Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts

Straight from the Mouth of AA Freda, Author of 'A Police Action'

AA Freda is an award-winning author. He’s written several novels with a third to be released in the first half of 2018.

His first novel, Goodbye Rudy Kazoody, an award winner, is a coming of age work about a group of teenagers growing up in a New York City neighborhood during the early 1960's was acclaimed by the critics.

His second piece and just released, A Police Action is another coming of age story about two confused young adults caught up during the free love and Vietnam era of the late 1960's.

The inspiration for his books are always his lifelong experiences and people he’s met along the way.

Freda was born in Italy but grew up in New York City and now resides in Easton, CT, a suburb of New York City that offers him a tranquil environment that allows him to keep his finger on the pulse of the city he loves so much. A graduate of Bernard Baruch College at the City University in New York, he has served as an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Freda also served in Vietnam the subject matter of A Police Action. In addition to writing, in his spare time, Freda enjoys fishing, hiking, climbing and shooting pool. 


Questionnaire:

Thanks for letting us interrogate you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

It wasn’t because of a professional choice. And it certainly isn’t for the money. I just love to write and tell a story. I just love when I find a reader fascinated by one of my stories.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

Well if you are after fortune, you’ll be disappointed. I’m still working on the fame part. My first book, Goodbye Rudy Kazoody was an award winner and was critically acclaimed. My second A Police Action has also been well received. So the fame part could still come.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

I chose to be independently published. This is the quickest way to market. I want to share my works. I believe I write a good quality product and I want people to enjoy my stories.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

I love the writing and the publishing route. The more difficult part of the business for me is the marketing and promotion side of the business. I’m mostly shy and introverted and socializing about my works is difficult for me.

Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

I don’t own a pet but I’m constantly cat sitting Roland the cat for my son who travels a lot for his job. Roland lets me know when his dish is empty. He sits on my computer keys until I get up to feed him

Are your plants actually still alive?

This is why I have all fake plastic plants. A hired gardener takes care of my shrubs and grass. You would not want to see my yard if I had to do it myself.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

Since I own my own business, I don’t have to deal with a demanding boss. Clients are a different story. When I’m in the middle of a furious writing session I put all my calls through to voice mail.

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

Realizing after my first book was published that in spite of my careful proofreading, I still had seven errors.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

I’m still evaluating. I don’t believe Facebook has been very helpful. I’m having better luck with Twitter. The jury is still out on Goodreads.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

This is the part of the self-publishing business that I believe needs the most help. Publishers are of no help at all. There are pros on the outside that can be useful but they come with a price tag. It’s been trial and error so far but I’m getting better at evaluating the good from the bad.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

The positive critical reviews I have received on my first two books, Goodbye, Rudy Kazoody and A Police Action. My star rating on Amazon and Goodreads exceeds those of some of the classic books.

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

Well that is certainly true. But, I do intend on making a profit. I just need to figure out the formula. I have the first part done and that is to provide the customers, the readers, a good quality product. Now I just need to bring that product to market.



Straight from the Mouth of Nonfiction Author Robert Wideman

"Publishing is a Nightmare" 


         Six years ago I decided I wanted to write a book about my experience in North Vietnam as a Prisoner of War. I did this because I wanted something on paper for my two sons and six grandchildren. Four years later I had only written 100 pages. At 71 years of age, I realized I might not live long enough to finish my book. I decided I needed help in writing and publishing a book, so I contacted Graham Communications in Denver, Colorado. Mark Graham introduced me to Cara Lopez Lee. Cara finished my book in two years and did a great job.

         Now it was time to create and publish my book. Colin Graham at Graham Publishing Group published my book. He designed the front and back covers as well as the interior for the paperback and kindle editions. He did a very nice job as well.

Then it came time to distribute my book. We started with IngramSpark. What a disaster? Amazon took 55% of the retail price off the top. The printer (Ingramspark?)  then charged $6.44 for each copy. That left me 74 cents per book as profit. That was a 5% profit for each book. I thought that was outrageous, because you typically receive a10% profit from traditional publishers. The whole idea of self-publishing is to make more than the 10% received from traditional publishers.

         When I started this journey friends told me that they went to traditional publishers but did not make any money. They self published and did much better. Mark Graham said if I went to a traditional publisher they would ask me for a marketing plan. I would respond, “Yes, where is my marketing plan. You guys get 90% of the profit.” They will then say, “You don’t understand. Where is your marketing plan?” Someone told me that a marketing plane would cost $30,000. Mark said that it will cost $5.00 to print each book, and I can sell each book for $15.00. That is true if you buy the books at wholesale and then sell them on your own. However, if you go thru Amazon or Barnes and Noble, they get 55% off the top and that takes your profit. Kindle is better. With Kindle, I receive 60% of the retail price.

         I replaced Ingramspark with Createspace, and now I receive $4.25 for each book sold on Amazon. Createspce only deals with Amazon, however, so I had to keep IngrahamSpark for Barnes and Noble and all the other retail outlets.

         I learned that the publishing industry is designed for the benefit of printers, distributors, and book publishers. The publishing business is definitely not set up for the benefit of authors.

 ////////////////////////////////////////////




 Title: UNEXPECTED PRISONER: Memoir of a Vietnam Prisoner of War
Genre: Memoir
Author: Robert Wideman
Websitewww.robertwideman.com        
Publisher: Graham Publishing Group
Find on Amazon

About the Book:  

When Unexpected Prisoner opens, it’s May 6, 1967 and 23-year-old Lieutenant Robert Wideman is flying a Navy A-4 Skyhawk over Vietnam.  At 23, Wideman had already served three and a half years in the Navy—and was only 27 combat days away from heading home to America. But on that cloudless day in May, on a routine bombing run, Wideman’s plane crashed and he fell into enemy hands. Captured and held for six years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, Wideman endured the kind of pain that makes people question humanity.  Physical torture, however, was not the biggest challenge he was forced to withstand.  In his candid memoir, Unexpected Prisoner, Wideman details the raw, unvarnished tale of how he came to understand the truth behind Jean-Paul Sartre’s words: “Hell is other people.”

A gripping, first-person account that chronicles the six-year period Wideman spent in captivity as a POW, Unexpected Prisoner plunges readers deep into the heart of one of the most protracted, deadliest conflicts in American history:  the Vietnam War. Wideman, along with acclaimed memoirist Cara Lopez Lee, has crafted a story that is exquisitely engaging, richly detailed, and wholly captivating.  Unexpectedly candid and vibrantly vivid, this moving memoir chronicles a POW’s struggle with enemies and comrades, Vietnamese interrogators and American commanders, lost dreams, and ultimately, himself.

With its eye-opening look at a soldier’s life before, during and after captivity, Unexpected Prisoner presents a uniquely human perspective on war and on conflicts both external and internal. An exceptional story exceptionally well-told, Unexpected Prisoner is a powerful, poignant, often provocative tale about struggle, survival, hope, and redemption.


About the Author:  

Robert Wideman was born in Montreal, grew up in East Aurora, New York, and has dual U.S./Canadian citizenship. During the Vietnam War, he flew 134 missions for the U.S. Navy and spent six years as a prisoner of war. Wideman earned a master’s degree in finance from the Naval Postgraduate School. After retiring from the Navy, he graduated from the University of Florida College of Law, practiced law in Florida and Mississippi, and became a flight instructor. Robert Wideman holds a commercial pilot’s license with an instrument rating, belongs to Veterans Plaza of Northern Colorado, and lives in Ft. Collins near his two sons and six grandchildren.

Connect with the author on the web: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn