Vigilante's Book "Vigilant Kids" Step by Step

[Vigilante]

This first post is a placeholder as I intend to chronicle for you the steps from conception to launch of the kids book I wrote called "Vigilant Kids." This thread will be about process, not content.

I'd be remiss if I didn't give three shoutouts from the very beginning :

• To @MJ DeMarco for your continued inspiration in pushing me towards an Unscripted life
• To @ChickenHawk for leaving breadcrumbs for others here at the forum to follow. We knew you before you were a USA Today Best Selling author. Thanks for chronicling your journey here for those who come behind us
• To all of the forum contributors to the Writing and Authorship channel at the Fastlane Forum. Keep writing, and keep posting. There's gold in these threads

So the progress thread on the "Vigilant Kids" book will include :

• Inspiration
• Writing the Story
• Finding the Illustrator
• Working with the Artist
• Buying an ISBN
• Trademarking a book title
• Working with an Editor
• Selecting Distribution
• Retail price
• Doing things Unscripted
• Creating an event
• Early Marketing / Social Media
• Launch Strategy
• Launch Results
• Impact/Results

I wrote this bullet point list so I don't forget what I want to share with you all, although each subject will probably be done as a single post over time. After I get a lot of this done, feel free to AMA although I am no expert in this, but others will come into this thread to answer your specific questions likely better than I can.

I'll headline each post with one of the topics above in case you are following along, or find this thread years from now. Hopefully it will serve as a good analysis of the steps I took through this journey. The subject matter of the book is not important for this thread, but the process steps is what I intend to capture for you.

 

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[Vigilante]

Inspiration

I didn't set out to write a book. I set out to solve a problem.

In the course of my days, I have had a front row seat to tragedy and heard the stories of dozens and dozens of tragedies. My work has taken me close to the fire as I have had the chance to interact with organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, World Vision, and others. I've received stories of personal tragedy, and talked with law enforcement officers across the country about personal safety and personal protection.

Pick up the news paper in your hometown, and read about the girl abducted by her school teacher. Turn on the television and catch the story about the pedophile arrested at your local gymnastics gym. Jump on Facebook and get an update on the search for a missing six year old from the next town over, while your cell phone alerts you to a national Amber alert. There are a lot of sick bastards out there.

So for me, writing this book was therapeutic. When you see problems in the world and have something to contribute towards solving them, you can work on things that are bigger than you. Can I erradicate child porn, or fix human trafficing issues? Nope. But can equip you to keep your child from becoming the next Madeleine McCann? Yes. I can change the world one person at a time.

And so can you.

I'm an accidental author. I didn't set out to write a book, and there are a lot of gifted writers out there that are more educated, more eloquent, and more equipped than I am. What I did though is see a problem, and wanted to help make a difference in the lives of children and families nationally.

Solving problems in an arena that I am knowledgable about.

So what about you? You're not going to write a book to help keep kids from being abducted. But what you can do... is find a void in a marketplace, in an area that you have a particular skill set in, and cast yourself out there to help become part of the solution. Some of you are gifted entertainers, and that solves a need for people. Some of you are technical writers, and that solves problems. The subject matter is not germane... because writing a book parallels anything else we talk about here at the forum. Your book has to have a WHY. It has to fill a need, solve a problem, or answer a question. It has to entertain, educate, or inform in order for people to give a shit. There are thousands of books now written per DAY in the United States, and very few push up to the front of the pack. Those that do have a reason. They have a value that people want to trade for money. That's Fastlane.

There needs to be a reason. I'm not convinced that "wanting to be an author" is a reason, but writing something either fiction or non-fiction with the goal of entertaining, educating, or otherwise enhancing people's lives through written word IS.

I found my WHY. I found my inspiration, and the book is just the medium by which I am able to reach people en masse with a message that might help them and their families. Our ability now more than 10 years ago even to put pen to paper, and get that paper in front of people means we can reach far wider, far faster than at any point in human history.

I am not sure (yet) that people want to read what I have written. Time will tell. I found a purpose, and purpose created a book. I'm an accidental author. It might surprise you to learn I don't care if I ever make a dollar from this book.

 

[Vigilante]

For any of you who listened to the Mind Your Business podcasts, that is my son Luke at the Vigilant Kids booth at BookExpo. The show is underway, and we are hoping for some media attention today.

 

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[Vigilante]

Writing the Story

A kids book is simple. Simple words, simple concepts, simple language. Perfect for me.

If you ask 10 people about an idea, you'll get 10 different responses. You might end up in analysis paralysis, especially if you start listening to the people who might tell you that your idea is stupid. Nobody will buy it. It's been done before.

So I didn't ask. The short list of who I shared the development with was less than five people. Even people on the forum, who I count as some of my closest business advisors weren't consulted.

Why? I didn't care.

I had a story in me. I had a reason, a vision, and a desire to put it down on paper.

