Hilton Hamann's Blog, page 3
March 4, 2014
An Unlikely Teacher
Here is an excerpt from my short story, "An Unlikely Teacher - lessons in freedom."
It will strike a chord with many who have felt the hardships of the current financial melt-down. It is available on Amazon
An Unlikely Teacher
Lessons in Freedom
by
Hilton Hamann
PUBLISHED BY
HILTON HAMANN
An Unlikely Teacher
©Hilton Hamann (2014)
I first met Jonathon at a charity function held in a fancy, five star hotel in Johannesburg's northern suburbs. It was part of the world I effortlessly inhabited at the time. As the head-writer at the country's most exclusive and expensive, corporate public relations firm, I moved in high circles.
Jonathon wore a tux but looked uncomfortable and out of place. A doctor with Doctors Without Borders, he was much more at home in his rural clinic but the organisation relied on corporate donations and there were times he had no option but to reluctantly schmooze at fund-raising events.
He looked interesting so I made a point of buying him a drink and we got chatting. Jonathon operated a small clinic in deep rural Kwa Zulu - Natal that was the only source of medical assistance to a few thousand people who lived in villages in the area.
He said he loved his work, but to be honest, I quickly grew bored with the conversation. He was an educated man, a doctor, but knew nothing of the world. There was no Internet where he lived, he knew little of current affairs and when it came to financial topics and investments, he was clueless.
When I finished my glass of 12 year-old scotch, I graciously excused myself and headed off to chat with the CEO of a large bank. I never thought I'd see Jonathon again. Our world's were separate and different. Mine sophisticated and civilised, his backwards and primitive.
And our paths most likely would not have crossed again, had I not been retrenched six months later. In a single moment, on a Tuesday morning, I discovered my carefully constructed, moderately well-to-do existence was, in fact a house of cards. Like so many of my age and generation, I believed the good times, the easily-available credit and an abundance of work would last forever. When it crashed, it came down hard and I was left gasping, neck-deep, in a sea of debt.
In short order I lost it all...the wife...the dog...the house...the car and pretty much everything else in between. My retrenchment package was enough to settle my debts with almost nothing left over.
I thought I'd easily find another job - after all I was at the top of my game and over the years I'd built up an impressive network of contacts - I was wrong. No-one wanted to hire a fifty-something man, and after six months of making calls and sending out CVs, I gave up looking for work.
It will strike a chord with many who have felt the hardships of the current financial melt-down. It is available on Amazon
An Unlikely Teacher
Lessons in Freedom
by
Hilton Hamann
PUBLISHED BY
HILTON HAMANN
An Unlikely Teacher
©Hilton Hamann (2014)
I first met Jonathon at a charity function held in a fancy, five star hotel in Johannesburg's northern suburbs. It was part of the world I effortlessly inhabited at the time. As the head-writer at the country's most exclusive and expensive, corporate public relations firm, I moved in high circles.
Jonathon wore a tux but looked uncomfortable and out of place. A doctor with Doctors Without Borders, he was much more at home in his rural clinic but the organisation relied on corporate donations and there were times he had no option but to reluctantly schmooze at fund-raising events.
He looked interesting so I made a point of buying him a drink and we got chatting. Jonathon operated a small clinic in deep rural Kwa Zulu - Natal that was the only source of medical assistance to a few thousand people who lived in villages in the area.
He said he loved his work, but to be honest, I quickly grew bored with the conversation. He was an educated man, a doctor, but knew nothing of the world. There was no Internet where he lived, he knew little of current affairs and when it came to financial topics and investments, he was clueless.
When I finished my glass of 12 year-old scotch, I graciously excused myself and headed off to chat with the CEO of a large bank. I never thought I'd see Jonathon again. Our world's were separate and different. Mine sophisticated and civilised, his backwards and primitive.
And our paths most likely would not have crossed again, had I not been retrenched six months later. In a single moment, on a Tuesday morning, I discovered my carefully constructed, moderately well-to-do existence was, in fact a house of cards. Like so many of my age and generation, I believed the good times, the easily-available credit and an abundance of work would last forever. When it crashed, it came down hard and I was left gasping, neck-deep, in a sea of debt.
In short order I lost it all...the wife...the dog...the house...the car and pretty much everything else in between. My retrenchment package was enough to settle my debts with almost nothing left over.
