The Brogue Hog

The Final Problem sees Holmes pitted face to face with the leader of an organized gang, Professor Moriraty - an antagonist equal in strength to him, and getting killed in a duel in Switzerland. Moriarty runs a crime syndicate using agents, himself doing nothing. Holmes - the foremost upholder of law tries in vain to get to him. But all his powers of deduction prove futile to come up with evidence that could book the criminal. Yet, he wants to remove this ultimate source of crime out of the world, even if that means getting killed himself.

The story is told through Watson, who is actually trying to save Holmes posthumously from baseless charges leveled by the professor’s brother.

The story is unique in giving a very human touch to Holmes - showing him in fear, danger, reacting as a human when faced with a man as intelligent as himself. He knows the danger he is in. And he wants this to be the summation of all his life’s work of fighting against criminals.

The narrative is very serious in style, and shows Holmes taking the case as a personal initiative, unlike normal cases that come to him.

The story proceeds with a meeting of Holmes and Watson, where Holmes describes the final antagonist and his resolve to weed him out at any cost to himself. He describes the danger he is in, being attacked twice, and his building catching fire. This is followed up by a meeting with Moriarty when he picks up his revolver for a potential duel.

The story proceeds with the whole gang being caught except the professor with the help of evidence gathered by Holmes. He now expects the professor to take revenge from him. The two friends proceed to Switzerland where they are followed by the professor. The expected duel takes place on a cliff, where both fall down to their death.

In part 2 of comic books history I’ll be covering the first half
of the Platinum age. The second half will be in the last
installment.

The Platinum age started with a book that came out in 1897
titled “The Yellow Kid in McFadden’s Flats.” It was 196 pages
long and in black and white. The cost was 50 cents and was
published by G. W. Dillingham Company. It was actually part of a
series Dillingham did on American authors. The phrase “comic
book” was actually coined with this printing as the phrase was
written on the back cover.

In 1899 a “Funny Books” comic came out which featured the format
that became the traditional comic book format of the Platinum
age. It was hard cover and very large at 16 1/2 by 12 inches.
The book was created by F.M. Howarth, but published by E.P.
Dutton. It was a black and white collection of reprints from the
Puck magazine.

It wasn’t until 1901 that the first color comic book came out.
It was called “The Blackberries” and was 9 by 12 in hardcover.

Around that same time, what became the most used format for
comic books at 17 by 11 inches, came out. Some of the early
titles of this format were “The Katzenjammer Kids”, “Little
Nemo” and “Happy Hooligan.” It was during this time that the
first “Buster Brown” comic was created, the character from which
the Buster Brown shoes were made. As a matter of fact because of
the success of Buster Brown many companies used the comic to
sell their merchandise.

In 1910 the now popular “Mutt and Jeff” came out with a new
format, the reprinting of daily strips in black and white. The
book was still hard cover but was 15 by 5 inches. It was
published by Ball Publishing and 5 volumes were published.

Then in 1919, Publisher Cupples & Leon used a different format.
They were 10″ by 10″ with 4 panels per page. They were black and
white, 52 pages for 25 cents. Titles and characters used for
these books was “Mutt & Jeff” and “Bringing up Father.”

It wasn’t until 1922 that the first monthly published comic came
out. The date on the cover was simply January and was 10 cents.
The format was 8 1/2 by 9. The title was “Comics Monthly” and
only lasted 12 issues. Each issue featured a different King
Features comic character. The characters featured during this 12
month run were “Polly and Her Pals”, “Mike and Ike”, whom the
candy was named after, “S’Matter Pop”, “Barney Google”, “Tillie
the Toiler”, “Indoor Sports”, “Little Jimmy”, “Toots and
Casper”, “Foolish Questions” and “Barney Google and Spark Plug.”
These were all reprints of comics originally printed in 1921.

In 1926 the forever popular “Little Orphan Annie” was first
published by Cupples and Leon in 7 by 9 format. These were
printed in both hard and soft cover and were 60 cents each. It
wasn’t until 1929 that Dell, one of the soon to be larger comic
book publishers, got into the act. Their first comic was called
“The Funnies” and was done in tabloid size format. The comic was
16 pages and sold for 10 cents. It was sold at news stands along
with the newspapers. What was unique about this comic was that
it was done in 4 colors and was not a collection of reprints but
original comics.

In 1930 Walt Disney also got into comic books with the “Mickey
Mouse Book” published by Bibo and Lang. It was 9 by 12 and 20
pages long. Inside the comic were also games, stories and songs.
This was really more a magazine than a comic and it really
wasn’t until 1931 that the first true Mickey Mouse comic came
out. It was 32 pages long, 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 and published by David
McKay Company. Over 50,000 copies of this comic were published.
Between 1931 and 1933 there were a number of Mickey Mouse based
comics that were published.

In the last issue we’ll go over the years of 1933 to 1938. The
reason for devoting one issue to only 6 years is because it was
during this time that comic book publishing really took off and
comics started coming out of the woodwork.

Have you written an e-book? An e-book is a digital document that can be sold online in a purely digital form. Thus, unlike with selling a physical product, the fulfillment of an e-book is done completely online. This is great for you, the author, since you can completely automate the order taking and fulfillment processes.

Once you have the fulfillment process automated, the question becomes how to market the e-book online in order to get people to buy it. “How do I effectively market my e-books online?” is one of the most common questions I hear from my clients. Here are five tips that will help you sell more of your e-books and generate more revenue:

- Find a target market to sell the e-book to. Many people think that everyone is their target market, and as a result try to sell their e-book to everyone. They usually end up chasing after potential customers who are not in their target market and are not likely to ever purchase the book. Their e-book sales suffer as a result.

Instead of trying to sell your e-book to everyone, concentrate on a smaller group of people who comprise your target market. These people are much more likely to purchase what you have to offer, and as a result you will get many more sales.

- Create an effective sales letter for your e-book. Since you cannot take a picture of your e-book and post it on your web site (unlike a piece of jewelry, for example), your need to use the sales letter to promote the e-book.

Make sure that your sales letter effectively describes your e-book and focuses on the benefits your clients will get by purchasing your e-book. Highlighting the benefits will keep people reading the sales letter, and it will generate more e-book sales.

- Give your customers just a few options on your web site. Sometimes clients tell me that their sales letters don’t sell. When I take a look at the sales letters, they are usually a big mess. Sales letters that do not sell contain too many distractions for the reader: they have links to other web pages and web sites, banners, and text ads for other products.

Make sure that your sales letter provides only a few options to your customers - an option to buy the product and an option to subscribe to your newsletter, and that’s it. The fewer options you give to your web site visitors, the more likely they are to buy your product.

- Have a newsletter subscription on your web site. Sometimes people who come to your web site and see your e-book are not ready to purchase the e-book. However, they are ready to subscribe to your newsletter and learn more about you and your products. These people will be ready to buy your e-book eventually, so make sure that you keep in touch with them through your newsletter.

- Use online marketing techniques to promote your e-book further. Use search engine optimization, business blogging, article publishing and other online marketing techniques to promote your web site and e-book. These methods will bring more visitors to your web site, who are craving the information that you share in your e-book.

You can only make money with your e-book if you sell it. Follow the five tips that we discussed to sell more e-book copies and make more money.

Biana Babinsky is the online business expert and author who has taught hundreds of people how to sell their ebooks and make more money online. Learn all of her online marketing secrets in her Complete Online Marketing Course at www.CompleteMarketingCourse.com

Treehouse Chronicles: One Man’s Dream of Life Aloft
S. Peter Lewis, author & photographer; T.B.R. Walsh, illustrator
TMC Books, LLC (2005)
Reviewed by Tammy Petty Conrad for Reader Views (2/06)

Not just for carpenters or those good with their hands, this book is for everyone who dreams or has had a fantastical project in mind. Peter Lewis’s enthusiasm and determination is contagious as you read through the beautifully illustrated pages telling his story of a three year process involving every family member and most of his friends along the way. A true dreamer, he didn’t just build a kid’s tree fort, but an elaborate two story timberframe structure fully finished inside with sanded floors and painted walls. It eventually included a spiral staircase and a pivoting drawbridge, although 39 feet about the ground.

“This is the story of what happens when big people decide to be kids again and they have tools and lumber.” Reading this statement, you may think of Tim the “Tool Man” Taylor, but actually Peter is an outdoorsman and visionary, more than he is a builder. His nature essays sprinkled throughout keep the project grounded in a forested area of Maine where his family has relocated. Luckily he had Ted, not only his illustrator, but his faithful sidekick who actually knew what he was doing, like Al Borland, of Home Improvement. Not a quick project slapped up in a weekend, this required as much time spent in thought and planning as in actual hammering and drilling. Peter emphasizes this is a “why to”, not a “how to” book.

He mentions his wife’s never-ending support, but I can’t help but wonder what Karen said exactly when he told her about the idea. Or what she thought as she watched from the window over the years as tools fell to the ground and her husband occasionally slipped to be finally caught by his harness, dangling in compromising positions, inches from being mauled by a power tool.

When the building was finished on Day 1028, I felt his sadness, but also experienced his joyfulness at finally using the space for what it was designed for. “The treehouse is my thoughtful spot. Like Winnie the Pooh, I too need to work the fluff out from time to time.”

While at first glance it may look like a beautiful coffee table book to be displayed proudly, it can truly be enjoyed cover to cover. Plenty of photographs document the process, but the watercolors and pencil sketches add magic. I am eager to share this book with the dreamers in my family. While I can’t imagine any of them completing such a project, I can visualize them tearing through the pages, smiling and occasionally chuckling at the tight spots Peter finds himself in. And being happy, as I was, that he completed his “…place to hear the whisper of dreams.” We should all be so lucky.

Tammy Petty Conrad is a reviewer for Reader Views
http://www.readerviews.com