Resuscitating the Dream

Many of you may have noticed - OK, two or three of you may have noticed - that my eBook Living in a Banana Dream is quickly disappearing from eBook store shelves. While I would love to tell you that it’s because it is a New York Times Bestseller, or even a Home and Store News Luke Warm Seller (that’s a nod to my friends up in Jersey), it’s for a different reason.

Living in a Banana Dream is being revamped. Several new chapters are being added; terrible editing is being corrected; rights are being wronged. No, wait. Wrongs are being righted. This is all in an effort to bring Banana Dream to not only digital readers but to brick and mortar shelfs as well in paperback form.

After putting it off for quite some time for a variety of reasons I have finally gotten the opportunity to duck in full force and I am working my way through the process of having the book picked up by a publisher right now. It’s a tedious process but let me tell all of you aspiring, un-agented authors out there, take it serious. You will learn a lot about yourself and your book in the process.

The hardest part, at least for me, is not overselling the book, making it more than it is. For my outdoor recreation books like Hiking Through History Alabama or Hiking Alabama I am very familiar with the publisher so either they ask me directly for a book or I know exactly what is expected when I propose a book. I know the right balance of enthusiasm.

It’s different with Living in a Banana Dream. I’m delving into the literary publishing world, a much different beast. Banana Dream has been brewing for quite some time and when you work something that long and hard you can’t help but be excited and are willing to promise a publisher the moon to get it to print. I’ve learned a lot about gauging the audience, the submissions manager, from this process and how to talk about the book in glowing terms but not going off the charts, even subduing my marketing plan from doing a 10,000 city book tour down to something more reasonable (I exaggerate about 10,000 cities…but I can dream, can’t I?)

The main thing is that the process gives you a chance to review your book again. In the query letter of a proposal you need to give the publisher a little excitement, that this book belongs in their catalog. I did that and realized that there was a disconnect between my initial “hook” and the book itself. I have since revamped that section and now the feeling of the book is summarized nicely in a single paragraph, much better than my rambling diatribe.

So, the process begins anew. I’ll try to share my exploits with you as the journey progresses for Banana Dream and two new manuscripts almost ready to hit the circuit, a murder mystery called Dead Air, and an historical book on the soundtrack of World War II music, GI Jive.

To be continued…

Alabama's Amendment #2

Just one of the falls you'll see when you hike the Falls Loop at DeSoto State Park.

I really don’t like getting political (you lose a lot of friends:)) but I have been asked by MANY people this morning about the upcoming vote on Amendment 2, the amendment that would guarantee funding for Alabama State Parks.

For me personally I am voting yes to Amendment 2. First of all, I love Alabama’s state parks. To me they are some of the finest around with amazing landscapes, trails, and outdoor recreation. They are a treasure.

The question is whether the amendment would also allow the parks to be privatized. I think an article by Conservation Alabama (view the article here) answers that question quite nicely. One line in the article says it all, “If [the amendment] passes, the only thing Amendment 2 would change about how parks are operated is to allow facilities that were paid for by a state bond issue to also use contractors.”

As I said, my personal feeling is that the state parks are a treasure for Alabama and need to remain open for tourists and residents to safely enjoy and explore the wonders of Alabama’s natural settings without the worry of having the rug (funds) pulled away by the state at a moment’s notice like last year when several parks were forced to close. The state has dug itself into a financial hole and instead of fixing the problem they have become comfortable with moving money from critical services such as education and health to put a band aid on the problem. Without this guarantee state parks will continually have an unsure financial future. They survived the funding fiasco last year, they may not be as lucky next year.

I think the article outlines what the amendment is all about quite nicely. The parks need to have a solid future for the hundreds of people who work for the park system, for all of us who love the parks, and for our kids and future generations.

Just my humble opinion.

The Dream Lives On

I hope you’ll allow me to indulge myself for this blog entry and take a trip away from the outdoor recreation books and my other writing to instead take a trip down memory lane. 

For those of you who have read the first edition of “Living in a Banana Dream” (yes, first edition, but more on that in an upcoming blog) you know that this “fictional” tale of growing up (loosely based on faulty memories, of course) centers around a gang of friends reuniting at a quintessential New Jersey diner before heading off to their 40^th class reunion. Well, the “dream” continues.

