culture

Self-Publishing Snapshot

25 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 8 Comments

I took a snapshot of this graphic by Alan Grundy while perusing Delta’s inflight magazine over the weekend. You know, during that time where they make you turn off all your electronic devices for take off and landing.

iPad off. Delta magazine open. Ironic that I was reading an ebook.

Let’s address a few of it’s points today.

Aside from the personal investment of time, MS Word, and Adobe InDesign, my hard costs have been paying for a good editor ($400 per title, á la Sue Kenney), and CreateSpace’s Premium service (as opposed to their regular free service, which nets better royalties) at around $39 per title. Granted, this is for physical copies (CreateSpace), not ebooks. Spearhead absorbed my cover design costs by my team, but that would have been another $400 roughly (had I not done it myself) and hired it out. But again, that’s for a full print cover, not the smaller single page needed for ebooks; average cost for a good design is now under $150. And finally a conversion service (unless you want to deal with the headaches of doing it yourself). I’m using streetlightgraphics.com (who also do covers) for under $80/title for a package of Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords formats.

So I’m well under half the cost of the statistical average.

From all my study I have to say the price points listed above are not only correct, but where a self-published author (of any breed) should list. Remember, ebooks are forever, and that’s a very long time to sell on a global market. We’re trading price point for sheer volume to a world that will soon have a billion e-readers in their hands (Amazon’s Kindle is about to hit India).

As for the number of authors hitting the NYTBS list? Let me just say, who cares! The industry model has changed. The selling power of a legacy published book is usually 6 months with its peak lasting for less than 2. Recently I spoke with a friend who had his book hit #1. It lasted for a few weeks. Then it was gone. How many royalty checks did it earn? Yes, a nice big one. And then what? Nothing. The publisher has kept the rights, and it’s overpriced as an ebook, selling only a few copies a month (of which he sees next to nothing).

Much like Dave Ramsey’s “status symbol of choice” being the paid off mortgage, authors are finding keeping their world-wide rights at 70% forever is the highest status symbol they can get. Already my CreateSpace sales of The White Lion Chronicles are earning an extra $75/week for my family; I’m expecting the ebook sales, due out next month, to exceed that.

When my most recent royalty check came in from my legacy publisher my dad happened to be with me. It was a $700 check. He was really happy for me. Then I told him what it would have been had I sold the same number of books through CreateSpace or Kindle Direct Publishing (numbers I’ve sold on your at my own merch table).

$6,500.

And the crazy part is, it wasn’t name recognition that sold those numbers with my publisher. It was me and my hard work (et all, Wayne). I should know. They had no budget for 4th quarter marketing and made me submit a list of what I was going to do. (Actually they only ever had $500 for first quarter marketing).

Time to feed my family, not a pig. Of course, I’m about to eat the pig anyways. ch:

Filed Under: business, culture, geek, marketing, Spearhead Books, writing Tagged With: Alan Grundy, books, conversion, ebooks, editing, numbers, sales, self-publishing, statistics, Sue Kenney

Moving Creations from Deadly to Divine

24 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 13 Comments

Sometimes our greatest ideas can turn out to be lethal creations if left in their infant stages. Thus the importance of surrounded ourselves with people who can point out the dangers we often miss.

Three tips on the process of prepping for criticism:

1.) Map everything to its fullest as you see it in your head: Often we don’t get good input on a plan because we inadvertently leave out components we think are irrelevant. Sometimes the most fringe idea can make or break a project, and to the experienced eye, the most mundane things can sometimes be the most poignant, not the obvious.

2.) Give wiser, more experienced people 100% carte blanche: Nothing’s worse than having someone submit an idea that they’ve already made up their mind about. “So are you telling me or asking me?” is something we often say around our office. Make sure that people know they can have it it. Doing so will produce better ideas than you ever could have come up with on your own.

3.) Divorce yourself from your work in terms of self-adulation: No true artist, inventor, or producer can or should divorce themselves emotionally from what they’re making – doing so trumps the entire impetus of the creative process. But realizing your personal value is not bound in your ideas will go a long way in accepting critical feedback that’s essential to your project’s success. People that never finish are most often tying their self-worth to their ideas instead of who they are in Jesus. As a result thy are easily offended when hearing criticism, never realizing they’re killing their project by not receiving.

