Finally, it’s getting under way!
I wrote a booklet titled “A Brief History of Bisbee” in the mid-1990s and sold about 4,000 copies. Problem was that it cost about 40 cents to print and I wholesaled it for 60 cents, leaving me a pretty narrow margin. So I wasn’t really motivated for another reprinting.
Then just after the turn of the millennium, I conceived the idea to put it onto audio and geared up (spell that, lots of equipment) to do so in-house. It didn’t happen. Since then, I’ve gotten rid of the equipment because technology has gone beyond the cassette tapes, etc. that I was planning to use.
Finally, about two years ago, I rewrote the booklet, about doubling the material in it, and voiced it in preparation for putting it onto CD. With a few minor attacks on the project between then and now, it has pretty much lain fallow.
But a couple of months ago, I committed myself by purchasing an expansive (relatively so, by my standards) advertisement in The Valley Guide, meaning I had to get something together. There’s a much larger backstory here, but that will come in bits and pieces over the months to come, so you’ll need to stay tuned.
Margaret, in the past few weeks, has learned to build a shopping cart and integrate it with a site that I first put up a couple of years ago, changed a bit today, and which will soon link to an MP3 file that can be purchased. While she’s done several websites in the past, some of this is new and she’s learning more every day, so expect to see the looks of the website and of this blog change over the next few months.
The next step will be to make the audio histories available on CD, and that’s more stuff we have to learn. Goal is July 1. They will be for sale both on line and in shops locally. We’re bringing son Thomas into the work as well; he has been designing the artwork for covers, etc.
So, there. Just wanted to record that it’s happening. Still not totally together, but it should be before the weekend is over. From there, with the “technical” part out of the way, we should be moving ahead rapidly, getting more of the exciting history of the West, starting with our home town and county and state, available to all of you who choose to listen to exciting tales of the Old West while you drive or work or simply relax.