Brad's Blog

Back in the Saddle?

7/1/2017

I want to begin this blog entry...yeah I know it's been a long time since I last wrote; be that as it may, allow me to continue.
As I was saying, it has been a long time but I want to begin with a shout out to all the great Hillsborough County elementary teachers I met last week during their science teacher preparation summer workshop. You certainly made me feel welcomed and I thank you for that warm reception. I am forever grateful -to all of you- for giving me the opportunity to introduce my Cockroach of Meadowfield trilogy to you. And Larry P., I have you to thank for making this happen!

If all goes well and 'the creek don't rise', I hope to be visiting your classes this coming school year; helping you coordinate and implement, not only my first book in the trilogy (A Pilgrimage of Pests), but the lesson plan ideas and STEAM based activities that correspond with it. I can't wait to work with your students and introduce them to my bug-fellows!

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Shelburne Farms, Vermont: A Gem and a Testament to Sustainable Living

7/18/2016

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     I notice it's been several months since my last post. That's what trying to market a publication does to you. It takes up all of one's time.

     While looking on-line for unique lesson plans I could include on my website's section for parents and teachers entitled S.T.E.M. based activities, I stumbled upon an interesting idea that would help teach young students about the importance of pollinators and what they do. Pollination Parade is a lesson from a little booklet published by a place called Shelburne Farms. Before I cited and submitted the idea on my site, I wanted to ask permission from the good people at Shelburne Farms. Never having heard of Shelburne, having no idea where or what it was, I Goggled it. Boy, was I surprised!

See what I mean! Is this beautiful or what? A 1400 acre working farm on the shore of Lake Champlain in Vermont. But there is far more to it than this. Not only is it a farm, it is a living laboratory devoted to teaching young and old alike how to realize and enjoy a sustainable future.
(Lots more pictures you can see on their Flickr site:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/shelburnefarms/pool/)

By the way, Holly, Communications Director at Shelburne, was kind enough to grant me permission to use the lesson plan. Yay!

I have to tell you, I am in awe of what is being accomplished here. I have decided that a trip to the farm is now at the top tier of my bucket list!

Rather than me trying to describe it all to you, let me provide the website address so you can visit and see why this may be the most amazing place you have never known about. Click on the button below and prepare to be blown away!

Shelburne Farms, VT

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Time to Go to Market

3/4/2016

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I have decided to continue to go it on my own, just as I have done from the beginning of this adventure. This next step is a lot different from writing, doing my own illustrations/cover design, starting up of my own publishing company and selling a few books to friends and family. I am talking about marketing my product. From all I have read, the best advice is to start marketing your self-published work to a local audience. Of course, you need to identify your audience first. I know what my audience is—clearly the immediate elementary grades.

So thanks to the great teachers at Buckhorn Elementary in Valrico, Florida, and my wife who taught there for 20 years, I was allowed to come in last month and do a classroom presentation to all the 4th and 5th grade classes. It went very well. With the preorders and the few bought after my visit, I sold nearly $400.00 in books from my trilogy. Ten students bought the last book, Heroes of Meadowfield, which is not yet in print.

Selling books was a real plus, but being back in a classroom after nearly five years of retirement was very exciting. Author Richard Louv (2008) has pointed out how most young children have a “bug period,” and that hands-on experience is crucial at this time if they are to develop naturalistic mindsets. I couldn't agree more and I hope my visit there at Buckhorn and my insect PowerPoint helped do its part to nurture the students' love of nature.

My next school visit will be in May at Deer Park Elementary School in Pasco County Florida where my sister-in-law teaches. I have developed some pretty cool posters to drum up interest in my trilogy before my visit. Here are two of them:

Wish me luck!

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Do You Believe in Magic?

11/29/2015

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Call it an omen. Call it karma. Call it magic. I'm not pessimistic enough to completely disregard it—whatever name you may call it. I'm also not ready to brush it off as simple coincidence. Not just yet.
So you may wonder—just what magic am I referring to?
Without pursuing an in-depth discussion of religious beliefs, have you ever looked for a sign? A premonition perhaps? Or a series of odd circumstances too weird to shrug off. The kind of clue that let's you know, "I'm on the right track." Often, as in my case, these signs occur when you are not even looking for them. Allow me to explain.

