M. David Hornbuckle

Author: mdavidhornbuckle

  • 50 More By Xmas

    They say it is good to have goals. Mine is fairly modest actually. I would like to sell 50 downloads of the Salvation e-book by Christmas. This will be more than enough to qualify it for a paperback printing (by my best calculation, I’m on contractually obligated to sell about 40 more). I’m asking all my friends and “fans” to please help spread the word about it.

    One thing you can do is become by fan on Facebook. You can do that by going to this page and clicking the “Become a Fan” link. Your Facebook updates will show that you became a fan, thus dissiminating my fame far and wide through the internets. I’ll also be able to send you updates directly, but I promise that I won’t do this very much.

    On a similar note, you can join the Facebook group M. David Hornbuckle Knows Wordz Good. Both Fabebook pages serve virtually the same purpose as far as you are concerned. For me, there are technical pros and cons for each one, and that is why I set both of them up.

    And of course, if you haven’t already done so, you can buy the damn book. You could even send a message out to a few people you know and say, “Hey, this guy who I (went to high school with/was in a band with/slept with years ago) has written a book, and he could really use your support. Please buy a copy,” and include that link, so they know where to go. That would be awesome and totally unexpected on my part.

  • One Year Old

    It’s coming up on the one-year anniversary of the release of Salvation as an e-book. I don’t have any idea how many copies have sold so far. I expect to find out in the next few weeks.

    I’d like to thank all my friends who have already bought the book, especially the ones who actually read it. Thank you all for your kind comments and encouragement. If you haven’t yet bought a copy, please do so. It’s really quite cheap and pretty entertaining, if I say so myself.

  • Misconceptions and Fun Suggestions

    First, correcting some misconceptions about e-books.

    1. You DO NOT need a special e-book reader like a Kindle to read my novella. You just need a computer. The book is in PDF format, readable by virtually any computer. You can even read it on an iPhone.

    2. You DO NOT have to read it at your computer. You can print it out. It’s only 60 pages. If you want to be really fancy, you can probably set your printer for double-sided, making it only 30 pages. To be even fancier, you can set your printer to print 2 pages to a side AND double-sided, reducing the actual pages printed to a mere 15.

    3. You SHOULD NOT wait until it comes out in paperback to buy it, though I’m sure this will happen eventually. But if you buy the e-book, that gets me one step closer to having it printed in paperback, and then you can buy it again!

    Okay, now some fun suggestions for what you can do with your e-book once you buy it.

    1. Make your own cover: Print it out, as above, and then take an additional sheet of paper to draw a cover. Perhaps wait until after you’ve read the book to design your cover, or design a cover resembling what you expect the book to be like and see how it holds up after you’ve read it. Or design something abstract that has nothing to do with the book.

    2. A variation on (1) for those of you with graphic design abilities and a pro version of Adobe Acrobat: Make a cover in your favorite graphic design program (Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, whatever) and then import it right into the PDF. This is especially nice if you have access to a color printer in your office.

    3. Mail it to your friends. With an e-book, people can borrow a book from you while you’re still reading it! (then ask them to send me $5).

    Buy The Salvation of Billy Wayne Carter here.

  • Time and Nothingness

    I have to say something about this this article because the book they’re reviewing is similar (in theory) to the kind of books that Thom Hawkins, one of the major characters in Salvation writes. The authors of the book have identified six different attitudes about the concept of “time,” and they say that the category in which you fall can have a lot to do with your happiness and success.

    I took the quiz attached to the article, and the results were contradictory. Apparently, I’m both more likely and less likely to be depressed, aggressive, and conscientious and to use drugs or alcohol. Hmm.

    I took the quiz again imagining Thom’s POV, and he was more consistent–that’s a fictional character for you.


  • my self-deprecating sales manner

    I suppose complaining about my poor sales isn’t the best way to convince people to buy my book.

    So here are some nice things people have said about it.