I thought I'd easily find another job - after all I was at the top of my game and over the years I'd built up an impressive network of contacts - I was wrong. No-one wanted to hire a fifty-something man, and after six months of making calls and sending out CVs, I gave up looking for work.
January 28, 2014
Free online reading - madness or genius?
I would imagine most authors and indie publishers constantly seek new ways to promote their work and find new readers.
Self-promotion for today's writer is a way of life. And being discovered, is like the well-worn cliche "finding a needle in a haystack".
As authors, we are confident that, if reader's will simply read one of our works, they'll be persuaded to plonk down their cash and buy more.
But there are millions of books competing for the same eyeballs and it's a buyer's market out there.
I continue to search for new ways to get my books and stories read.
In my internet travels, I came across Canadian author, Corey Doctorow, who's long been a champion of giving away ebook copies of his work. In fact, he encourages readers to copy and distribute them and maintains the practice has encouraged a huge spike in the sales of printed copies of the same works.
I do not (yet) offer printed versions of my indie-published work but figured why not offer something similar - allow readers to read online for free and if they wanted a copy of their own, or preferred the convenience of reading on a mobile device, give them the opportunity to purchase the work at a nominal rate.
I've put this facility in place on my website ( http://www.hiltonhamann.com ) and will see how this pans out.
We are always advised to "think outside the box" but the internet has effectively "destroyed the box". Letting readers read books, for free, in the hope they will then buy them, would be considered madness in the mainstream publishing world and maybe it's the same online.
Heck, I don't know! Time will tell and I'll keep you updated.
Self-promotion for today's writer is a way of life. And being discovered, is like the well-worn cliche "finding a needle in a haystack".
As authors, we are confident that, if reader's will simply read one of our works, they'll be persuaded to plonk down their cash and buy more.
But there are millions of books competing for the same eyeballs and it's a buyer's market out there.
I continue to search for new ways to get my books and stories read.
In my internet travels, I came across Canadian author, Corey Doctorow, who's long been a champion of giving away ebook copies of his work. In fact, he encourages readers to copy and distribute them and maintains the practice has encouraged a huge spike in the sales of printed copies of the same works.
I do not (yet) offer printed versions of my indie-published work but figured why not offer something similar - allow readers to read online for free and if they wanted a copy of their own, or preferred the convenience of reading on a mobile device, give them the opportunity to purchase the work at a nominal rate.
I've put this facility in place on my website ( http://www.hiltonhamann.com ) and will see how this pans out.
We are always advised to "think outside the box" but the internet has effectively "destroyed the box". Letting readers read books, for free, in the hope they will then buy them, would be considered madness in the mainstream publishing world and maybe it's the same online.
Heck, I don't know! Time will tell and I'll keep you updated.
January 23, 2014
Only the final version matters
I couldn't even begin to guess how many words I've written over the past 50 years - 40 of which have been writing in some form or other to earn a living. I've been a journalist, speech-writer, web-content provider, corporate writer, novelist and short-story writer.
Some of what I've written has been very good but none of the exceptional stuff started out that way. Pretty well every first draft of anything I ever wrote was crap. Stilted, wordy, unorganised, mistake-filled drivel. I now accept that as part of the process but in the past it bothered me and had me often question my ability as I writer. But I've come to realise, only the last version, that which is flung to the public, matters.
Writing is mining. The diamonds are in there but you have to extract and spread out a lot of useless dirt before you find them! The secret to becoming a successful (however you choose to define "successful") writer is simple: sit down and write! It does not matter if that writing is bad. Excavate the dirt, spread it out finely before you and then begin sifting for diamonds. Give yourself permission to write badly. Get it all down first then fix, reshape, reorganise, rewrite and polish.
Almost all great writing starts with a bad first draft and that's okay - you have to start somewhere. Get it down, move the dirt, it's an inescapable part of the process.
But don't run the pump dry. Ernest Hemingway said: “Never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day. The main thing is to know when to stop. Don’t wait till you’ve written yourself out. When you’re still going good and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work."
View all my books and Coffee Break Tales at http://bit.ly/1eUSZWH
Some of what I've written has been very good but none of the exceptional stuff started out that way. Pretty well every first draft of anything I ever wrote was crap. Stilted, wordy, unorganised, mistake-filled drivel. I now accept that as part of the process but in the past it bothered me and had me often question my ability as I writer. But I've come to realise, only the last version, that which is flung to the public, matters.
