On the Fly Publications launches…
Through the years of doing Wanted Hero, Kathi and I have learned a great deal through trail & error, spending a lot of money, losing even more and also having a fair share of successes in creating good, fun entertainment for children. It’s been a great adventure by my standards and the best is yet before us.
I’m an old hat at self-publishing, but it’s always been by learning only what I had to at the time. It’s not easy being a one man army / company and it took it’s toll. Looking back, one of my worst habits was settling for what was available instead of doing that intense, in depth study on certain subjects of the publishing industry. So many professionals kept their methods close to the breast and there weren’t too many reliable books on the subject that was tainted and talked about in hushed mockery.
Luckily the economy and technological changes in the publishing industry have revealed more information, more true hearted entrepreneurs and the solutions have floated to the top.
The Buckley Family has always wanted to have their own publishing company, especially with the oldest kids now able to create and contribute substantially to the production of high quality information and entertainment.
On Wednesday last week (February 17th, 2010) we took the final steps to make one of our dreams come true: On the Fly Publications, Inc. was born. A name derived from the story written by my wife and oldest daughter Cesilea about my mother and a song she wrote for me before I was born. The children’s book has been set up to portray the Buckley’s as Frogs and so in a play on words, we named it ‘On the Fly’ (as a series).
We are hopeful that these and other children’s books will become available this year and in years to come, as well as being the publishing company to release the entire Wanted Hero series (and set of series).
Thanks to all the friends, family and business associates who helped us along the way and encouraged us to take the final steps in becoming a family owned publication company.
Read MoreDon’t Give Up on Your Dreams
This morning was so hard to listen to Kathi crying to our kids, about the ungrateful attitudes for the opportunity to learn and grow that God has given us. Times are hard for everyone and I know we have been plunged into some harsh circumstances as a family, but I still see the true blessings around us.
My heart is so grateful to Marvin and Samantha Wight (and Marvin’s mom Ila), who opened their home to us when we had nowhere to go. We would have ended up on the street from the whirlwind of events which crashed down on us at the beginning of 2009. They gave us their basement as we have been working to get back on our feet. If you have never had the experience of knowing who truly loves you in such harsh circumstances, trust me when I say you may be surprised at who it is.
God bless the Wights for their love, kindness and mercy on us.
It got me thinking about how life is different now. The economy and world will never be the same, nor will it ever return to the way it was. That means we are all on a learning curve. Unfortunately that translates into sorrow, tragedy and depression for many. Friends are giving up hope and on their dreams, when this is the best time to pursue them!
We should never give up on anything worthwhile in our lives, especially dreams. I know. Personally and deeply. From countless comments of ‘professionals’ and ‘experts’ who always told me how it couldn’t be done, while I was doing it. I went from making $35K a year to making $39K a month at one point, doing what i loved and helping those around me. That’s not failure. It didn’t last forever, but wouldn’t that single event tell you that if it can happen once, it can happen again?
As a family, we are about to embark on a whole new adventure as a family publishing company. It may not become a giant, but we have learned the system over the years to understand it’s better for us to take control and navigate the rocky landscape than to hand it over to someone else. We see the potential here and were are more excited than ever to have these challenges in our lives.
DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!
Read MoreThe Economy & Hackers
I wanted to take a few minutes and update those who have read WANTED:HERO (eComic), those who have sent letters, emails and called me (when I HAD a phone) to ask why there has been such a delay in bringing out more content (and the novels). It has been wonderful to have so much encouragement, kindness and support through these incredibly hard times. However, most of you are not aware of what I’m talking about, and so I feel to let you in on the conflicts which have postponed my progress (temporarily).
The economy has affected just about every aspect of my life and difficult decisions have been made. In several instances, decisions were made for myself and my family. Earlier this year, I lost all of my businesses and in turn, all of my income. This was exacerbated by being sued for jobs I did ‘too well’. Long story, won’t go into it–but you can find out more at Jaimebuckley.com and lemonadestandinabox.com. To make a long story short, my friends, I have had the professional life I known, taken out of my hands…and am now free to write full time.
Gotta put it in the positive.
The challenges? No phone, no hot water, no internet (we can thank Uncle Bob for allowing me to work from his home), no car and soon to be no home…with 10 kids at home.We have food, electricity and water. I have taken odd jobs when available, but life is slow going.
Trust me when I say I am actually laughing right now. I feel so much relief of presure and pain and freedom, not having to run the ‘rat race’. Yes, this is difficult. No, I don’t know what I will do or what the future holds. However, I will work with what I have and give of what I have.
Now, the next challenge I had to face was losing 2 years of work due to hackers. It was my surprise to my readers to have an online encyclopedia for Wanted Hero. Hackers reprogrammed the links and navigational buttons to direct kids to ‘unsavory’ sites. Yes, we all know what that means and I couldn’t allow that to happen through my site…so I had to delete the work, by my own hand. I just didn’t have the knowledge or resources to reprogram the created site.
Writing a novel, a good one, is not as simple, nor as easy as I had anticipated. However, it has been a great joy to work on something that I love and that I can share with others. So to all those who have been so kind, thank you. To those who didn’t know why I have done so little online, it’s because life attacked me and got the better of me for a time.
The first novel is still being added to, as more people ask questions which force revealing information out of the story in backgrounds and history of various planets. This has been nothing but a blessing to the work as a whole and those who read Wanted Hero: Prelude to a Hero will find the depth of information far more stimulating than the comic ever could.
The Website:
You will notice changes being slowly made over time on wantedhero.com. This is due to the desire for a new feeling and the focus on novels, rather than the eComics, though both will be promoted and created. The site will revolve around the novels, and reorganization was required.
If anyone has suggestions which might help in the creation of a more dynamic site, it would be appreciated.
Read MoreMy Latest Book
