Here is a radio interview of Glenn Maynard’s travel book Strapped Into an American Dream which was aired on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 and decribes how he was able to travel through 48 states, Canada and Mexico in an RV for one year. Diane Smith was the interviewer filling in for Ray Dunaway from the Ray Show which is a morning radio show in Hartford, CT. You can buy Strapped Into An American Dream at: http://www.amazon.com/Strapped-American-Dream-Glenn-Mayna…
The book is also available at bn.com , borders.com , and many other online retailers.
I ran my zip code through a system which locates small bookstores, and found a couple within 10 miles from my house. The first one in Hartford, CT was a cafe with bookshelves in a very seedy area. The next one was The Book Rack in Vernon next to a very busy deli at a strip mall. I walked in and asked the woman sitting behind an office desk at the entrance if she was the owner. She said that she was and we exchanged greetings. I showed her my book, “Strapped Into An American Dream” and told her that I was with a small publisher and had to do much of the leg work. I asked her if she would be interested in either purchasing the book at a discounted rate or perhaps working out some consignment deal. I received my answer immediately. She only deals with Used Books. Some of The Book Rack’s do carry some new, but this owner wants nothing to do with new books, and her customers come in to buy Used books. After a 10 or 15 minute discussion on this topic, she offered a booksigning at her store. SOLD. This was a successful day. I told myself when I began the day of searching that I wanted one positive thing to happen. This was it. The booksigning will be at The Book Rack in Vernon, CT on Saturday, July 25th from 10 AM to 2 PM. This will be my second book signing, and there should be a lot more traffic than the first. This is what Authors have to do in order to promote their books. It’s no longer a world where Authors only write books.
Today I received an email reply from Diane Smith, who I had emailed last week regarding a possible interview on her TV show. She responded that she would be interested in an interview for a morning Talk Radio show (1080 WTIC AM) she will be doing in June and August, and requested a Review Copy. Then I received an email from Manchester Community College (MCC) regarding a car show. I had received it last Friday, but deleted it since I have no interest in cars. I like them. I think they’re neat, but that’s where the love affair ends. When I received the email again on Monday, my ‘think outside the box’ light went on and I decided to email them regarding a booksigning at this event. For a nominal fee of $20 I secured a spot. It’s this Sunday in Manchester, CT. I will have newspapers advertising my booksigning at this event, and I will get my feet wet during this first booksigning. Onward and upward.
Linking blog posts from wordpress to facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social media sites is not happening for me. I suppose I can individually post on each site, but that would be time consuming. However, when my Author Video appeared on YouTube, I was easily able to link to my other social media sites using the Share button which is prominently displayed on YouTube. I am still desperately trying to figure this thing out, so one day I am going to sit down and figure it out. Maintaining Facebook and MySpace alone is a full time job. My thinking is that if I touch one thing, then other things suffer. Production on these sites is very important, but trying to do multiple tasks simultaneously can be counterproductive. Ok. tonight I am going to work on solving the mystery of this User Unfriendly WordPress.
Waiting on reviews is a painful undertaking. I have several copies of my book, “Strapped Into An American Dream” out there that were requested from my publisher, but weeks have passed. Everyone is busy, too, especially with newspapers and all other media scaling back on staff. USA Today and the Hartford Courant asked for review copies, then said they’re not sure if they can get to them because they’re too busy. Reviews are too important to take lightly, so I will hound these media outlets until they finally just take care of business just to shut me up. I can hear the wheel squeaking already.
My publisher has created my Author Display video on YouTube, and this video has a narrator reading the synopsis of my book. The scene is a video camera filming the highway as a vehicle travels along through the country. This is “Strapped Into An American Dream.” Search GLENN MAYNARD on YouTube.
Official Blog of Glenn Maynard : Strapped into an American Dream 