We finally have a way for you to buy a signed copy of the book (though it does mean paying shipping.) It is a basically a pre-order system because currently we don’t have the funds to order more books.

Here’s how it works:

You order a book via the paypal link here (shipping is included in cost– it costs us $16 USD to send anywhere outside the US and $5 USD to send within the US). We then order a box of books from Createspace, sign them, and send them out to you. It should take less than a week for you to get your book in the US though it depends on how long it takes Createspace to ship to us.  If you want a special message in the book add it via the special buyer notes when you order.

If you want a signed copy you can buy it now.

These are the proof copies. I’ve gotta flip through one and look for errors. Then we apply the changes to the print copy. Then it goes up for sale, for real, and we’ll finally get to see if all of this pans out. If you’re one of my proofreaders, you’re getting one of the volumes you see above. I’ll be signing them and dropping them in the mail right away eventually.

Already a few early readers have found some mistakes. This is unfortunate. There is one serious mistake that can lead to confusion. (A chapter division happens one line of dialog too late.) There are a few instances where the character Moxley is written as “Moxely”. There’s a missing w in the word “with”. The rest of the mistakes are very minor and limited to some spacing issues that only appear in certain digital formats. Some chapter titles have their first letter on one line, with the rest of the word on the next line. This happens on Kindle for PC, but not on an actual Kindle. Awesome. You know, this is exactly the sort of technological clusterfarg I was happy to escape when I left behind PC software development to become a writer.

For those of you who are finding problems with the e-book version, feel free to send me your corrections if you like. We will be patching the digital version, possibly later today.

Sadly, there is no longer a single “master” copy of the book. There’s the print copy for CreateSpace, the digital version for Smashwords, the Kindle version, and the print copy for Lulu. Typographical edits must be made in all versions, while formatting changes must be made to the print / digital versions as needed. It’s a mess, it’s confusing, and if we rush it we run the risk of introducing new problems when fixing the old.

I am looking forward to the day when the digital bookstores get their collective act together and settle on some neutral format. The conversion the book had to go through was ridiculous. It’s not like you can just save it as a PDF and expect things to work.

I’m still aiming for Friday March 2nd as the official release date for the print version.

Thanks so much to the readers who took the time to post reviews to Amazon. Thanks to the people who donated at such a fortunate time. Thanks for your continued support.

Over the next week or so I’ll be posting bits of artwork and the first couple of sections. The back of the book reads, “A young lady with a head for invention, a boy with a gift for sorcery, and a rotting corpse with a dry sense of humor all find themselves fighting against a strange new threat in Victorian-era London.”

I will say it’s murderously difficult to come up with blurbs that aren’t spoilers. I mean, what constitutes a spoiler? That the droids are carrying secret plans? That Luke ends up with the droids? That Obi-Wan knew Luke’s father? That the secret plans are for the Death Star? That Vader and Obi-Wan duel? If you’re cutting a trailer, how much do you give away? You need to explain what the story is about without giving away any details. The blurb above is nominally a spoiler for the first section of the book. (The book is divided into six sections. Is that a spoiler? Is it a spoiler that “six sections” itself could be a spoiler? Am I over thinking this?)

To answer the basic questions I’ve been getting in email:

• Will the book be available in print? 

  Yes, the book will be available in both digital and softcover. We MIGHT do hardcover if there’s some unexpected demand for it. If we do, we’ll try to throw in some extra illustration content to make it worth the cost. (Hardcover print-on-demand can get pretty steep.)

• How much will it cost?I haven’t chosen the exact prices yet, but the digital version will be somewhere around $5. The softcover will be around $25.
• Will the book be available in my country?It will be available through Smashwords, Amazon, and CreateSpace. If you can shop on those sites, then you should be good. Obviously I want it to reach as many people as possible.
• What sort of restrictions will the digital version have?There are various rights linked to digital books regarding lending & having them read aloud by the computer. We’ve made these as open as the system allows, so if you have accessibility issues or need to move the book between devices, hopefully it won’t be a headache for you.
• How big is the book?The 6″ x 9″ softcover is just short of 400 pages. The book weighs in at around 120,000 words. That’s a good medium-sized novel. It’s bigger than your early Harry Potter books, but it’s not a huge back-breaking tome like, say, Cryptonomicon.
• The book is illustrated now? What? I thought this was a book for grown-ups!It’s sparsely illustrated. There are six major illustrations in total. I can make no promises as to whether grown-ups will enjoy it.

This is the end of a long road for me. Here’s hoping it pays off. Thanks for your patience. Be sure to buy eleven copies for everyone you know. You know, for good luck.

Ebooks:
On Amazon.com (Kindle only): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006JALMLG

On Smashwords (all versions): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/109794

Print books:

On Lulu ($18.00): http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/how-i-learned/18718213

On Createspace ($15.00): https://www.createspace.com/3737834

On Amazon.com ($15.00): http://www.amazon.com/How-I-Learned-Shamus-Young/dp/1468015907/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323313757&sr=1-2

How I Learned

“How I Learned” is now available in both ebook and print formats at the following locations:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ShamusYoung

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/how-i-learned/18716719

Also coming soon, Amazon.com and Create-space.

 A riveting look at life and education outside of the mainstream “average” America.  -Mari

Shamus Young’s story is a powerful look at why schools are not serving our children well, especially our brightest young ones. The apparent misfits, as Shamus was, should be regarded as canaries in the mine of the public school, warning us all that it is a dangerous place for those outside of the narrow range of accepted norms. Anyone with a child who is in trouble at school – whether that is behavior, grades, or simple boredom – should read Shamus’s story and learn from it. - Carmen