Don’t despise critique. Welcoming outside input is most often the greatest key to success (and keeps eyes from getting gouged out). ch:

Filed Under: business, culture, leadership, The Hopper Kids Tagged With: creative, critique, deadly, design, help, judah, lethal, marshmallows, methods, toothpicks

Planes: Cruising Not Cursing

23 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 8 Comments

Planes.

They allow carriers of the Gospel to travel more quickly and more efficiently than any time in history.

The only exception would be Philip and his translated in Acts 8:39 (my preferred method of travel, though I’ve yet to experience it).

Let’s not succumb to the tactics of the enemy that often convince us to curse modern means of transportation and technologies, and by extension curse the spreading of the Good News.

Rather, thank God for his genius. After all he invented technology, not man.

Remembering that simple truth will go a long way in ensuring we use it for Kingdom purposes. And not blow up at every gate gent we see when things don’t go our way. ch:

Filed Under: culture, leadership, travel Tagged With: aviation, cursing, evangelism, planes, technology, the Gospel, transportation

Life-Themes and Leadership Tips

22 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 3 Comments

While it seems the subjects of “age” and “getting older” are the brunt of many jokes, we would be remiss if we didn’t reflect on the fact that God invented the process. As such, there are some incredible benefits.

One of which is seeing life-themes emerge.

Although Jennifer and I have certainly had some highlights leading worship for thousands of people, that’s not the context God places us in most often. Rather, it’s is ministering to rural churches that are on the verge of “epoch” change.

A life-theme emerges: encouraging people that the idea that God likes to do big things in seemingly small places.

It’s a joy to fly home from a trip utterly spent. And my time here at Hope Community Church in Marlette, MI will be no exception. This place is in the midst of transforming their town for Jesus, and further, their county. In one year they’ve already moved from one building to a bigger building, and are transitioning to two services in less than a month.

Two tips to seeing a local church have a massive impact through word of mouth:

1.) Love your community. Every person on a church’s leadership team must be sold-out, head-over-heels in love with their region. If they’re not, they need to get the Father’s heart, step out of leadership, or move. People in a region can smell hirelings that are not 100% committed to a locale, and as a result the church will never grow. As my Senior Pastor once asked me, “Are your feet planted?”

2.) Love whoever God sends you, and whoever God sends you to. I just heard a story last night where a church leader did a mailing but told his secretary not to include the addresses of a trailer park. That is so anti-Christ it made me sick to my stomach. Yet we all have a little if that in us and it needs to be confronted. Loving the unlovely will spark revival every time: it’s what Jesus did for each of us.

Hope Community’s people clearly love their community and are walking testimonies of Jesus’ tangible love. I’m thrilled to be here for their one year anniversary weekend. My sincere congratulations to Pastors Paul & Erin Rohling. I’m behind you 100%.

So if you’re ever in Michigan’s thumb, you’ll be blessed to visit a powerful church touching God’s heart. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture, leadership, marketing, travel, worship Tagged With: Church, church growth, development, Erin Rohling, Hope Community Church, Marlette MI, paul rohling, strategy

Getting Peed On

21 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 10 Comments

While flying to Michigan last night I heard a lot of complaining.

The weather was bad.

Flights got canceled.

I experienced my first aborted landing.

People had to wait in line.

Lots of passengers missed flights.

And everyone blamed the flight attendant for the pent up negative experiences of their entire lives.

But you know who wasn’t complaining?

The men’s urinals.

Some of the people I admire most are those who have every right to complain but never do, happy to serve people who’s needs they consider more important than their own. ch:

Filed Under: culture, leadership, travel Tagged With: attitude, complaining, gratefulness, perspective, urinals

For My Lurkers

20 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 10 Comments

My kids love a good story. They hunker down in our bed and get all sorts of excited.

They lurk in the covers.

And every day hundreds of you stop by this site and lurk. Waiting for a good story or an interesting takeaway.

You’ve made this a destination in your day. And I’m honored. I may not know you, or maybe we met once somewhere in the world, or maybe you’re from my home town. But no matter the case, I love that we get to do this each day together.

