Friday, December 19, 2014

Sony in a No Win Situation

The other day, Sony Pictures America decided to pull the movie, The Interview, completely.  No theatrical release, no dvd release, etc. etc.


Sony is getting a lot of flack for this decision.  "Cowardice" is a word I have come across a lot when reading people's reaction.


As a result of this "incident," Sony gets a lot of bad press, loses money, and the corporation gets called a coward.


But when Sony made the decision, this was probably the lesser of two evils. 


What if Sony decided to go ahead and release the film anyway?


And one or more "terrorist-like" attacks took place and some fatalities took place. Then what?


Not only would Sony not hear the end of it, they would be burdened with so many lawsuits that it would not only cripple Sony Pictures, but perhaps the parent company.


I could hear it now, "Everybody knew about the threats and they went ahead anyway."


Sony was damned because it didn't, but would have been really damned if they did and something happened. 


What really puzzles me is that the emotions seem to be displaced here.  People seem to be more outraged at Sony for being hacked, than at North Korea for doing the hacking.


All boiled down, Sony is the victim of a crime.  An international one at that.  It's kind of like blaming a robbery victim for walking down a desolate street at night.  Sure, the victim could have taken more precautions, but does a victim's vulnerability make a criminal act against him/her acceptable?  No, it does not.


Then, there is the question of who?  Depending on who is behind this, should determine how we, as a nation should respond.


If it were one or a group of individuals, then this is a matter for law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice. 


However, what if it was State sponsored?  Then, it is not a crime against an individual or entity of the United States, but an act of war against the nation of the United States.  Just because it wasn't an attack on a military installation like Pearl Harbor, or Fort Sumter, doesn't make it less so. 


I've gone a little off-topic here.  Disappointed as I am in Sony for bowing to the hacker's demands, I would hate to have to think how I would have reacted had Sony decided to release the film and lives were lost as a result.







Friday, December 5, 2014

Video of me

It's rare to get me on video with audio, but here I am responding to a man on the street question posed by the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles in 3 words

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Self-Publishing

I was asked in a writer's message board/forum today about self-publishing and my condensed answer was so long that the reply probably would have taken up more space than the entire webpage, so I'm posting my answer here.  Even so, what I have written is just the tip of the iceberg.

So bottom line, how much more expensive is it to self-publish than try to sell to a traditional publisher - probably $1000 - $4000 depending on how much of the you do yourself.  Because all the money you spend on promotion would be spent by you anyway unless the publisher thought it had a best-seller on its hands. Then, you would save on publicity costs, and your only expense is the creation of the book, which would still cost $1000 to $2000 or more, again depending on how you you spend on proofreading and editing before sending the manuscript to publishing houses..


Self-publishing is evolving constantly and the environment is certainly different than it was 4 years ago.  And practices might change even a month from the time I write this. 

All three of my books were done differently - and a lot had to do with technology at the time, and what kind of reach I wanted with the book.

I won't write about how my thinking (and the industry itself) has evolved because it would take a long time to explain, but here is the decision making process I made for the most recent book, Toe Up to 10K. 

1. I wanted the book to be in eBook and physical format.  However, the packagers that offer both physical and eBook distribution don't offer the best royalties for eBooks, or, in some cases, the physical book.   So, at this point, I decided to utilize one company for the eBook and one company for the physical book. 

2. For the eBook, I then had to decide whether I would convert and upload myslef, or hire a eBook publisher to do it.
    A. The three major eBook devices (Kindle, Nook, and Kobo) all allow authors to upload for free. Getting sales recorded and faster payments are two benefits of uploading to sites yourself. However, that's three separate conversions and uploads you would have to do, and  you would have to create an account with each as well. 
    B. I used BookBaby to do the conversions for me and distrubute it to the ebook retailers. They have several packages.  I used the premium for $299 because  you get 100% royalties from the ebbok retailer as if you uploaded them yourself.  If you use a cheaper package, I think they keep 15% of your royalty share.   The downside is that i have to wait months before the retailers report sales back to BookBaby (I believe it is the same with Smashwords below).
    C. There is a company called Smashwords that is similar, but you have to convert your document to Smashwords compatible and then they would upload it to the various ebook retailers.  They wil distribute for free, but they keep 15% of your royalty share.  If you can't convert to Smashwords compatible, then you need to hire someone and I don't know how much that would cost.

3. If I just wanted an eBook, it would have ended with me using BookBaby for the distribution, and I would be done, but I wanted a physical book, too.  So, I went and compared the self-publishers, and decided CreateSpace was the best match for me. 
      A.  They are affiliated with Amazon, so if a book sells on Amazon, you get an immediate recording of the sale (rather than 2 - 6 months); their royalty rates are good, and they have a do it yourself conversion tool.  I tried, but could not format it properly for them because  it contained tables and outlines, and they too, considered it a complex layout.  This cost me about $700, but if the book were just text, like a novel, it would have cost much less. 
     B. They have a create your cover for free option.  Unfortunately, the cover you make using their cover creater will be too small a file for using it elsewhere.  I created my cover with CreateSpace, but had to re-create it - I think I used MS-Word - for the eBook version. But I was able to re-create one close enough that it's hard to tell the difference.  You can probably also go to Fiverr.com and hire someone to design a cover for you for $5 bucks.
    C. I think their osts for author's copies were lower than the other companies I compared them with.

