Before I do anything else, I want to take a minute to wish my daughter Tiffany happy birthday. I love you, Tiff, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in a few days.
Yesterday I made the final changes to the new issue of the Gypsy Journal and uploaded it to the printer’s server. It always feels good to put a new issue to bed, and this one feels extra special, because it is Number 72, our twelve year anniversary issue.
Somebody who interviewed us for a magazine article several years ago estimated that every issue of the Gypsy Journal contains approximately 25,000 words, and that with six issues a year, that comes out to 150,000 words a year, or the equivalent of two paperback mystery novels a year. That’s a lot of writing! Somebody asked me a while back how I find the time to write the paper, the daily RV blog, the Bad Nick Blog, an occasional book, and my websites, along with hosting two rallies a year, and traveling too. I explained that if you want to accomplish something in life, sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and give up something else. In my case, I gave up diet and exercise. 🙂
After I uploaded the files for the new issue to the printer, I sent out a link for our Digital Edition to our digital subscribers. Since we launched the Digital Edition two years ago, it has really become popular. Subscribers like getting the paper fast, not having to pay to have it forwarded, and not having something else to carry around in their RV. One reader wrote me back yesterday, after getting the link, “I always feel so special, because I get the paper on my iPad a week or two before everybody else does!”
These days, there are so many folks with e-book readers like Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and such that it is revolutionizing who we read, and how books are published. Just as Print on Demand technology allowed people to self-publish their own books without the hassles of agents and commercial publishers, e-bookstores are making it easy for anybody to become a published author, and a lot of great new fiction is out there that can be had for a buck or two. I’m curious, how many of you have e-book readers, and if so, what do you have? And do you read any of the low cost novels offered on Amazon.com and other online bookstores, or do you stick with the more expensive works by well known authors? Thirty years ago I had a couple of mystery novels published, but never really followed up on that aspect of my writing. I’ve got a couple more sitting in my computer that I keep toying with the idea of publishing as e-books, but I’m not sure I have the confidence to do so.
Even if you don’t have an e-book reader, most of us have come to depend on our computers for everything from reading blogs, to sending e-mails, paying bills online, trip planning, and so much more. If you want to learn how to get the most out of your computer, make plans to arrive in Celina, Ohio a couple of days before our Eastern Gypsy Journal Rally in September so you can attend the excellent Computer Boot Camp that Jim and Chris from Geeks on Tour will be presenting. Miss Terry attended the Boot Camp a couple of years ago, and has nothing but praise for it, and how much she learned. I’ve heard the same thing from everybody who has been to the Boot Camp. For more information, just click this Computer Boot Camp link, and Chris and Jim will get you registered.
And if you haven’t registered for the rally yet, what are you waiting for? It’s going to be a lot of fun!
Thought For The Day – Life’s tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.
Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Nick … I received a Kindle for Christmas and think it’s just great. Everytime I looked for it, my wife had it playing word games and reading so I bought one for her. Since I read a book a week, those free and low cost books a really nice. The most I’ve paid is $2.99, but most are free. When at home base, I still go to the local library (on-line to order) and get my favorite authors if they’re too expensive for the Kindle.
How can I get the GJ on the Kindle?
We just bought the Samsung Galaxy Tablet thru Verizon with the Android OS. It does everything my Droid X does, except it has a 7″ screen and it doesn’t make phone calls! I downloaded the Kindle app and now it functions as an ebook reader. I’ve only downloaded one ebook from Amazon so far and love the technology. Will be looking into the free and low cost books next.
Nick, does a new subscriber to the digital edition have access to the past digital editions?
We just bought a Nook Color for the wife. She is hypersensitive to formeldehyde (think cheap date – buy a magazine and she gets loopy, take her to a NEW trailer show — she’s toast in 3 look ats) and she is reading a bunch of the free ones. She is still ‘exploring’ it and as we find more of her magazines, the better it is. In the past, we would purchase a mag and air it out, especially for glossy paper, slick color ones.
Much, Much better for her. Mine is still waiting – sigh.
We each got a Kindle for Christmas this past year and love them! We read the free or low cost books almost exclusively. Occasionally, there will even be a “famous” author book thrown in, most recently “Tick Tock” by James Patterson. There are several blogs available to alert you to the new Amazon freebies/deals. I think you should publish your mysteries. I’d read them 🙂
My hubby just got an iPad 2. It is FABULOUS. It not only has features that include being able to read books like a Kindle but it’s like a small light weight computer you can take with you. There are many apps for it. He likes the weather one especially.
We were just visiting relatives and we have a subscription to Ancestry. Hubby went on the iPad while we were at their home, opened up ancestry.com and we found her parents on the census records. This caused the relative to tell us several stories about her parents we had not heard before.
I really like the iPad 2 and see one for me in the VERY near future. In fact hubby called around to several stores close by us here in New England but everyone is out and we would have to order one. Since we are on the move I may have to wait for a few months. Drat !!!!!!
Hubby also has the iPhone which has many apps for it. He just used the app All Stays Camp & RV then filtered for supplies-LPG. We needed propane. With this handy app we found a place to get propane and at the best price in the area ($2.50/gallon). Hubby says same app on iPad is better to use because of viewing the same information on the larger screen.
We love this new technology which is making RVing all the more easy for all of us out here on the road.
I have great respect and admiration for your talent and your diligence in regularly publishing 150,000 words every year, and especially for managing to get something on the blog every day, regardless of the weather, your health, and other distractions such as running two excellent rallys a year. You truly understand “publish or perish”.
Also a comment on the Geeks. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of their educational talent. I marvel at their ability to get across complex material in simple, “bite” size pieces, without dumbing it down.