Writing is mining. The diamonds are in there but you have to extract and spread out a lot of useless dirt before you find them! The secret to becoming a successful (however you choose to define "successful") writer is simple: sit down and write! It does not matter if that writing is bad. Excavate the dirt, spread it out finely before you and then begin sifting for diamonds. Give yourself permission to write badly. Get it all down first then fix, reshape, reorganise, rewrite and polish.
Almost all great writing starts with a bad first draft and that's okay - you have to start somewhere. Get it down, move the dirt, it's an inescapable part of the process.
But don't run the pump dry. Ernest Hemingway said: “Never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day. The main thing is to know when to stop. Don’t wait till you’ve written yourself out. When you’re still going good and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work."
View all my books and Coffee Break Tales at http://bit.ly/1eUSZWH
January 20, 2014
Paranoia, fear and loathing
We are all at some stage or other, products of our paranoia and prejudices.
As I get ready to bury my father today, I have had occasion to examine mine and I am ashamed.
Read the post on my other blog at http://hiltonhamann.blogspot.com/2014...
As I get ready to bury my father today, I have had occasion to examine mine and I am ashamed.
Read the post on my other blog at http://hiltonhamann.blogspot.com/2014...
January 16, 2014
2014 Digital Book Awards Winners
I have just posted the results of the 2014 Digital Book Awards on my other blog.
Take a look at who walked away with the titles!
http://bit.ly/1eM6Wsa
Take a look at who walked away with the titles!
http://bit.ly/1eM6Wsa
December 30, 2013
Short Stories and New Year's Resolutions
I hope you've all recovered from the effects of Christmas but, Oh Dear, the new year is upon us.
That time when we draw up lists of resolutions we know will be forgotten by the end of January.
I'm ashamed to think how many times in the past I've resolved to get fit and lose weight - I am sure you can guess just how well that's turned out!
This coming year I have only one resolution, to find a moment of joy and enjoyment in every day.
My outlook is based on the fact that over the past few weeks I've had to help care for my 88 year-old Father. Every day I've watched him wither and disintegrate before my eyes to the point where can do nothing for himself.
My dad always postponed his happiness and enjoyment. He set high standards and pushed himself. Daily life and responsibilities got in the way and he just never got around to doing the things he looked forward to, his whole life.
Now it's too late.
So my new year's resolution is simple -- enjoy the present!
And one of my great is reading and writing short stories. A good short story is like popping an exquisite Swiss chocolate into your mouth. It is a moment of decadent pleasure and sensory overload.
So too the short story. It's quick and bite-sized, can be consumed in a few stolen minutes and often leaves the reader with more questions than answers. That is its beauty.
I plan to publish a short story every week in the coming year. Each will be issued under the covering title: "Coffee Break Tales" and will be ideal to read on mobile phones or tablets.
The first two stories in the series are published and available for download.
"POCUB" Air is about the frustrations of dealing with officialdom. Sometimes you feel as though you've been sucked into the Twilight Zone and the frustration makes your brain want to explode!
You can download it for FREE at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
"Changing His Wife".
If you like Roald Dahl you'll love this short story with a vicious twist. He could no longer stand her endless nagging! It drove him mad. Sucked the life out of him. And it stole his dreams. So, when he was offered a way to change his wife, he took it - with unexpected consequences!
Read a sample or download it at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
"Coffee Break Tales" are quick, complete short stories for when you have a spare moment. Brilliant reading when taking a break for a cup of coffee or a cigarette.
These stories are ideal for mobile phones or tablets!
I wish you all a wonderful 2014. I trust it will be filled with great books and immense moments of enjoyment.
POCUB Air Changing His Wife
That time when we draw up lists of resolutions we know will be forgotten by the end of January.
I'm ashamed to think how many times in the past I've resolved to get fit and lose weight - I am sure you can guess just how well that's turned out!
This coming year I have only one resolution, to find a moment of joy and enjoyment in every day.
My outlook is based on the fact that over the past few weeks I've had to help care for my 88 year-old Father. Every day I've watched him wither and disintegrate before my eyes to the point where can do nothing for himself.
My dad always postponed his happiness and enjoyment. He set high standards and pushed himself. Daily life and responsibilities got in the way and he just never got around to doing the things he looked forward to, his whole life.
Now it's too late.
