I spent all day yesterday at a publisher’s meeting at Publishers Group West* in Berkeley, and learned a lot. Mainly that I’m in the kindergarten category when it comes to marketing and promotion. I can get the books done and out there, but don’t really have much savvy on publicity. One of our authors, Bill Pearl, said to me once, “Lloyd, I wish we could produce a book and it would just fly off the shelves.”

   Come to think of it, that’s the way it worked with Shelter early in my publishing career (1973). Our 1st print run in San Francisco (on a Harris-Cotrell M700 offset newspaper press) was 50,000 copies (what did we know?). We sent out no review copies, contacted no media people, I didn’t do a tour…We just gave out books to friends and people we thought would be interested, and it sold like mad (distributed by Random House). We ended up doing two more printings, of 50,000, and 60,000. Being reviewed in the Whole Earth Catalog was a big part of it, since it got the word out to maybe a million Whole Earthers—our people.

   Well, things are way different now (duh!) I listened to some really smart publishers and industry people yesterday and am excited about trying some new ways to get the word out. I just want to get people to pick up, say, Tiny Homes. The book will take over from there.

   The other thing that fascinates me right now is the eBook thing. Last week our Tiny Homes eBook (by Rick Gordon) was # 28 on Apple’s iTunes “Top Paid Books,” Arts & Entertainment category. True, it’s not a real live luscious book, but it’s paperless, compact, gorgeous on the iPad, searchable, and visually scannable (i.e. the reader can scan rapidly through thumbnails looking for things of interest). I was surprised how well it works on even an iPhone. I mean, if  you’re really serious about going light in the device department…

   Huge changes afoot in the publishing biz right now, and we’re gonna go along for the ride.

*Our distributors and partners in crime                            Photo above last night on 6th Street in Berkeley

Our Tiny Homes eBook was #48 in Apple’s iTunes “Top Paid Books” category last week. Click here to check it out and get a free sample. Or, media people can contact us (ebooks@shelterpub.com) for a free review copy; we’ll give you the link to download.

What a relief to be back home. Took my first hard bike ride in months yesterday. Going to start running lightly. I’m working out in a gym 2-3 times a week to build back upper body strength. I’m mainly trying to revitalize damaged shoulders. One thing that Bill Pearl said about weight training: within a month or so you  see results. The principle of progressive resistance. Muscle tone improvements are visible (and feelable). Encouraging.

   I’m cookin on the new book (click here). 6 pages laid out (old school style design before it gets MacIntoshed). I’m in contact with a bunch of road people and boat people. All kinds of rigs. Getting them to send in 250–300 word write-ups and pix. Lots of material coming in by end of August. Nomadic Living in the 21st Century.

7/4/2012

Dear Lloyd,

Please find a short video of Scott saying how you changed his life:

And here is one of his yurt in Tiny Homes;

All best wishes,

Alison

On behalf of Scott Evans

Thursday night I’m doing my 15th (and the last for a while) Tiny Homes slideshow, talk, and book signing in conjunction with Pt. Reyes Books, a community supported bookstore in Point Reyes Station, California. Thursday, July 5,7:30pm, at the Point Reyes Presbyterian Church. I begin these events by talking about all the things that were going on in the 60s in San Francisco (before the “Summer of Love,” when things were already falling apart), working on the Whole Earth Catalog, and starting my publishing career with two books on dome building, then show slides and discuss the builders and buildings in the book. I’ll also highlight what I’ve learned working on this subject and this book, why I think tiny homes are so popular right now, and who I think they are appropriate for.