#Nostalgia John Glenn – 2/20/1962 - Part 1

3 - 2 - 1 - Ignition - LIFT-OFF!
The Atlas 6 rocket with John Glenn in Friendship 7.

I turn 70-years old this Thursday, February 20, 2020. Today and next Tuesday, blog posts reflect the greatest event that occurred on any of my birthdays... except, of course, the first one in 1950.

With my mom in the summer of 1950.

My twelfth birthday was on February 20, 1962. To help me celebrate, John Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral in a tiny Mercury space capsule that morning. His mission was to be the first American to orbit the earth. The photograph below shows Glenn standing beside his wife and Friendship 7 in 2002. You can see the size of the capsule—just big enough for one astronaut and the electronics to keep him up. And hopefully, bring him down safely.

Photos from the days before the flight reveal the harsh reality that this space flight was nothing like science fiction. Hundreds of SciFi authors painted glowing word pictures of the glamor of spaceships and travel in “outer space.” Glenn did not enter the Friendship 7 after walking up a ramp, not by ascending a stairway. You can see in the next photo that Glenn clambered gracelessly down through the hatch and folded himself into the seat.

The capsule was just that, a capsule. President Kennedy toured the capsule with the help of Glenn soon after all data was retrieved. The success of Glenn’s mission was critical to Kenney’s stated goal of having Americans on the moon within ten years. 

"If you look closely, Mr. President, you can still see the indentations my rear end left in the seat during lift-off."

NASA’s diagram of the capsule includes the term ballistic in its technical name. Glenn’s spacecraft sat atop at huge missile, actually metal tube filled with explosive fuel, so the ballistic descriptor was more accurate than anyone at NASA wanted to admit.

I remember sitting a watching the lift-off with my family on our black and white console TV screen. We were mesmerized.

Next Tuesday: The flight and the aftermath.

SEO: nostalgia, Americana, 1960s, space race

Follow me on 

Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-downing-97595266/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

Email: crd.author@gmail.com

My Blogs

Life as I see it. Topics rotate between those of general interest to lovers of life,  authors, teachers—probably you, too.  Posts on Tuesdays and some Mondays.  http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/?alt=rss

My Christian Context. Posts M/W of discussion questions. Thursdays - Timeless Truths. Fridays - Expressions of Faith. https://mychristiancontext.blogspot.com/  

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!

#Authors. Exposing Advertising that DOESN’T WORK - Conclusion

This week, I discuss five examples of Advertising that DOESN’T WORK plans.

Disclaimer
I base all commentary in this blog on personal experience. I understand that some authors have successfully used any/all my “doesn’t work” examples.

I retired from my full-time high school and university teaching career in June 2012 after thirty-nine years.

I met with my longtime friend, Jeanne C. Stein, best-selling author of “The Anna Strong Chronicles” and other titles. We began reading and commenting on each other’s writing in the 1980s.

Jeanne is amazing. Her perseverance in making herself is a testament to her determination. I value her advice.

She suggested I start with science fiction.

I did.

While waiting for responses from publishers on one manuscript, I submitted another to what called itself a “co-publisher.” They accepted the manuscript and published it in early 2014.

2nd DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.

Expecting winning a writing competition to boost sales

At the recommendation of my publicist, Sherry Frazier, I entered Traveler’s HOT L in a book competition. It won the science-fiction category. I bought stickers to put on the covers of the copies I’d purchased from the co-publisher. I added “Named Best Science Fiction Book” in the 2014 USA Best Book Awards” to my website and my Amazon Author page. 

I expected sales to soar. Sales did not soar. 

Sales did not increase to any noticeable extent.

In last week’s Part 1 of this brief series, I described the non-marketing of my co-publisher. That my publisher did not acknowledge the award anywhere but in an in-house memo, didn’t help.

3rd/4th DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLES.

Discounted print and eBook sales/Free eBook events

3. Amazon KDP allows authors to conduct sales. Each sale has a strict time limit and allows only fixed levels of discounting in the sequence of sale prices. 

I’ve done this more than once, hoping that continuing to do the same thing over would this one time have a different result. There was no significant surge in sales, even when the books were at the most discounted price.

I posted these sales on

• Twitter—multiple times each day.
• Facebook at least once daily on my Author’s page, on my personal page, and in more than one group I belong to.
• my website.

4. KDP also allows authors to allow free downloads of eBooks for limited times. I could copy/paste the above verbiage here, but I won’t. Sales did not increase after the giveaways, even though most of my giveaways moved that eBook into the top 100 free eBooks for a time.

5th DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.