The few people I did share with over the year it took to turn this project into reality were consulted primarily on semantical issues, not fundamental strategy. If you need someone else to assist you in character development, plot twists, or substance... you're probably just someone who wants to write a book for the cash. If you're a writer... write.

I wrote it over time. I let the words flow from a basic outline, and had the luxury of working on it over the course of several months. I would go back to it, wordsmith it again, and let it sit for stretches at a time. I didn't have a publisher, and I didn't have a deadline.

Do you want to know what the deadline for MJ's upcoming book was? When it was finished. That was his deadline for Unscripted . The first few manuscripts hit his waste bin (and if I were a better dumpster diver I would have got them and hung on to them like an early draft from a Hemingway classic.) His timetable was Unscripted . His process was Unscripted . Even you, his readers, ultimately couldn't influence his publication deadline. When it was done, he was ready.

Write your story. Let it flow. Some might have a discipline of regular writing to keep progressing, others might be able to do what I did with this simple kids book and let it happen as it happened. There's no magic formula. Harry Potter was written in a coffee shop.

Here's an interesting article on the routines of several famous authors :
The Daily Routines of 12 Famous Writers

 

[Vigilante]

Holy. Shit.

I didn't think it was possible that my sympathy towards you raises even more, but damn this thread caused exactly that.

Absolutely loving your idea, and just found myself nodding at every sentence of your post on your Inspiration.

I hope I am not hijacking your thread, but damn I just need to share some thoughts.

Actually, I didn't plan on talking about this topic until there is some real progress to talk about, but your thread just resonated with me on so many levels that, if you don't mind, I want to write about it in it. Especially about that if it saves one child's life it's worth it thought.

To me, child abuse was always one of, if not the most disgusting thing on this planet. It was always a distant thing though. Something you hear about in the news or read on the internet, or maybe see in a movie or tv show.

But this all changed for me, when I met the most wonderful person I ever got to meet.

She told me about the hell her step-dad made her go through from about age 5 to 10.
From this moment on, sexual child abuse was nothing distant anymore. Nothing out of the news or elsewhere.
No. It transcended from something out of nightmares seen on a screen, into a real monster. A monster that can destroy those who can't fight for themselves.

Children.

But like with most of the worst things in life, it is something that only people who are directly (survivors, I know some say victims, but I think the word survivor describes it better) or indirectly (family, partners, friends) affected by it.

Everyone else has that overall knowledge of it.
But without research, could you name some of the signs a kid may be abused?
Or could you think of the lifetime effects it can have on the survivors?

Without offense, but I think no. I don't blame you, I was the same before I met her. Most people research a topic when they need to know about it, or when there's a reason to do so.

Parents pick up books on child abuse, after they discover what their kid had to go through.

That's just the way it is. You don't read upon the topic of dishwashers, until you have a reason to, like moving out from home.
Yeah, maybe becoming parents should read upon such a topic, but most people don't even dare to expect something so terrible, that most only know out of movies.

I wish for every one, that they never have to research that topic after they discover such a horrible reason to read on it.

But unfortunately child abuse is something that affects millions if not more of people worldwide. Every year.

That made me think.

How can you help children to be saved from such a trauma?

I can't help most children. But there is something that I can do. That everyone could do.

I can help parents or about to be parents to save their children from going through hell.

Now keeping in mind the above mentioned things, a checklist of symptoms put online won't do much to prevent it from happening. At least not on a huge scale.

It made me thinking: what can?

Then I thought of the impact that information we unknowingly put into our mind can have on us (books, movies, threads on this forum).

Things that you don't think of consciously while you read it. But that come to your mind when you are in a situation where you need it.
As an example, you may read on here about AdWords or ways of distributing your product. But even if you don't need it right now, it's somewhere in the back of your mind. At least the idea of it. And then you can dig into it more when you actually need it.

So I decided to take the information needed to see a possible abuse of ones or others' children, and put it into something that a lot of people read for entertainment. Within those a lot of people are probably also lots of parents, about to be parents or people who will one day have children.

That's the idea behind the fiction book I'm currently writing.

Making the protagonist a psychologist for children, gives me a lot of opportunity to build in such knowledge that may help a child one day.

When her mother reads it in this book. If she sees strange behaviour in her kid that rings a bell somewhere in the back of her mind, or just gives her a gut feeling that something is wrong. This may lead to her researching this topic and if she's right, saving her kid from trauma. Or at least stopping it from happening.

The book will be a psychological thriller.

And I don't give one single F*ck if somebody steals this idea. I even encourage you to do it, since every book, its plot, its characters are different. But this topic is not different. And it needs to be heard or read, and the more books or any other type of medium there are out there, that can help children being saved from going through hell, the better.

I know this is long, but I just needed to get this of my chest.

As UnScripted people on here, as Fastlaners, we are able to do something. To do something good. And who deserves good more than children?

I'm with you on this @Vigilante, I don't give a shit about the money that this could make. But if it saves from kid from going through a hell, that a disgusting person would make him/her go through, it will be worth every second spent on it.

Your comments are relevant to the spirit of this project and this thread. While the thread is primarily about process, the project is solely about outcomes.

As a side bar before we get this thread back on to process, I can tell you that in 2017 I have a big goal. I need $50k to fund a special forces team that will go on a mission to rescue a group of kids from sex trafficking. This all ties together. It's all significant. Work on shit that is bigger than you. Dream big dreams, and then make them happen. I still believe an individual can impact things on a world scale.

I look forward to reading your book, and expect to receive one of the first copies. Yours is a story that could be made into a movie.

 

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[Vigilante]

Buying an ISBN Number

Much like UPC codes, there is the authentic way to buy ISBN codes, and an aftermarket way.

If you are writing a book, and don't know what an ISBN code is, click here

All ISBN numbers originate with Bowker. See ISBN US - ISBN US

If you buy one from a reseller, they're much cheaper, but problematic. When you buy directly from Bowker, you "own" the ISBN and can fill out a bunch of permanent registration information in your name. When you buy from a third party, it can be much cheaper but you will never "own" that ISBN as the companies you care about (including Amazon, Wal-Mart and others) won't recognize you as the owner of that code.

So, we loosened the purse strings and bought a package of 10 ISBN codes directly from Bowker for $300. We used the first two already... one for the Amazon CreateSpace version of the book, and a separate one for the Ingram Spark distribution copy of the book.

For the trade show we're launching at in June, we have printed some Rack Cards from VistaPrint, and put the ISBN numbers and barcodes on the Rack Cards so a corporate book buyer or librarian can take the Rack Card home and use the ISBN later to order the books. (more on this later).

 

[Vigilante]

I was thinking how it would be nice if a book like this made it's way into schools all over the place, unfortunately I then remembered the material they gave us on the topic at school was about as PC as possible in the 80s and 90s, and I'm not going out on a limb predicting that would only have got a thousand times worse since.

I think kids often have more developed threat assessment abilities than their parents and teachers realise, unfortunately sometimes the agendas of those in the education sector and the media start interfering with that natural process. There are probably so many silent victims of the drive to teach children to ignore reality and instinct and never to offend anyone.

Good luck Vig, it's nice to see such a positive project, will follow with interest.

Great stuff Vigilante!
When are you gonna post about getting a trademark? Did you get one?
I'm interested in doing this for one of my series, but it looks like 1,200 is the official minimum price.

Trademarking the Book Title

OK. First, I am not an attorney, and all trademark suggestions are my opinion only and I highly recommend you seek the services of a competent, licensed trademark attorney for all questions, issues, and filings related to trademarks.

There's good news and bad news about trademarking book titles.

Bad : You can't trademark a book title.

Good : You can get around the fact that you can't trademark a book title with a few tricks of the trade

In the United States, you can't trademark a book title. But you can trademark a book SERIES, like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series or the FOR DUMMIES series. The tough part about that is you can't do the trademark until book #2 is on the market:
"To file as a series, “an applicant must submit evidence that the title is used on at least two different creative works” and “evidence that the applicant intends to use the mark on a series is insufficient.”

There's another trick... a better work around. While you can't trademark a book series, you CAN trademark a "brand" that offers goods and services. For example, the Vigilant Kids book title is not trademark-able. But the ACTION FIGURES we are creating under the brand of Vigilant Kids makes Vigilant Kids a brand name that can be trademarked. Once you have the Vigilant Kids action figures under trademark, it would be easy to see how anything else that encroaches on that mark, in any context, would be actionable. Your book is then using the title of the brand you have already trademarked.

The easiest path is to trademark the brand name in classifications for offerings of goods and services that are related to the "branding" that you want to protect.

How : You can Do-It-Yourself the trademark application through the USPTO. It's really not super complicated.

1. Order this book : Trademark

2. Do an exhaustive search on Google, and on the USPTO trademark search tool
Search trademark database | USPTO

3. Register the trademark yourself on the USPTO website for $225 - their step by step registration wizard is EASY
Apply online | USPTO

Do a bunch of homework and you can do this yourself, or cough up $700-$1,000 and let a professional do it for you. We have done it both ways. I have received registered trademarks that I have done myself, but I also have screwed some up that required a trademark attorney intervention.

@biophase
@LightHouse
@AllenCrawley

If you guys have anything to add/correct/suggest, please chime in. We all did some DIY trademarks around the same time last year.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

However, controversy sells. I welcome and encourage diverse opinions.

If the SCRIPTED world hates your book and call it BS, but it in the end, it saves 1 child from trauma or tragedy, it will be damn worth it.

I'd rather have my child safe and politically incorrect, than dead and PC.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

@Vigilante -- here's a good booth prop idea to consider...

