How To Shoot Straight — Novel , Kickstarter project

[Mikhail Weiss]

Hi, all:

We, D.C. Burns and James Michael White, both published authors and sport shooters, started writing a novel called How To Shoot Straight about a year ago because we wanted to write a great story which portrayed the gun community in a realistic and positive light. As authors, we know that sometimes the best way to explain the truth about anything is through good fiction.

Then some horrible things happened and, once again, the gun community got the blame. Not the crazy people. The gun community. As if there is something wrong with us because we understand what the Second Amendment is actually for, and because we choose to exercise the ability to protect ourselves against crazy people, gang-bangers, or anyone else who might try harm us.

After weeks of listening to absolute baloney, we decided we needed drop everything else and get this book finished as soon as possible so that we can explain reality to a lot of silly, ignorant people. We find it astonishing that so many anti-gun people see themselves as sophisticated for wanting to ban guns from “civilized” society, not realizing that their view of “sophistication” looks like nothing more than domestication to the gun community, something that turns them rather, well, sheep-like. We see them as people who have abdicated responsibility for their own safety and believe the fantasy that somehow police officers (with guns) are only seconds away if some bad guys kick in their doors to rob, rape or kill them. And they think we’re stupid. Seriously?

In order to finish the book and pay for cover art, publishing, marketing and distribution ourselves, we have put together a Kickstarter Project which we invite you to visit.

We ask for three things. One: a donation, for which you will receive a token of our appreciation. Two: please spread the word. Publishing, marketing and distributing a book is not cheap and, of course, we would like to rally as big a crowd of Gun Community supporters as possible to make a big impression. Three: we invite you to be a part of the book by contributing your gun tips or your shooting wisdom, which will be printed in a special section of the book called Straight Shootin’ along with your name. To become a part of the book, please visit our website at Howtoshootstraight.com. Thanks, and good shooting!

P.S. I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have, and will be as prompt as I can.

 

[Mikhail Weiss]

This thing seems to be going over as well as a lead balloon. Can't say I'm entirely surprised, but I am curious. What's killing it? Bluntness appreciated.

 

[colorado_handgunner]

Simply put, just publish an ebook on the Kindle, Nook, and iBook platform. You are likely going to get zero interest from any publisher, and will sell very few copies if you self publish due to marketing and distribution constraints. I cannot stress ebook enough.

Go ebook and price it at around $3, or free if education is your goal and not profit.

Also, the fact that a married woman is being trained by a man looses you points. Better setup would be a single lady, late twenties to early thirties and have the trainer be former military that her brother knew from when he was an IT contractor in Iraq.

Then you can play a romance angle to fit in with more of the mainstream book market.

Third, do not mention things like concealed carry, situational awareness, and other "gun talk" This will turn off the mainstream audience you are trying to reach. Instead, pitch the actual plot and story, and sneak in the gun stuff. You will get better traction the way. Right now you kick starter sound like a cross between academic text and a novel with an identity crisis.

All that said, I would be happy to preview a pre-release of what you have so far. PM me if you would like me to or would like more feedback.

 

[beatledog7]

Post 3 is dead on. These days the market for hard copy books, while still strong, is giving ground to electronic versions. New devices are making actually reading such books viable.

Plus, you need to infiltrate a reading demographic that's still malleable. Admittedly unscientific here, but as a teacher at the college level and as a parent, I'm finding that folks who read are in their 60s or older or under 25. People over 60 are unlikely to be influenced to do anything that could place their future financial comfort at risk.

So the young are your key. Look into what they read, and take that kind of angle.

 

[D.C. Burns]

Thanks Guys. That's my fault. I assumed that since The High Road is primarily populated by men, anything smacking of a Girly Novel would be a dead turn-off. Earl and Edwina have known each other since kindergarten and are just friends. Earl does get a love interest who is dark, foreign, sexy, gorgeous and scares the hell out of him, and of course she ends up playing a surprising role in the story...but we get to all that later. We will make the blurb a little sexier.

As regards the ebook issue, we think that anyone who gives us tips and is published in the book, will want to have a nice hardcover edition.

Thank you! New blurb coming after dinner this evening. Meatloaf just came out of the oven.

 

[OilyPablo]

E-book is a great idea to start.

Study how G.M. Frazier got going.

Then some horrible things happened and, once again, the gun community got the blame. Not the crazy people. The gun community. As if there is something wrong with us because we understand what the Second Amendment is actually for, and because we choose to exercise the ability to protect ourselves against crazy people, gang-bangers, or anyone else who might try harm us.

I agree but the Second Amendment is mainly to protect us from a government who wishes to take our rights away at a whim.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

Doing the Kickstarter game requires a lot of know-how to market it properly. Social media, viral marketing, and getting interest on the biggest forums where people circulate it to friends. The product being peddled is irrelevant. SMBC is a web comic and they recently ran a Kickstarter to fund a themed print version. They raised $341k from over 8,000 backers. Over 5,000 of the backers opted for a pledge level that included a physical book. Ebooks are popular. I have a Nook. I still have at least a thousand hardcovers and first editions because nothing beats a physical copy.

