Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Local author makes good-for us all
Most of us are familiar with the fable of the hare and the tortoise. The hare is blessed with all the natural gifts of speed and agility. But the turtle, whose sole redeeming virtue is persistence, bests him.
Charles Sobczak looks nothing like a turtle, and his success as a Sanibel Realtor certainly isn’t due to a case of the slows. But he has raced past the traditional route to becoming a published author, and has realized his dream with the sort of persistence made famous by that turtle of fable.
Sobczak recently won the Writer of the Year award from the Alliance for the Arts organization of Lee County. The honor is well deserved, because Sobczak has done more to sell the gospel of reading, writing and publishing than has any Florida author. That’s a bold statement, so let me back it up fast.
There are better writers in Florida. And there are better salesmen. But no author or salesman in Florida today better personifies the process of making one’s publishing dream a reality as does Sobczak. He is creating an example that may lead others to abandon the frustration of publishing-house rejections. And his marketing approach is putting books into the hands of people who may not otherwise pause to consider reading, much less buying, a book.
He makes art pay while bringing it to the masses (a good way to keep art around, incidentally), and his marriage of creativity and market smarts is superlative.
Sobczak is an average guy who decided to write some books. Traditional publishing houses rejected his manuscripts, so he decided to self-publish. Sobczak’s first book, “Six Mornings in Sanibel, was a hit, and he’s been writing (and selling a few houses) ever since.
His success as a writer comes because Sobczak knows how to join contemporary events to fiction. In doing so, he expands the range of readers to corral folks who otherwise might not pick up a book.
His books range from a collection of stories celebrating the lifestyle of Sanibel to a timely and topical love story between a Christian and a Muslim. They all reflect Sobczak’s good ear-- and good timing when it comes to picking his material.
How good is Sobczak’s timing? Consider “Way Under Contract,” a black comedy about the real estate business. It’s become a very successful book, thanks in part to an unlikely marketing campaign named Hurricane Charley. That storm's fury, along with the depredations of its friends, reminded Floridians of the price to be paid for living in the lap of nature’s luxury.
Sobczak scored because “Contract’s” climactic scene is—you guessed it—a hurricane. It’s as if he were hit by lightning. He showed a similar sense of good timing with his most recent book, “A Choice of Angels.” He began work on the book before the Iraqi War. Its story of star-crossed followers of the crescent and the cross raises issues engendered by the war. Again, right after natural or man-made phenomena generated an interest in a particular subject, Sobczak was there with the goods. It’s as if he were struck by lightning twice.
But before anyone starts attributing the author’s success solely to good timing, think again. Sobczak works hard, spending countless hour researching and rewriting. And that's his night job. Any author, including Sobczak, can speak to the countless hours of revision required to bring a book to fruition. So he’s earned his success. After all, how many others had hurricane books ready for the summer of storms? Timing helps, but it’s useless unless you are able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Sobczak understands Shakespeare’s line about “a tide in the affairs of men…” and knows how to take advantage of what he’s been blessed with. He brings his Realtor’s experience to work as an author, by launching well-coordinated marketing campaigns. Too many authors think it’s beneath them to sell their books. But what better evidence can one offer prospective buyers than the eagerness of a proud poppa bragging about the latest progeny? Sobczak goes whole hog, printing up flyers and brochures, shipping out press releases, and maintaining an exhausting schedule of appearances at events big and small.
He shows by his actions--from paying to have his books published to marketing them relentlessly-- that he believes in his work.
In doing so, Sobczak may be changing the nature of the publishing business here in Florida. His books are self-published and bear the one flaw often associated with such products—the editing suffers in all of them. But the stories are good enough to draw the reader. Besides, Sobczak is becoming a better writer and editor with each of his books (he’s written four).
But it’s his approach to marketing that sets him apart. Sobczak has sold more than 3,000 books, and has garnered not only the Lee County honor, but also the Patrick D. Smith award for best Florida book.
As his books sell and gain credibility, he will undoubtedly smooth the road for the next self-publisher of a quality book to hit it big. He’s willing to proceed at a turtle’s pace, learning as he progresses. But in doing so, he will certainly make it easy for others to step lively on the road to self-publishing success.
James Abraham, an independent book reviewer, can be reached at book-broker@hotmail.com.
Charles Sobczak looks nothing like a turtle, and his success as a Sanibel Realtor certainly isn’t due to a case of the slows. But he has raced past the traditional route to becoming a published author, and has realized his dream with the sort of persistence made famous by that turtle of fable.