 

[Vigilante]

The most important thing is teaching your kids to empathize with their attacker. They need to ask the attacker what socioeconomic circumstances led them to child abduction, in an effort to understand their pain. JK, but @Vigilante be prepared for Amazon holy warriors to accuse you of bigotry for suggesting training kids to look out for their own safety.

I'm teaching mine to kick for the groin then run away screaming. That's what I do, and it's worked every time

 

[Vigilante]

Working with an Editor

I had the book written, and I had some kick a$$ illustrations complete. It was time to turn the project into a book.

People with more time and/or less money than me could probably spend the time to learn how to do this. However, I was amazed to find an existing book editor on UpWork.com that was reasonable, professional, and quick. I can tell you that she made this book 10 times better that I could have, and she did it in one tenth of the time that I could have. I was lucky to find her on the first try, and fortunate she had time in her schedule to take my project.

From arranging the text, sizing the images, changing some of the layers of the actual drawings using some of her voodoo, selecting fonts that were what the industry would have recommended, putting the front and back cover with the spine into the correct format, and getting the book ready for publishing in multiple formats --- she did it all. The book is what it is because she turned illustrations and text into a book.

She was $30/hour, and all of that above only took her... a few hours. Total bill I think was less than $200 +/-

I could have done it all myself, and lost the remaining few hairs I have on my head in the process. I'd rather get busy writing the next book. So for this task, I let the pro handle what she does best.

A few days after I hired her, the book was ready for multiple printing platforms.

 

[Vigilante]

Creating an event

The book is going to be formally launched in June at one of the largest book fairs/trade shows in the United States (The Book Expo and then the consumer show a few days later... BookCon in New York).

We bought a booth, a big a$$ booth. Bigger than normal. Why?

Remember I said there are thousands of books now launched per week.

Of those, less than a few hundred independent books will be represented at this trade show.

Of those, less than one hundred independent authors will physically be in attendance.

Of those, most will either be shoulder to shoulder at an "author table" or just attending and hoping to meet people.

We have a booth. A big a$$ booth, and a plan. The companies with booths? Publishing companies. Famous authors... and me.

We're stealing a page from the OVERNIGHT BRAND idea I talked about last year at the Scottsdale meetup. We're going to act like we should be there.

Banner stretching the length of the booth (10 feet).
Book rack full of Vigilant kids books. (bought the rack on eBay)
Take along brochures/rack cards with ISBN code for librarians to order later. (VistaPring)
Maybe cutouts of the main characters. (TBD)
Tee shirts for us to wear in the booth with the Vigilant kids on them. (VistaPrint)

We need attention. We're going to do things Unscripted to get there.

If you are in New York, come by and see us at BookCon.

As if I didn't have enough stuff to do.

 

[Vigilante]

Let's unpack it this way. We're fond around here of saying "fail faster" and for me, this show was an opportunity to accelerate directly into the market and let the market respond. To that end, I wouldn't have done it any differently. I got to spend a bit of money to accelerate the curve, and measure the market, and the market responded with a vote of no confidence. I will unpack it here a bit so that you can learn some things about the (failed) strategy. All in all, I call it a win. I got out of it what I needed to, which was market validation (or in this case, lack thereof). However, I also got fleeced by the promoters of the event who didn't deliver what they promised in exchange for the cash. They didn't deliver the buyers, the traffic, or the results they promised.

Topic / post continued here in its own thread...

BookCon / Book Expo Scam: Warning to Indie Authors

 

[Vigilante]

Finding the Illustrator / Working with the Artist

Even if you are not writing an illustrated book, you're going to need a great front and back cover. MS Paint or Word Art isn't going to cut it, even for your eBook.

I found my illustrator on Fiverr.

A quick Google search produces a host of ways to find an illustrator.

I have a placeholder here where you can see an example of his illustrations :
www.vigilantkids.com

1. He was a pain in the a$$ from a timing standpoint
2. He took a long time, 20 illustrations took over 6 months (plus front and back cover)
3. I paid him in increments, but was worried if he disappeared how long it would take to replace him with someone that could replicate the work in progress - if that was even possible
4. I found him on Fiverr, but each illustration was 10x that or more (still cheap for excellent work). Each page cost differently as each page has different degrees of complexity.
5. The final files were sent in a manipulatable layered fashion for future use without him
6. We bought most of the options on his Fiverr gig just to keep him happy
7. We obviously bought the rights for all commercial reproduction

I am not sure if we did this right or wrong, but now several months later I am very happy with the results.

We sent him an outline of the character development and the basic concept for each illustration, and based on the artist we selected it needed very little modification from his initial draft to each finished page.

We got lucky. His portfolio looked good and the sample page we had him do was the best of a few artists we "sampled."

In the end, I was happy with the final work product, and even the price I paid. The timing was terrible, but it's not like I wanted to rush him as I didn't want a bunch of sloppy shit thrown together to meet an (artificial) deadline.