Three instances have happened to me while I have been writing my trilogy. I expect there could eventually be more. It's a rather lonely endeavor, writing. As a self-published, freelance author, building one's self-confidence can be difficult and very fragile. Sometimes a sign can provide a much needed inoculation against self-doubt.

First sign:
As I was writing The Great Cicada Ball I was trying to come up with the kind of events appropriate for my bug-fellow characters. After all, if they are staging a festival, I needed events. That's when I came up with my Ground Beetle Fight idea and my ex-champion, Stag Beetle. But Stag Beetle needed opponents. I did a Google search to see what kinds of beetles could become his adversaries. Lo and behold, I discovered that beetle fighting is a really big deal in Asian culture. Like in my story, the fight involves one beetle pushing another off a ledge, a branch or in my case—out of a ring. That was weird I thought. My idea was a phenomenon in another part of the world.

Second sign:
I don't want to give away the ending of the trilogy with this one. Suffice it to say, that in my final book I created a collaboration between a major museum and a local university. The two institutions formed an agreement which involved an ecological preserve and a major wildlife conservation grant.
Well, to my eventual surprise, the museum and the university I chose actually do have an educational relationship and its pretty much exactly as I described in the book. My choice of these particular two institutions was random and I had no idea the two institutions shared a real world relationship. Weird again.

Third sign:
This is the weirdest one. I needed a free photo of a book louse for my website. I couldn't find one, so I decided to use one from a website I often visited called, BugGuide.Net. I found a great photo there and wrote the photographer for permission to use it.
Ok, normal so far. But the photographer's name is Ashley. The same name as the young girl from my book. The photographer's last name is Bradford. Yeah that's me! She lives in the state which I had already decided would be Meadowfield's location. And without having to announce a spoiler alert—she lives in a city within that state that is Ashley's last name. Quite a string of coincidences—or something a little more magical?

So, do I believe in magic? Why not?
Sometimes it's exactly what you need to brighten your hopes and keep on truck'n.

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The venue was great, but...

11/13/2015

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As you can see, I was set up and ready to go for the 1st Annual Tampa Bay Book Fair at Park Station in Pinellas Park. The venue was great, but not the attendance. The organizers did little or no advertising and with some 40 authors eager to promote their hard work, it was pretty frustrating to see virtually no one (other than a few invited guests) walk in from the street.

However, it was good to meet and mingle with all the other authors and get an opportunity to share our aspirations. I was surprised how upbeat everyone seemed to be despite the disappointing turnout. There were authors of every imaginable genre: from the occult to the spiritual; from mystery to romance; from picture book to chapter book; from Cuba to Cambodia. Too bad all these fine people didn't get to share their livelong ambitions with the public this day.

But there will be other days and other times and in this trade, like many others, you live and learn.

No one said it would be easy.

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Book Signing Event Schedule

10/15/2015

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I am preparing my first book signing events and I am feeling hopeful and excited to see how the first two books in the trilogy (A Pilgrimage of Pests and The Great Cicada Ball) will be received.

I did a bit of a trial run at a garage sale we had earlier in the month. I've got to say, I was pleasantly surprised how many buyers were attracted to the modest card table display of my work. I've got a much more ambitious display ready for the upcoming book signings.

So, for anyone who can attend, here are the details:

Monday, October 26th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm—
I will be offering Book One and Book Two of the Cockroach of Meadowfield trilogy at the
Local Author Meet N' Greet at the Lutz Branch Library, 101 Lutz Lake Fern Road, Lutz, FL 33548

Saturday, November 7th from 2pm to 8pm--
I will be offering Book One and Book Two at
The First Annual Tampa Bay Book Fair at
Park Station, 5851 Park Boulevard, Pinellas Park, FL, 33781

I am really excited and have posters, banners and plenty of books ordered for purchase. I will be sure to post pictures here!
Hope to see you there.

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The Great Cicada Ball is About to Arrive at Last!

8/8/2015

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The final proof for the second book in the Cockroach of Meadowfield trilogy is hot off the press and in my hands! Diane and I have one more reading and then we're ready to give it the green light!

