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Flooding
YIKES - EBOOKS
When it comes to my personal tastes and tendencies, I’m not always on the cutting edge. I like Country music from Waylin and Willie, and blues from The King. I wear lace-up work boots, no tennis shoes for me. My jeans are blue and my motorcycle jacket is brown, made from the skin of a dead cow. Having said all that, you’d think I like my books printed on paper – and I do. But. But except for the fact that ebooks make too much sense to ignore. We started converting some of our books to ebooks last year, and it’s taken a somewhat long time to actually see the fruits or our labor. Today, you can find about 30% of the Wolfgang catalog at Apple iBooks, with Barnes & Noble digital and others to come on line later this year. I ignored the trend for a long time, but finally our web guru convinced me to give it a try. The books are identical to our standard books, no missing pages, no additions or deletions. The prices are less than the printed editions, the actual amount varies by title. The available books include most of the Tattoo books, including the Bible books written by Superior Tattoo. Also the Pin-Ups on 2 Wheels book by Hairbraine. Only recently have we tried converting how-to motorhead titles like Cheap Chopper and Old Skool Bobber into ebooks. It remains to be seen if enthusiasts will download books that are essentially manuals, or if they would rather have books of that type in a format that can be set on the workbench, with an adjustable wrench laid across the pages to keep it open. Ultimately our goal is to provide you with information that educates and entertains. Hard for a guy who’s stuck on leather jackets and blue jeans to admit, but it really doesn’t matter one bit how that information is delivered. If converting some of the books to ebooks makes that information available to more people, then maybe that’s a good thing. And though the gross sale might be smaller, there are no issues with returns, or shipping books, or damaged books. Who knows, maybe I’ll be shopping for tennis shoes next, a nice silver pair with neon green graphics and cute little coil springs in the heels. |
 Like it or not, ebooks are here to stay. Roughly 30% of the Wolfgang catalog is now available on Apple iBooks; with more books, and more ebook vendors to follow. |
Sunday Sunday |
 The news reports on flooding always say, “DON’T DRIVE TROUGH MOVING WATER!” But what the hell, it’s only a few inches deep – oops. |
What a great day. I started in Hudson, Wisconsin and ran down Highway 35 past farms and fields to Prescott, where some of us had Turkey from the big open pot at the No Name bar for Easter dinner. Next it was back on the river road, headed south to my favorite Island. This week the Road Closed signs were gone, replaced by an Open sign at the Woodshed bar. While I was there, a couple of additional scooters showed up, and you could hear the bikes going past on Highway 63. Which means that the Woodshed isn’t the only thing that’s open, Motorcycle season is officially open in The Great White North. |
 The No Name bar, Prescott, Wisconsin, a fine place for an exceptional Easter Dinner. |
The More Things Change
A few weeks ago I was explaining that one of our goals was to get the next two books: Guitar Building Basics, and How to Air Condition Your Hot Rod, to the printer. Well, we are STILL trying to get those two books finished and off to the printer. I just emailed my contact at the printer, located on the other side of this ever-shrinking planet, and explained that with luck we would ship the files to her on Thursday of this week. |
 Our first musical instruments book, Guitar Building Basics, is finally off to the printer. |
Web Site Improvements I’m also trying to update the web site for our little sister company/imprint, ArtKulture. Steve, our web guru, did equip the site with its own shopping cart. And customers can now order books from that site without any formal registration process. All that’s necessary is to provide a name, address and current credit card number. The site itself, www.artkulture.com, looks pretty much the same on the surface, but we plan to update the home page in the next couple of weeks - if I can just get those damned books to the printer. |
 Our new imprint, ArtKulture, is experiencing a much improved web site. |
First Ride The temperatures in Minnesota are finally above freezing. Which means the St. Croix River is at flood stage and the old lift bridge between Stillwater, Minnesota and the shore of Wisconsin, is scheduled to be closed due to high water. If the melting snow brings too much water, it also brings warm weather and roads suited to motorcycle travel. The mornings and evenings are still pretty cool, so rides are a little on the short side, but at least there are motorcycles on the road and the sound of V-twins in the air. I kept my own first ride pretty short. Just up the highway a few miles with a stop at the local tavern to show off the fact that I was finally riding. Of course no one was there when I stopped so I might just as well have kept riding. |
 Anyone who remembers the Ice Road story from a few weeks ago will appreciate this photo of the gravel road leading down to the point where the true Ice Road begins (began). |
Donnie Smith Show This weekend is the Donnie Smith show in St. Paul, another sign of spring. I talked our part time helper, Dab Shade, and our super salesman, Rick Thompson, into helping me run the Wolfgang booth all weekend. The booth is a lot of work, but it’s also a nice chance to stand there and talk with old motorcycle friends from both near and far. So if you live anywhere near St. Paul, stop by and say hi. And be sure to check out the assorted Harleys, custom bikes, choppers, and vintage motorcycles. |
 The Pro Class bikes are positioned in the center of the show hall, the quality of these bikes is simply off the scale. |
 The Donnie Smith show pretty well fills the main hall at the St. Paul River Center. |
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