Back in June I made my way up to old Mahwah, New Jersey for just that, the real-life 40^th reunion, the one I wrote about two years before it even happened. Every hour except those used for sleep and the 3 or so hours that I spent at the real class reunion was with the gang and I’m here to tell you, and I can only speak for myself but I think the rest of the gang felt the same, it was just like in the book, like we had never left.

I’m sure there are other groups of friends that have survived the years and are still as tight as they were all those years ago but this seemed different, like we were family not just friends. Even though 2,000 miles and forty years separated us we were, and still are, just a phone call away. Our sense of humor including non-stop bad jokes and puns, our dreams, nothing has changed. Even my family is awestruck with how close this “gang” is.

As expected we did the usual reunion type events like eating at our favorite diners and restaurants we knew all too well from our distant past. We slurped down large frosty mugs of Egg Creams and chowed down on Kinchley’s Pizza and had Reuben’s at the Mahwah Bar and Grill. The only eatery we couldn’t visit was Pal’s Diner, the central figure of “Living in a Banana Dream” which was physically moved years ago to save it from ruin and which is now a thriving diner in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

We visited the old high school which isn’t the same at all. In the book, you may remember that I described it as a campus, several separate buildings that made it a challenge getting from one class to another on those frosty, icy, bitterly cold northern winter mornings. Today it is a single building, all-in-one. A couple of the old buildings remain and are being used by the school board or for storage but otherwise, it’s not even close to what it used to be with the exception of the gold-ish statue of the school mascot, the Thunderbird, perched out front.

Even though the school was closed for the summer the new principal was gracious enough to allow a few of us to walk around and check out the newer building. We looked at the plaques, the awards, names of kids we knew from the Class of 76 who still hold records in one sport or another. Then we came upon the one place that was a must see for us - the cafeteria.

It basically looked the same but was no longer a single building. The front now had an overhang that attached it to the new building like an umbilical cord. It still had large glass windows in the front like it used to be but instead of looking out over a beautiful northern New Jersey mountain vista it now looked out into the walkway and the brickwork of the new building.

Each of us took a seat on the benches that were attached to long tables that stretched from one end of the room to the other. They were almost exact replications of the tables we used to sit at, or as far as we could remember they did. This is where the memories really began to flow. The cafeteria was the center of activity forty years ago. When we weren’t at one of our houses watching the Yankees, playing baseball, or cruising with our best girl, the cafeteria was the hub where crushes on your favorite girl or guy were either realized or dashed. It was where many notes were passed between tables and friends, sometimes being intercepted by the wrong person. It was where we made our plans.

After leaving the school we drove around town to see our old houses and haunts. Million dollar houses were springing up next to or replacing the old blue collar homes of years gone by. The town had become upper class, a far, far different feel than forty years ago when factories like the Ford Assembly Plant would chug out smoke and products to the world.

We circled around and drove up Route 17 not once but several times. The traffic there was still mean to borrow a phrase from TV show host Uncle Floyd.  My face pressed up against the glass of the car I was riding in, straining to see any vestiges of my old house, but there was nothing, not a trace of the old house that sat on the side of Houvenkopf Mountain, blown away by tons of dynamite years before so that a new multi-lane highway could merge in with Route 17.

For the first time during the trip my eyes began to tear as I remembered my Mom and Dad, long since passed, my sister who passed a year ago, and the too many to mention remarkable times the gang had in that house.

On the very last day, the day of the actual reunion, the class had set aside the morning to have a hike that I was to lead. It was a hike to McMillan Reservoir. Forty years ago, before we ever attempted our first backpacking trip we would take day hikes to the top of Houvenkopf Mountain, the nearby cliffs of Ramapo Torne, and McMillan Reservoir. The reservoir was one of our favorite destinations especially in the fall when the autumn leaves are bright and reflect in the still water. 

It’s hard to believe that those hikes so long ago, those little jaunts with the gang would end up leading me to the hills, canyons, rivers, and beaches of Alabama and an amazing side-career writing about one of my favorite activities.

