Magic and the Banks

It has been quite a busy time for me: a new book just out and an older one in the spotlight. Books by the Banks, the largest Midwest book fair, is this Saturday. I’ll be signing The Other UC and Me: Editing the Sixties. I’ve spent hours on social media trying to drum up business for the Banks. I’ve sent press releases to a variety of papers and groups. All the while, I've tried to promote my new children's book, The Magic Nation Gift Shop. A special thanks to John Wesley United Methodist Church for two weeks of Banks articles in their Wednesday news. I will be donating all my royalties from this fair to United Methodist Committee on Relief. Let’s hope for at least $200. Also thanks to the Dearborn County Register for two notices as well. And Walnut Hills High came through as usual. Friends have asked if Magic Nation will be in the Fair. Unfortunately, it is too new to even petition for a spot. Even if I could be accepted, it is not economically feasible for me to buy books at full price, then re-sell them, and mail them off. Postage for one book is higher than my royalty! Amazon just can't be beat for their retail prices, free shopping to prime members, and customer service. I will probably keep that book as an Amazon-only one. If Amazon offers a program for me to purchase at print-cost, I'll sign on! I’m torn between marketing the two books. I love them both. The UC book was a labor of love. I have never been as focused on any project my entire life. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to learn and reveal. My goal was to teach the home front during the Vietnam Era, and to show that not all members of my generation were burning draft cards, running to Canada, or protesting in the street. Nobody liked the war; we just had different ways of expressing our views. Most of us chose the more constitutional routes. Magic Nation was all me. UC and Me showed my feelings and followed my “career” as a news person, but much of the book was quotations from the News Record’s letters and reports. It was, in many ways, a research paper with dialogue. (Thanks to Irving Stone for that idea!) Magic Nation, as I said, was all me—all my imagination. The stories, the photo-sketches, the layout, the cover, was all my work. For that, I love it. It was difficult learning the photo programs and the computer tricks, but was invigorating as well. When the hoopla of the Banks is finished, I’ll be continuing to promote Magic Nation. I might even add a few stories to it, or write a sequel. I keep thinking of new ideas every day. Let the magic continue

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