Lastly, our e-reader. Kathy has a Nook, which we bought last spring. I selected the Nook for her because she was accustomed to and comfortable with shopping at B&N. It has had some technical problems, but B&N has always made good on replacing or fixing it. The greatest benefit to me is the loss of 50 pounds of books under the dinette. Regarding content, she purchases mostly first run novels, at a couple of bucks off the new book price.
Travel safe.
Nick,
I second Keith’s comment about your regularly publishing all that you do – besides reading the GJ from cover to cover, your blog starts off my day.
Larry and I both have Kindles and love the convenience of having all these books in the palm of our hands – less weight to haul around and all these choices practically at our fingertips. We get more of our books free or low cost. We may not always find books from our favorite authors that way but we are being introduced to new ones we probably wouldn’t have read otherwise.
I downloaded the GJ on my Kindle, I believe as a PDF file, but it wasn’t easy to navigate around (not a GJ problem – either operator or Kindle issue) so until I find a better way, I’ll stick w/the ink version. I’ve tried magazines on my laptop but just prefer something more portable and lightweight to carry around.
Job well done, Nick. I’ve met bi-weekly and monthly deadlines, and without diligence and planning the writing becomes a chore rather than fun. One of my publications was a monthly newsletter telephone bill insert. With over 500,000 readers I knew that mistakes in grammar and spelling would bring letters or phone calls. I tried to keep those to a minimum. So I appreciate what you go through to bring out every issue. Hope you don’t have to pay your proofreader too much.
Congratulations, on the 12 years of publishing the GJ. As you know we both love it and read it from cover to cover. We both have the kindle, I have generation 1 and Mike has the newer version. he spends around 8 hours a day reading and this sure is nice since we do not have space in the motor home for all the books he reads a week. We also take advantage of all the free ones available, but have been known to spend a few bucks for one. Nice thing is we usually have the same taste in books and we only have to buy one.Please publish your mystery book, it is probably great, but please put it on the kindle.
Nick, congrats on the 12 years of publishing. I have the original Kindle, got it a few weeks after you got yours and saw the positive comments you wrote concerning the Kindle. I read ~ four books a month and try to stay with the less expensive ones that Amazon offers, I think it’s great and the only way to go for an RVer…….
I have Macular Degeneration and so my girls bought me a Kindle for Christmas. I love it because I love to read and I can change the size of the font so its visible for me. My favorite feature is being able to get samples of books I’m considering instead of buying a book and then discovering it’s not one I’m enjoying.
LOVE my Kindle – I download lots of the free & really cheap books, but also allow myself 3-4 “regular” books/month that I would probably buy at Sam’s, etc. Have started reading and/or re-reading some of the classics that I had no time to really enjoy in hs & college – long live Beowulf! ( a bit cumbersome on Kindle, but…..)
I have a Kindle. The more I use it, the more I enjoy it. I was not sure that I would want to buy books that I could not re-sell or trade/give away, as I usually only read a book once, but I am finding many good qualities.
I have been able to get many classics for free. About 75% of the e-books I have were free. The rest are favorite authors at lower cost. I have always been an avid reader, but like to read several different books at a time (depending on the time of day and my mood), so knowing I can carry 100s of books in about the same space as a paperback is great.
I hope you will publish your mysteries for the Kindle. For convenience, it would be nice to have the GJ available that way, too, but I enjoy passing on the physical paper to others who should be introduced to your writing. My morning is not complete unless I have read your blogs!
Ken,
No, a new digital subscription does not include past issue, but we do have them available on CD, except for the first three years, which we are working on digitizing now.
I read a lot and finding RV parks with book trading areas was becoming a hassle. So, I bought a Nook. Now I just go to manybooks.net and download lots of free ones. As long as I have an internet connection I will never again run out of books to read causing me to make an “emergency” trip to WalMart to buy a book or three. 🙂
Oh, come on! Publish your mysteries as ebooks so we can all enjoy them! I had no idea you were shy about anything!
We have two e-books, a Nook and a Motorola Zoom, acquired over the past four or five years because Butch has to have the newest and latest of everything techie. He is a book reader and uses all of the above for that. Now that we have the Zoom, we don’t use the Nook much.
The Zoom does almost everything a computer does. Since I like to read periodicals, I really love it. I find it much more convenient than the computer. Now that we have it, I read your blog every day. I also read the newspaper on it and use it to check my e-mail. I am writing this comment on it. As soon as Butch buys himself the next new thing in android tablets, I am confiscating this baby for myself.
Nick, you write so well that you even make Civil War history interesting to me. I sure would like to try some of your fiction.
I have the generation 2 Kindle and love it. I get most of my books free, purchase a lot of uneer $2 books (esp the 99 cent ones) and rarely pay $5-6 for books (only favorite authors).
Congratulations on your 12 year anniversary. Don’t ya just love when a plan comes together? Your travel plan, that is! Keep it up!
Kindle. . .love it! Hubby has one too. . .the free books are great!
“Santa” Dave gifted me with a Kindle last Christmas … to replace the tub of books taking up space (and weight) in our 16ft rolling home. I’m a creature of the printed page and love ‘handling’ books as I read, poking thru used bookstores etc. so I had a built-in prejudice about e-readers. However, I am really enjoying this new gadget, and DH is a happy camper too. I usually stick to free or .99 books, and recently downloaded a word game to which I’ve become addicted. I”ve onl splurged once at &7.99. I love the new feature which allows ‘loaning’ a book to another Kindle reader for 2 weeks – works really well.
Hey, do publish your books for us all to enjoy … e-reader format please! Take care, safe journeys and enjoy the visits with family – L ‘n D
It’s iPads for us here. Plus, with the Kindle app, the iBook app, and an app called Stanza, we can read our books on either the iPad or our iPhones, all while keeping track of our places with each book as we switch devices. Really cool.