Keys to communication? Explain every aspect of your expectations, vision, and as much creative as you can articulate. When the person you are talking with does not have your language as their primary language, avoid slang and simplify everything down to it's most basic words.

There are a variety of sites where you can find freelancers. Don't skimp, and make sure to do as much homework as possible. No newbies, nobody with multiple negative feedbacks, and they need a portfolio that matches the genre that you want illustrated.

 

[amp0193]

There's definitely a market need @Vigilante - for quality children's content in general. It was something I never noticed until I had my boy.....

• On to books - It's all sentimental garbage or overtly PC. As anyone who's read my posts will know, I'm not PC. PC actually disgusts me.

We blow through 30-40 picture books from the library every week.

• 7 out of 10 are in the "never, ever, read again" category.
• 2 out of 10 I'd read a 2nd or a 3rd time, because they had good pictures, but lame text (or vice versa)
• And then 0.5 or 1 out of 10 are awesome and are just really well done.

These are the books that made it past the cutting room floor.

70% of the cream of the crop in kid's books is just awful.


There are literally so many untapped niches in kid's books.

 

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[Vigilante]

I'm sure this will be more popular in schools than my Idea for children's books that tell the kids not to listen to their parents and teachers (insulate them from social conditioning to make them "slowlaners").

For your marketing - I noticed on the back cover it says how vigilant kids scream. Assuming this is the approach for when they get attacked, There's a lot of debate whether that's effective or not (e.g. The attacker might cover their airway to quiet then and put them in more danger).

I foresee a heated back and forth on the mainstream news between you and the martial arts instructors who havebeen quoted in saying that...only to link to their karate school at the end of the article.

Technically it will be between Krav Maga instructors and karate teachers who award belts to kids for paying tuition.

I'll put my money and the life of my kid in the hands and under the instruction of of the Krav Maga instructor. The more aggressive the better. My kid doesn't get a belt or a trophy for paying tuition.

However, controversy sells. I welcome and encourage diverse opinions. It is healthy for the discussion.

And since this isn't a discussion that is taking place in mainstream America and needs to, any discussion about technique will contribute to kids being safe.

 

[Vigilante]

Selecting Distribution

1. My own web site, which is not built yet. Eventually we will sell some copies direct to the public to maximize the little margin there is in publishing a $9.99 book

2. Amazon CreateSpace, which is the easiest way for a self published work to get into the Amazon stream. On a $9.99 book, using Amazon CreateSpace, I think I will net like $2

3. Ingram Spark, which is the most likely way to have ANY chance at getting the book seen by book buyers early on nationally. We also paid extra to get into the circular they send out to book dealers across the country. Time will tell if that was a wise investment or not. The net for the author is comparable to CreateSpace.

4. eBook - one of the first things that @ChickenHawk asked me (she is sweet to not DIRECT me so she ASKED me) is when the book will be available as an eBook. As a USA Today Best Selling Author, I listen to her. So we will make an eBook this Fall. I want to get through the launch first before I enter the fray of the alternative media. I want to use scarcity as a reason for people to buy the book during launch. Eventually though, I think all books need to be available as eBooks, and for longer titles also as audio books.

A few notes on Amazon CreateSpace and Ingram Spark. CreateSpace does soft covers only, and Ingram Spark does soft and hard covers both. We will buy most of the books for now from Ingram Spark, as they have a "perfect bound" binding that is better than the soft cover process Amazon uses for print on demand. It is a subtle difference, but I want the customers to really like reading the book to their kids 100 times.

Hard cover for this project took the price up too high. More on this when I talk about how we selected the retail price later.

There's a ton for you to read up on for both CreateSpace and Ingram Spark, so Google it and study it.

 

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[G-Man]

There's definitely a market need @Vigilante - for quality children's content in general. It was something I never noticed until I had my boy.....

• Sitting with my infant in my lap while watching South Park, I realize his little eyes are literally transfixed on the screen. I decide that I shouldn't be subjecting his little eyes/ears/mind to that and resolve to find things for him.
• He's not old enough to read real books, so we have the choice of tv, or little books for mama to read to him. We borrow a bunch of DVDs from a friend of ours, and they are all insufferable. I cannot have that crap in my my house. So annoying.
• On to books - It's all sentimental garbage or overtly PC. As anyone who's read my posts will know, I'm not PC. PC actually disgusts me.
• So what does that leave? I've looked, and the first thing I've purchased for him is now officially your book. There is definitely market space, Vig.

 

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[Vigilante]

If the SCRIPTED world hates your book and call it BS, but it in the end, it saves 1 child from trauma or tragedy, it will be damn worth it.

I'd rather have my child safe and politically incorrect, than dead and PC.

The nice part of this project, boss, is that outcome is guaranteed. It WILL save kids. We'll never know how many, and that's OK.

