Word on the Street with Larry Flinchpaugh

Through my years in publishing, I have worked with some really great authors.  All of these authors approach self publishing with their own agenda and expertise.   Since the whole point of my blog and book is to look at the reality of self-publishing, I thought it would be nice to do a series of author interviews.  Welcome to ‘Word on the Street’.

My author interviews will consist of 6 questions about them, their book and their experience.  You will get the good, the bad and the ugly.  Not all real self publishing stories are full of rainbows and butterflies – it can suck sometimes too.

Tell us about it, Larry Flinchpaugh:

Real Answer Real Authors: Why did you decide to publish?

Larry:  Nearly my entire life, I had serious questions about my religious beliefs, political ideology, our country’s banking system and even our educational system but never had the time to serious search for answers until I retired in 2005.  I had a sense that there was something seriously wrong with our country and with some effort; I could discover the truth that would improve the lives of not only myself and family but also the lives of all American citizens.  As it turned out, I discovered the secret to improving the lives of nearly everyone on the planet.

RARA: What titles have you published to date?

Larry:  The books I have published to date are: “My Family History Book, “Growing  Up  In  A  Zoo, “Secrets of Our Hidden Controllers Revealed, “Letters Home From Civil War Soldier Charles Gamble, “Against All Odds-President Paul Ronan,” “Billions For The Bankers-Debts For The People” and “Should I Start My own Business.”

RARA: How are you currently marketing your book and what has given you the best results?

Larry:  My books are marketed through our local book store called “Hastings Books,” amazon.com books, local museums and the tourist bureau in St. Joseph, Missouri.  Also my books are available on my own personal web site and promotion through Facebook.  The local libraries also have my books available.  Actually our local book store, Hastings does slightly better than amazon.

RARA: Are there any books or websites that you have found the most useful?

Larry:  My own web site promotion is new and I haven’t seen any results here even though I am having 200-300 visits per day

RARA: What has been your greatest challenge in self publishing?

Larry:  My greatest challenge was learning to use Microsoft word in writing books.  It’s really not designed for book writing but other book writing programs are fairly expensive.   Huge files on word are hard to manage and I still haven’t mastered how to have separate page numbering for the index and the body of the book.  Trying to get an ISBN number and communicating with Bowker was nearly impossible.  Amazon did fix that problem.

RARA: What is the best advice or tip you can give a new and aspiring author?

Larry:  I always explain to people that few self publishes ever make any money; you will be lucky to at least cover your costs.  I personally did not write my books to make money but rather to inform the people how we can increase the living standard of everyone plus eliminate nearly all wars.  I have discovered the secret but few will listen.  I even had one representative state in private, “Larry, I agree with almost everything you have written, but if my constituents knew I believed that way, I would never get re-elected.  This is my biggest hurdle.  The masses of the people are asleep or suffer severe cases of apathy and our political leaders no longer represent the electorate; only the big money lobbyist, bankers and the military industrial complex companies.

I still encourage people to write because most will not be writing about so controversial subjects as I.

AUTHOR INFO

John Larry Flinchpaugh

J L Flinchpaugh Publishing Company

5500 Cape Court

St. Joseph, Missouri 64503

816-676-2565 cell 816-351-3107

Email: lflinch@stjoelive.com

Web Page: http://www.larryflinchpaugh.com