The Great Cicada Ball picks up right where A Pilgrimage of Pests left off. I know you will enjoy it. It has all the previous characters, as well as some new bug-fellows I think you are going to love. It's full of twists, turns, and surprises that will leave you ready for more.

The paperback will be available on Createspace and Amazon by the end of this month!

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So You've Written Your Book and Now You Want to See it in Print....Part II

5/19/2015

Second in the Series: How to Start Your Own Publishing Company

    Let's first recap where we are.

    In the first of my series, So You've Written Your Book... Laying Down the Groundwork, I explained publishing options. As I said in that entry, we are going with Option 3. This means taking the leap and making plans to be a self-published author. Yay!

    This article will detail the necessary steps to establish your very own publishing company. I am really not suggesting that you go into the business of publishing other authors' books. That's a whole different animal! This entry will explain how you can complete the process DYI, for a nominal cost, with the added bonus of publishing books which reflect a truly professional appearance.
I'll be honest, it can—and most likely will be—time consuming. But in my opinion, the rewards are well worth the effort.
So let's begin.

1.     Choose a Print on Demand (POD) Company

    Now I could provide a list of over 60 different companies that would be willing to print your book. But in general it boils down to two main choices: Createspace or Lightning Source. To briefly sum up the differences:
    Createspace https://www.createspace.com/ is very user friendly including a phone help line, it has no setup fee, but does not allow book sellers to return the book if it does not sell. Consequently, book stores will not stock POD books on their shelves.
    Lightning Source https://www.lightningsource.com/ has a steeper learning curve for print setup, has little in the way of a help line, and there is a setup fee. It does, however, offer hard covers, allows publisher to set the discount and offers broader distribution channels. A big plus is that LS offers book seller returns on unsold books.

    Check the button link below to see a more complete explanation of how these two choices differ. I've also stumbled across what looks to be a great blog for self-published authors. It gives tips on writing, publishing, e-books, and book marketing. The link is right below.

Blog for self-published authors

Createspace vs Lightning Source

    I can only provide guidance from my own experiences and in this case I chose to use Createspace. But that's not to say I won't also make my books available through Lightning Source as a way to get a foot in the big chain bookstore door.

2.     ISBN (International Standard Book Number)

    The ISBN is a global standard to identify a book title and track its distribution. If you plan to sell your book in bookstores, to libraries, or through online retailers like Amazon.com, you will need an ISBN.

     If you want to save money, you can get an ISBN from Createspace for $0 to $99.00 Or buy your own from Bowker. Follow the link below for details.

ISBN Options

    For the serious self-publisher who wants to start their own publishing company and plans to write more than one book for print, take the professional step and buy a block of ten ISBNs from Bowker (currently $295.00 - it just went up). This will be your biggest expense in this entire process.
The free ISBN from Createspace puts the Createspace imprint name on your book (amateurish), and they become the publisher. The $99 option allows the book's imprint to be your company name, but that cost is for just one ISBN (but still cheaper than the Bowker price of $125.00 for one ISBN).
    In addition to ISBNs, Bowker provides great information for self-published authors at www.myidentifiers.com. You will find they have a lot of other tools they are willing to sell, but all you should bother with are the ISBNs. Barcodes, for example, are provided by Createspace for free.
Bowker does have a registration process for each ISBN assigned and you will be asked to fill in that information online.

3.     Decide on Your Business Organization

    Let's not lose sight of the original plan - creating one's own publishing company. For the serious author who wishes to make their product as professional as possible, forming your own business is a great first step to take. You have basically three business choices: a sole proprietorship, partnership or a corporation. Since we are looking at low cost, that leaves out the latter two. Unless you plan to publish other author's work, you will be fine with the sole proprietorship—the least expensive, simplest type of business organization. This is a business owned and run by one individual. Downside—if the business runs into financial problems, creditors will come after the owner since there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business.
     A very thorough explanation of the sole proprietorship can be found at the link below