So my new year's resolution is simple -- enjoy the present!
And one of my great is reading and writing short stories. A good short story is like popping an exquisite Swiss chocolate into your mouth. It is a moment of decadent pleasure and sensory overload.
So too the short story. It's quick and bite-sized, can be consumed in a few stolen minutes and often leaves the reader with more questions than answers. That is its beauty.
I plan to publish a short story every week in the coming year. Each will be issued under the covering title: "Coffee Break Tales" and will be ideal to read on mobile phones or tablets.
The first two stories in the series are published and available for download.
"POCUB" Air is about the frustrations of dealing with officialdom. Sometimes you feel as though you've been sucked into the Twilight Zone and the frustration makes your brain want to explode!
You can download it for FREE at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
"Changing His Wife".
If you like Roald Dahl you'll love this short story with a vicious twist. He could no longer stand her endless nagging! It drove him mad. Sucked the life out of him. And it stole his dreams. So, when he was offered a way to change his wife, he took it - with unexpected consequences!
Read a sample or download it at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
"Coffee Break Tales" are quick, complete short stories for when you have a spare moment. Brilliant reading when taking a break for a cup of coffee or a cigarette.
These stories are ideal for mobile phones or tablets!
I wish you all a wonderful 2014. I trust it will be filled with great books and immense moments of enjoyment.
POCUB Air Changing His Wife
December 26, 2013
Follow up to the "Pay What You Want" experiment.
In my last blog entry I wrote about allowing the reader to decide to pay whatever they wished for my book, Hobson's ChoiceHOBSON'S CHOICE.
It's been a couple of weeks since commencing that experiment and, although that is probably not enough time to draw any definitive conclusions, I've decided to end the programme and label it "unsuccessful."
Sales tapered off dramatically and the limited feedback I received, indicates customers were uncomfortable, as they either did not want to risk spending too much or alternatively paying too little. It introduced an element of uncertainty they did not like.
With a set price they could immediately, and without stress, decide whether or not to go ahead with the transaction.
So, Hobson's ChoiceHOBSON'S CHOICE now reverts to a fixed price of $2.99.
I also wrote of my efforts to sell to readers, directly from my website, using the 100% secure Gumroad (http://gumroad.com) payments gateway. How has that gone? In all honesty, slowly! This is most probably because the system is new and relatively unknown. But I still believe, Gumroad offers enormous possibilities and will indeed become a viable Paypal challenger and make life easier for writers outside of the US and UK.
In the meantime I will use it as an addition to Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc.
Earlier this month, on Smashwords, I published an anthology of 10 true, funny and poignant stories, accrued while working as a journalist. I know they will delight readers and some of the tales will have you laughing out loud.
The ebook is called Notes from the Heartland"Notes from the Heartland."
You can read a sample at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Let me know what you think.
It's been a couple of weeks since commencing that experiment and, although that is probably not enough time to draw any definitive conclusions, I've decided to end the programme and label it "unsuccessful."
Sales tapered off dramatically and the limited feedback I received, indicates customers were uncomfortable, as they either did not want to risk spending too much or alternatively paying too little. It introduced an element of uncertainty they did not like.
With a set price they could immediately, and without stress, decide whether or not to go ahead with the transaction.
So, Hobson's ChoiceHOBSON'S CHOICE now reverts to a fixed price of $2.99.
I also wrote of my efforts to sell to readers, directly from my website, using the 100% secure Gumroad (http://gumroad.com) payments gateway. How has that gone? In all honesty, slowly! This is most probably because the system is new and relatively unknown. But I still believe, Gumroad offers enormous possibilities and will indeed become a viable Paypal challenger and make life easier for writers outside of the US and UK.
In the meantime I will use it as an addition to Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc.
Earlier this month, on Smashwords, I published an anthology of 10 true, funny and poignant stories, accrued while working as a journalist. I know they will delight readers and some of the tales will have you laughing out loud.
The ebook is called Notes from the Heartland"Notes from the Heartland."
You can read a sample at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Let me know what you think.
December 2, 2013
Allowing the reader to decide what they want to pay!
For somewhere around 18 months now I've sold my digital novel, "I can hear them singing now!" on Amazon and Smashwords, a process that has not been particularly satisfactory.
There is little doubt those platforms work well for authors in the US, UK and a few other countries but, for writers in the rest of the world, it does not seem worth the effort.
