"Jellybeans" in Hindsight

About thirteen years ago, I finished putting together a series of blog posts and converted them into a memoir, had them printed by USQ press, and published it.

1000 copies were printed. There are about 80 left.

Looking back on the experience is interesting.

I wrote it because it was something I'd always wanted to do. The story was in my memory and had been for years. I had also been back to Vietnam a couple of times, and those trips had put a lot of things in perspective.

The school I had retired from in my last principalship was happy to organise a book release as a fundraiser, and I undertook to provide a percentage of the proceeds to the P & C.

It was marketed through word of mouth, a couple of radio interviews, a website, advertisements on a couple of websites, and most recently in DVA's Vetaffairs newsletter. 

I travelled to the USA in 2018, and established contacts with Vietnam veterans across the Pacific to help sell the eBook version. Selling hard copy overseas was never a possibility because of mailing costs. It was reviewed by Marc Leepson in 2018.

It has been stocked in a couple of Dymocks bookstores.

Since release, about 900 copies have been sold, and quite a few (I haven't counted) given away, mostly to fellow Nashos.

Apart from the experience of writing it, it has been a reliable minor earner, and helped keep me in coffee and beer money since released. The P & C also did OK. 

I've given a few author talks at libraries. What surprised me at these functions was the deep ignorance of our Vietnam commitment demonstrated by audience members. Where these author talks were conducted with veteran groups, as a few were, the acceptance of some toxic myths surprised me.  

This was substantially what motivated me to commit to further research about National Service Conscription at USQ. 

It's still available, by the way. 

I have no regrets, gentle reader, everybody should write a book. Have a go....