sole proprietorship explained

4.     Fictitious Name Registration

    Each state has their own registration process. You can go to your state's Small Business Administration website to get the details on your state/county requirements. In my state of Florida, it is a $50.00 cost to register a fictitious name (also known as Doing Business As or DBA) and can be done online. Always check to be certain your name is not already being used or is trademarked. You may find a link on your state's website to search company names already in use.
    Most likely, you will be required to announce your new company by running a notice in the legal ad section in one of the your county's approved newspapers. Shop around for the cheapest one. They all charge different fees, even though they accomplish the same thing for you—so you just need to find the cheapest (I paid $25.00).
    Your publishing company name becomes the "imprint" name and you will list it as the publisher of your book on Amazon and other online book sellers as well as in catalogs and on the book itself. Now it looks very professional and is less obvious that your work is self published.
    I would also suggest a simple logo for your publishing company (you can see mine on a previous blog). You can find sites online that will do this for you, but it will cost you. With the slightest amount of creativity, you can design your own like I did. It's just one more professional touch that should not be overlooked.
    You can trademark your company name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but it will cost over $300.00 and I personally don't see the need.
    I would, however, apply for a domain name (.com, if available) for your company. Hopefully your company name will be available. Purchase, from your host provider, a private registration site for your company if you have an author page on another site. It looks more professional if your publishing company is seen as a separate entity from your author or book website.

5.     Obtain a Business License

    Now that you have registered your company's fictitious name, you will need to pay a visit to the County Clerk's office and obtain your business license. A very simple process that should cost less than $100.00. My county charged me only $10.00.

6.     Open a Bank Account

    Once you have your company registered and have your business license, you are ready to open a bank account for your new company. For a company that's a sole proprietorship it is very easy to open your own business account and depending on the bank or credit union, it can usually be done with little or no cost. Open both a savings and checking account and you may also wish to have a company credit card as well. I did all this at my local credit union for no charge and no fees.

7.     Consult the Experts

    At some point you may wish to seek legal and/or business advice from a business attorney, accountant, or other business adviser. Many lawyers and accountants offer a free consultation and can guide you on the most appropriate course to best suit your needs.

8.    The IRS

    Now I certainly don't claim to be anything close to an expert on the IRS and for the most part I am flying by the seat of my pants on this issue (one of the things I plan to research a lot more), but I can offer a few bits of advise.
    Personally, I don't like using my social security number if I can avoid it. This is why I obtained an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Employer-ID-Numbers-EINs It's really not required if you have no employees and are operating as a sole proprietorship, but it beats having to give Amazon and other book sellers your SSN. Make sure you get it from the IRS (it's free) and not some sham company that is after your identity.
    Also be sure to keep accurate records of all your company expenditures and income. You can use a simple ledger or opt to use a program like Excel, Quickbooks, or a specific publishing industry template.
    Finally, if you are from a state that collects sales tax and you sell your own books at book fairs, church events, schools, etc. you will most likely need to register with your state to collect, accrue, and pay the sales taxes to your state. If you are operating in one of the 38 states that require it, you must register for a sales and use certificate before you begin your business activities. Check your state agency website for specific requirements. Not only are the requirements different from state to state, so are the agencies that handle business tax issues. In Florida, you register with the State Department of Revenue. In California it is State Board of Equalization; Comptroller of Public Accounts in Texas; and in New York it is the Department of Taxation and Finance. Keep in mind, you may also have to collect a county sales tax as well. The fun never stops.
    When you complete this registration process with your state, one of the documents you will receive is a resale certificate. Before you order your books for resale from your POD provider, get the correct fax or email from your POD provider, send the resale certificate there and they will wave the sales tax from all your book orders from then on. Good to know! (You will still need to collect state sales tax on each book you sell. All this may make you want to move to Delaware!)
    None of this is necessary if your book is sold online by book sellers like Amazon, Nook, etc. as they collect all the sales tax.

9.     Register with the Library of Congress

    I know what you're thinking. Holy Moley! More agencies to register with and more numbers to be assigned?
    Well, yes—but this is not one to overlook. Having a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) adds to that professional image you are creating for your business venture. It provides the possibility for libraries to find and order your book for their library collection. As part of your marketing plan, it will add to your ability to get your book out to the public.
    It's easy and free. You do not need to pay Createspace or any other POD company to do this for you. Be sure you have an assigned ISBN before you apply—you will be asked for it on the LCCN application. You must apply for the LCCN before you publish the book. Once you receive your number from the Library of Congress, you will need to send them a copy of your best edition, ASAP.
    Below is the link to the Library of Congress site that will provide the steps to register your book and open an account if you haven't already.

