Thank You to My Readers

Book royalties rise and fall, depending on how you market and promote yourself. I've been so busy over the last couple of years that I have let marketing slip. It was a pleasant surprise to receive royalties from Amazon for sales in six foreign markets this month.

I'd like to thank everyone who purchased any of my books. Japan had far more sales than any other nation. I humbly bow and say, thank you.

I took a portion of the royalties and bought a new photographic studio setup. The upgraded equipment will be used for producing videos for my books and also musical instrument reviews for Ukulele Player Magazine.

One of the blessings of being a photographer and author is that I can write and use my own photographs to illustrate my books. I don't have to rely on someone else or use royalty-free images for illustration. I am also an "illustrator" and use a Wacom tablet to create images as well. Being able to do everything myself saves me money and enables me to sell my books at very affordable prices.

Thank You once again.

I hope you all enjoy success and happiness in everything you do.

Serendipity

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I am going to be getting book royalties from seven different countries this month (June sales). I get a breakdown of sales from Amazon where I enjoy an exclusive e-book agreement.

Without any special marketing push, June sales really jumped, especially in Japan. That makes me wonder, why? The word serendipity comes to mind. With no marketing push whatsoever, sales in Japan increased by 4925 percent. That's incredible!

I cannot explain this upswing in sales, but I'll take it.

In recent days I have purchased a new video camera and have been studying movie making techniques in order to start producing compelling marketing videos. I have invested in spare batteries for the camcorder and I have movie editing software that I've been using for musical instrument reviews for years; however, I have not been producing any award-winning videos. That is about to change.

I will be applying the techniques I am learning from the book "How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck!" by the award-winning director Steve Stockman.

We'll soon see if this plan works. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy my recent increase in book sales and smile all the way to the bank.

I'll be posting marketing videos on YouTube in the near future. As videos become available I will post them on this blog, too.

Stay tuned...

Into the Wild

I have spend a large portion of my life in pursuit of wildlife. I love taking pictures of animals in the wilderness. Of course, when I cannot go to the wilderness, nature preserves and zoos that feature environs will do nicely.

I am not a big fan of wildlife management because the minute you manage it, it's no longer wild. It's an oxymoron.

The best way to "manage" wildlife is simply to let it manage itself. Now, that goes against the modern way of thinking, but it's true. In trying to do what we think is right for nature and the preservation of wildlife we often do more harm than good. I'll give you an example.

Putting hatchery stocked trout in Western streams has served to introduce bacterial infection and whirling disease into native populations and it has weakened the gene pool. I have seen freshly planted brookies in Pennsylvania streams that had ulcers on their sides that were from bacterial infestations in Pennsylvania's hatcheries.

I prefer going into wildlife preserves and nature areas to take pictures or shoot video with as little disruption as possible.

Here is the type of picture one can take when one is careful.

I took this shot with a 70-200mm lens on a Pentax professional digital SLR camera.

The deer just sat there very quietly and watched me as I took pictures. I moved carefully and did not make a lot of noise or appear threatening in any way. White-tailed deer are very smart and curious. As long as you pose no threat you can usually get some nice pictures before they move away.

You'll notice that this is an eight-point buck wearing summer velvet. The antlers will be very hard and no longer covered in soft velvet by mating season (the rut).