Newington, CT Library November 2nd

I will be at the Lucy Robbins Welles library in Newington, CT on Wednesday, November 2nd at 6:30 p.m. talking about my travel book, Strapped into an American Dream. Come hear stories of my journey and get a signed copy of my book. Registration is required, so check out this link and join the armchair travelers who have already reserved a spot.

http://www.newingtonct.gov/content/78/118/136/1296/1420/20096.aspx

http://www.glennmaynard.weebly.com/

See you there!

Review of “Strapped Into An American Dream”

I got me a Literary Agent

Today I will be signing a Contact with a Literary Agency who liked what they saw in my Fiction Novel, “Desert Son.” This would be my second book, but first work of fiction. Creating an entire world and the people within is very satisfying. Then having someone in the world of literature telling you that it’s something that could sell is leaps and bounds beyond satisfying. Maybe I could create a Literary world where my fiction book is accepted and published and call it a day. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. The agency has some contacts, but there are many genres of fiction, and the manuscript must be appropriate. My agent was hopeful after reading my manuscript because it dealt with reincarnation, and it would cross many genres. She said she could send it to publishers of Horror, publishers of paranormal, and several other variations of these. The fact that she can send it out to more publishers increases its chance of publication. She does have a contact with a publisher of Horror, who read the synopsis of “Desert Son” when she was considering representing me, and he told her that he would definately take a look at the manuscript. More to come on this one…

Soft Cover Press Release

PR Log – Global Press Release Distribution
Strapped Into An American Dream – New Memoir Recounts Amazing Cross-Country Journey
By Strategic Book Group
Dated: Jul 21, 2010
Strapped into an American Dream captures America, whirling readers along a 35,000-mile trek through
the 48 contiguous states in a rebuilt RV.
Strapped into an American Dream captures America, whirling readers along a 35,000-mile trek through the
48 contiguous states in a rebuilt RV.
Glenn Maynard brings this journey to all armchair travelers who will love the adrenaline rush. One week
after their wedding, Glenn and his wife quit their jobs, sold their cars, and set out to find America. This
book details how they were able to realize this dream, and then introduces the reader to the unique people
they met and the places they visited along the path.
Travel with them through 23 National Parks, Las Vegas, Mardi Gras, and dusty ghost towns. Feel the
rushing wind of tornadoes and the rocking of an earthquake. Sleep on roadsides and in truck stops, shifting
from state to state, risking danger in favor of a limited bank account.
It is the dream of many Americans, in all walks of life, to travel the country, but few realize this dream.
Now they may do so vicariously in the reading of these adventures. Laugh along the way. Share the terror,
sorrow, and humor — strapped into an American dream.
STRAPPED INTO AN AMERICAN DREAM (ISBN: 978-1-60976-030-4) will be available on July 20,
2010, for $16.99 and can be ordered through the publisher’s website: http://
http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/StrappedIntoAnAmericanDream.html
Or at http://www.amazon.com or http:// search.barnesandnoble.com
Wholesalers please email BookOrder@AEG-Online-Store.com
About the Author: Glenn Maynard has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of
Connecticut, and a degree in Communications. After spending 4 years living in Denver, Colorado, he
returned home to Connecticut and now resides in Wethersfield. Glenn has a 9 year-old son named Andrew.
As a travel correspondent for three newspapers while exploring the United States, Canada and Mexico
during his one-year journey, Glenn published a total of twenty newspaper articles. His story was captured
on the NBC local news upon his return.
Strategic Book Group
P.O. Box 333 Durham, CT 06422
http:// http://www.StrategicBookPublishing.com – http:// http://www.EloquentBooks.com – http://
http://www.StrategicBookMarketing.com
http:// http://www.StrategicBookGroup.com
###
Strategic Book Group specializes in promoting the works of new and previously undiscovered writers. We
make books available to bookstores and Internet distributors throughout the United States and Europe. SBG
is aggressively seeking new talent.
Category Books, Entertainment, Lifestyle
Page 1/2
PR Log – Global Press Release Distribution
Tags american dream, cross-country journey, Travel, adventure, rv
Email Click to email author
Phone 888-808-6190
Fax 888-808-6190
Address 845 Third Avenue, 6th Floor – 6016
State/Province New York
Zip 10022
Country United States
Page 2/2

Northeast Recreational Vehicle & Camping Show

 http://www.ctrvshow.com/

I am set to appear at the Northeast Recreation Vehicle
and Camping show this coming weekend (Saturday and
Sunday, January 9th – 10th) at 10 AM at the CT
Convention Center.  This should be a very exciting
show as I cannot gather more of a target audience
then this for my book about a one year RV trip.  I
had previously done signings at antique car shows and
regular car shows, but this niche is perfectly carved
for my particuular story and I look forward to meeting
and talking to RV enthusiasts, RVers, and dreamers. I 
will be at a booth in a high traffic area, so it promises
to be a success.

