Kenneth Brank, concerned that the Red Pint Rag may be going out of business, paid his dues down to the ha’penny, which meant I had no choice but get the Rag out after its two-year dereliction of duty. Although he delivered the dues in a brown paper bag, the transaction was conducted in full view of fellow fiddlers, so I can’t even abscond with the funds.

I met up with Brank and his missus, Margret, at the Oregon Oldtime Fiddlers’ annual campout in August. The northward trek was a much needed break from being parked in front of a PC all day.

After four years of immersion in the Internet game, and authoring the “Official Netscape Internet Business Starter Kit” (Netscape Press), my bedraggled brain signalled for a time out. Being the doting wife she is, Janis concurred. It was time to closet the computer and pick up the musical instruments for some long overdue R&R. I stuffed my little pick’em-up truck with camping gear, fiddle, bass and bicycle, and hopped onto the I-5 North, a man with a mission.

My only digression was a stop in Redding for a quick coffee with Adrienne Jacoby and Bob Snyder. Bob was kind enough to give me a lesson on taking a sabbatical from the work-a-day world. (Janis has not concurred on that front, but I’m still working on her.)

Following the campout, I spent a few days in Yosemite National Park, which I had not visited since I was a mere lad some 40 years ago. (I had to calculate that twice, because I could hardly believe it had been that long — or that I’m that old.)

Back home, I whacked my workload to a mere shadow of its former self. I even gave up management of the AmericaOne Challenge website, cutting my ties to the America’s Cup. Frankly, I had grown tired of that scene.

I’m still a contributing editor to eBusiness Advisor magazine, and I take Internet-related work as it comes, but I’m not aggressively seeking it. I guess you could say I’m working as much as I want to, leaving me time for writing projects I’d put on hold. Hence, the re-emergence of the Rag.

Music Revival

The Red Ribbon Ramblers: Bruce   Barnes, "The Mel Man," Larry Joslin.   (Click on the image to see a larger photo.)

The reduced workload is also giving me more time to play music. Attending the campout and hanging out with some hot-shot musicians inspired me to actually put in practice time and make an effort to get together more often with my Mel Bay Jammer buddies, Bruce Barnes and Larry Joslin. We recently became the de facto house band at the Coyote Country coffeehouse in Crest in east San Diego County. We’re there playing “Hairless Dog Rag” and other swing-along tunes most Friday evenings.

Bruce and Larry are there most Saturdays, too, and I make that gig when I can squeeze it in. Officially, we go by the names Grandaddy-o’s or Mel and the Bay Jammers (as opposed to the Mel Bay Jammers — don’t want the real Mel Bay initiating any nasty litigation against us for besmirching his good name).

Undermined by the Publisher
I wish I could tell you my book was a best seller. I know now it was in trouble from the date of publication, but I only learned that after the fact. The first blow came as we were in the final throes of editing the book. After busting my ass for four months to meet the deadline, the parent company, International Thomson Publishing, glibly announced it was closing the division publishing my illustrious tome. The good news was that my book would be published.

I was looking forward to it being in stores in time for last year’s holiday gift-giving. No such luck. The companion CD-ROM was not set up properly and was recalled, delaying the book’s release by almost a month. By the time the book reached the distributors and was relayed to retail stores, the holiday buying season was over. But that turned out to be the least of my problems.

The responsibility for marketing the book was dumped into the lap of another division, which did not have the personnel, nor the initiative, to market the book. Visits to local booksellers were dismaying. A clerk at Barnes and Noble had the audacity, after consulting his database, to assert that the book did not exist. Speaking to his superior at least achieved the promise that the book would be ordered.

Friend Cheri Brennan (doting wife of high-school chum Tom Horsley), who operates a public relations firm in the Seattle area, placed an article of mine in the Puget Sound Business Journal. I also managed to get ink in a few other publications. And my buddy Rich Hazelton, editor of 48° North, flew me into Seattle to give a talk to folks in the marine industry. But without the support of the publisher, publicizing the book nationally became an uphill battle I could not win. Predictably, sales languished.

It was only recently, however, that I discovered that the publisher actually sabotaged book sales. The book was declared out-of-print shortly after it came off the press. Being labeled out-of-print is the death knell for any book. When bookstores become aware of this, they typically pack up all the copies of the book in stock and return them. Unbeknownst to me, while I was trying to generate sales, the bookstores were taking it off their shelves.

Luckily, I have a tough negotiator for an agent — Martha Kaufman Amitay of Adler & Robin Books in Washington, D.C. — who obtained as good of an advance as can be had for a first-time author of a computer book. There may be another book in the works once I rid myself of the bitter aftertaste of the first one, but I believe I can safely say that it will be with a different publisher.

I did get some solace in that the San Diego Press Club honored the book in its annual Journalism Awards. Judges’ comment: “An authoritative, user-friendly, logically oriented and understandable guide to setting up a business on the Internet. An appealing, notable guide for the novice and the knowledgeable alike.”

Happy Holidays and New Year
I hope you all have an enjoyable holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

— Larry