Fast lane freedom is what allowed me to bring a book to the market with message guaranteed to offend some. Sorry, not sorry.

Unscripted .

Hell, the kids who get the book read to them need to learn to be UNSCRIPTED . UNSCRIPTED is what will save them.

This kids book is a manifestation of your fundamental message.

 

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[Supa]

Holy. Shit.

I didn't think it was possible that my sympathy towards you raises even more, but damn this thread caused exactly that.

Absolutely loving your idea, and just found myself nodding at every sentence of your post on your Inspiration.

I hope I am not hijacking your thread, but damn I just need to share some thoughts.

Actually, I didn't plan on talking about this topic until there is some real progress to talk about, but your thread just resonated with me on so many levels that, if you don't mind, I want to write about it in it. Especially about that if it saves one child's life it's worth it thought.

To me, child abuse was always one of, if not the most disgusting thing on this planet. It was always a distant thing though. Something you hear about in the news or read on the internet, or maybe see in a movie or tv show.

But this all changed for me, when I met the most wonderful person I ever got to meet.

She told me about the hell her step-dad made her go through from about age 5 to 10.
From this moment on, sexual child abuse was nothing distant anymore. Nothing out of the news or elsewhere.
No. It transcended from something out of nightmares seen on a screen, into a real monster. A monster that can destroy those who can't fight for themselves.

Children.

But like with most of the worst things in life, it is something that only people who are directly (survivors, I know some say victims, but I think the word survivor describes it better) or indirectly (family, partners, friends) affected by it.

Everyone else has that overall knowledge of it.
But without research, could you name some of the signs a kid may be abused?
Or could you think of the lifetime effects it can have on the survivors?

Without offense, but I think no. I don't blame you, I was the same before I met her. Most people research a topic when they need to know about it, or when there's a reason to do so.

Parents pick up books on child abuse, after they discover what their kid had to go through.

That's just the way it is. You don't read upon the topic of dishwashers, until you have a reason to, like moving out from home.
Yeah, maybe becoming parents should read upon such a topic, but most people don't even dare to expect something so terrible, that most only know out of movies.

I wish for every one, that they never have to research that topic after they discover such a horrible reason to read on it.

But unfortunately child abuse is something that affects millions if not more of people worldwide. Every year.

That made me think.

How can you help children to be saved from such a trauma?

I can't help most children. But there is something that I can do. That everyone could do.

I can help parents or about to be parents to save their children from going through hell.

Now keeping in mind the above mentioned things, a checklist of symptoms put online won't do much to prevent it from happening. At least not on a huge scale.

It made me thinking: what can?

Then I thought of the impact that information we unknowingly put into our mind can have on us (books, movies, threads on this forum).

Things that you don't think of consciously while you read it. But that come to your mind when you are in a situation where you need it.
As an example, you may read on here about AdWords or ways of distributing your product. But even if you don't need it right now, it's somewhere in the back of your mind. At least the idea of it. And then you can dig into it more when you actually need it.

So I decided to take the information needed to see a possible abuse of ones or others' children, and put it into something that a lot of people read for entertainment. Within those a lot of people are probably also lots of parents, about to be parents or people who will one day have children.

That's the idea behind the fiction book I'm currently writing.

Making the protagonist a psychologist for children, gives me a lot of opportunity to build in such knowledge that may help a child one day.

When her mother reads it in this book. If she sees strange behaviour in her kid that rings a bell somewhere in the back of her mind, or just gives her a gut feeling that something is wrong. This may lead to her researching this topic and if she's right, saving her kid from trauma. Or at least stopping it from happening.

The book will be a psychological thriller.

And I don't give one single F*ck if somebody steals this idea. I even encourage you to do it, since every book, its plot, its characters are different. But this topic is not different. And it needs to be heard or read, and the more books or any other type of medium there are out there, that can help children being saved from going through hell, the better.

I know this is long, but I just needed to get this of my chest.

As UnScripted people on here, as Fastlaners, we are able to do something. To do something good. And who deserves good more than children?

I'm with you on this @Vigilante, I don't give a shit about the money that this could make. But if it saves one kid from going through a hell, that a disgusting person would make him/her go through, then it will be worth every second spent on it.

 

[Vigilante]

Retail price

One of the last things that had to be done pre-printing was select a retail price. I of course wanted to price this as a Lamborghini equivalent. I have read a lot of kids books over the years, and most of them really suck. My thought process was that if this one didn't suck, it was worth more.

Right?

RIGHT?

Wrong.

On this topic, I had to yield to my resident in-house expert and better half. The chief procurement manager for our household, who buys all of the kids books.

I was shooting for $14.99. We ended up at $9.99. I was unable to do what I do in my regular business, which is recalibrate the market by establishing a superior value and a higher price point. I have to provide a superior value at a fair market price point or regardless of content, people would think they are getting ripped off. All chief procurement officers have a general expectation of the price/value equation for kids books, and if you violate that they may still buy it, but might flame you into oblivion after they receive it.