Book signings and Author Chats

I’ve had over 5,500 students in my teaching career. A significant majority liked me as a teacher and most of those on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter follow me. At least a plurality of those individuals live close enough to San Diego, CA, that driving to an event from where they live to where a book signing was, isn’t out of the question.

My first book signing was at Mysterious Galaxy. The store specializes in SciFi and Mystery books and is well-known throughout the Southwestern US. My time-travel book, Traveler’s HOT L was a natural. They publicized the event, and I spread the word. There was a full-house in their venue, and I sold 34 copies. I found out later that the average sales at a book signing are six books, so I was happy.

However, one event does not a successful marketing strategy make.

I set up a signing in the library at the high school from which I’d recently retired as a Biology teacher. Many former students and a half-dozen teachers came. 
I sold about twenty books.

I rented a booth at the City of La Mesa Arts Festival. Not a bad venue. Moderate foot traffic.
I sold six books.

I visited every Barnes and Noble store in San Diego County, one in Orange County, and one in Riverside County. Three of them sounded interested, two did not do signings, and one never responded to my query. I got one signing at the store in Escondido.

Their advertising comprised putting the poster I gave them in the window. The venue inside the store was in a corner with little traffic. There were no signs inside the store directing customers to the event.
I sold two books.

I did a book signing at the university bookstore where I’d been full-time faculty for eight-years. They set my table up in the entry foyer to the bookstore. People had to walk around the display to get to the bookstore's items for sale. 
I sold two books.

I scored an “Author’s Chat” at a branch of the San Diego Public Library system. They marketed in their mailer. About a dozen people attended. 
I sold four copies. 

I rented space in a satellite building of the university mentioned above. Great room. I did a PPT presentation on the process and highlighted the three science fiction books I had published by that time. Over twenty people came for the presentation and a few others wandered in after the presentation. 
If memory serves, I sold ten books.

In a nutshell, I struck out far more often than I hit a home run with book signings.

6th DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.

Book Boosts on social media

Two times I did a tour of my books in my blog, spending two weeks on each book. I provided background information and snippets from each book.

To the best of my knowledge, after twenty dedicated blog posts…
I sold no books.

What’s my advice about advertising?

Work with a publicist or marketing firm. If you don’t sell books then, at least you have someone to blame. 

SEO: book marketing, authors as marketers

Follow me on 

Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-downing-97595266/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

Email: crd.author@gmail.com

My Blogs

Life as I see it. Topics rotate between those of general interest to lovers of life,  authors, teachers—probably you, too.  Posts on Tuesdays and some Mondays.  http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/?alt=rss

My Christian Context. Posts M/W of discussion questions. Thursdays - Timeless Truths. Fridays - Expressions of Faith. https://mychristiancontext.blogspot.com/  

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!

#Authors. Exposing Advertising that DOESN’T WORK

I retired from my full-time high school and university teaching career in June 2012 after thirty-nine years.

I met with my longtime friend, Jeanne C. Stein, best-selling author of “The Anna Strong Chronicles” and other titles. We began reading and commenting on each other’s writing in the 1980s.

Jeanne is amazing. Her perseverance in making herself is a testament to her determination. I value her advice.

She suggested I start with science fiction.

I did.

While waiting for responses from publishers on one manuscript, I submitted another to what called itself a “co-publisher.” They accepted the manuscript and published it in early 2014.

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

1st DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.

Not checking on the commitment of whatever publisher you consider for marketing your book.

I now know that “co-publisher” is a synonym for “vanity publisher.” The best description of what that means is a sentence I found in a review of the company after I signed on. 

“This is a good place to have print your books if you’re planning on selling them off a table at the back of the auditorium after you give a presentation.”

What I got for my share of the co-publishing was 

• A listing on the company web site. There was a debate before the book went to press between using C. R. Downing or Chuck Downing as my author name. We went with C. R. Downing. The book description on the company website STILL has Chuck Downing.
• A one-page “flyer” – it had a name I’ve forgotten – with information about the book. It had a color image of the cover and a variety of described details like size and ISBN. The publisher described it as “golden” and critical for getting books into bookstores for signings or as inventory. I had to print them. One person in one bookstore looked at one. She used the ISBN to find it on Ingram.

That’s the extent of the co-publisher’s help with marketing.

ASIDE: I’ve learned that unless you are an established high-profile author, few if any, publishers will spend much on marketing your book, even if they offer you a contract.

Comments on this example.

At the recommendation of my publicist, Sherry Frazier, I entered Traveler’s HOT L in a book competition. It won the science-fiction category. I bought stickers to put on the covers of the copies I’d purchased from the co-publisher. I sent the PNG file of the sticker to the co-publisher.