Library of Congress

10.     A Few Loose Ends

    Hopefully I didn't miss any vital steps in the process, but there are a few suggestions and tips I'd like to include here.
                        Keep everything organized
     Since you will be collecting so many numbers, from ISBN to bank accounts, it would be wise to have a go to spot for all these vital passwords and account numbers. Doesn't matter how you keep them—a notepad or a password app—just keep them where you can find them when needed.
    Make a record of your progress. List the steps involved for getting your ISBN, registering your business with the state, etc. and keep all correspondences together in a file system.
    Make a separate email account for your publishing company business. Then you won't have to sift through so much of the personal emails and spam you may have been subject to over the years on your personal email account.
    Organize your bookmarks on your computer to save all the websites you referred to while starting up your business. Most likely, you'll be frequenting these sites again.

                Company mailing address choices
    You will need a mailing address for your company and there are a few options. You can use your home address as a business address. But if you are concerned about privacy, security and owning a professional sounding address you could rent a USPS post office box or a business mail box at UPS. Some may even decide it's worth the cost to setup a virtual office mailing address with a prestigious business address (or even add a telephone number with messaging services). I personally have kept it simple, cheap and convenient and I just use my home address at this point.

So there you have it. Other than the time involved— and there is a lot of it—you can have your own publishing company with very little cost to you. It will give your books the professional look of a serious writer.
Stick with it and follow my steps. But understand, my information is just a guide. It is not—the be all end all. I do not profess to have all the answers. Do not hesitate to consult other professionals and do your own research.
If you have questions, feel free to contact me at
bugfellow1@gmail.com
I will be anxious to hear from you.

BW

So You've Written your Book and Now You Want to See it in Print

3/28/2015

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First in the Series: Laying Down the Groundwork

As I prepare A Pilgrimage of Pests for print copy form, I thought I'd go through the steps I've taken to bring this process to fruition. I've prepared the following chronology for my own reference as I prepare my second book for print; and as a guide for other prospective self-publishing authors to follow.

So you have written your manuscript and now you are ready to see it in print.
There are choices.

(1) You can attempt to get the attention of the Publishing Trade Houses.
        This is a noble thing to try and far be it for me to dissuade you from trying. But statistics and the track record of those who try - who are not already famous or infamous (whatever the case may be) - is not good. Statistically, less than 1% of the unsolicited manuscripts become published books. Ouch! Here's another juicy tidbit. Out of every 10,000 children's books, 3 get published. Double ouch!

(2) You can go through what has been known as vanity presses.
        These are the companies that promise you the world and give you (at a premium cost) a boatload of your published books to sell on your own. This may work, or it may result in a garage or attic (or both) filled with your books (which you will eventually have to give away so you can fit your car in your garage again).

(3) You can self-publish.
        Not too many years ago, the self-published author and their product was considered inferior in the book industry. Amateurish, unpolished, not a serious player - all ways to describe the author who followed Sinatra's lead and did it my way. But with the sudden surge of the eBook industry and the popularity of POD (print on demand), more and more authors are choosing to self-publish.

Option 3 is the one I chose. (Well, to be honest, I only chose Option 3 after having the pleasure of pulling one too many rejection letters out of the mailbox - having first chosen Option 1).

Now that these options are out of the way, let me begin where I eventually started:

Put Your Book in eBook Form

One of the fastest and easiest ways to get your book out to potential readers is by converting it to eBook form. The two main players in the industry are Amazon's Kindle and to a lesser extent Barnes and Noble's Nook. I have used both for A Pilgrimage of Pests. I will say, the Nook app is more user friendly, but the online support (if you could even call it that) is horrible. Kindle's learning curve is steeper and knowledge of HTML formatting is helpful. Kindle support consists of e-mailing your questions to their support staff. If you are really struggling, they may provide temporary access to their phone line so you can actually talk to a real person - but this is rare. There are fee based services out there which will format your book for Kindle. Or you can wade through the online articles and community forums of do's and don'ts and thus learn how to format your book yourself.
Or you can do what I did. I relied on my son, a software engineer, who converted my Word file into HTML and I just had to upload it to Kindle.
(recent note: Since my early foramtting struggles, I have discovered the free kindle publication, Building Your Book for Kindle. Now we're talking. This is invaluable and will take you step by step through the formatting process. You can order through the kindle store).