So, the actual distribution of the book is quite reasonable, and your royalties will be much larger than a traditional publisher.  The real money pit is in the writing and the promotion of the book. 

For self-publishing, my costs were $299 for the eBook distribution, plus $19 for the eBook ISBN, and $700 for the physical book distribution (ISBN was free), for a total of $1018.

However, the costs of publishing a book is mostly eaten in the creation and promotion of the book. 
1. The copies of each draft I made at FedEx so I could proofread probably cost me over $100.
2. I probably spent about $1200 on proofreading and editing (cheaper to find someone on your own than to use the distributors editorial service).  
3. I did the covers myself so that was free, but the packagers will charge about $200 to make a cover - or you can find someone local or on the internet (Fiverr for $5 bucks) to design a cover for you. 
4. Promotion is the big expense.  For the vampire book, I probably spent over $5000 in Facebook ads, sponsoring websites, taking ads out in newspapers, traveling, book fairs.  For the personal finance book, the publicity budget ws $0 because I got sick soon thereafter.  And for "Toe Up," I've spent probably about $1200 so far,mostly due to a press release I sent out via PR Newsire and multiple online promotion campaigns via book promtion companies, such as PumpUpYour Books.com, Book Viral, and others.  My original plan was to budget $1000 for this book, but I've past that already, but I think I'll keep it under $3000 - hopefully under $2000. 

The above information is condensed because I can go on and  on and expand the discussion on each of the items above, but the above is some idea of what to consider when self-publishing.  But would I continue to do it? Definitely.  Creative control, higher royalty payments and really, most of the costs are expenses that would come out of my pocket with a traditional publisher anyway.

The one negative about self-publishing is that I really can’t time the release date accurately. It’s just whenever the book hits the retailer uploads them.  But with good planning, this can be overcome as well.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Ambitious #Book Club on Facebook

Here is a Book Club that is a Facebook community page that I like and wish it success. It has been around for a while, I'm sorry I didn't come across this page sooner.

Ambitious Book Club

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Virtual Book Tour Begins

I just started a virtual book tour for my book, Toe Up to 10K.  A big shout out to Pumpupyourbook.com and @LiteralExposure for arranging this.

Here is my tour page.  The links within the page go to the websites most current, since this page was created before I actually appear on those sites.  If you click on them after the date - type in Toe Up to 10K in the search field, and it should go the page that features me.

October Pump Up Your Book Virtual Tour Schedule for Toe Up to 10K


Friday, October 10, 2014

7th Annual Randy Simmons 5K, Bike Ride, Crossfit Challenge - Los Angeles, Oct 11

For those of you who live in the LA area.

I won't be able to make this event, but it is for a good cause.

Tomorrow, October 11, 2014, is the 7th Annual Randy Simmons 5K, Bike Ride, Crossfit Challenge.

Click here for the event's webpage

I've copied and pasted the following from the event website:




About This Activity


On October 11, 2014, The Los Angeles Police Department will be honoringh LAPD SWAT Officer Randy Simmons in their 7th Annual 5K Run, Crossfit Challengeand Bike Ride.
Officer Randy Simmons was the first LAPD SWAT Officer to be killed in the line of duty.  He was an extraordinary Police Officer, a positive role model and a constant mentor for "at risk" youth. In honor of his humanitarian spirit, LAPD's Metro Division has this annual event to support The Randal D. Simmons Outreach Foundation.
The Randal D. Simmons Outreach Foundation's mission is to help provide assistance to kids and their families in undeserved areas of Los Angeles. Come partner with us in this mission.
Thank you in advance for your support
Lisa Simmons

Event details and schedule

5K Challenge Run begins at 8:00 am
25/50 Mile Bike Tour begins at 8:00 am
Cross Fit Challenge begins at 9:00 am

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

My first Amazon review for the new book

A few days ago, my book on recovery from spinal cord injury, Toe Up to 10K got a review posted.

For the time being, it's back to #1bestseller for books in the category: spinal cord.

Here is the link to the book's Amazon page: Toe Up to 10K




Friday, September 19, 2014

Interviewed on a #book blog

Here is an interview I "appeared" in on a book blog titled A Book and a Cup of Coffee. The title of the post is:  Steve Fujita Shows Us How to Toe Up to 10K  Please read and enjoy knowing a little bit more about me.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Almost Fell for an email scam

Recently, I received an email from a stranger asking to buy my books.