    “Wonderful work… I finished it in one sitting” –Kevin M.

    “I love it… The writing is great. I had to look up ‘minacious’! The story is haunting. I found TH2’s descent especially touching” –Margaret D.

    “I’ve been reading David Hornbuckle for several years now, and his mind never ceases to amaze. His stories — this one in particular — manage a blending of neo-realism with the freest feats of imagination. His beautifully written worlds are ours and, I think, several others. He’s carrying on the fine tradition of Southern writers … only different.” –Jim B.

    So there. Feel free to add your own reviews, both positive and negative, in the comments.

  • Save Billy Wayne Carter

    Although the book came out almost 9 months ago, I’m starting this blog now in order to try to give it a second life. It turns out that marketing an e-book is not an particularly easy thing to do, and sales have not been quite what I’d hoped for.

    A couple of months ago, I wrote an article for mediabistro.com (subscription only, unfortunately), which profiled my publisher, Cantarabooks, and examined the pros and cons of their business model. In a nutshell, the model is this: First they publish a book electronically, and if it sells over a certain threshhold, they will then publish it in paperback. Compared to options like print-on-demand and self-publishing, I concluded this was a good option for some writers, especially if they were having a hard time getting their foot in the door of a more traditional publishing house.

    The biggest advantage I can see to this type of publishing is that e-books cost almost nothing to produce, so the house can afford to take a chance on an author that is unconventional or unknown.

    As of today, I need to sell only 53 more books to be offered a paperback contract by my publisher. I’m being up-front about this number because it seems low, but, in fact, I’ve already tapped almost all my friends and family, and word just isn’t spreading about the book outside my relatively small circle of acquaintances.

    So buy a copy today and help bring Salvation to life as an old-fashioned book that you can hold in your hands, carry with you, and lend to friends.

  • Book Trailer

    View the book trailer for Salvation on YouTube.

  • Like a Dead Squirrel

    Overheard these details about someone last week: She chewed cloves to cover up the smell of gin. The gin also raised her blood pressure, and she ate whole garlic cloves to bring it back down. When she woke up in the morning, her husband said she smelled like a dead squirrel.

  • Tractor Tie

    In response to my plea for people to buy my book, Angie Lane has apparently read the short stories on my website. She reminded me that she was there when the incident on which “Pineapple Tie” was based occurred. It was the summer after we all graduated. I’d had a job interview earlier that day at the Book and Art shop, where I was to work the rest of that summer. Several of us went to Boomer’s, as we often did in those days. On the street outside, a couple of drunk rednecks tried to pick a fight with me because I was wearing a tie. According to Angie, it wasn’t the pineapple tie, which I think I bought later, but a tie with stitched tractors, which she claims she bought for me. I don’t have any memory of that particular tie.

  • Strangers Waiting for a Train That Never Arrives

    The other day, I was at the 2nd Ave F station, and there was one of those unintelligible announcements over the intercom. I asked a woman standing nearby if she understood what was said, and she didn’t. So I said I would go upstairs and see if there were any signs. When I came back, the woman—who was about my age and sort of attractive in a thin, hippie way—was looking for me. Suddenly I realized that I was taking charge of this situation, and she was depending on me for information. I told her what I had found out, which was that, due to flooding, the F wasn’t going to Queens, and you have to transfer to another train at 34th Street.

    After a few minutes, still no train, another announcement came on. It was still nearly impossible to decipher, but certain parts of it sounded distinctly different from the sign I had read. The two of us both decided we’d take a cab because there was no telling when/if a train was going to show up. She offered to share a cab, but my apartment was a little out of the way of her destination, which was 6th Ave, in the 50s. It occurred to me that she was probably stunned and grateful that someone actually bothered to talk to her in the subway. Perhaps I imagined that she was also somewhat attracted to me. I’m really not so narcissistic as to think this about every strange woman I manage to talk to, but her manner indicated a certain amount of hope and desire.