It has been five months now since the publication of No Ordinary Seaman. In one more month, all 300 copies from the first printing will have been sold.

Self-publishing is not for the faint of heart. Getting the book to readers is busy work. Without the resources of a publishing house, its experienced professional staff, book seller networks, and distribution and marketing channels, going solo to get my book into the hands of readers has been a heady job. I’d rather be writing, but the book won’t sell itself.

This blog posting is an update on how I have been doing with my first book. “Recognition” is the gold standard, the affirmation I have hoped for, indeed, needed, in order to move forward as well as I have. Recognition by bookstores and libraries – aka, readers – has brought me lots of gratification and the motivation to plow ahead with renewed energies.

 

SECOND PRINTING

 

A reprint is in the works. The Second Printing of No Ordinary Seaman will be in-hand by the end of August. Will there be changes? Yes! All the many typos and other errors not caught by my proof-readers have been corrected.

 

 

My apologies go out to the readers who have stumbled upon bloopers, and thank you for not being too shy to point them out to me. The second printing will be pristine, and rest-assured, content changes are negligible. Your copy will become a collector’s item.

Elsewhere in my website is information about where No Ordinary Seaman can be purchased and which libraries it can be borrowed from. Events, passed and upcoming, are also documented. But websites are typically passive places, hence this blog – my way of keeping No Ordinary Seaman an active, ongoing experience for those who are interested. Additionally, more background and stuff not printed in the book might give the blog the flavour of a continuing saga.

 

BOOK LAUNCHES

My first book signing at Indigo in South Surrey/White Rock, just up the street from my home, was a wonderful kick-off that led to three regional book launches.

 

 

My first of three book launches was in Ladysmith,  a small Vancouver Island town, just down the road from Harmac and Crofton, and the Wheatsheaf Pub, all of which featured in the first part of the book when the Havkatt docked to load lumber in November 1965, and where some of the troubles began.

 

 

 

 

It seemed only fitting that the first book launch would be held in this historic location – historic that is, for crewman Karlsen.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank Mike, the editor of the Ladysmith/Chemainus Chronicle for doing a story to promote my book launch at the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery, and for putting in a good word for me with Frieda, owner of Salamander Books.

 

Friends in Nanaimo told us that while we were in Ladysmith we had to go to the Old Town Bakery. They have the best cinnamon buns on Vancouver Island.

Cam advised we eat our sticky bun first, before the soup, so we’d have enough room for it.

 

 

Bruce told us not to go on a Saturday morning later than about noon because the bakery will be sold out to the Victoria Bicycle Club that rides to Ladysmith every week just for the sticky cinnamon buns – 90 km just one way!

 

The second book launch was in Ganges on Salt Spring Island, with presentations to the local Rotary Club, and at the public library.

 

 

 

 

Adina, owner of Salt Spring Books put a few copies of No Ordinary Seaman on her shelf for readers looking for another great book.

 

I would like to thank Richard and Pat Hannah, friends and local entrepreneurs, and Karen Hudson of the Salt Spring Island Public Library for being so supportive in Ganges. They placed posters around town to promote the event.

 

 

 

 

I was browsing the library catalogue a couple of weeks after the event and was delighted to see that No Ordinary Seaman was not available. It was out on loan.

 

 

 

 

 

The very exciting book launch at the Vancouver Maritime Museum (VMM) was a big acceptance of my memoir in Vancouver, and especially gratifying because Vancouver is where my sea stories began.

The book cover is the view from Jericho Beach just to the west of the museum, looking out to the deep-sea freighters anchored in Vancouver’s outer harbour, framed by the North Shore mountains on the not-so-distant horizon.

And, it’s pretty cool seeing No Ordinary Seaman bookended on the gift shop shelf at VMM with The Fisher Queen and Beckoned by the Sea, books by my writing teacher and editor, Sylvia Taylor. This kind of recognition has given me a lot of energy to forge ahead with continuing distribution efforts for the book

 

Thank you, Andrew and staff at VMM for buoying up this nautical writer.

 

 

Where Can You Get the Book?

In addition to my website, where you can buy No Ordinary Seaman online and pay the postage, the book is also available at the following locations:

 

Tanner’s Books, Sidney

Chapters, Nanaimo

Indigo, South Surrey

Vancouver Maritime Museum, Vancouver

Salamander Books, Ladysmith

Salt Spring Books, Ganges

Fraser Valley Regional Library

Salt Spring Island Public Library

Surrey Public Library

 

KEEP CHECKING IN – THE LIST IS GROWING

 

 

GET YOUR COPY