Wednesday, July 17, 2013

ATTENTION - I HAVE ENTERED THE E-VOID!!!

   Borrowed from my beloved urban dictionary, the e-void is:

   Avoiding someone electronically such as on Facebook, e-mail, IM, or text messages.

   It's ok, from what I understand this is a common phenomena with newly minted authors. You send friends your new book, figuring that they'll gladly bound through it. LMFAO. Not! 

   Apparently asking people who know you to read your book has a powerful cosmic effect on them, rendering them unable to respond to your queries, calls or any other commonly used means of communication. My guess is that they think that since they know you, they figure wtf could possibly be interesting about your writing. 

  Perhaps valid. But it is an interesting phenomena. Several people who I do not know, have raved about "Alphabet Success", with a couple people asking about potential speaking gigs. No exaggeration. Since I am "unknown" I am possessed of special powers. The old rule "A good consultant is one is who has flown in" is certainly at play.

   My guess, it is sort of the rejection of the familiar. If you know me, I must have already told you any important stuff you'd benefit from, and the fact that I decided to organize my thinking means reading the book would be like repeating a grade in high school (not desirable).

   Having said that, I think if I sent the same people an e-mail that I had re-built a 68 Corvette, and they should pop by for a look, they'd be there post-haste. Just to be clear, I am not going to re-build any sort of car. A dirty keyboard is about as close to manual labor as I get.

   Of equal importance, the new book doesn't mean I am going to wear a bow tie and cravat. Nor will I start smoking a pipe in my favorite leather chair and start wearing blazers with patches on the elbows. But most importantly, if you don't want to read it, just have the balls to say so. One friend bowed out, and I am completely cool with that.  I didn't make it this far in life as an emotional cripple. 

   But since there is an obvious e-void into which I have entered, I want to public acknowledge complete amnesty for those who don't want to read, or even discuss the book. But I'm still putting it on you to "man-up" and say as much. Isn't that what friends do?

   Anyhow, I'm not mad, just a bit surprised by people's hesitation to just bow out gracefully.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Read it, apply it, realize it. FREE! Umm....did I mention....FREE!

   My last post was about the fact that my book had finally made it on to Amazon.com's Kindle site. So that is the first step in a process. Great to "write it down", quite another to get people interested. I'm all dressed up and alone at my party! Boo-hoo... But wait, maybe you can help!

   With that idea in mind, I am promoting the book today to reducing the price to the incredibly democratic price of ZERO. Yep, today you will be able to download the book for FREE beginning at midnight PST in the USA, which is 9:00am for those of you in Central Europe, 10:00am in the UK and 3:00am for insomniacs on the East Coast of the USA.

   My motivation? To get people to try it. What would I really like? Seriously? A positive review on Amazon.com. Now you might think, what will my review do for this book. Plenty. Given my private feedback (even from my remarkably, brutally frank, friends) has all been positive, I think you'll find it worthwhile. So, "do me a solid", and pop your loving review onto Amazon when you are done.

   Thanks in advance. You rock!

   Have a question or comment? Just reach me at tim@timfargo.com






A sweet moment, that I have awaited for a long time...

This just in! The moment I have been waiting and working for quite a long time now.

This is the opening sentence of an e-mail I just got from Amazon.com.

"Congratulations, your book "Alphabet Success" is live in the Kindle Store and has been enrolled in KDP Select. It is available* for readers to purchase here. "

The beginning of this book began over ten years ago. I was driving across the Howard Franklin bridge and thought it would be kind of cool to create a book that used the alphabet to convey some simple, yet powerful insights into success. 

After a variety of events, including the sale of a business, the usual personal things that happen, and the distraction of having suddenly had my dream come true, I finally got around to finishing the idea.

Today is the day. 

Needless to say, I am one very very happy guy.

ABC - Always Be Committed. I knew I would finally finish this book, and now it is finally out for the world to see. Will it succeed as a "book"? That is my next application of the principles in the book.

After all, if a guy who promotes success can't get people to buy his book, well, that'd be pretty lame.

But that isn't going to happen...

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Another beautiful day...

Up early,  sun shining,  a breeze blowing and not a cloud in the sky. The potential of the day awaits.  Everyday has the possibility of being absolutely life changing and fantastic.  Or just "another" day.
In the end, it will most likely be something in the middle.  But we won't really know until later. Must steer the ship carefully.
Enjoy your voyage.

Thursday, July 04, 2013

The 4th Away from Home...

   From afar, sitting just outside the Swedish capital, the voices of the USA sound like a not so united set of states. Part of that may be the din of the media,  or the louder voices seeming to dominant the airwaves.

   Regardless,  today is a good one to remind ourselves the things that bind us together.  Not only our nation,  and language,  but our shared history of weaving discord and rancor into a rich tapestry binding us ever closer.

   It seems most often that we find the thread which holds us together when we discard, if only for a while, our particular ideology or politics.

   We all want our nation to remain great. We want to live in safety and prosperity. We hope that our children and friends will make it home safe, and that nobody will be telling us someone we value is gone.

  Amidst all the discussion on how we want to go about things, most of us desire the same destination.  If we focus on the destination and work toward common methods of getting there we are much more likely to succeed than if we begin wedged in our "trench".

   Our freedom of speech ought best be used to find our commonality and community. Our strength is our brand. Our brand is our name. We are the United States of America.

   Have a safe 4th of July.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Check out http://alphabetsuccess.blogspot.com/

My new blog...

The book "Alphabet Success" is forthcoming. Starting the drum roll. Please join in the fun.

SUN DON'T SHINE



A while back I ended up as a "producer" in a film called "Sun Don't Shine". Initially my involvement was limited to providing some temporary housing for the cast and crew. My relationship with the director,  Amy Seimetz, was a tangential friend of a friend sort of thing.

Later, my interest piqued,  I ended up a bit more involved in the movie. In addition to the local St. Pete Beach connection, it turned out the film was premiering in Wroclaw where I happen to spend part of the year. The litany of coincidental connections along with the knowledge that the referring friend is a bright person surrounded by similar people sealed the deal. FWIW - "producing" is limited to a financial involvement.  Good thing, as I know nothing about making films.

Fortunately,  Amy knows plenty. Which is why the movie ended up being a great gritty view of the "backstage" of Florida.  If you haven't seen the movie,  do so. You will never look at the Sunshine State in quite the same way afterwards.

While I don't know much more about the film business than when I started,  it is a pleasure to be associated with such an excellent directorial debut. Kate Lynn Sheil and Kentucker Audley in the lead roles, do an admirable job as well.

Along the way Amy has become an increasingly well known name in entertainment. Deservedly so I might add. A simple search for Amy Seimetz will give you the inside scoop on this emerging force in the film business. Go Amy Go!

The film is currently in distribution by Factory 25 - http://www.factorytwentyfive.com/sun-dont-shine/

Back to Stockholm...

After a lovely and productive journey home in Wroclaw, we are off  (with one of my daughters) to Stockholm to see my son and some friends.

As with any journey I am a bit nervous (even after innumerable trips) and excited. My excitement is now two fold.

1) As before I look forward to swimming in the Baltic, seeing friends, and enjoying the lovely (if expensive) environs of Stockholm.

2) It will afford me the opportunity to experience a myriad of business interactions. Some positive, some negative. But all which are likely to appear on alphabetsuccess.blogspot.com.

This is part of my build up to the launch of my book "Alphabet Success". Available in Kindle format for the first 90 days. (Sorry).

My early retirement has frequently prompted the question: "How did you do that?" Now I am attempting to answer the question en masse.