"A Season on the Delaware" update.

Yesterday at 11:45 the temp was 54 degrees and I was ready to go fishing.  At noon when I got in the car the temp was 48.  When I reached the Sunoco station in East Branch it was 38 and snowing.  I did a U-turn drove back to the camp, closed it up and headed home in a snow storm with the temp at 34 degrees.  It's 24 here in Lafayette this morning and I have nothing better to do than provide an update on "A Season on the Delaware" .

On the bright side I received an email today notifying me that Amazon was sending me my first royalty check for "A Season on the Delaware".  Publishing a book has been a learning experience which some of you might find interesting.

With the necessary computer skills you can write, design, edit, price and publish a book with absolutely zero outlay of cash.  Because of my lack of computer skills it will cost me a thank you dinner for my editor friend in the Keys next winter (the incoming royalty check will cover it). 

Self editing the book proved to be tedious work. Creating the cover design was interesting.  Pricing the book was educational. The e-book pricing is restricted by Amazon. $9.99 seems to be the standard and the royalty is a fixed percentage of that price.  The paperback is handled differently as the cost of publication is first deducted and Amazon takes a larger percentage of the remainder.  The price I set results in me getting the same royalty payment for either book.

Once you have the book ready you set a publication date and overnight your book is available to people all over the world.  Being somewhat reclusive by nature I shunned the late night talk show circuit and book signing appearances at fly shops and book stores. I posted a blog page announcing the publication. Surely with billions of potential customers all over the world sales would come pouring in.  

There was one sale the first week (my wife bought the book) and the book was listed somewhere around 1,800,000th on Amazons best seller list.  When the Troutfitter  posted my blog page announcement on their Facebook page there was a spurt in sales and the book moved all the way up to around 346,000th.  Clearly the books ranked from 300,000 on down to 2,000,000 don't sell very many copies. With the Troutfitter  shops in both Syracuse and Deposit now carrying the book, sales have moved along at a steady pace.  Several buyers have asked for signed copies and I am more than happy to stop by the shop to sign your book if asked. 

The book is a compilation of my 2020 blog pages and I believe it is a relatively painless way to learn about the complexities of the river system. It follows the fly hatches, temperature changes and water level changes through the season and provides a few tips which if taken seriously should increase your chances of successfully taking Delaware River fish on a dry fly. 

To Purchase a copy of "A Season on the Delaware"


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