Sobczak recently won the Writer of the Year award from the Alliance for the Arts organization of Lee County. The honor is well deserved, because Sobczak has done more to sell the gospel of reading, writing and publishing than has any Florida author. That’s a bold statement, so let me back it up fast.
There are better writers in Florida. And there are better salesmen. But no author or salesman in Florida today better personifies the process of making one’s publishing dream a reality as does Sobczak. He is creating an example that may lead others to abandon the frustration of publishing-house rejections. And his marketing approach is putting books into the hands of people who may not otherwise pause to consider reading, much less buying, a book.
He makes art pay while bringing it to the masses (a good way to keep art around, incidentally), and his marriage of creativity and market smarts is superlative.
Sobczak is an average guy who decided to write some books. Traditional publishing houses rejected his manuscripts, so he decided to self-publish. Sobczak’s first book, “Six Mornings in Sanibel, was a hit, and he’s been writing (and selling a few houses) ever since.
His success as a writer comes because Sobczak knows how to join contemporary events to fiction. In doing so, he expands the range of readers to corral folks who otherwise might not pick up a book.
His books range from a collection of stories celebrating the lifestyle of Sanibel to a timely and topical love story between a Christian and a Muslim. They all reflect Sobczak’s good ear-- and good timing when it comes to picking his material.
How good is Sobczak’s timing? Consider “Way Under Contract,” a black comedy about the real estate business. It’s become a very successful book, thanks in part to an unlikely marketing campaign named Hurricane Charley. That storm's fury, along with the depredations of its friends, reminded Floridians of the price to be paid for living in the lap of nature’s luxury.
Sobczak scored because “Contract’s” climactic scene is—you guessed it—a hurricane. It’s as if he were hit by lightning. He showed a similar sense of good timing with his most recent book, “A Choice of Angels.” He began work on the book before the Iraqi War. Its story of star-crossed followers of the crescent and the cross raises issues engendered by the war. Again, right after natural or man-made phenomena generated an interest in a particular subject, Sobczak was there with the goods. It’s as if he were struck by lightning twice.
But before anyone starts attributing the author’s success solely to good timing, think again. Sobczak works hard, spending countless hour researching and rewriting. And that's his night job. Any author, including Sobczak, can speak to the countless hours of revision required to bring a book to fruition. So he’s earned his success. After all, how many others had hurricane books ready for the summer of storms? Timing helps, but it’s useless unless you are able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Sobczak understands Shakespeare’s line about “a tide in the affairs of men…” and knows how to take advantage of what he’s been blessed with. He brings his Realtor’s experience to work as an author, by launching well-coordinated marketing campaigns. Too many authors think it’s beneath them to sell their books. But what better evidence can one offer prospective buyers than the eagerness of a proud poppa bragging about the latest progeny? Sobczak goes whole hog, printing up flyers and brochures, shipping out press releases, and maintaining an exhausting schedule of appearances at events big and small.
He shows by his actions--from paying to have his books published to marketing them relentlessly-- that he believes in his work.
In doing so, Sobczak may be changing the nature of the publishing business here in Florida. His books are self-published and bear the one flaw often associated with such products—the editing suffers in all of them. But the stories are good enough to draw the reader. Besides, Sobczak is becoming a better writer and editor with each of his books (he’s written four).
But it’s his approach to marketing that sets him apart. Sobczak has sold more than 3,000 books, and has garnered not only the Lee County honor, but also the Patrick D. Smith award for best Florida book.
As his books sell and gain credibility, he will undoubtedly smooth the road for the next self-publisher of a quality book to hit it big. He’s willing to proceed at a turtle’s pace, learning as he progresses. But in doing so, he will certainly make it easy for others to step lively on the road to self-publishing success.
James Abraham, an independent book reviewer, can be reached at book-broker@hotmail.com.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Cornfield
Cornfield
by Henry Burt Stevens
03/07/2005
the neighbor's cornfield
clad in ice and snow
sparkles in the sunlight
as crows pick at stubble
looking for a stray grain
that escaped the flocks
of geese who devoured
last fall the spill of harvest
come spring, thawing, melting
drying dirt enough to plough
harrow seed and feed
a new crop of green shoots
growing taller than any man
but chopped to silage and lugged
away in one pass- the machine
turning the whole field again to stubble
it seems i see the universe
mirrored in the cornfield, its
ordinary presence, simplicity
with beauty, quietness with peace.