So pricing, in literature, works differently than in other hard goods.

Lets look at the Millionaire Fastlane on Amazon.
Amazon.com: The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime eBook: MJ DeMarco: Kindle Store

It's arguably the BEST business book for entrepreneurs on the market. And yet? It's $12.99. Granted, it is six years old now, but no less relevant today than when it was written absent me being able to copy the Limos.com business model. $12.99 happens to be roughly the average of the top 10 entrepreneur books currently on Amazon.

MJ's new book will launch at $19.99 with a built in fan base. The book is probably worth 10x that, but $19.99 is the price people would expect to pay for a new softcover book from MJ DeMarco. His last book hit #1 on Amazon in SEVERAL categories (new business, business finance/investing, and others).

My goal on the Vigilant Kids book was not to cash out. It was to reach families across the United States with a new message for a troubled generation. My goal was critical mass, not for revenue but for impact.

So we had to hit the critical mass price point for a kids book. I wanted the highest acceptable threshold for acceptable value exchange. I didn't want to lose money, but wanted to at least be in the black when it came to handing the very expensive distributor/reseller orders.

The price was established at $9.99.

By the way, there are natural consumer price points that we can save for a different discussion on a different thread for a different day. Why is MJ's book $19.99 vs. $18.99? because in the mind of the consumer, there's no difference. That extra buck doesn't matter... it's not going to sway them to buy or not buy.

Why is critical mass for Vigilant Kids $9.99? Why not $10.99? $10.99 is an "in-between" price point. It's an awkward pricepoint in consumer psychology. It literally would be a deal killer for some. If I were going to increase it, the next logical step up was $11.99, but that became overpriced. I will write more on this later, in some other context. But when considering pricing, you need to understand the market, you need to understand the value exchange, and you need to understand consumer retail price point psychology.

And in my case, you need a wife that is smarter than you to keep you from screwing it up, even after a career analyzing consumer behavior. You are emotionally attached to something you create. You need to be able to see your manifesto through the eyes of the consumer, and meet or exceed their expectations.

You don't price your eBook at $20. You don't need to price your follow up to your national best seller at $12.99, and you don't introduce a kids book to a market that doesn't know it needs your message at an egregious retail. Pricing is a science.

 

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[jon.a]

I like your idea of funding a special forces team... that's real stuff right there. Although, sad, that funding needs to be raised for this. Sounds like it should be in someone's budget.

vigilante. : a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate)

 

[Walter Hay]

I suggest that you go completely over the top with your booth. I have done my share of exhibiting potentially boring products and I know that many people become like zombies as they wander the aisles. This is why I used demonstrations to great effect.

It's very hard to grab attention with a static display, so here's my suggestion: Use a demonstration of the need for your product. This idea should be modified appropriately, because you know your subject and your target market.

Stage a mini drama, preferably live, but if necessary by video on a huge screen. The kid/s don't have to be molested, but the slimy character scares them, so they scream. The slime ball has to look the part. The whole thing can be as melodramatic as the "Perils of Pauline". (Showing my age now.)

Repeat, repeat, and repeat, as often as you are allowed and with the screams as load as you can get away with. Have part of your fixed display directly relating to the show.

Walter

 

[G-Man]

Technically it will be between Krav Maga instructors and karate teachers who award belts to kids for paying tuition.

I'll put my money and the life of my kid in the hands and under the instruction of of the Krav Maga instructor. The more aggressive the better. My kid doesn't get a belt or a trophy for paying tuition.

However, controversy sells. I welcome and encourage diverse opinions. It is healthy for the discussion.

And since this isn't a discussion that is taking place in mainstream America and needs to, any discussion about technique will contribute to kids being safe.

The most important thing is teaching your kids to empathize with their attacker. They need to ask the attacker what socioeconomic circumstances led them to child abduction, in an effort to understand their pain. JK, but @Vigilante be prepared for Amazon holy warriors to accuse you of bigotry for suggesting training kids to look out for their own safety.

I'm teaching mine to kick for the groin then run away screaming. That's what I do, and it's worked every time

 

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[Vigilante]

Doing things Unscripted

We had a bunch of research that I paid to have compiled on launching a book as an unknown author. The bottom line is that if you do things the way everyone else does, you should expect the same results that everyone else gets. There's a bloody sea of wanna be authors who write books nobody ever reads. There are likely some classic works that have never and will never be discovered, because the written words are never seen by scale. We determined that there has to be an extraordinary catalyst in 2017 for an unknown author, with a subject matter that people don't know they need... to break through.

There are currently two traditional methods of bringing a book to market. Spend a portion of a lifetime trying to convince a publisher they care, so they can take 90% of the revenue... or casting it out as a self published work and hope that somebody (anybody?) cares. Both methods can work, but depend on a fair amount of luck and an equal measure of odds stacked against those that follow traditional paths.

