Let's Get Physical (Copies Of The HMAD Book)

MARCH 31, 2016

GENRE: MONSTER
SOURCE: AMAZON & CREATESPACE

Because you demanded it, but mostly because it's a better fit for it, Horror Movie A Day: The Book is now available in glorious print format! I didn't plan it this way, but it just happens to be on the three year anniversary of quitting the "a day" part of the site (which was partly due to wanting to write a book), so that's kind of neat. Clocking in just under 600 pages, you can order it now and it will be shipping out soon (give those poor printers a chance to catch up!). In a few weeks it can even potentially show up in your local Barnes & Noble or whatever other bookstore you peruse, but I'm still unsure how all that stuff works - self-publishing is obviously very new to me. I know that it CAN be sold anywhere books are sold, but I don't how to get it to that point and if I need to do anything to help that process. Working on that.

And yes, self-publishing - the original publisher of the e-book is not involved with this release beyond giving me their blessing to do it. They told me a certain number of e-book sales that it would have to reach before they'd do the print one on their own, and I knew it was a pipe dream when their other books hadn't hit that number despite being more high profile (i.e. Hulk's book, with his 50,000 followers and an intro from Edgar Wright). So I did the print one on my own via Amazon's Createspace, and so far I am very happy with the results. I got a proof copy (two of them actually since I didn't like some of my own formatting choices the first time around) and I can assure you it's a high quality book - I was very hesitant to use any "self" service as I figured the books would look cheap and flimsy, but it's not the case at all.

Right now you have two options, and please read carefully. If you're an Amazon Prime member, then you should go through Amazon and buy it there to get your free shipping, of course - the link is below in the usual spot. However, if you're NOT a Prime member, I would like to humbly ask that you buy it directly from Createspace at THIS LINK HERE. "Isn't Createspace just Amazon's own company anyway? What's the difference?" you might be asking, and I'll explain - for whatever reason, the royalties I get from Createspace are much higher than Amazon's. And this isn't me looking to get rich or anything - in fact, the set price of $24.95 is barely over the minimum they'd let me sell it for given the manufacturing costs (again: it's almost 600 pages, and at a larger 7x10 size to boot). But after having to split my pot so many ways with the e-book (which I still haven't seen a dime for, I should mention) and owing so many copies to the people who helped out (i.e. the artists, who worked pro bono), this thing is putting a dent into my wallet, not filling it. Long story short - if you're not getting free shipping or some other kickback from Amazon, the price for you won't be any different, but it'll kick a few extra pennies my way to buy direct from Createspace. Those pennies add up when you have a kid and a day job that is constantly under threat of being eliminated.

Speaking of money, I know some of you bought the e-book just to help raise the numbers for the physical version, and for that I thank you and have a special (albeit limited time) offer. IF you bought the e-book version sometime between the day it was released and yesterday, March 30th, you will get that $4.95 PLUS another dollar off the cost of the physical one, and free shipping as well. If you'd like to take advantage of that offer, email me at FrightReviews (which is a G[oogle e]mail address) with proof of your e-book purchase date, either via your receipt or screenshot (on Amazon it should say right at the top "You purchased this book on February 20th" or whatever - screenshot along with your logged in name so I can verify it's you). Then Paypal 19 dollars ($24.95 - 4.95 - extra 1.00 = 19.00, and again I'll cover shipping) to that same email address and make sure your shipping address is included. This is a pretty good deal I think - it's basically like getting the e-book free and another buck off for good measure.

Is anything different in the physical version? Yep! For starters, it's got some minor edits throughout; things that were a bit clunky or unclear have now been clarified, and a couple of formatting things that were "off" have been fixed. Additionally, I have added a complete title index at the back if you'd like to just look through all the titles and flip to one that sounds interesting (I know this is what I'd always do with Ebert's guides - look to see if he had any of his Halloween reviews and flip to that page). And most importantly, it's a lot easier to flip through! As my still swollen wrist can attest from my formatting checks with the e-book, swiping endlessly to find a particular entry isn't fun, so this is the ideal way to peruse. And, I don't know if it counts as a selling point, but there's a back cover with some choice quotes, a little bio, and a cute pic of me sitting with my beloved baby boy, who is using my lap/chest as a crib. Plus an ISBN!

Basically, it's my preferred version, and it's a bummer that the original publishers weren't interested in providing one all along. I definitely see the benefit of a device with unlimited books on it, but the feedback I got throughout this whole publishing process was that it's not ideal for everything you want to read (certainly not for a book few will sit and read cover to cover). I would have loved to have stayed with those folks and had it sitting on the shelves at their locations, but alas it wasn't feasible for them, and I am grateful that they allowed me to do it on my own. Luckily the Createspace process was fairly harmless (perfecting the dimensions of the cover was probably the hardest part) and also quick - their proofing and verification processes were superfast, and even though they said it'd be 3-5 days before the book was available on Amazon, it showed up within an hour of giving it the greenlight. For anyone else out there who wants to do a physical version of their e-book, I highly recommend it.

As for autographed copies (some people have asked; I'm not being egotistical!), I'm not sure. A local signing is in the works, and obviously if you see me on the street and have your copy on you for some reason I'll sign it however you like, but as far as ordering them that way, it'll be kind of pricey. Basically they'll have to ship me a copy to sign and then I'll have to mail it out to you myself, so we're talking probably 35-40 bucks for the book and the extra shipping step. If anyone actually wanted to spend that much, I am more than happy to do it, but I can't imagine my scribble is worth that much to anyone but my mom (even if it's a reminder that she utterly failed at teaching me any penmanship skills). If you're really that interested in it, email me and we'll figure something out.

Now I'm sure! There will be a signing at Dark Delicacies here in Los Angeles, but out-of-towners can order it. That price is unfortunately the same (around 40 bucks with shipping) but it will be sent in a timely manner, which you wouldn't get from me, and you can take some comfort in knowing that you're supporting a really great independent bookstore instead of just Amazon. More info is available on my post HERE. Lastly: reviews. I learned recently that if a book gets 50 reviews on Amazon, it gets featured in their newsletter, given better placement in searches, etc. This would be a big deal to me, so if you could take the time to submit a review, it would mean a lot. Again, they just need 50 reviews - nothing about the LENGTH of that review. It can just be your 4 or 5 star mark (or 1, be honest!) and "Great book" or something - long as it's from a verified purchase that's all they need. Promoting this thing (either version) has been incredibly difficult as it's not something I'm particularly good at (and the original publisher has bigger fish to fry), so any help I can get in terms of letting people know it's available (again) is something I will be extremely grateful for. A lot of you guys did a terrific job on Twitter/Facebook, spreading the word on the e-book, so if I could beg you to offer up that kind of help again, you'll be on my good side forever. Even my kid doesn't get that sort of love, thanks to his obsession with pulling out all of my CDs and putting them back in the wrong order, the jerk.

Anyway: enjoy! It's totally done forever! I can zip up the big messy folder with all the files and move on to my next book, which is about- oh I can't spoil that just yet. I can say it WON'T be HMAD-centric like this one, but fear not: I'm still committed to updating the site 1-2x a week for as long as I am able to. Viva la HMAD!

What say you?

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