Breath of Fire
Posted on 11/04/2001 7:58:33 AM PST by Jeff Head
By: Christopher Durkin
My good friend and Free Republic regular Jeff Head spoke with me on the phone this afternoon with the great news that POCKETPCPRESS, a major publisher of electronic books, has expressed strong interest in Jeff's recently completed work of fiction:
Which is a tale of the coming third world war. Mr. Doug Clapp of PocketPCpress wrote in his endorsement on Jeff's website:
"My company, PocketPCpress, gets to see a ton of novel submissions. Most are truly terrible...which is sad. We wish it weren't so.
We recently had the good fortune to read Dragon's Fury-Breath of Fire by Jeff Head and -- for the first time in a long, long while -- we were absolutely knocked out.
Don't be mislead by the fact that -- for now -- this is a self-published book offered only on the author's website. I'm sure this won't be the case for long. This is an amazingly accomplished, professional, techno-thriller that will make you turn page after page after page -- and enjoy every minute of it.
I could go on about plotting and characterization and all that, but I won't. This is simply a hellava great read and "right on" about what's happening in the world today. Tom Clancy now has some serious, serious competition."
Doug Clapp
Jeff went on to mention that Mr. Clapp has also put him in contact with a New York literary agent who has requested expedited delivery of a complete hard copy manuscript in anticipation of possible print publication. For those of you who may not have seen the initial announcement, excerpts from Jeff's book Breath of Fire can be found here.
This is a most noteworthy and laudable achievement and a source of pride for all of us here. It is also even further evidence that Free Republic is the beacon of American liberty which both attracts and stimulates the brightest minds to be found on the net or anywhere. Congratulations to you, Jeff !
Fantastic!! Standing by... FRegards...
But, if you want one to read, just go to the site and order one. Eithe rEBook or printed. The first printing that I am paying for myself comes in late next week (current schedule).
www.dragonsfury-breathoffire.com
FRegards!
I believe if people have the chance to see it and read it ... that it will do fine.
My daughter called me last night from South Bend, IN. Her husband, who is a computer technician, printed the excerpts off the web page and took them in for hi co-workers to read.
Several of them said they were going to go down to Wladen's that evening and buy one. He had to tell them to go to the web site to order one.
I if it ever gets into bookstores where people can pick it up and read a few pages ... they'll buy.
We shall see. Either way its been a kick putting it together.
Thanks again!
Got an inquiry from Waterside yesrerday for a potential manuscript and Doug is trying to get me in contact with WHSmith over in the UK.
We'll see.
Thank you very much for that. I hope you get a chance to read the book. If you do, I hope it's a enjoyable and stimulating read for you.
FRegards!
I have three available for the book ... plus the printed book too.
The major EBook formats are Adobe (which uses a pdf file) and MSReader (which uses a .lit file a special "writer" creates from you MSWord document). Both are fairly nice and have similar features (bookmarks, notes, highlighting, etc.) but both require their respective "reader" which is a free download from their site.
I also have an Activ EBook available which requires no aditional software and is a self contained executable made from compiled html code. It works like IE (Intenet Explorer). It's nice to not have to have additional software, but it has no bookmarking or note capability.
I believe the Activ Ebook is the most convienient from a user standpoint, Adobe looks the best on the screen IMHO. From a marketing standpoint, Activ is the least viable because of the marketing dollars Microsoft and Adobe are pouring into this.
Anyhow, it's been interesting to learn about and you have all three to choose from at the site.
Let me know what you think once you get one and get into it.
F-14, S-3B, A/F-18, E-3C, EA-6B (1/72)
Sam from Above
P-3C
USS Tarawa Class (1/700)
USS New Jersey (Modern - 1/350)
I have the first "bound" (perfect binding for the trade paperback) proof coming day after tomorrow (hopefully) and that's pretty exciting.
If that looks okay, the first order will be shipped to me early next week and I hopefully will be shipping late next week.
Will keep everyone informed.
The first bunch that I bought with my denero looks like it will sell through within a week of it getting here. Then I can use that money to buy more. I may even get past the break-even point after selling through that second batch (taking into account the cost of printing at low volume which is high, the cost of ISBN's, the cost of the domain name, the cost of software - Acrobat to make PDF's ain't cheap, etc., etc.).
I know the wife will be happy for it to get in the green. Somehow, they tend to look at things that way ... LOL!
About it being out in the book stores across the land ... that would be GREAT! and I hope it does. I'm not holding my breath until someone puts some kind of workable contract in front of me though. While it is true that it is rare to catch the trophy on the first bite ... it is also true that you will not catch anything until you at least start having some nibbles and bites of some kind. I'm glad the nibbles and bites are starting and hope for the BIG catch.
Until then, I'll just keep doing my best to get the word out, and be grateful for any and all help I get from friends and relatives.
Take care.
Been off-forum for a while, and am 'catching up' this morning.
Will be in touch later today.
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