An Emmy Award-winning science documentary maker ran two Kickstarter campaigns and promoted it on various gun forums to fund a pro-2A documentary with theater and PBS releases and it barely made either Kickstarter goal of $70,000. It certainly barely got support on this forum. You can barely rally up people here to open up their wallets and join the NRA or make a donation to a pro-2A gun group without complaining "what do I get in return? Magazines? Shirts?"

The sad fact is I've found many folks on gun forums won't put their money where their mouth is. Many are stingy. They'll sit on threads all day complaining about eroding rights and send out an email or two whenever someone provides them a link to some Senator or newspaper poll. They complain that ammo prices have shot up and yell about hoarders when they're mainly upset they didn't get a chance to participate in the same type of behavior before it got expensive. I've actually grown quite disillusioned by a lot of this behavior. They won't put $20 towards the cost of a pro-gun project with distribution to the masses but they'll spend $1000 on 1000 rounds of 5.56mm and complain that they willingly overpaid for ammo.

 

[holdencm9]

Maybe take a look at this thread and try a similar approach, or even try contacting Charl about how he ended up distributing/printing the book. It seems like self-publishing and a grassroots, word-of-mouth and social media effort would be just as effective to the cause. There has to be a way to sell ebooks and also have a means of getting hard copies. Maybe you still will need money but not as much.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=684637

To be honest, I just don't see where $40,000 is needed, when self-publishing seems simpler. Of course this could be ignorance on my part, but I think you need to do a better job of explaining the need to potential backers, and where the money goes specifically.

Although Cesiumsponge makes a lot of good points that I agree with, I also don't think we should simply hand out money for each and every pro-gun kickstarter project we see, "just because." I like to know that my money is (a) needed, and (b) going toward an effort that could really sway the opinion of those on the fence, and have an impact.

The "Assaulted" documentary that Cesiumsponge mentions (and to which I did donate, to both campaigns) illustrated the need: travel costs to go around the country and interview dozens of high-profile people, equipment costs, editing costs, et cetera. And the fact that it was an emmy-nominated film maker and they were going to use the money to get the film into theaters, showed that it could have a real impact. They also had a very engaging trailer on the website and everything was polished and professional-looking. Right now your website seems a little rough around the edges, try cleaning it up a bit.

Overall, it seems like it may be a worthy cause but the onus is on you to prove it to people. It seems like nowadays everyone and their brother is writing a novel so you need to show how you are set apart. Hope this helps. I think if you revised a few things I could see myself donating, as well as many others, but that website is a big negative right now. I just can't take anything seriously when the website looks too amateurish. Maybe you have a tech or design-savvy friend who can help. Sorry if any of this was too blunt but you asked for it. Good luck!

 

[rcmodel]

You might want to research the title copyright before you get too far along too.

http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Shoot-Straight-Speak-Truth/dp/0873649737

rc

 

[D.C. Burns]

I guess I am the mouthpiece this evening. Mike is still working on a "sexier" blurb.

To OilyPablo: Yes.

To Cesiumsponge: We thought we'd give it our best shot, knowing that neither one of us is hooked into a big social network because neither one of us ever wanted to be Borg. We hoped we could generate enough financial backing to stop other work now (Mike does contract work), get this book finished, printed and out there in time to offer "people on the fence," as holdemcm9 put it, an alternative narrative in their heads, an enlightened point of view, before much more legislation gets out of committee. Regardless, we will finish the book and market it. It would just be nice to be able to get it done now.

To rcmodel: Titles are not protected under copyright laws, but thanks for the heads up!

To holdemcm9: You got it, we need money for professional website design and professional cover design as well as printing, publishing and marketing. We are still working on the website. We have a plan to distribute through independent bookstores. As you pointed out, "Assaulted" looked great, but that's because Kris Koenig is a professional film maker. An Emmy-winning film maker, no less.
And to your point about addressing those on the fence: As a neuroscientist, I know why they are the way they are and that gives me/us, as writers, the ability to speak to their concerns through characters they can identify with and cathart with.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to help us get a better idea of why you feel we aren't getting traction. We are re-writing the blurb, still working on the website and finishing up the manuscript. This book started out to be a good novel co-written by two authors, which is a tricky dance but a dance which can produce spectacular results when properly done, but then came Aurora and then Sandy Hook and the insanity in the media and D.C., and we decided to jump in now and give it our best shot. We will either succeed with Kickstarter or we won't.

 

[D.C. Burns]

How To Shoot Straight update

New blurb posted, thanks to all who helped yesterday.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/831114127/how-to-shoot-straight?ref=home_location

 

[Mikhail Weiss]

Just posted some excerpts from the work in progress on the website. Still working on the site, too, though most of that work will be invisible for a while. Stop by and have a read (well, a short one, anyway).

By the way, A Girl and Her Gun gave us a nice mention on her blog. For those not already familiar with her site, or her story, they're worth checking out. She writes about her response to a robbery, which was the inciting incident that set her on the path to gun ownership.

Also, a contributor has offered up a bit of wisdom for our blog too, which speaks to the issue of mentorship, something I'm not sure I've ever really considered before. Having grown up with a few of those, I reckon I must have taken them for granted.