This is the cover mentioned above AFTER I added the sticker and the tag at the top. What you get when you buy from Amazon is missing both those features. 

The co-publisher

• Still has the wrong author name on Traveler’s HOT L’s page.
• Never took the time to put the PNG winning logo on the cover.
• Never changed the book’s description to include winning the award.
• Sent nothing about the award anywhere but through an in-house memo.

I received a $100 advance from the co-publisher. I’ve received no royalty checks from them as of 03/02/2020.

Next week: I’ll discuss more Advertising that DOESN’T WORK plans.

SEO: book marketing, authors as marketers

Follow me on 

Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-downing-97595266/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

Email: crd.author@gmail.com

My Blogs

Life as I see it. Topics rotate between those of general interest to lovers of life,  authors, teachers—probably you, too.  Posts on Tuesdays and some Mondays.  http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/?alt=rss

My Christian Context. Posts M/W of discussion questions. Thursdays - Timeless Truths. Fridays - Expressions of Faith. https://mychristiancontext.blogspot.com/  

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!

#Lifestyle #Commentary Not so random thoughts on Following Directions

Bike Photo by  Andrew pvv on Unsplash & wagon Photo by Gary Sandoz on Unsplash

Owen Miller was a colleague of mine for nearly 20-years. He remained one of my best friends until his passing. I'm not sure when he used the following story for the first time. I suspect it was in the 1980s. I know we often discussed how frustrated we were when students missed our target in an assignment by proverbial miles.

The Blue Bike is presented with minor changes in technology used by the bike buyer. I used this in my last high school assignment between 2005-2012. I also used it in college classes I taught for Point Loma Nazarene University and Azusa Pacific University.

Immediately following the original is a bit of commentary on how this idea rings true outside the classroom, too.

The Blue Bike

Why do we have to follow all these rules?

How come I got such a low grade when I did a LOT of work on this?

Not long ago I decided to take up mountain biking. So, I went online and found a terrific bargain on a steel blue bike. Top of the line with shocks and all for a good price and free shipping. So I ordered one.

Two weeks later, a large package arrived. It was from the company I’d ordered the bike from!

I tore open the box. Inside were several parts, not many of which looked like part of a bike, let alone part of my steel-blue mountain bike.

Even though I didn’t really want to, I dug around and found the assembly instructions booklet. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the instructions were for assembling a shiny red wagon!

Now distraught, I dialed the phone number on the instructions. After several minutes on “hold,” I finally spoke to a customer service representative.

“I have a problem with my order,” I said.

“I see,” she answered. “And what would that be?”

“Well, I ordered a steel-blue mountain bike.”

“One of our best sellers,” she interrupted.

“That’s good to know. But I didn’t get the bike.”

“Oh,” she said. “There’s a problem with the delivery time?”

“No,” I corrected. “The delivery is here.”

“But, Sir,” she said, “you just told me you didn’t get the bike.”

“That’s right.”

“How can that be? You said the delivery was there.”

“But it wasn’t a bike that was delivered,” I managed to interject.

“What did you get?”

“I shiny red wagon.”

“And your problem is?”

“I ordered a steel-blue mountain bike and I got a shiny red wagon.”

“Don’t you like the wagon?”

“No. I mean, yes. No. Oh, I don’t know!” I stammered.

“Well, how can I help you if you don’t know your problem?”

“The problem is you sent the wrong product.”

“How many wheels does the wagon have?” she asked.

“Four.”

“And how many wheels did the mountain bike have?”

“Two. But—”

“Sir, it sounds to me like you got more than you paid for.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Sir, do you realize that the parts for the wagon are much more spread out in our warehouse? The men who packed your wagon had to do more work than if they had packed a bicycle. You should give them credit for the extra work on your behalf.”

“I’m sure they worked hard, but they didn’t do the work I ordered.”

“Was the box addressed properly?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Were any of the wagon parts damaged in the shipment?”

“No, not that I know of.”

“Were all the required parts present?”

“I guess so. I didn’t take an inventory.”

“Excuse me, Sir, but it sounds like you haven’t done your job yet.”

“Can I talk to your manager please?”

Would you accept the wagon? 

Probably not, especially if you ordered a bike.

Would you be impressed with the work and the completeness of the shipment?

Probably not, since you ordered a bike.

Teachers are funny like that. When we give an assignment, we expect to get that assignment turned in. 

Moral: No matter how much work you do on an assignment, if it’s not the assignment that was given, you shouldn’t expect a good grade.

COMMENTARY

As time passed, I've noticed that more and more aspects of society adopted the attitude of the customer service representative in the story. 

