Diary of a Gay Nerd is a bit less expensive now

I wrote my book Diary of a Gay Nerd for therapy, but I published it because I thought it would help other people.  I agreed that the price was a bit high, $16.99 for the paperback and $6.99 for the ebook.  The reason the paperback was so high was because CreateSpace’s (an Amazon publisher) fees were so high to print the paperback, that I was only getting a couple dollars back.  I wanted the money so that I could make the donations to all three of my charities, but I wasn’t getting any sales from the paperback at all, so I have decided to lower the price down to $10.00  Believe me, I tried making it $7.99, $8.99 and $9.99 but it wouldn’t let me because the European sales were giving me no profit which I guess wasn’t working for them.  The profits are so low that I probably will never see a dime, but I don’t care about that.

The reason the ebook was so expensive was basically for the same reason, I was only getting a couple of dollars back, but I really don’t care how much money I get back from the ebook anymore.

I never intended to get rich from this book, I only wanted to get my story out there, so now I have made it easier for you to get a copy.

The Kindle version will be $3.99 and the paperback will be $10.00 at Amazon and the Nook version will also be $3.99 at Barnes & Noble.  And finally the ebook version at Rainbow eBooks is $3.99.  Remember, if you buy from Rainbow eBooks, you are supporting a LGBT business who makes donations to many LGBT issues.

I really hope that you buy my book because I want everyone to know my story.  Once again, 30% of ALL sales will go to 3 LGBT charities of my choices so they each get 10% as it says on the front of the book.  You aren’t just helping me, you are helping others by buying my ebook and paperback.

Bless you all and thank you for reading.

Advertisement

I sold my first keychain on Etsy

I have been having a blast making these rainbow DNA keychains. I spent a lot of money on the materials, and I spend a couple of hours making just one keychain, not because I feel that I have to, but because it’s fun. I decided that I should probably sell them on Etsy because if I don’t, I’m going to have the biggest keychain collection of all time if I didn’t get rid of them lol.

I wasn’t sure what I should charge for them, so I browsed other people’s lanyard keychains and finally came up with $4 for the keychain and $1 for shipping, but after I shipped the first order out today, I ended up with less than $2. The reason being, the padded envelopes were $1.50 and the shipping was $1.67. That brings my profit down to $1.83. So I’m not actually getting $4 for the keychains. I decided that I’m going to keep them at $4, but just raise the shipping to $3.50 just because I want to use those profits to buy more material to make more keychains.

Of course I don’t know if anyone else will buy a keychain or if this one sale was my first and last, but I don’t care because I don’t want to stop making them. It’s too much fun for me.

I am currently still working on the rainbow keychains, I made 3 yesterday and I still have enough material to make 12 more. After that, I’m going to buy some white and blue and more of the clear so that I can make some patriotic ones. I already have a big roll of the red. July is coming and people love to be patriotic, so I figure they will probably buy the patriotic ones. Of course that’s a crap shoot, but it’s still going to be fun to make even if nobody buys them.

Who knows how long I will be able to continue making them before my hands just give up on me. After all, I do have carpel tunnel syndrome. I think that’s why I would like to get more money for them, not just the time that it takes to make them, but also for the pain that it will eventually cause me.

I would also like to make some trans colors and some bear colors. I think someone out there would like to have one of those. Of course if I have the materials, I would take requests for specific colors. I don’t just know the DNA pattern, I just love that one compared to any other I’ve seen. I hope other people do too. 🙂

My Christmas Giveaway Ends With A Winner

I published my memoir “Diary of a Gay Nerd: Life After Child Abuse, It Gets Better!” earlier this year in February and I had my first giveaway for my birthday in June.  I wanted to give my book away as my birthday present to you.  I actually gave 2 books away.  I couldn’t wait for Christmas so that I could give another book away, but sadly I could only give 1 away.  The giveaway has finally ended and a winner will be announced shortly.

I am very humbled tonight as my second giveaway comes to an ending because of how many supporters I had this time around.  There were 321 people who signed up for the June giveaway, but this one had a whopping 545.  I couldn’t believe it!  It has just made my whole year.  I have felt my whole life that people didn’t really care about hearing my story (or my side of the story anyway) and to have this many people wanting to read my book just brings tears to my eyes.

So I am happy to name a winner… 

Sandie W. of Brigham City, UT.

Way to go Sandie!  I will ship that book out to you as soon as I wake up in the morning.  Thank you so much for entering and I cannot wait for you to get your book.

For those who didn’t win, you can buy my book in paperback format and Kindle format on the Amazon website and for the Nook from Barnes & Noble (paperback coming soon to Barnes & Noble) and as always Rainbow eBooks which has 3 formats, .epub for the Nook, iPhone,iPod and iPad and Android phones and tablets, .mobi for the Kindle and all you have to do is email the file to your kindle email address.  PDF file is also available.  You can also save 30% by entering the code “GAYNERD” at the Rainbow eBooks checkout.  That code ends in January so if you want to save money, use that code now before it goes away.

Any format you buy, even with a coupon, just know that your money is going to a good cause.  30% of all profits will be going to 3 different charities so that each of them gets 10%.  The Bakersfield Gay & Lesbian Center who by the way is running on steam, a piece of string and hopes and dreams, PFLAG Bakersfield and The Bakersfield AIDS Project aka Ricky’s Retreat.  All three of these non-profit organizations are in desperate need of funding to keep them going.  This year in October I was so thrilled to make my first donations and was so happy to see the looks on their faces when I handed over the check.  I tell you, it brought me joy to be able to finally make a donation to so many worthy causes.

Follow me on Twitter and I will follow you back, Like my Facebook page and check in on GetGlue, my sticker should be there, if not let me know.  I am also on Google Plus, but not often.

Congrats go out again to Sandie W. of Brigham City, UT.  Thank you so much for making this my most exciting giveaway.  I will have another giveaway again in the near future.

Free Giveaway for Christmas with Goodreads

I published my memoir “Diary of a Gay Nerd” earlier this year in February 2012 and gave away 30% of the profits to my local LGBT charities in October.  I gave away some books for my birthday in June and I wanted to give away another book for the Winter Holidays, so here is your chance to get a free autographed copy of Diary of a Gay Nerd.

I wanted to thank all of the people who bought my memoir and also thank them for being so supportive all year on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter  Google+ and Showcase Freedom.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Enter to win and on December 10th a winner will be chosen and I will sign it and ship it out the very next day so you get it long before Christmas.  Good luck!

Donations Are Coming Soon

I published my book “Diary of a Gay Nerd” in February this year and had intended on donating 10% to 3 different charities.  10% would go to PFLAG Bakersfield, 10% would go to The Gay and Lesbian Center of Bakersfield and then another 10% would go to Bakersfield AIDS Project, Ricky’s Retreat.

My profits haven’t been as high as I had hoped, but whatever I have made is still money and I can start making my first donation hopefully either in late September or early October, but it might be late October, who knows for sure.  I am just waiting on Amazon.

You know it’s funny, I feel kind of excited about giving the money away lol.  I don’t know why, most people would be hesitant especially when they are always broke, but I want them to have some money too, you know?  I can’t describe the feeling, maybe someone out there understands what I mean.

Anyway, it will be soon and I can’t wait!

Keyboard Warrior

When I published my book at the beginning of February, I told the vice president of the Bakersfield chapter of PFLAG that I was going to be donating some of the profits to their organization.  I was asked if I wanted to promote the book by speaking at a PFLAG meeting and I was hesitant because I am barely good with one person, but a whole room full of people?  I wanted to do it, but at the same time I knew that I would end up forgetting everything I wanted to say and my whole body would begin to shake.

Last night was the night that I was supposed to do it.  Before I got up there I had already started sweating, particularly on the top of my bald head.  When I did go up, my whole body started to shake and I basically blacked out.  All of the blood in my whole body rushed up to my head and my vision became dark so I could barely see anyone.  I was looking at people in the front two rows trying to see, but I was having difficulty.

I wrote a little 30 second script that I had memorized, and as soon as I got up there I forgot everything that I was going to say so I had to make it up as I went.  That can be very dangerous because when I make things up as I go, I’m not thinking about what I’m saying, the words just get blurted out without any editing so anything could come out.  I have nervous tourettes so I was lucky I didn’t start shouting obscenities.

I am a keyboard warrior.  I spend 16 hours a day looking at Twitter, Facebook and Google+ searching and reading articles about LGBT and equal rights issues, transgendered issues, It Gets Better stories and videos and signing petitions.  I want to learn about what the politicians are doing and why they are doing it, but mainly I want to make other people aware of the issues which is why I post a lot of things on my Facebook wall, Twitter not so much but I’m working on it.

My point is, I can sit at the computer for 16 hours a day chatting with people I don’t know and not break a sweat, but I have zero social skills when it comes to standing in front of a crowd, or heck, even standing in front of one person.

I think the reason I am so shy is because I have been wronged in public by so many people, that I have just crawled into my own dark hole and refuse to exist in the world with humanity.  I don’t want to be this way, but that is my reality.  I would like to leave the house more often which is why I started getting involved with the gay community here in Bakersfield, because I want to get out there and do something positive.

One of the things I would like to do is get down to the Gay and Lesbian center and just sit at a table and play games with people.  I think that will get me out of the house and it will put me in front of actual human beings and not a screen.  Maybe I can build from there and work my way back to a crowd of people I know instead of strangers.  Perhaps that will help me build better social skills.

Here are some embarrassing pictures of me at the PFLAG meeting that Chip took on his iPhone 4S (yes I had to include that he has Siri lol).  I knew I was big, but I didn’t know to what extent.  I need to either start wearing prints, plaid in particular, or go on a crash diet, well, I am supposed to be doing that anyway to lose weight, maybe these pictures will be my motivation.

Believe it or not, I have BDD which is Body Dysmorphic Disorder, although I’d like to take the disorder out and call it Body Dysmorphia.  Even though I have BD(D) and I hate the way I look and I would never post pictures of myself like this any other time, I have come to realize that when people see me at the grocery store, they see me as I am, so posting a horrible picture here doesn’t make any difference than those people looking at me standing in front of them.  It’s basically the same thing, right?  So there are the pictures.  They are small BECAUSE of my BD LOL.

I was told last night that I needed to come out of my shell, I want to so I am working on it.

My Book at Rainbow eBooks With Coupon Code

Hey did you know that my e-book is available on the Rainbow eBooks website?  It is available for $6.99 and it works on all e-book devices, even smart phones.  If you enter the code “GAYNERD” you will get 30% off the price of the e-book.  I think that is a pretty good deal.

Here is the description of my book:

“Being born gay isn’t easy for anyone, but being born gay in a homophobic family in the 1970’s made it more difficult for Michel. Physically and mentally abused by his family and school bullies, he had to learn to grow a thick skin to keep from going crazy. The constant torment from everyone around him drove him to several failed suicide attempts.

“Abandoned by his family, Michel was homeless at the age of 15, left to fend for himself in a trailer park in a new city. Taken back by his family after 6 months despite a very public suicide attempt, only to be thrown out of the house a year later when he was pushed out of the closet by his mother.

“Molested, raped, beat up and tossed aside, Michel felt like life was only going to get worse. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, he cried out for help, but nobody would listen, that was until he finally met his soul mate. He no longer sought self-destruction because he knew life was going to start getting better, and it did.”

Don’t forget that 10% of all profits will go to charity so please buy it today.  Happy reading!

Getting Ready For A Speech

I was asked to speak at a PFLAG meeting here in Bakersfield in March because I will be donating a percentage of all profits from my book to them and to the Bakersfield Gay & Lesbian center.  When I told the guy who asked me to speak that I had a fear of public speaking, he mentioned that there would be a class February 15th and 16th at the Bakersfield AIDS Project.  I was actually looking forward to that, unfortunately I’m sick right now and I don’t want to pass my germs to anyone who might be in that class.

I don’t know what date I will be speaking so I have at least a few weeks to prepare my speech.  Writing a speech is a cake walk considering I blog all the time and because I wrote a 408 page book.  The writing isn’t my concern, it’s standing in front of a very large group of people all looking at ME!

My problem is, when I am talking to a few people at a party, I know that I have people looking at me, it’s when the conversation stops in the party and everyone is listening and watching me, that’s when my brain stops functioning.  All of a sudden my conversation is public and everyone is paying attention and I get nervous and start sweating and shaking.

I remember standing up in front of the class when I was in school and all eyes were on me as I was reading from the piece of paper that I wrote my report on and feeling uncomfortable.  Suddenly I’m having a difficult time pronouncing words that I wrote down as if I had never seen the words before and I’m just learning how to read.  It’s embarrassing as hell.

So, what I have to do is finish my speech, like yesterday, so I can start memorizing the words so I can just stand there and act as if I am speaking to one person in a conversation.  I can do that.  I was a telemarketer when I was in my early 20’s.  I had read the spiel so many times that I had the whole thing memorized and I sounded as if I were having a regular conversation.  All I have to do is read the speech 1000 times in the next few weeks so the words are burned into my brain.  Of course I will bring cards with my speech printed on them just in case I get nervous and forget what I was saying.  Let’s hope that isn’t the case.

I won’t be able to attend the class so let’s hope that I can overcome my fear of public speaking when I do it, just like I overcame my fear of heights the first time I traveled in an airplane in 2005.  I can do it!  I just have to convince myself of that.

Update: LOL I didn’t notice the subject was “Getting Reader For A Speech” because it was obviously supposed to be “Ready” so I fixed it minus the link.