Slightly Off the Mark: Images of America: Albion and Noble County

Showing posts with label Images of America: Albion and Noble County. Show all posts

I'm Back Dispatching, but Still Writing

So, I'm back to work as a dispatcher.

Just part time, mind you. This still might come as a shock to some, because I've said the job was having an impact on my mental and emotional health. You know, that stuff you used to make fun of when you were younger. Well, I used to.

But this is part time, and I think as long as I limit working long shifts I should be okay. I did feel bad for anyone who didn't want me to come back, but not too bad. More importantly, I felt bad about all the fuss that was made over me leaving, and--here I am again! Seriously, the other dispatchers threw me a party and sent me off with a lot of swag.

They get me.

Some people, when they found out I was returning, asked if I was bored.

No.

I've never understood people who go to work just because they can't seem to think of anything else to do. I have hundreds of books to read, and dozens to write, and that by itself is more than enough to keep me busy. Bored? I'll admit, the first month I mostly just slept, but I have trails to hike, podcasts to hear, museums to visit, and I'm nowhere near caught up on Marvel movies and TV. (Do better, DC.) And grandkids!

Bored? What, do you live at the BMV?

I feel like I earned my retirement. And I do get retirement benefits, which--yay! Lots of people can't count on that. Still, my income, even when added to early Social Security, is short of what I was making on the job.

About, I'd estimate, $12,000 a year short.

I'd have to sell 25,000 books to make up that difference. Okay, I don't really know how many--a lot of factors are involved. But last year we sold around 750, and that's way too few zeroes.

(*NOTE* The royalty statement arrived from Arcadia Publishing: They moved 405 copies of Haunted Noble County and 9 copies of Images of America: Albion and Noble County. So the grand total of books sold in 2025: 979. So close to my 1,000 book goal!)

Anyone who follows the publishing business can tell you being an author is getting harder, not easier. Even if I did sell that many books this year, I wouldn't know for sure until the royalty statements started arriving a few months into 2027.

Not that I won't try selling more. But part of the time I planned to spend writing will have to go toward paying the bills, at least until that three book, six figure deal comes in.

And maybe after, but that's another story.

You don’t have to call 911 to find our books:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: If you stay home reading, you might not have to call 911.

Book Sales Numbers for 2025 ... Well, Some Sales Numbers

One of the strange things about the writing business is that it can be very difficult for an author to find out how well he's actually doing. How many sales did I make in 2025? I dunno. Somewhere between 500 and 10,000, but you can guess which extreme is closer.

For instance, I can tell you Emily and I sold 172 copies of Haunted Noble County, Indiana through direct sales last year. That includes author appearances, website orders, and copies sold by Butterfly Alley Books here in Albion, among other things.

Look! An author!

But that book is traditionally published. Arcadia Publishing not only has it on their website, they got it up on bookseller websites all over the place, and also attempted to get print copies sold in various local businesses and other places. When they did that with Images of America: Albion and Noble County, it appeared on the shelves at a Fort Wayne Barnes & Noble, and I encountered it on a rack at a local Walgreens. So, how many places carried print copies of Haunted Noble County?

No idea.

And How many copies of that book were sold through the publisher and all those websites?

No clue.

That's because publishers only send royalty statements every quarter or (in the case of this one) every six months. Images of America: Albion and Noble County sold 292 copies through Arcadia Publishing the first year it came out, 2015 (in August). I didn't find that out until March 29, 2016.

This will come as a shock to you, but the publishing industry in general is notorious for not keeping authors in the loop.

So when I tell you how many books we sold in 2025, it's a best estimate, which is 565.

That is, 565 copies of all 12 of our titles. Industry pundits will tell you the average number of sales for a new book are around 200 in the first year, and fewer than 1,000 in their lifetime. Is that true? I dunno. If it is, the Images of America book did pretty good. If Haunted Noble County sold about the same then we have reason to be proud, because 292 plus the 172 we know we sold is, let's see .... 464, twice that possibly true average.