• I don't care what you wanted.
• I worked hard.
• You should be happy that I did any work.
• I should be rewarded for doing work, even if it wasn't the work that needed to be done.

That's worse than unfortunate. That attitude breeds a culture of disorder without accountability. 

I'll stop here. 

I hope I gave you something to think about.

SEO: school, nostalgia, Americana, memories, family

Follow me on 

Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-downing-97595266/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

Email: crd.author@gmail.com

My Blogs

Life as I see it. Topics rotate between those of general interest to lovers of life,  authors, teachers—probably you, too.  Posts on Tuesdays and some Mondays.  http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/?alt=rss

My Christian Context. Posts M/W of discussion questions. Thursdays - Timeless Truths. Fridays - Expressions of Faith. https://mychristiancontext.blogspot.com/  

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!

#Lifestyle #Commentary Not so random thoughts on song lyrics and MRI machines

New Year's Eve 2019
I was admitted--very rapidly--to the hospital under the Stroke Protocol.

New Year's Day 2020
I had three consecutive MRIs.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. I will get to the above dates before the end of this post.

I remember three times when I heard a song on the radio for the first time. Each helped define a significant time in my life.

1970.
"Close to You" by The Carpenters
I was dating my future wife at the time. We were both young and in love. I thought they wrote the words for us. I'm still not convinced they didn't.

1973
"Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack
I was near the end of my teaching credential program. I'd never heard more haunting melody and lyrics. 

1979
"Music Box Dancer" by Frank Mills
I was driving home late one night after a class in my Master's Degree program. I remember wishing they would play it again before I got home.

My wife's favorite song as a teeny-bopper was "Happy Together" by The Turtles. That was a defining song for her. It's now her ring-tone on my smartphone.

"God Bless America" by Kate Smith became the anthem of unity in the United States after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. Major League Baseball teams still have live versions during the 7th-Inning Stretch.

You can think of songs that remind you of times and events in your life. Unfortunately, not all the songs you hear are welcomed. 

Earworms
These are songs that you can't stop replaying in your brain, even though you desperately wish you could. I'll not name one because I don't have to. One of your earworms most likely used the previous sentence as an invitation to perform in your brain over and over and over AND OVER just now. Sorry about that.

Hymns and my MRI exam
I had an MRI in 2005 before a laminectomy and partial discectomy of my 4th and 5th Lumba vertebrae. I remember the noise, but only my waist to my feet was inside the tube for that one. 

The MRI experience of 1/1/2020 was different.

After removing the metal heart monitor leads from my chest, removing patches of my then abundant chest hair in the process, they slapped on their own wireless leads and a plastic helmet and shoved earplugs and me into the bowels of the tube. The photo below shows the deed beginning.

Within seconds, banging and clanging and humming and swooshing enveloped me. It was LOUD. I shudder to think what the decibel level is WITHOUT the earplugs!

They did three consecutive scans. I was told I'd be in the tube for 35-40 minutes.

It's easy to lose track of time when surrounded by LOUD noises. However, it wasn't long before I decided to try something to distract my brain from concentrating on the noise level.

I grew up singing hymns in church. In many Sunday night services, the song leader allowed congregants to choose songs. As a teenager, my buddies and I would do our best to get "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" on the playlist. It's a long song with some outstanding echo parts for tenors and bass singers. Our song director usually obliged.

I began "singing" hymns in my mind inside the MRI tube.

The NOISE LEVEL made it difficult to recall any hymn lyric at first, so I switched to what we called "choruses" when I was a child and teenager. Most of them are repetitious with silly lyrics in places. Many have accompanying arm or whole-body motions. "I'm in The Lord's Army" is an example. Click the title to hear the words and see the motions.

They don't allow movement during an MRI, so I switched to choruses without motions and hymns. I was able to get through the first verse of nearly every hymn I recalled, but no further.

Oddly enough, I remember every stanza of the choruses.

Forty minutes flew by.

I breathed a prayer of thanks for the healing power of good music as they slid me out of the tube.

FINAL THOUGHT
The importance of music in human life and why you like some songs and not others, especially remakes of a song from your teen years is the topic of the book, "This Is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel J. Levin. I recommend it highly, and as an audiobook, if you can! Try your local library.

SEO: nostalgia, Americana, memories, 1950s, 1960s, family

Follow me on 

Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

Email: crd.author@gmail.com

My Blogs

Life as I see it. Topics rotate between those of general interest to lovers of life,  authors, teachers—probably you, too.  Posts on Tuesdays and some Mondays.  http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/?alt=rss

My Christian Context. Posts M/W of discussion questions. Thursdays - Timeless Truths. Fridays - Expressions of Faith. https://mychristiancontext.blogspot.com/  

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!