CT Auto Show event

I heard on the radio today about a car show at the Connecticut Convention Center this weekend.  I knew it was too late to ask, but looked for a contact via google anyway.  I sent an email to one of the contacts asking if they would like to have me do a book signing at their event this weekend since we both fall under travel.  An hour later I received a reply from the event planner saying that she just had my email forwarded to her and she wished I had sent it earlier.  She told me that they could have had a nice setup with a nice display for me, but there was just nothing left in the budget.  She did say that she would love to have me do a book signing for “Strapped Into An American Dream” but she just wouldn’t be able to include me in the advertizing.  I agreed to do a signing, telling her that I will bring along my poster and box of books.  She will have a booth for me.  Further details will follow once I get an email confirmation from her, but I told her that I could do the signing on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 7th and 8th) from 12-4 PM.  This is my best opportunity to date.

Journal Inquirer article (Friday, October 16, 2009)

Seeing America – RV style

By Julie Sprengelmeyer  – Journal Inquirer— 

Glenn Maynard was 28, working at Travelers, and his then-girlfriend was toiling as an administrative assistant when the two decided to just chuck it all and hit the road, celebrating their honeymoon along the way.

The decision wasn’t exactly met with cheers.

The family “was more worried about what you are going to have when you get back,” Maynard recalls, “but we’re like, memories

Not that Maynard hadn’t suffered qualms of his own about quitting their respective jobs, selling their cars, and putting off saving. But, latching onto the idea that life’s too short, he got on board and the two were able to bring family members around.

What followed was a yearlong trip in a rebuilt 22-foot 1978 Dodge Rockwood with little to no money, a “really high-strung” miniature schnauzer named Molly in tow, and, finally, a book deal for Maynard’s “Strapped into an American Dream,” chronicling their adventures.

“It was just the perfect timing for us. We just always wanted to travel and see different states,” Maynard says. “So we got married, took the wedding money, and once we got the RV it was set in stone. … Seeing the RV sitting in the driveway was reality.”

Ah, the RV.

A foray inside was an 8-track lover’s dream, Maynard says

The two tied the knot April 25, 1992, and left the next month. The wedding was nothing compared to what would follow.

“We had a lot of nights where we didn’t know where we were. We broke down in a forest. We had problems with the tires. We didn’t know where we were going to sleep at night. We had a book of free campgrounds that sometimes didn’t work out,” Maynard says. “We were always lost and we never had a home, but it was just great. I mean, not always, but it was wild.”

Some of the “wild” was supplied by forest inhabitants.

Bad idea: Letting loose a 10-pound beloved dog to do her business in the dead of night in a high-bear-frequency area in Montana.

Option: Accompanying her outside.

Hmmmm …

“So I use a flashlight, shine it around from a crack in the door, let her out, see glowing eyes 30 feet away, and just yank back her leash,” Maynard says. “All I had was a big bear in my mind. It turned out to be a raccoon. That’s the way it was.”

While handling the road and the roadside, Maynard also penned their story as he, Tracy, and Molly traversed 35,000 miles through 48 states.

“I had been writing the whole time, and I said, ‘We’re going to make a book of this by the time it’s all done.’ I was doing a daily journal of what transpired during the day and was writing columns for Glastonbury Citizen and the Bristol Press. People were following us as we went along.”

The story of Maynard, who grew up in Glastonbury and graduated from the University of Connecticut, is a tale not only of adventure on the road, but also of travails in the world of publishing.

The trip ended in 1993 and the couple returned to the glare of television cameras as they were interviewed for the evening news. Then the real work began. Maynard spent a few years writing, rewriting, and hawking his book proposal. In 1997, he and Tracy divorced. “We had a great time, and then, after five years, we didn’t have a great time,” he explains.

Maynard kept on, seeing agent after agent, rewriting to “tone down” the honeymoon aspect following his divorce, then sending query letter after query letter.

He received rejection after rejection.

“I wasn’t going to let go of this one. I said, ‘I’m going to be working on this until I’m old and gray.’ I’m getting there,” he says.

In 2008 an agent told him he couldn’t help him, but knew of a small publishing company that might. At first the company, Strategic Book Publishing, offered Maynard a subsidy contract in which he would pay half of the publishing cost.

“I finally convinced them that the book was worthy of a traditional contract and sent them my book proposal. They agreed,” he says.

So how did Maynard score a book deal without having to take the self-publish route?

“Persistence,” he responds. “I was pulling my hair out, but I never gave up and I never was going to. There was so much to share about this trip.”

Area bookstores have hosted book-signings, and Maynard is hoping word will spread. He also hopes to catch that big break.

He, like many other authors, dedicates the book to the Oprah Winfrey Book of the Month Club as well as to “armchair travelers.” That’s Maynard’s next goal: Oprah.

“Maybe it will get to her. … What do I have to lose?” he asks.

Meanwhile, back home in Wethersfield, Maynard, now a business analyst at United Healthcare in Hartford, is just glad to have the book completed. His moonlighting as an author has gone down well at his regular job.

“They love it

And in case you were wondering, Maynard can’t resist saying it: “I quit Travelers to be a traveler,” he muses.

 

“Strapped into an American Dream” is available on Amazon, Borders.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and at area book signings.