But I can't count that higher number, yet. So I'm going with 565, which compares with 539 in 2022, 624 in 2023, and 492 in 2024 (a year in which we didn't release any new books). That's 2,215 copies sold in four years, not counting the Arcadia Publishing numbers. The breakdown for 2025:

172 Haunted Noble County, Indiana

113 Storm Chaser

110 Hoosier Hysterical

107 Coming Attractions

20 The Notorious Ian Grant

15 Storm Squalls

11 The No-Campfire Girls

6 Slightly Off the Mark

6 Images of America: Albion and Noble County

3 Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights

2 More Slightly Off the Mark

0 Radio Red (*sob*! But this is the one we're working on re-releasing.)

My goal this year is the same as last year: to sell a thousand books. Wish me better luck this time around.

Be counted! Find our books here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Happy writers make for happy books.

No Electronics: Stories To Scare Your Grandkids

A quick note before the attempted entertainment begins: For those thinking about going to our author appearance on October 30 in Kendallville, we're dropping the price of Haunted Noble County, Indiana bought from us there by two dollars. Our reasoning is that since you have to sign up and there's a $15 ticket price, we should offer a deal. Here's all the info, along with the signup link:

https://commevents.eventcalendarapp.com/haunted-noble-county

****************************

So, do you kids want to hear a scary story?

"Yay!"

I grew up in a dark, backward land called No Electronics.

"That is scary!"

I know.

Every generation has some version of this story. Not only that, but every generation sees so much technological advancement that the story can change depending on their desire to impress the listener. I once rented a VCR from a video store, to hook up to my first color television; but it's much more impressive to talk about my childhood black and white console TV, which brought in 3-6 channels depending on how willing you were to go outside and turn the antenna.

What's the big deal about this car? It was the first automobile in the town of Albion.

We once pulled in a Chicago TV station, which was playing old black and white westerns. The pictures were snowy and the volume barely audible, but we watched anyway, because at that moment our only other choices were The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, or Dialing For Dollars.

I'll explain that last one some other time.

My grandmother told stories about her family's mules. To me the idea of no indoor plumbing or electricity is just as fascinating as the day I showed my youngest daughter the manual typewriter I spent my first ten years writing on.

After I explained how it operated, she looked it over carefully and asked, "But where's the power cord?"

You want portable entertainment? Here's the Albion Library's bookmobile.

My parents once listened to their favorite shows on the radio. "The Lone Ranger", "Fibber McGee and Molly", and of course "My Favorite Husband", which later morphed into the TV show "I Love Lucy". My question: What the heck did they look at while the show was playing? The wall? Certainly not each other?

Kids, when I was your age and I missed my favorite TV show, I wouldn't have another chance to watch that episode until it was rerun in the summer.

"But why didn't you record it?"

We did once record an episode of "Superman"--on reel to reel audio tape. When I was thirty I bought a video camera, to record the kids and their activities. Now we whip out our cell phones.

It's Albion's phone service, circa the turn of the century. No, the PREVIOUS century. Not a Bluetooth or USB port to be seen. (Our original Bell Telephone office still stands, about two blocks from my home.)

It makes me wonder what stories my kids will tell their grandkids, someday.

"When I was your age, I couldn't just touch my earbud and have my shows downloaded directly to my brain. I had to actually turn on the TV and bring up the DVR!"

"What's a DVR?"

My kids won't be able to tell the story of how they walked to school a mile every day, uphill both ways, through snow in the morning and a heat wave every afternoon. They'll be asked for video proof. By the time my great-grandchildren are putting on their radiation suits for the hover-car trip to sky-school, they'll be automatically recording from the moment they wake up.

They'll have proof that the good old days weren't all that good.

Go ahead, find the electronics section in this Albion store. I'll wait.

As for me, somewhere around the house I have vinyl records, cassette tapes, CD-Rom discs, and that old VHS camcorder ... and a laptop, podcasts on my cell phone, and a car that talks to my phone as soon as I turn the key. Not that new cars need keys.

The changes come so fast that looking back can make a person both nostalgic and dizzy.