap like coating. You can remove it by rubbing your finger gently across the edge of the plexiglass till you can pull off the plastic wrap.

Step 6. Place the plexiglass window back in the photo frame keeping the photo frame face down.

Step 7. Place a bagged and boarded comic book of your choice face down in the photo frame so it is even and level.

Step 8. Take a sheet of Black Cardstock Paper and place it on top of the comic book.

Step 9. Put the photo frame backing back on top of the Black Card stock and press down on the 6 black metal tabs to secure the backing in place.

Step 10. Install a picture hook on the wall where you would like to hang your comic book.

Step 11. Hang your comic book using the hanger loop tap on the back of the Ikea photo frame and you are done.

Conclusion

I currently have 19 of these Ikea photo frames hanging in my office and they look pretty great. It is so nice to be able to look up from my computer and see the wonderful art that now surrounds me.

The Ikea frames are not flawless, but what do you want from a Photo frame that cost less an two bucks? Besides, people who visit me in my office are to busy admiring the comics to care about the frames.

[UPDATE: 10.23.2011]

Hamp Freeman contacted me to say he liked my solution for framing comic books. He even e-mailed me some photos. [Link to Post]

[UPDATE: 10.24.2011]

Anthony James contacted me to show off his comic books using the IKEA Frame hack [Link to Post]

[UPDATE: 5.2.2012]

I have seen that some people are using the black IKEA frames to display their comics, but they are doing so with out including the white backing board that most comic book collectors use. This is producing a cleaner look when displaying your comics. I have not don’t it (yet), But I just wanted people to know about that option.

4 Hour Body – Weight Update

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I seem to be getting asked more and more how my diet is going. Ever since I announced that I would be doing the “Slow Carb Diet” described in the Timothy Ferriss Book, ‘The 4 Hour Body‘ friends want to know if I am still on the diet and what kind of progress I have made.

Well yes, I am still on the diet. I have been on it since January 10th of this year and I have lost over 20 pounds as a result. My cloths fit better and I feel better. A little less than a month go I had to take my dress shirts to a tailor and have them sized because they where all to big for me and didn’t fit anymore.

I have been on this diet for 73 days in total and there are a couple of reasons why I think it is working for me. One reason is I can see results everyday by tracking my weight daily and my physical measurements weekly. Using these methods I can see improvements and nothing keeps one motivated to do something then seeing constant improvements. Another thing that keeps me motivated is that once a week I am allowed to cheat. I can eat whatever I want and as much of it as I want. For me this day is normally Saturday and boy do I pig out. It’s knowing that I never have to wait more than 7 days to eat junk food that also keeps me going.

Graph Of My Current Weight Loss

‘The 4 Hour Body’ offers other diets options for people. Not just the ‘Slow Carb Diet’. It’s just the diet I chose and it’s been working. Below you can see a graph of my weight loss compiled from my daily weight documentation I have been keeping.