I worried about the reunion. I worried about how everyone might have changed. I worried about how I have changed. I should have known better.

When Short Stories Become Reality

Well, not the stories themselves. My book, "Living in a Banana Dream", is a collection of stories loosely based on faulty memories. The book has been dangling out there for many years, most of those years it was simply a collection of stories about a group of friends growing up in the 60s and 70s not tied together in any way.

While I loved the stories, which are all told in their "Jean Shepherd-esque" way, I felt something was lacking. so a few years ago I thought of the idea of linking the stories together by having the gang of friends heading to their 40th reunion where they reminisce about the "good old days".

The characters are loosely based on some great friends I knew back in the day but now time has caught up with me. Those same friends are actually reuniting for our 40th reunion in one month! I imagine those links are going to be VERY close to the conversations we will actually be having. I may have to rewrite sections, maybe even add new chapters.

The eBook version was a first attempt, just a "testing of the waters", as it were, to see if anyone would be interested in it. I had the manuscript vetted by a couple of "professional" editors (long story but oy, there were glaring mistakes. Lesson learned.) But even with those errors the book was very well received so it's time for the next step.

I have submitted it to a few publishers on-and-off over the years but now it looks like I have a couple on the hook (in a good way). So, here I go again. I'm reviewing the manuscript, re-editing it, and actually adding several new chapters. In the next few blog entries I'll take you through the process of getting this one into print and onto book shelves.

And who knows, maybe after the real reunion in June, there may be a new book.

EBook, Traditional Publisher...Both Have a Place

Not long ago during a presentation for a local writing group I was asked why did I choose a traditional publisher for my latest book, "Hiking Through History Alabama" and not publish it myself as an eBook.

The easy answer is that I have a great working relationship with my main publisher, FalconGuides, and they asked me to.

Yes, releasing an eBook is more financially profitable - maybe - since you can keep all of the profits to yourself. That "maybe", of course, all depends on your marketing ability and skills. More often than not that is the cause of death for a book.

Me at the party for the release of
"Baseball in Mobile" at
Hank Aaron Stadium

I did release the first edition of my short story collection, "Living in a Banana Dream", as an eBook to test the waters, mainly to get a bit of feedback before I shipped it off to a traditional publisher: Was anyone interested in it? Was it worth my while to continue pursuing having the manuscript published?

Other than that I am quite happy with the traditional publishing route. Yes, the money isn't great but until I can have more time to devote to marketing it works for me.

The main thing about using a traditional publishing house for the outdoor recreation books is that you need an exceptional editor, one that has experience not only with editing text but one that can pluck out even the smallest differences between maps and text, possible historical inaccuracies, that sort of thing.

I have worked with a couple editors before and realized that a standard editor, while good for the copy is not good for the ancillary details that go into a recreational book. Eventually I may venture into that brave new world with my outdoor recreational manuscripts but right now, I am at a good place. Plus now that the "dating" is over we're into the "engagement" phase of our relationship and I am able to negotiate a little higher advance. Royalties will always be the issue until you really get a good resume behind you. I'm getting there.

Back at it

It's been a while since I dropped an entry into the old blog. Been a little busy to say the least. Since the last post I finally had a chance to do what I've been wanting to do for quite some time - revamp the website. It's slowly coming together. When you visit www.joe-cuhaj.com  there will be a few links that currently aren't connected but they will be very soon.

One thing you'll notice about the new website is several new features including an overview of each of my books plus a new backstory link that will give you my "behind the scenes" look at how a book came about, the writing process, why I wrote it, and more.

The last we met the contract had just been signed to write "Hiking Through History Alabama" for FalconGuides. Well, just about a year or so later and we're in the final stages of getting it to your favorite bookstore. I've just received the edits for both the manuscript and maps with a deadline of this Monday (3/28) to have it back to the editor. Got some heavy reading to do. The only bad part about the editing process is that it has been so long since I last visited the manuscript it takes me a a little bit to familiarize myself with the project again. But, we'll get there.

By the way, the book is do out September 1, 2016.

That's all for now! Cheers!