by Henry Burt Stevens
03/07/2005
the neighbor's cornfield
clad in ice and snow
sparkles in the sunlight
as crows pick at stubble
looking for a stray grain
that escaped the flocks
of geese who devoured
last fall the spill of harvest
come spring, thawing, melting
drying dirt enough to plough
harrow seed and feed
a new crop of green shoots
growing taller than any man
but chopped to silage and lugged
away in one pass- the machine
turning the whole field again to stubble
it seems i see the universe
mirrored in the cornfield, its
ordinary presence, simplicity
with beauty, quietness with peace.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Talking airplane worth a flight of fancy
They say men can express only two emotions, humor and anger. That may be, but I know it’s hard for us to exhibit a full range of feelings, particularly when it comes to expressing love.
“Cubs on the Loose,” by NC-87881 as told to Lyle Wheeler, ($14.95 Amea Cottage) is at heart a love story, one which uses an old device to send its message of enduring affection.
Many are familiar with the old Miles Standish story, in which the gruff old soldier sends John Alden to tell Priscilla Mullins of the veteran’s love for her. That’s an example of using an intermediary to say something one may feel uncomfortable saying oneself. That of course backfired, as Priscilla and John wound up living happily ever after.
But Wheeler’s device, that of having his beloved Piper Cub describe the author’s love of aviation and infatuation with his airplane, is a successful variation on that old gimmick.
The book recounts the travels of NC87881 and two other planes on a barnstorming flight. The pilots wanted to fly the old-fashioned way, without navigational devices, and bed down in the grass under their planes’ wings, the way pilots did back when flying was considered rare and risky.
The pilots are referred to as humanoids by NC-87881, and come across as lovable, goofy beings who would be lost without the guidance and durability of the Cubs.
Sure, many of us are familiar with plots in which a machine is imbued with human qualities. There was the deservedly ill-fated and short-lived Jerry Van Dyke show, “My Mother the Car,” and the sickeningly ubiquitous Herbie the Love (Volkswagen) Bug.
But Wheeler is able to elevate that device, known as anthropomorphism, to a literary level that merits reading. He does so by first of all understanding what he’s talking about. Fantasy, in order to work, must be based on some very real premises. Wheeler, a veteran airlines pilot who retired as the senior pilot with TWA, does know his airplanes. From simple tasks such as maintenance to general aerobatics, he understands what he’s describing, thus giving the talking airplane meaning and context.
He keeps his plane’s meanderings within the confines of common sense, even as he invests it with the qualities one would appreciate in a good friend or loving wife.
Here’s an example:
“As I continued to taxi back to the ramp, I watched with envy as 726 touched down diagonally across the bug intersection of the two runways in the center of the field. She had absolutely no problems because, landing as she did, her crosswind component was almost zero. .. I hated to admit to her that my little excursion not planned…Thank goodness no one else saw my performance. How embarrassing.”
Laymen may have trouble understanding the above paragraph, but any pilot would appreciate it. Piper Cubs are like kites and, when landing one, the pilot must be cognizant of wind direction.
But even those unversed in the ways of the sky will understand the embarrassment that would be felt if one slipped or stumbled while executing a maneuver in front of one’s peers.
Thus, both the technical possibilities and the emotional reactions of the airplane make sense, allowing the book to be enjoyed by both aviation enthusiasts and laymen.
Wheeler started out writing columns for a defunct aviation magazine, in which he wrote as if his airplane was doing the narrating. The column outlasted the magazine. One day, after Wheeler went out to buy a $50 Coke (a joke among flyers who use any excuse, even going to buy a soda, as an excuse to gas up and take off) he was sitting in Arcadia relaxing when some flyers recognized his Cub’s call letters. Next thing he knew, the plane was being mobbed.
That reaction, along with encouragement from appreciative readers of his column, led him to write “Cubs.”
Yes, some may still think the premise is hokey. But, just as men -- and many women –often are unable to say I love you, so do many of us all too often surrender to the mundane and boringly practical. Wheeler’s Cub not only speaks of the love many who take to the skies feel as they break the bonds of earth, but it also speaks as if it were well-loved, with a healthy self-image and a concern for others.
Who’s to say that if you supply your engine, be it the motive mechanism of a plane, car or boat, it won’t return that attention by giving its last full measure to get you where you where you want to go? Sure, you increase the odds that the moving parts will continue to move well, but maybe there’s more to it than that. If our souls are as great as many of us think they are, who’s to say that some of that psychic energy is not transmitted to bits of steel and rubber?