US regulations create so many hoops through which offshore writers must jump that, for me, it is just not worth the hassle. In addition, Amazon is not the fastest payer around!
With that in mind, I spent many months seeking the best way directly sell my digital novel, even from the depths of Africa. Using Paypal as the payments platform and directing purchasers to a download site was a partial, if somewhat clumsy solution. But I had other requirements. I did not want to have to constantly check my emails and bank statements, to verify purchases and then manually email a link to the buyers.
There's no doubt a way to automate the process but, I am a writer, I am cheap, and have no desire to learn how to set up such a system.
In addition, I wanted a pricing model where the reader could decide what he or she thought the property was worth and could PAY WHAT THEY WANT. Neither Paypal nor Amazon allowed that.
After much searching and researching, I chose Gumroad (www.gumroad.com), a payments facility that allows absolutely secure credit card payments to be made from anywhere in the world. They piggy-back on Stripe, one of the planet's largest payment gateways.
It is a wonderful system that works seamlessly and efficiently.
Readers can now PAY WHAT THEY WANT! -- anything from $1.00 upwards. Visit any of these download links to check it out:
Epub - https://gum.co/KmYw
Mobi - https://gum.co/gHwQZ
PDF - https://gum.co/xatDh
HTML - https://gum.co/iEsiW
Am I not afraid I'll be ripped off? After all, publishing has always operated on set pricing. I was pleasantly surprised. Almost all my readers paid fair prices and the few who didn't... well that's okay, it's not something I am going to become bitter and twisted about. There are many, many, more good people out there than there are rogues!
While I have now taken personal control of the sales of my novel, I did not want to completely abandon Amazon and Smashwords. In order to market directly from my website, I needed to change the title of the book. It is now called, "Hobson's Choice" and is the same book as "I can hear them singing now!" that is still offered for sale on Amazon, Smashwords and other platforms. All the reviews apply, the only difference is, readers can now choose the price they wish to pay and can TRY BEFORE THEY BUY when they download the first 28 of 74 chapters.
Visit my website http://www.hiltonhamann.com to download the sample chapters.
It's going to be interesting and exciting!
There is little doubt those platforms work well for authors in the US, UK and a few other countries but, for writers in the rest of the world, it does not seem worth the effort.
US regulations create so many hoops through which offshore writers must jump that, for me, it is just not worth the hassle. In addition, Amazon is not the fastest payer around!
With that in mind, I spent many months seeking the best way directly sell my digital novel, even from the depths of Africa. Using Paypal as the payments platform and directing purchasers to a download site was a partial, if somewhat clumsy solution. But I had other requirements. I did not want to have to constantly check my emails and bank statements, to verify purchases and then manually email a link to the buyers.
There's no doubt a way to automate the process but, I am a writer, I am cheap, and have no desire to learn how to set up such a system.
In addition, I wanted a pricing model where the reader could decide what he or she thought the property was worth and could PAY WHAT THEY WANT. Neither Paypal nor Amazon allowed that.
After much searching and researching, I chose Gumroad (www.gumroad.com), a payments facility that allows absolutely secure credit card payments to be made from anywhere in the world. They piggy-back on Stripe, one of the planet's largest payment gateways.
It is a wonderful system that works seamlessly and efficiently.
Readers can now PAY WHAT THEY WANT! -- anything from $1.00 upwards. Visit any of these download links to check it out:
Epub - https://gum.co/KmYw
Mobi - https://gum.co/gHwQZ
PDF - https://gum.co/xatDh
HTML - https://gum.co/iEsiW
Am I not afraid I'll be ripped off? After all, publishing has always operated on set pricing. I was pleasantly surprised. Almost all my readers paid fair prices and the few who didn't... well that's okay, it's not something I am going to become bitter and twisted about. There are many, many, more good people out there than there are rogues!
While I have now taken personal control of the sales of my novel, I did not want to completely abandon Amazon and Smashwords. In order to market directly from my website, I needed to change the title of the book. It is now called, "Hobson's Choice" and is the same book as "I can hear them singing now!" that is still offered for sale on Amazon, Smashwords and other platforms. All the reviews apply, the only difference is, readers can now choose the price they wish to pay and can TRY BEFORE THEY BUY when they download the first 28 of 74 chapters.
Visit my website http://www.hiltonhamann.com to download the sample chapters.
It's going to be interesting and exciting!
