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Bob E. McGlothlin
As a fifteen year old boy, I had very few friends. So, I began to spend
much time with my Dad’s animals and in deep thought about life. I began
to express my thoughts on paper in the form of Poetry...view moreAs a fifteen year old boy, I had very few friends. So, I began to spend
much time with my Dad’s animals and in deep thought about life. I began
to express my thoughts on paper in the form of Poetry and much of my time
I spent taking care of my Dad’s animals I spent singing to them, making up
songs then writing them down later. Although none of the music had the
priveledge of being written down, I hung on the the words. Many of my
poems actually started out as unwritten songs. In 1994, as an accomplished
poet I had an idea. Probably not a new idea, but it was new to me. There
was one of my poems that I knew had some depth to it and I knew it was
as good as “Foot Prints In The Sand.” What sparked this idea was walking
through a new store. On their walls they displayed some decorative paper. I
envisioned my poem printed upon some of that paper. So, I typed it up and
then had it transferred on to one of those decorative prints. Next, I walked out on the street just a few feet away from the shop and ask a man if he would
like to read my poem. He said, “Sure.” I handed him a copy. He read it. Then
I said, “you can have that copy for $1.00.” He just reached into his pocket
and pulled out a $1.00, and gave it to me. I started that afternoon with 5
copies on decorative paper. 2½ months later I had grossed $1,000.00 in just
the sale of that one poem. And that was just one-on-one direct sales. I knew
that I had something. I got busy working with other poems I had written as
well. In about two years, not only had I saturated my local market, but my
efforts sparked other poets in my area to do the same. So, my local market
played out so to speak. I knew that if I could somehow enlarge my market,
I could do well just publishing and selling my writing. Another poet from
Natchitoches, Louisiana heard about my business of selling my poetic works
and sent me a letter enquiring of me as to how I do it. She also asked me if I
could handle hers. Below is a copy of the text of the letter I sent her in return
in September of 1997.
———
First of all, Bob’s Poetry Shop is, at present, merely a business name
in which I conduct business using my poetry as the basis of a product line.
I’ve created most of my product line through using the equipment and the
materials housed at local self serve printing services; and utilize the services of the same. For large orders I utilize the services of a local print shop.
It all started with one poem entitled, “Two Buds,” which I developed into
a decorative frame-able print. Then I went door-to-door commercially selling
copies of just this one print. After 2½ months, I had sold over 1,000 prints
of that poem, one print at a time. That market test was a huge success; so I
started developing more of my poems into the same type of product, and found that they also began to sell. Then I found I could sell laminated prints of the same. Now, I’ve published a book, and my newest product line is calendars and bookmarks.
Right now, I’ve been operating a licensed business with virtually no
overhead (no building, no machine maintenance, no electric bill, etc . . .) for
the last year. I’ve actually been selling this product line for more than four
years now. Don’t get me wrong. I do have plans to build a shop that would
house two computers, a laminator, a binder, and sufficient storage space to
operate a publication and distribution business. At present though, the
physical shop is merely a dream, a goal that I’m reaching for. Right now it is
just a part time business; because I also work a full time job at KFC here in
Alexandria. So far, my most profitable method of distribution has been direct sales; although I do have some books in stores such as Books-A-Million, White Steeple Books and Music, King’s Emporium, and the Baptist Book Store. I am also planning on using the Internet as well. I’ve tried distributing the poetry of two other writers in the past; but I’ve found that the biggest problem I have right now is tracking. I am currently not set up to tract sales sufficiently to produce or sell another author’s work. As soon as I am set up, I plan to do just that. About 50% to 75% of my writing is inspirational or Bible-based material. With this letter I will enclose a couple of my most noted pieces. I have written tongue-twisters, romantic prose, nursery rhymes, Sunday School songs, and just for fun poems. I’ve been writing poetry for 27 years; and have probably lost literally thousands of pieces over the years; because I didn’t really didn’t understand the gift that I had. Now that I have seen my work touch people’s lives, I’m dedicated to the cause of publishing my work, hense the creation of Bob’s Poetry Shop. I want to thank you for your interest in Bob’s Poetry Shop, and I’m open to further communication with you, even meeting you, should you so desire. Perhaps as fellow poets we can share some interesting inspirational moments. I will look forward to hearing from you again soon. If you have access to email, my email address is bps80 at hotmail dot com (no longer active).
———
Since this letter, I’ve changed the name to Bob’s Poetic Ministries, and the
new email address is apoetbob@myway.com. And the book referred to in the
letter is a poetry book entitled, “Let This Light So Shine”.
In the meantime, I’ve written another book entitled “The Focused Fast,”
and I placed it first of all at a few local bookstores, then finally made it
available online at www.bobspoeticministries.yolasite.com. While the book
was in the local artist section of Books-A-Million in my area, it achieved
best-seller status among the local authors. But then Books-A-Million decided
to change their purchasing policy and began requiring all local authors to
have an ISBN and a bar code. In the short time that it was there I sold out
of my first print of this new book. Then I decided to reformat the book and
try to sell it as a correspondence course. I sold about 50 more, not through
mail order, but as whole binders of the complete course. So, next I reformatted again, and sold it as a half size book (5½ X 8½). So, far I’ve
probably sold about 250 copies, including the newest CD version. Being that it is now online, I just assumed it would fly. But I now know, without the proper knowledge of how to promote the book, it won’t sell there either. This book is too important (not just for me, but for the masses that could be changed by its message) to just quit and give up. I’ve got to find a way to get the word out to people that will not only buy the book but also read it and absorb its message.
Once in a while a book comes along that has the power to change lives.
And, believe me, this is one of those books. I’ve seen it work in people’s lives
already. One of the ladies that I ask to proof read the book told me that each
paragraph she read sent her to her knees weeping. She had to pray through
each paragraph. Now, I know that it won’t affect everyone like that; but I’m
sure there are others that will be affected that way.
Finally, I uploaded several books online that are presently for sale at the
following sites: www.bobspoeticministries.yolasite.com; www.poetbob.com;
www.poetbob.ws; www.poetbobsgiftsuperstore.com including a four volume
set of my Inspirational poetry entitled “Becoming”. If you would like to be
encouraged, strengthened, uplifted, or edified in anyway, take some time and
visit my bookstores and review my books.
More Recently, I moved to the Paris, Tennessee area where I have spent much more time on the publishing end of my writing. And now, I have entered into this working relationship with Xlibris publishing to bring you one new book, “Rivers Of Inspiration”, a best of collection of my inspirational work and a new version of “The Focused Fast”, A Spiritual Warfare Traing Course.view less
Books by Bob E. McGlothlin
The Focused Fast (Training Course): Guidelines for Effective Fasting Rivers of Inspiration Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecoming!: A Lifetime of Prose Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings