Introducing the 2020 27, or I Have Now Discovered Ways to Make Money From Books!

About four years ago I published a piece on Medium with the only partially tongue-in-cheek title “I have discovered many ways to not make money by writing books” about, you guessed it, the many ways in which I have not made money from my books since publishing my debut memoir The Big Rewind on Scribner in 2009. 

I am pleased to report that in the years since I published that article I have, to my shock and surprise as well as delight, found ways to make money from books. Crazy, huh? Not only have I found ways to make money publishing books, but I have discovered ways to make nice money self-publishing books.

It’s been a long process of trial and error, in seeing what works and what does not but I am overjoyed to report that I have discovered myriad ways to monetize my incredibly niche writing about my various pathological obsessions. 

With the Weird Accordion to Al book, for example, I was able to make my first chunk of change a good year and a half before it was even finished, when I raised about forty-six hundred dollars to follow Al’s career-best, exquisitely personal 2018 Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour. 

I was blessed to hit seven shows on Al’s unique, hits and parodies-light tour. On a selfish level, I was overjoyed to be able to see that much “Weird Al” Yankovic in such a short amount of time but I also got a killer essay about the experience itself and it informed the writing of the rest of the book and column in a really deep, profound and revelatory fashion. 

I feel like I know Al, his music, his fans and his world so much better than I would have if I hadn’t spent the better part of two weeks following Al around the country in various Greyhound buses. 

As You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me and 7 Days in Ohio hopefully convey, I am a big believer in the idea that there is no substitute for the spiritual ecstasy of live music, whether it’s your 47th Phish show, 8th Gathering of the Juggalos or 17th “Weird Al” Yankovic concert. 

My next unexpectedly successful exercise in monetizing my literary endeavors came when I launched a Kickstarter for the Weird Accordion to Al book that generated over 16,000 dollars. 

Of course I had a LOT of help in the form of my brilliant illustrator Felipe Sobreiro and Al himself, who agreed to write the introduction and fact-check the book, and when he saw my manuscript, graciously volunteered to copy-edit it as well. 

We hit our goal and I’m 2/3rds of the way through with the work!

As a self-published author I had some tremendous advantages: Al’s participation and support, Felipe’s genius and a long track record as a pop culture writer and veteran author of 6 books, four of which (The Big Rewind, My Year of Flops, You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me) were published by respected big time publishers and got a fair amount of press, attention and praise. 

The downside to crowd-funding is that expenses tend to swallow up the money you take in, whether in the form of the hefty fees the crowd-funding sites charge, production and shipping costs and paying my illustrator his richly merited share of the proceeds. 

Thankfully I have found ways to monetize the book beyond crowd-funding. I am shocked and delighted that I’ve been making some nice royalties from the book and I’ve been able to sell some copies through this website and Paypal as well. 

With that in mind I am proud to announce the 2020 27. I am offering 27 signed and numbered bundles combining signed copies of the Weird Accordion to Al and Postal, me and Brock Wilbur’s book about the notorious video game and movie Postal, signed by me but not Brock, along with a doodad from my home of some sort for thirty three dollars, shipping and tax included. 

Due to the prohibitively high cost of shipping, this offer is available only in God’s own United States, alas.

It’s my way of saying,”Hey, I wrote or co-wrote two awesome books in the last few months and want to celebrate!” and also “I very much need an influx of cash in this uncertain and terrifying cultural moment.” I also haven’t tried to sell books I did not publish myself through the site, so I’m looking at it as a test balloon to gauge the audience for different kinds of books and deals. 

It’s a first come, first serve proposition so if you are interested in being overwhelmed with Nathan Rabin literature at a time when, let’s face it, we all need more than a little distraction, this is for you!

And, since the list price of The Weird Accordion to Al book is 27 dollars, and Postal lists for 15 dollars, you’ll be saving close to ten dollars and helping ensure that the rickety old ship that is Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place/Declan-Haven Publishing/Nathan Rabin stays afloat for a little while longer. 

So please do consider taking advantage of this amazing online offer!

Oy, we’ll make you such a deal!

And/or help ensure a future for the Happy Place by pledging at https://www.patreon.com/nathanrabinshappyplace

And you can buy the Weird Accordion to Al the conventional way here 

Or you can buy Postal separately here https://bossfightbooks.com/products/postal-by-brock-wilbur-nathan-rabin