The March of Time
In February, I announced a new book series, THE STORY OF A SPECIAL DAY, from my new publishing imprint, Timespinner Press. These are the first installment of what will eventually become a series of 366 books, one for every day of the year — including February 29.
The formal kickoff of the series started with March 1, the anniversary of the founding of Yellowstone National Park, and ran until March 25, the anniversary of the founding of the city of Venice. Originally, I'd hoped to get all of March done, but I didn't quite make it. But I don't feel too bad about it. In five months, I wrote 25 books with a total of 1,680 pages, nearly 200,000 words, with 670 photographs and illustrations.
The average volume is 68 pages with 7,600 words and 27 photos and illustrations. The shortest book (March 2) is 45 pages long with 4,600 words and 19 photos; the longest (March 19) is 84 pages, 11,500 words and 27 photos. There's a very noticeable tendency for the books to pick up length as the series goes on.
While the sales to date leave something to be desired, I am neither surprised nor disappointed. With less than ten percent of the year done, nothing much in the way of publicity, and still in the "proof of concept" phase, it's too early to tell, and the general reaction has been so positive that I believe success is simply a matter of time and hard work.
Thirty Days Hath September
What's next? I have two volumes that have been specially requested: May 6 and July 4. I'll do those in the next few weeks. Then it's on to September, and I'll get as much of that month done as possible before September begins. The whole project will take between three and four years to complete, depending on the press of immediately paying work.
In the meantime, Timespinner Press will be publishing other history themed books by outside authors. The first, A Whole New Navy, by Miles H. Durr, is a mammoth 776-page study of World War II in the Pacific, the product of 30 years of research. I have at least one more lined up, a history of the royal family of Bengal from the beginnings of the British raj through the founding of Pakistan, by my dear friend Humayun Mirza, son of Pakistan's first president and last heir to the throne of East India.
Timespinner Press will also be publishing other books by me. Coming shortly is WATERGATE CONSIDERED AS A HELIX OF SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES, a collection of essays about my favorite scandal.
Improbable Blogspot
For the 25 book-related days of March, I prepared entries for my blog Dobson's Improbable History. It'll be challenging to continue with a post every single day, but I still expect to update the blog at least a couple of times a week. My Timespinner Press on Facebook page is the best way to keep up to date, but I'll be sharing those posts on my personal Facebook page as well. So far I've neglected LinkedIn, but that will change.
My other blog, Sidewise Thinking, has been neglected during the roll-out of THE STORY OF A SPECIAL DAY, but I still have the rest of my series on argumentative fallacies to finish — as well as more "Eyewitness to Murder." Both will eventually be collected in book form as well. Plus, I have over a year's worth of Dobson's Laws, my once-and-future daily Twitter wisdom, that just need to be re-loaded to appear once again each day.
I'm extremely gratified with the kind responses and positive feedback you've given my work. More soon — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. Thanks.