Make an Author Website

When this was first suggested to me, I thought it was rather silly. Why in the world would I need a website and what in the world would I put on it if I did have one? And most of all, how in the heck would I make one even if I wanted to?
Needless to say, I made one; and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Here are four popular choices for your website builder: WordPress, Wix, Square Space and Weebly. There are more out there, but I found that Weebly was best for me. It is inexpensive, easy to learn and has an adequate SEO (search engine optimization). WordPress is the considered to have the best SEO. This means WordPress sites are more likely to rise to the top of Google's search list (Google loves WordPress). But learning how to use WordPress is a lot harder than Weebly. Weebly is a more intuitive. It's a simple drag and drop process and will seem relatively straightforward - especially to anyone with experience with programs like PowerPoint. Not to belabor the point or turn this into a Weebly love fest, but check out the link below for an explanation of Weebly's features and options.

I can only speak from my experience as a Weebly user, but once you decide on your website builder, you will have another major decision - your domain name. I was advised to use my own name, if available. It is also best to use a .com ending. It's more professional. I would have opted to change my domain name in some way, if .com had not been available. You can purchase your domain name from Weebly or go outside to GoDaddy , HostGator, Bluehost or many others. You can also get a free domain name from Weebly, but Weebly will put a small promotional ad on your site and the domain will include weebly.com at the end, complicating the name and, in my opinion, making it appear a bit more amateurish.
I paid the extra cost to have my own domain name, independent of the Weebly brand.
Now, just like me, you may ask: What in the world will I put on my site? As I previously stated, I thought content development would be a huge problem. But it wasn't long before the ideas began to flow and my website grew rather quickly. Here is a link that provides content ideas.

Weebly Review

Link to Website Content ideas

Your author website, to quote the page referenced in link above: is an author’s, homebase, a marketing and networking hub and a portal that allows communication to flow between an author and his or her readers.
I couldn't agree more.

Design Business Cards

Not only is my son a software engineer, but he also works for VistaPrint. Why would I order business cards from anyone else? VistaPrint has hundreds of templates to chose from. You can also chose to design your own card and personalize it however you like. VistaPrint's online program is very user friendly. You'll find the final product to be inexpensive, elegant and professional. Make sure to include all the pertinent information advertising your work. Most importantly, now that you have your own website, have your web address printed on your card. Potential readers can now find your site and explore all you have to offer. That's a whole lot easier than hoping they will remember your site's URL or handing it to them scrawled out on a crumpled napkin.

Next: Beginning Your Own Publishing Company

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Meadow Pond Publishing is in Business

3/12/2015

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It looks like I am well on my way to seeing A Pilgrimage of Pests in print copy form. Step One is complete. I am officially a business: Meadow Pond Publishing - my logo on the right.

This has been no easy task. It's been a steep learning curve: from creating this website, wrestling with book cover design, and understanding the ropes when it comes to copyright, ISBNs and the development of a business model.
The actual writing of the book may turn out to be the easy part. Nonetheless, this part of the process has been quite an adventure.

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By
Bradford P. Ward

As a kid growing up on Florida's Ft.Myers Beach, I was either out exploring the beach, honing my baseball skills in the driveway, or at my desk writing stories and cartooning. After teaching high school biology for 36 years here in Tampa, I now enjoy retirement with my wife Diane and our constant canine companion, Layla.

Back in the Saddle?

Shelburne Farms, Vermont: A Gem and a Testament to Sustainable Living

Time to Go to Market

Do You Believe in Magic?

The venue was great, but...

Book Signing Event Schedule

The Great Cicada Ball is About to Arrive at Last!

So You've Written Your Book and Now You Want to See it in Print....Part II

So You've Written your Book and Now You Want to See it in Print

First in the Series: Laying Down the Groundwork

Meadow Pond Publishing is in Business

By
Bradford P. Ward

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First in the Series: Laying Down the Groundwork

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