Friends of the Library are friends of mine

I went to the Wethersfield Friends of the Library tonight to see Author Judith Ivie speak.  I figured that I should start checking out these engagements since I will be doing such a speaking engagement for the Enfield Friends of the Library next May.  I like to write.  I do not like to speak.  Since I volunteered to do so in May, I wanted to start somewhere.  I sat down in the Community Room at the Wethersfield Library and listened as Judith spoke about the publishing companies today versus how they once were.  She further discussed the Print On Demand (POD) process which most small publishers are gravitating to.  That’s how my publishing company works.  If someone orders a book, then they print a book.  I then raised my hand and made a comment about my small publisher, and she asked the name of my book.  I told her it was “Strapped Into An American Dream” and that she was right about Authors having to do the marketing if they want their book to sell. I told her that I was going to market my book, and I picked it up from the seat next to me and held it up for the room of about 30 people to see, waving it about.  They all got a kick out of that, then the whispering began and people around me leaned over to ask if they could take a look.  After the people around me got a look, while Judith Ivie continued answering questions, the session came to a close.  Then people started coming up to me asking to see it, writing down the title, telling me they saw my story in Wethersfield Life and the Wethersfield Post, and several people told me that they were going to buy it online. This was a very satisfying hour of my time.  I got some ideas for my own speaking engagement, did some marketing, sold some books, and made some friends at the library.  I highly recommend sitting in with Friends of the Library.  I know I will, and not just again in Wethersfield, but in surrounding towns.  What happened tonight can be multiplied by the number of towns I visit.  The Friends of the Library presented a very enjoyable evening, and authors take note.

Hartford Courant needs to give Americans a reason to smile

I was told by a freelance writer to line up a book signing so the Hartford Courant could do a feature story on me in the Sunday Arts & Entertainment section. Once I lined up the book signing, I contacted the freelance reporter, who then contacted the editor who had assigned him. The editor decided not to do the story because the travel takes place in 1993. I asked the freelancer to check with other editors, which he did, but just left a message saying that the budget is so tight right now that there is no room for great travel stories that eventually translate into a book by a local author. Okay, perhaps that was not his EXACT wording, but I was told that writers have a liscense to stretch truth. I’ll use that liscense again now to say that I am very pleased with the Hartford Courant right now. God forbid they do a positive story. That might tarnish their image. Bring on the fatal car crashes and the house fires. Where are the tsunamis and the drownings. Give me yet more of the foreclosure news, and how about the hopeless economy. I think the Hartford Courant should be “Strapped Into An American Dream” so they can give Americans hope; a reason to smile. I will not stop UNTIL the Hartford Courant gets “Strapped Into An American Dream.” I will harass them about my book and my story until the economy turns around. Stay tuned…

New Authors Take Note

Nobody is more interested in the promotion of a book than the book’s author. I sort of knew this going in, but I was unaware of the extent to which this is true. The fight is constant, and can go on for years if you let it.  The dream will die without anyone attending the wake if you remain idle.  If you don’t keep the book alive, even if it’s merely on life support, then you might as well pull the plug.  Publishers do not care.  They have thousands of other books out there that are deserving of attention, so it’s not a problem if one slips away to the obits page.  Authors have to constantly be out there kicking and screaming from the mountaintops that their book is worthy of reader’s attention. 

Keep it relevant.  Keep plugging away with emails, phone calls, personal visits to venues to sell it, buy it, hold a book signing.  I have found that television appearances do not seem to happen for new authors.  Newspaper articles do happen for local or state news/features.  I did have an on air radio interview with WTIC 1080 AM, so I continue pounding on those doors for another.  The newspapers that did stories about me and my book,
“Strapped Into An American Dream” include The Glastonbury Citizen, Bristol Press, Wethersfield Life, Wethersfield Post, Rocky Hill Life, Enfield Press and upcoming articles to appear in Glastonbury Life and The Hartford Courant.  In addition to the newspaper articles, numerous websites that I contacted have taken my press release and put in right on their website, which is more free advertising. An Artist I met at a book signing put my press release on her website along with a blog entry about our meeting. I received a phone call from the Enfield Friends of the Library who saw the Enfield Press article, and I booked a speaking engagement at the Library in May of 2010.

All this muscle has not reflected in book sales, so I keep plugging along.  My publisher offered a PR person and I had to jump at the offer, even though it set me back 600 clams.  She will get reviews with her connections and get my book in the big chain stores like Barnes & Noble and Borders.  I need that.  I need all of this.  Maybe all these little pieces and little actions will be a snowball gathering girth as it rolls down the hill.  I made a promise to myself that I would not stop until my story gets published.  Now that it’s published, I made another promise to myself that “Strapped Into An American Dream” will not go unnoticed. 

While on a phone interview with Julie from the Journal Inquirer, she asked me a question about my persistence.  She asked me if my persistence, which finally got her newspaper to agree to do my story, could be credited with making the trip around the country happen and making the book happen.  I didn’t really have to think about that one much.  If I hear a “no” and then hear the creak of the door slamming shut in my face, I stick my foot in the door and slowly work it open again.  That’s life, I guess, but I think it’s the only way to get noticed in the sea of people in this world.