Before you laugh, think of how many people name and talk to their vehicles.
Women know how hard it is to get a man to say I love you. Lyle Wheeler knows the language of love. And he knows it so well, he’s even taught an airplane to whisper sweet nothings over the roar of its well-tuned engine.
James M. Abraham, an independent book reviewer, can be reached at book-broker@hotmail.com..
| |
“Cubs on the Loose,” by NC-87881 as told to Lyle Wheeler, ($14.95 Amea Cottage) is at heart a love story, one which uses an old device to send its message of enduring affection.
Many are familiar with the old Miles Standish story, in which the gruff old soldier sends John Alden to tell Priscilla Mullins of the veteran’s love for her. That’s an example of using an intermediary to say something one may feel uncomfortable saying oneself. That of course backfired, as Priscilla and John wound up living happily ever after.
But Wheeler’s device, that of having his beloved Piper Cub describe the author’s love of aviation and infatuation with his airplane, is a successful variation on that old gimmick.
The book recounts the travels of NC87881 and two other planes on a barnstorming flight. The pilots wanted to fly the old-fashioned way, without navigational devices, and bed down in the grass under their planes’ wings, the way pilots did back when flying was considered rare and risky.
The pilots are referred to as humanoids by NC-87881, and come across as lovable, goofy beings who would be lost without the guidance and durability of the Cubs.
Sure, many of us are familiar with plots in which a machine is imbued with human qualities. There was the deservedly ill-fated and short-lived Jerry Van Dyke show, “My Mother the Car,” and the sickeningly ubiquitous Herbie the Love (Volkswagen) Bug.
But Wheeler is able to elevate that device, known as anthropomorphism, to a literary level that merits reading. He does so by first of all understanding what he’s talking about. Fantasy, in order to work, must be based on some very real premises. Wheeler, a veteran airlines pilot who retired as the senior pilot with TWA, does know his airplanes. From simple tasks such as maintenance to general aerobatics, he understands what he’s describing, thus giving the talking airplane meaning and context.
He keeps his plane’s meanderings within the confines of common sense, even as he invests it with the qualities one would appreciate in a good friend or loving wife.
Here’s an example:
“As I continued to taxi back to the ramp, I watched with envy as 726 touched down diagonally across the bug intersection of the two runways in the center of the field. She had absolutely no problems because, landing as she did, her crosswind component was almost zero. .. I hated to admit to her that my little excursion not planned…Thank goodness no one else saw my performance. How embarrassing.”
Laymen may have trouble understanding the above paragraph, but any pilot would appreciate it. Piper Cubs are like kites and, when landing one, the pilot must be cognizant of wind direction.
But even those unversed in the ways of the sky will understand the embarrassment that would be felt if one slipped or stumbled while executing a maneuver in front of one’s peers.
Thus, both the technical possibilities and the emotional reactions of the airplane make sense, allowing the book to be enjoyed by both aviation enthusiasts and laymen.
Wheeler started out writing columns for a defunct aviation magazine, in which he wrote as if his airplane was doing the narrating. The column outlasted the magazine. One day, after Wheeler went out to buy a $50 Coke (a joke among flyers who use any excuse, even going to buy a soda, as an excuse to gas up and take off) he was sitting in Arcadia relaxing when some flyers recognized his Cub’s call letters. Next thing he knew, the plane was being mobbed.
That reaction, along with encouragement from appreciative readers of his column, led him to write “Cubs.”
Yes, some may still think the premise is hokey. But, just as men -- and many women –often are unable to say I love you, so do many of us all too often surrender to the mundane and boringly practical. Wheeler’s Cub not only speaks of the love many who take to the skies feel as they break the bonds of earth, but it also speaks as if it were well-loved, with a healthy self-image and a concern for others.
Who’s to say that if you supply your engine, be it the motive mechanism of a plane, car or boat, it won’t return that attention by giving its last full measure to get you where you where you want to go? Sure, you increase the odds that the moving parts will continue to move well, but maybe there’s more to it than that. If our souls are as great as many of us think they are, who’s to say that some of that psychic energy is not transmitted to bits of steel and rubber?
Before you laugh, think of how many people name and talk to their vehicles.
Women know how hard it is to get a man to say I love you. Lyle Wheeler knows the language of love. And he knows it so well, he’s even taught an airplane to whisper sweet nothings over the roar of its well-tuned engine.
James M. Abraham, an independent book reviewer, can be reached at book-broker@hotmail.com..
| |
