Concept Art

If you've read The Complete Bubby Anthology as thoroughly as I think you have - which is pretty thoroughly - you've been hanging on the words in the "About the Author" page. Specifically the sentence that reads, "In his spare time he watches Star Wars and Tron and makes up funny bedtime stories for his children (some of which will likely be published one day soon)."

You may be wondering why, after a year, no word has reached your ear of a children's book being published. Well, I'll tell you why - because I'm a lousy artist. Nevertheless, I have managed to "draw" a main character for the first story I plan to release. Here he is:

Let's be honest, my skill with computer imaging is not the greatest - but I'm the only employee I've got. Nevertheless, I plan to persevere to complete this story, even if it pains me to see my drawings.

However, if any one of you would be willing to receive zero compensation for your artistic talents (other than a name credit on the book), let me know. Maybe we can work out a deal - specifically one where I get 100% of the royalties and you get your name out there for other people to want to hire you in the future. When you think about it, it really is a win-win situation.

The Tax Man Cometh

With tax day coming around, you're probably trying to identify any charitable donations that you can cite to lower your taxable income. Thus, you may be looking into buying hundreds of copies of The Complete Bubby Anthology to see if spending that kind of money could qualify you for a tax break.

Now, to be completely honest, it is too late to get any more charitable donations, as the tax year ended on December 31st.

Also, a purchase of The Complete Bubby Anthology does not actually qualify as a charitable donation and you could be arrested for trying to convince the IRS that it should count.

However, you are still welcome to purchase hundreds, or even thousands, of copies to see if it gives you the happy feeling that comes from being involved in charitable giving. If it doesn't make you feel any better, try buying more copies... maybe that will do the trick. Probably not... but you'll never know unless you try.

Podcasts

I recently got a tablet. This isn't meant to brag, it's just to show how behind the times I am. It seems a whole new nerdy world has opened up to me. I can read books, play games (mostly Angry Birds), and best of all - listen to Star Wars podcasts. I've just discovered Rebel Force Radio. I love it. It is just like being able to hang out with the Star Wars-loving friends I never had growing up.

Now that I have discovered them, I want to capitalize on the friendship they've shown me by getting on their show to talk Star Wars and shamelessly promote The Complete Bubby Anthology.

I also hope to get on to an NPR show, such as Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Not because I think The Complete Bubby Anthology would appeal to the typical NPR listener, but because they are well-known for throwing money at people who ask them for it!

So, what can you do to help me live my dream? Buy lots of copies of my book so that I become popular enough for shows to want to ask me to come on as a guest.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey Amazon, Get With The Program!

Smashwords has been helpful enough to list Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other for free on every site it distributes the book to.

So right now you can go to Barnes & Noble, Diesel, iTunes, Kobo, or Sony and download your own free copy.

However, Amazon.com refuses to acknowledge that they should be competing for customers by dropping the price to free as well.

So click on the link that reads: "tell us about a lower price," under "Product Details" and tell Amazon that you want the book to be free - just like it is on the other sites.

The Future of Star Wars

First off, congratulations are in order to J. J. Abrams for nabbing the biggest gig in the history of ever - director of Star Wars - Episode VII.

Now for my personal plea to J. J. Abrams, who likely will never read this blog post:

Dear Mr. Abrams,

Please make the movie PG. I've got kids that I want to be able to take to the show on opening night, without having to screen it by myself first. As a grown man, part of me would love the movie to have the action sequences of a PG-13 film. However, the PG-rated fights of the past films have been pretty fantastic. Additionally, it seems that there is a tendency in Hollywood to throw an F-bomb into PG-13 films, since the regulations allow one instance of that particular cuss word. Hollywood seems to think that, just because it can do something, it should. This is just stupid. Please, don't be stupid.

Star Wars is, at its core, a children's story. It doesn't need a bunch of profanity to make it cool. As a wise person once said, "profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully." Just make an awesome story and the crowds will come - especially without the insertion of a random F-bomb. In fact, you don't even need to make a good story. I would happily watch 2 hours of lightsaber fights choreographed to a John Williams musical score.

So, J. J. Abrams, enjoy the new gig. Good luck to you and remember to make a film for your inner child.

Sincerely,

B. P. Draper

Free Book New Year

Some authors offer a "Free Book Friday," or some ridiculously cheap thing like that. I'm not like that, so I'm going to offer a "Free Book New Year."

Starting now, Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other will be listed as FREE, for the entire year of 2013.

I began this free listing through Smashwords. So far, only iTunes has matched the offer.

Until the rest of the stores catch price-matching fever, you will still find the book listed at $0.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, and Sony.

So, if you'd like to, you can still pay $0.99 for the book, or you can get it for FREE here on Smashwords or here on iTunes.

Five Books and 15 Movies

When I was younger, I thought about growing up to be famous. I imagined that the Bubby series would go on to sell countless copies and that multiple movies would be made. Since the stories are so short, I assumed that the first two episodes would be one movie, episodes three and four would make up the second film, and book five would round out the trilogy (since the most popular movie series always seem to need to be in multiples of three).

However, recently The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released. As you may or may not know, the book, The Hobbit, was intended to be divided into two films, but they later decided there was enough material for three films.

Naturally, that got me to thinking. If a short book like The Hobbit can be divided into three films, then why not each of the Bubby books?

So, without further ado, I urge all of you to create a massive viral social media campaign with the hashtag #5books15movies.

Do I think it will work? No, not really... but that's why I'm relying on all of you to spread the word, so I don't have to have my heart broken when my unrealistic dreams are dashed.

So remember, with all the tweeting you do today, push the idea of #5books15movies.

Thanks!