So it was determined we had to break the mold in terms of how to do this. We expect extraordinary results, so we have to deploy extraordinary methods. We can't call Fox News and have them put on television (they won't). We have to have Fox News call us and invite us to come on. We can't issue a press release and hope the newspapers pick it up... we need the newspapers to call us because they want to do a story. We can't press SUBMIT on an eBook and hope that people buy it. We need people to go look for the eBook because there was an external stimulus to do so.

I have a friend that runs a huge media organization in a major metro market for Clear Channel / iHeartMedia. In his market, they get several solicitations by authors for air time every week. They put exactly zero of them on the air. You writing your first book... is NOT a newsworthy event to anybody but you.

In order for this to be a best seller, and not a complete waste of time, we need to go... Unscripted .

We're not going to do things the same way everyone else does. We're not going to follow the script.

There's a book you can read called Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 No-Cost, Low-Cost Weapons for Selling Your Work (Guerilla Marketing Press): Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, Michael Larsen, David L Hancock: 9781600376603: Amazon.com: Books

which will give you some ideas on how on a next to nothing budget you might be able to get some attention for your work. You are not going to find THE answer in that book, but it can be a catalyst towards how to think about going Unscripted .

To be continued... in the next post I will show you how we created an event to go Unscripted . We're in a 45 day launch countdown.

 

[Vigilante]

Launch Strategy

Press releases are a dime a dozen in this space. We decided the launch "event" had to have a reasonable chance of resonating, which is why we chose to spend some money at the upcoming trade show in June. The expenses are high for this event with no guaranteed ROI, but the exposure should be good.

Doing things differently to achieve different results. We may crash and burn, but this will not be one of those moments later in life where you wondered what might have happened had you been more proactive.

A June launch gives the book plenty of time to germinate before the Christmas selling season. We are getting some small trade orders (from book stores ordering a half dozen copies, etc...) which is fun at this early hour. Nothing to write home about yet.

So I have this big a$$ booth. Bought a banner from VistaPrint (8x10) like this:

and bought a rack that will be full of Vigilant Kids books from eBay like this :
Wire Display Rack 10 Tier Trade Show Event Stand Magazine Book Pamphlet Holder | eBay

Working on adding some of the media suggestions per above.

Spent five hundred dollars on a vendor that will bring in a table and chairs to the booth, but it was either that or sit on the floor and I thought that might be awkward.

We also had some rack cards printed from VistaPrint that the book buyers and librarians can take home with them if they want to order later. They also have lead retrieval systems at the show for any interested buyers that we can follow up with later.

I hate trade shows. Long days. Pain in the a$$. Hard on your feet. This one will be two days with industry buyers, and then two days open to the general public for their BookCon event in New York. If you are in New York, come on by and visit me. You have to pay to get in to the show, but once you're in, we are in booth 1966.

 

[Vigilante]

Here's a summary of the BookExpo show. I will write a longer, honest assessment as you have come to expect from the forum later this week.

 

[Ultra Magnus]

As a parent of a 2-month-old boy, a literary scholar by way of education, and a forum fanboy I cannot help but approve of this thread.

 

[amp0193]

As a side bar before we get this thread back on to process, I can tell you that in 2017 I have a big goal. I need $50k to fund a special forces team that will go on a mission to rescue a group of kids from sex trafficking. This all ties together. It's all significant. Work on shit that is bigger than you. Dream big dreams, and then make them happen. I still believe an individual can impact things on a world scale.

Sex Trafficking is the number one world issue that I care about. It started when I was travelling in Europe with my 1 year old, and I watched the movie Taken for the first time (kid gets kidnapped in europe and sold into sex trafficking). It shook me up so much, I had to go to my kid's bed and sleep with her.

However, I've found it challenging to get involved, as most "in the action" volunteering is reserved for females only.

Any good organizations you can recommend getting involved with?


I like your idea of funding a special forces team... that's real stuff right there. Although, sad, that funding needs to be raised for this. Sounds like it should be in someone's budget.

 

[Vigilante]

Sex Trafficking is the number one world issue that I care about. It started when I was travelling in Europe with my 1 year old, and I watched the movie Taken for the first time (kid gets kidnapped in europe and sold into sex trafficking). It shook me up so much, I had to go to my kid's bed and sleep with her.

However, I've found it challenging to get involved, as most "in the action" volunteering is reserved for females only.

Any good organizations you can recommend getting involved with?


I like your idea of funding a special forces team... that's real stuff right there. Although, sad, that funding needs to be raised for this. Sounds like it should be in someone's budget.

This is the organization that I will be funding a mission through : Operation Underground Railroad

We can continue that discussion separately on a new thread at some point though, as I really want this thread to be kept on the tactical points for this subforum of
Self-Publishing / Writing and Authorship