Things are looking better today

Today, my printer reduced Bandwagon's cost so that I'm no longer losing money on Amazon orders, and also has indefinitely postponed the due date for the invoice for the last print run, so my cash flow problem is more bearable at the moment. And my rep told me that Amazon is running out of books already - the next shipment will arrive at their distribution center on Friday - so it's likely they'll be placing another reorder soon.

My rep said, "Guess what Bandwagon's Amazon ranking is today?"

Since it was 83,740 yesterday, I said, "40,000."

She said, "Guess again."

I said, "4,000."

She laughed. "No, not yet. Today it's 8,221!"

I am simply amazed by all of this. My rep said, "We're going to work with you on this so you don't lose money, because this is a book with legs."

Or wheels, as the case may be!

But the bad news is...

I just got a call from my customer service rep at NetPub (the company that does the printing and order fulfillment for Bandwagon). She wanted to know if I was aware that the deeply discounted price that Amazon pays for my book is lower than my cost to print it.

I said, "Yes, I was aware, though not to the penny. I don't want to lose money on this book, but I felt strongly that pricing it higher than $19.95 would greatly limit its sales."

She said, "A book of this size [576 pgs] is usually priced at $25 to $35."

I said, "Yeah, and I could price Bandwagon at $1 million and make a lot of money if I could just find one person to pay $1 million for it."

She laughed and told me that it's very difficult to change a book's retail price once it's in the market, so she's going to talk to her boss about reducing my printing cost. I thanked her for looking after me.

Thinking about it after we hung up, I wondered if I had made a bad decision when I listed the book with Amazon. I just felt that Bandwagon would get good exposure there... that the Amazon listing was a way to advertise it. But that advertising is not free!

Go, Bandwagon!

As I mentioned before, Amazon usually orders only 1 or 2 copies of a new book, but they ordered 20 copies of Bandwagon as their starting inventory. When I checked my book inventory on the fulfillment house's web site this morning, I saw that Amazon has ordered another 60 copies! And the book is ranked #83,470 on Amazon's best-seller list, whereas my novel (No Ransom) is #2,706,442!

YAHOO!

Expect the unexpected

From the moment I conceived the idea of writing a self-help adjustable gastric band book, I knew I would succeed. Previously I had written only novels, newsletters (personal & corporate), magazine articles & essays, and product catalog copy - but no self-help books. Looking forward, I could easily see myself doing the research, organization, and writing of Bandwagon. I knew how I would publish and distribute it. I knew I would have to find a bariatric surgeon to check the manuscript for accuracy and (hopefully) endorse the book. All of that worked out well (though more slowly than I would've liked). No surprises, really. I'm not even surprised that the book is selling so well. But the book is also producing some unexpected results.

Last week I sent copies of Bandwagon to several bariatric surgeons, including my own. Yesterday I received an e-mail from Dr. Weaver's office manager thanking me for the book and asking me if I'd be willing to do a workshop for them (based on the book) in January. They think Bandwagon will be a useful tool for their patients, and I agree! So I answered that yes, I'd be happy to do a workshop!

Fortunately I'm not afraid of public speaking, even though I'm a shy and quiet person in most social situations. I have my 7th & 9th grade English teacher, Mr. Zeitler, to thank for that. He insisted that every one of his pupils write and deliver a speech on a regular basis.

How to order Bandwagon

I hope to get my shopping cart feature set up on this blog by the end of this week, and Bandwagon will be available on amazon by mid-September, but in the meantime, you can order an autographed copy by sending an e-mail to:

jmcmillan159@gmail.com

When I receive your e-mail, I'll tell you where to send your check or money order. The book is $19.95. (It's a BIG book, because as you know, I always have a LOT to say on the subject of the adjustable gastric band.) Shipping/handling costs are $3.00 for media mail or $5.00 for priority mail.

Oh, happy day!

When I got home from a long day of retail drudgery this afternoon, a happy surprise awaited me...a carton full of my freshly printed book, Bandwagon! Although I almost immediately found a tiny but irritating typo (my fault) in the front pages, I am thrilled! On Monday I will start shipping orders for autographed copy, and next week will get a shopping cart feature set up here on my blog site, and when that's done, my Obesity Help ads will go live.

I finished writing the book exactly one year ago. Getting it published has taken longer than I would have liked, but it all seems worthwhile right now. Oh, happy day!