Customer Reviews

Yukon Channel Charts: sternwheeler-style strip maps of the historic Yukon River

5 star:		(2)
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Way back in 1974 I paddled down the Yukon with my friend Tom. Sitting on a high cliff in Mayo, we picked up a friendly hippy, Bruce Batchelor and as we were angry, because the old maps didn't reflect the actual river situation, we teased him, why he didn't make up new ones.

Would you imagine, this guy actually not only drew a brand new river map based on arial surveys, but additionally included lots of stories about life on the river. Even we two were immortalized as "The pancake men". Should you ever wonder, why people still know us along the river, why not buy the book. It's reflecting life on the river told by someone, who has been there and loved every day of it.

Additionally, I strongly recommend the latest book of Bruce: "Nine dog winter". Grab it while you can.

(Well, of course, I'm giving it a 5 star review, eh?)

Thought you might enjoy hearing about launching and marketing of this book. The following is from my recent book, Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing...

The first launch event I ever attended was back in 1975, in the Yukon,

and it was to celebrate my own self-published book. I rented the Porter

Creek hall, hired a square dance caller, asked a friend to play rock 'n'

roll tunes during the caller's breaks, and invited friends to bring food for

a potluck feast. I vaguely remember buying two or three kegs of beer to

lubricate the crowd. Over two hundred people showed up and danced

until dawn.

No one asked me to read from my book. Yet everyone had so much

fun that for months afterward they were urging me

to write a sequel! And I was now generally referred

to as a 'local author' and everyone knew about - and

many bought - my book. Thirty years later, Yukon

Channel Charts is still in

print and brings in a seemingly perpetual trickle of

royalties.

One of my PURPOSES in publishing that book had been to have a

great party to thank all my friends. In my case, the launch was not great

for selling copies (I hadn't brought any along) but it was excellent for

PUBLICITY.

What about PLACE? My self-published Yukon Channel Charts regularly sold 500 copies every summer through Whitehorse gift shops, bookstore

and outfitters. My only 'work' was to bring them boxes of books

each spring and pick up a check.

When I eventually moved away from the Yukon, the one bookstore

bought out the remainder of my print run (a four years' supply) and paid

cash on the spot. No wonder I came to be convinced that self-publishing

could be simple, fun and rewarding! I had the only up-to-date map book

of the Whitehorse to Dawson river route (a unique PRODUCT) and only

needed to get it into the right PLACES - Whitehorse stores at the start of

that popular canoe and rafting trip.

By the way, you might check out my most recent book, Nine Dog Winter: With more courage and energy than common sense, two young Canadians recruit nine rowdy sled dogs, and head out camping in the Yukon as temperatures plunge to Sixty Below and colder!