I personally don't sell my books. Potential buyers would have to buy them retail from a retailer, or wholesale from a distributor.

I had composed a reply when I decided to do a search on the sender.  Other people who received the same email sent by people of various names indicated this is an email used by confidence tricksters.

This isn't one of those you won the lottery, or a long lost relative has died and left you money.  This actually seems like a legitimate inquiry to purchase something you are selling.

Was this a scam?  I don't know, but I'm not about to find out.

Here is the body of the email that is now deleted from my in-box.

Lesson learned: Be aware of unsolicited emails from strangers.

Dear Sales,

I write to inform you that we are interested in your books, and we
would like to inquire about the following:

Do you ship to Fiji Island?
Do you do Mail Order?
Do you accept credit card as for Payment (My US Master and Visa card
to be precise)? NOT PAYPAL

Thanks,

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

RIP Robin Williams - A Remembrance

To be honest, when I was a kid growing up, I didn't think much of Robin Williams.  I really didn't didn't like Mork from Ork when he stopped by Happy Days, or when he got his own show. 


One night Tony Randall was a guest on the Tonight Show, and Johnny Carson asked Randall who he thought was and coming comedian.  Randall answered, Robin Williams.  I think the audience and Carson was a bit surprised by this, but Randall, held up his hand, and said something like, "You see him only on tv, where his energy is restrained."  Randall when on to say something like Williams had a unique energy and incredible improv skills that made him special.  I thought, at the time, "Yeah, right, he's just funny being goofy."


In the late 80's, he starred in Good Morning Vietnam, which is a drama, with funny moments.  All my friends loved the movie, as did the Academy, but I thought it was just all right. 


But three movies he made thereafter changed my opinion of Williams.  Awakenings, Dead Poets Society and Mrs. Doubtfire.  To generalize, two of these are dramas, and one is a comedy, but all three characters he played had such a wonderful sincere blend of seriousness, compassion, sincerity, and humor that I was enamored by his talent.  In short, I became a fan of his work.


From that point forward, I watched his performances more closely, and really appreciated the depth he gave the characters he played, and the improvisational talents he brought into the movie, best displayed by a particular scene he had with Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.


A couple of years ago, I was watching Mork and Mindy re-runs on tv, and knowing how "Wild and Crazy," (to borrow a description that would be used to describe Steve Martin) Williams could be on stage, I really appreciated Williams as Mork.  Though it is  a classic sitcom, and one where there is a moral at the end of each episode, Williams brought a complexity to Mork that you don't see in one viewing.


So, I will miss Robin Williams.  He brought a lot of joy and smiles to many people.  Including me.  His characters had their share of sad and happy moments.  Through the characters he played, he showed that life is complex, that it is 360 degrees.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Spiritual Intervention

I lost a good friend last week. A lady I had worked with for almost twenty years.  Her funeral was last Saturday.

Originally, I had not planned on going due to my issues with bowel and bladder control.

I almost never leave my home for more than a half hour unless my bowel is empty because if it is not, I am prone to accidents, both urinary and bowel.  At this stage in my recovery, I don't mind too much peeing in my pants, but I really try to avoid pooping in my pants.

The funeral was scheduled to strat at 9 A.M., and though I usually have a bowel movement each day, it is around mid-morning. The thing is, even though I know stool is ready to come out, I can't force it, and have to wait until the body is ready to expel it. So, the consequence is that if I am not near a bathroom during this window of time, I am prone to leak, and sometimes have major accidents.  Similarly, if the stool is ready to come out and I'm not less than two minutes away from a toilet, it would be even more of an embarrassment.

I would have to leave by 6 A.M.  to make to the service on time.  I told myself that I would have to wake up , have a bowel movement and get dressed by 5:45 A.M. for me to consider going.

As it turned out, I woke up at 4:30 A.M., had a bowel movement at 5:00 A.M., and was dressed by 5:30.  But I still considered not going because even though I had a bowel movement, it wasn't complete, and I knew I'd have another one by noontime.

I sarcastically had my friend telling me, "Steve, I woke you up early, got you your bowel movement. Now, come over to say Good-bye to me."

But my friend would never say that.  She would say, "Steve, I got you to wake up early, got you to have a bowel movement.  I would like for you to come and say Good-bye, but if you don't feel up to it, that's okay. I understand."

I decided to go, and decided that I would worry about my bowel movements on my way home, if it came to that.  As it turned out, two other friends who attended the funeral gave me a ride home.

I'd  like to think my friend made it as easy it could be for me to attend.  A form of spiritual intervention.

I'm glad I went.

She had a reassuring smile and hands down, was one of the kindest people I have ever known.  I am going to miss my friend, RA.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

I am pretty much done with the editorial portion of my new book, Toe Up to 10K, which chronicals my recovery from spinal cord injury.

I hope for the book release to be mid-July, 2014.

Here is the tentative front cover: