Dogs Don't Fly

Holy orange :D

Sounds like a good book. I might get it for my neice's birthday this year.
 
Looks neat, but what's it about? And I may have to disagree with the title...

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:D
 
Its a story about a world where cats are pilots and dogs are farmers. One dog chooses to learn how to fly and becomes a crop duster. The back cover has a pretty good synopsis.
 
Yeah, I think I have to disagree with the title, too. Rev. Ron, where's your pic?
 
Come on guys, the tittle is in direct conflict with the story and the outcome. Its just a play on words. My Pug Tricki Woo loves to fly with me.:smilewinkgrin:
 
yeah, I know, David. Just razzing you ... besides, Ron has a great pic of his dog as PIC, IIRC ...
 
Wayne is commenting on the same thing I am going to comment on.

The book sounds great. Change your picture on the back; something with you smiling and not wearing a headset. It's a kids book - don't scare them off :)
 
David_L_Wilson said:
Come on guys, the tittle is in direct conflict with the story and the outcome. Its just a play on words. My Pug Tricki Woo loves to fly with me.:smilewinkgrin:
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With that name, it sounds like you might be a fan of that old BBC series on English country vets?
 
jhausch said:
Wayne is commenting on the same thing I am going to comment on.

The book sounds great. Change your picture on the back; something with you smiling and not wearing a headset. It's a kids book - don't scare them off :)
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I don't see it that way as I want readers to know how a modern pilot dresses. I wanted to go with the leather skull cap and goggles but that would have cost me over $100. You know, the starving artist thing.
 
jhausch said:
Wayne is commenting on the same thing I am going to comment on.

The book sounds great. Change your picture on the back; something with you smiling and not wearing a headset. It's a kids book - don't scare them off :)
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And while you're at it, redo the bio so that it's more interesting to kids. What you've got might impress an adult pilot but I really doubt that the kids (or their non-pilot parents) will care how many hours you've flown or how many times you've been to OSH. The fact that you're a PILOT! is all that will matter to the kids about that (unless you can also say you're an astronaut). Instead throw in something about why you enjoy flying/airplanes and something about how you dreamed about flying when you were a kid etc.
 
lancefisher said:
And while you're at it, redo the bio so that it's more interesting to kids. What you've got might impress an adult pilot but I really doubt that the kids (or their non-pilot parents) will care how many hours you've flown or how many times you've been to OSH. The fact that you're a PILOT! is all that will matter to the kids about that (unless you can also say you're an astronaut). Instead throw in something about why you enjoy flying/airplanes and something about how you dreamed about flying when you were a kid etc.
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I decided when I wrote the book I was not going to dumb it down and make it some silly popup or picture book. I wrote it to be technically accurate and have an interesting story. If you have not read the book you are really in no position to denigrate it. You may need to look that word up, denigrate, its in the dictionary. Write your own book and I will look for all the flaws in your creation. These statements sound kind of mean, yes? In case you haven’t noticed kids today are not the naïve children we were. They have computers the internet and Xbox 360’s. The book is what it is. Read it and then you can criticize it. That is only fair, yes?
 
David_L_Wilson said:
Let me know what you think.
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If you didn't want people to tell you what they think you shouldn't have asked this. :confused:

I don't have any problem with the synopsis or your bio but I agree that a smiling picture would work much better, and if you're going to wear the headset, why not do it in the airplane? :)
 
Hmmm...maybe I won't be buying the book afterall...
 
David_L_Wilson said:
I decided when I wrote the book I was not going to dumb it down and make it some silly popup or picture book. I wrote it to be technically accurate and have an interesting story. If you have not read the book you are really in no position to denigrate it. You may need to look that word up, denigrate, its in the dictionary. Write your own book and I will look for all the flaws in your creation. These statements sound kind of mean, yes? In case you haven’t noticed kids today are not the naïve children we were. They have computers the internet and Xbox 360’s. The book is what it is. Read it and then you can criticize it. That is only fair, yes?
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David,
I don't think he was commenting on the contents of the book at all, merely on the design of the back cover, which is part of what is intended to pull the target audience into the book.

What is the target audience age range for your book?

(BTW, insinuating that he may not know the meaning of 'denigrate' actually denigrates him in a manner that was uncalled for.)
 
gprellwitz said:
David,
I don't think he was commenting on the contents of the book at all, merely on the design of the back cover, which is part of what is intended to pull the target audience into the book.

What is the target audience age range for your book?

(BTW, insinuating that he may not know the meaning of 'denigrate' actually denigrates him in a manner that was uncalled for.)
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Sorry, I apologize. My feelings were hurt. The old saying goes, never judge a book by it’s cover. That was all I was saying. The tone of the email I responded to was decidedly negative. I should not have responded as I did.

Lets try to keep the discussion friendly. To anybody who was offended I apologize to you as well.

Just a general FYI, I am not trying to make any money selling this book. I would like to sell enough to start giving it away to any deserving youth through my www.youthinaviation.com web site. I also plan on giving to as many libraries as I can. If you buy this book, you are supporting that effort. And yes I would like to know what you think of the book, after you read it.

The target audience is 9-14 years old.
 
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SkyHog said:
Hmmm...maybe I won't be buying the book afterall...
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Hey, I am not a Jerk. If you read the post you should see I was being sarcastic. If you choose not to expose your family to my story, that is fine. I am not a book salesman. I am an advocate of youth in aviation.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
Sorry, I apologize. My feelings were hurt. The old saying goes, never judge a book by it’s cover. That was all I was saying. The tone of the email I responded to was decidedly negative. I should not have responded as I did.
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I can see why you felt I was being negative, but believe it or not the intent (if not the tone) was constructive criticism and it was aimed solely at the back cover art and text. And I still believe that you'd be better off with a different picture and bio if you want the book to sell. My main point was "The target audience is 9-14 years old." and as I said those kids will likely be impressed that you are an actual pilot but they won't know what to make of the other pilot oriented information, nor will their non-pilot parents.

Lets try to keep the discussion friendly.
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Always works for me.
 
lancefisher said:
Always works for me.
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Me as well. Thank you for setting me straight. Unfortunatly I can not change anything about the book as it is already in publication and per contract can not be altered.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
Yes, I am a big fan of "All Creatures Great and Small"
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Yeah, that's a great series, couldn't remember the name at the time. BTW: Our vet went farm to farm in a helicopter! talk about cool for a book story.

Best of luck with your plans for the book & kids, sounds great.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
Me as well. Thank you for setting me straight. Unfortunatly I can not change anything about the book as it is already in publication and per contract can not be altered.
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Oh, I assumed you were posting the proofs for the cover art. I hope it "flies" off the shelves.

BTW, we have another author of kids books in the group who's also a pilot. Her target market is a bit younger than yours though. Her name is Toby Speed and she's published several books under that name including Brave Potatoes of which I have a copy.

www.tobyspeed.com
 
I just had the greatist honor an author could have. I gave a free signed copy of "Dogs Don't Fly" to my 12 year old 3rd cousin. I hope it inspires him to learn how to fly.
 
A local Catholic school is having an auction and has asked me for a signed copy of my book for a bundle of children’s books to be auctioned. They also asked if I knew anyone who would offer 1 hour of flight time to be auctioned. I volunteered to give 1 hour in my Cessna 150. What a great opportunity to put my ideas in place.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
A local Catholic school is having an auction and has asked me for a signed copy of my book for a bundle of children’s books to be auctioned. They also asked if I knew anyone who would offer 1 hour of flight time to be auctioned. I volunteered to give 1 hour in my Cessna 150. What a great opportunity to put my ideas in place.
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Be careful with that. There's some pretty significant hoops to jump through (including drug tests IIRC) for you to provide a flight that's auctioned off. Even though you are donating your time/airplane/gas the passenger/auction winner is in essence paying for the flight. I think there's some specific exception to the requirement for a CPL to do this as long as the proceeds of the auction go to a registered charitable organization but I'm not even certain of that. I think you also have to depart and return to the same airport for this to have a chance of being legal. You should probably also confirm with your insurer that you'd be covered on such a flight.

Edit: The FAA removed the drug testing issue but there are still several things you need to comply with. AOPA has a brief on the requirements:

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/charity.html

The biggies are that you must have at least a PPL and 500 hrs total flight time, an aircraft with a standard airworthiness certificate, remain within 25 miles of the departure/destination airport, and provide some paperwork to the FAA 7 days before the event. If the beneficiary of the auction isn't a charity then you can only do this once per year.

I hope you can pull it off, I think it's a great idea.
 
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Hey, thanks for the advice. It does not look like I will be able to pull this off as I only have 400 hours. 500 sounds a little steep. The kids will be disapointed but I must follow the law.
 
My University found out about the book and people have been stopping by my office for signed copies, at a co-worker discount of course.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
Hey, thanks for the advice. It does not look like I will be able to pull this off as I only have 400 hours. 500 sounds a little steep. The kids will be disapointed but I must follow the law.
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As I recall, the limit is only if you have a Private. If you quickly get a Commercial, you're good to go.
 
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gprellwitz said:
As I recall, the limit is only if you have a Private. If you quickly get a Commercial, you're good to go.
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Yeah, I have plenty of time for that:yikes: Actually I could get one pretty quick but I am not IFR so it would be with restrictions.
 
Perhaps you could arrange a young eagles event, which would provide a legal method of getting the kids into the sky.
 
I have my first book signing today. It is a local independent book store in the same building that I work in. I am very excited and look forward to many more signings in the future.
 
I have a special offer on my www.dogsdontfly.com website. You can purchase the book directly form me for $15.00 plus free shipping. Hit F5 to update the page if you don't see the change. I hope this will open up a wider audience for my book.

P.S. I accept Pay-Pal
 
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