So for all those of you who read faithfully but never leave a comment, this post is just for you. My Lurkers. Thank you for reading. I may not know your names, but Google tells me when you’re here. ch:

Filed Under: culture, geek Tagged With: blogging, comments, eva, faithfulness, judah, luik, lurking, membership, readers

PIPA Love SOPA

19 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 18 Comments

No, it’s not some new children’s book. Although a big lovable elephant named Pipa who follows his favorite bar of soap on a jungle adventure sure sounds cute. Or like a prison allegory turned horribly wrong.

Actually, a prison allegory would be tame compared to what PIPA | SOPA really is. (And if PIPA | SOPA have their way, the allegory would never get air time for poking fun at a government system).

Here’s why.

The Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House are new government regulations designed to thwart online piracy. Sounds noble, right? Except that there are already numerous national and international laws on the books that accomplish this pretty well, successfully disbanding copyright infringing entities.

When you read the fine print, these two measures are actually allowing unprecedented government access into our most accessible vehicle for the freedom of speech: the internet.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the US Government breaks everything it touches. Heck, it can’t even turn a profit delivering mail!

My friend Christian Fahey pointed out an incredible statistic on his blog recently:

If you started a business the day Jesus was born and managed it so poorly that it lost $1,000,000.00 a day up until the present day, you would have just over 2 trillion dollars of loss (that’s 2,000,000,000,000). That is 1/7 of our national debt, which is today over 15 trillion dollars. (Thanks to Chuck Missler for the analogy.)

The bottom line is our government either outspends positive cash flow and puts public entities in debt, or it over regulates and puts private entities in debt (and out of business).

With such mismanagement, do you really trust our Congress to properly manage the internet?

Although since AL Gore did invent it, maybe they have a right to and don’t even need to vote.

Please watch this video by FightForTheFuture.org first, then consider writing your Congressional Representatives through their web form. While you’re at it, sign Google’s petition too.

If you have a differing viewpoint than mine, I’d love to read your comments. And if you share the same, or if you want to add to the dialog, you’re always welcome to comment (but you already knew that). ch:

______________

UPDATE 01.20.11: I just received this email from Tiffiniy Cheng, spokeswoman for FightForTheFuture.org, (as did you if you signed up with them) and thought it was worth posting. Great job everyone!

Hi everyone!

A big hurrah to you!!!!! We’ve won for now — SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today — the votes we’ve been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.

The largest online protest in history has fundamentally changed the game. You were heard.

On January 18th, 13 million of us took the time to tell Congress to protect free speech rights on the internet. Hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, people all around the world saw what we did on Wednesday. See the amazing numbers here and tell everyone what you did.

This was unprecedented. Your activism may have changed the way people fight for the public interest and basic rights forever.

The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled. “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd told the New York Times. ‘[PIPA and SOPA were] considered by many to be a slam dunk.’”

“’This is altogether a new effect,’ Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing ‘an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically’ in the last four decades, he added.”

Tweet with us, shout on the internet with us, let’s celebrate: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up - #PIPA and #SOPA are tabled 4 now. #13millionapplause

We’re indebted to everyone who helped in the beginning of this movement — you, and all the sites that went out on a limb to protest in November — Boing Boing and Mozilla Foundation (and thank you Tumblr, 4chan)! And the grassroots groups — Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, CDT, and many more.

We changed the game this fall, and we’re not gonna stop.

13 million strong,

Tiffiniy, Holmes, Joshua, Phil, CJ, Donny, Douglas, Nicholas, Dean, David S. and Moore… Fight for the Future!

P.S. China’s internet censorship system reminds us why the fight for democratic principles is so important:

In the New Yorker: ”Fittingly, perhaps, the discussion has unfolded on Weibo, the Twitter-like micro-blogging site that has a team of censors on staff to trim posts with sensitive political content. That is the arrangement that opponents of the bill have suggested would be required of American sites if they are compelled to police their users’ content for copyright violations. On Weibo, joking about SOPA’s similarities to Chinese censorship was sensitive enough that some posts on the subject were almost certainly deleted (though it can be hard to know).
…
After Chinese Web users got over the strangeness of hearing Americans debate the merits of screening the Web for objectionable content, they marvelled at the American response. Commentator Liu Qingyan wrote:

‘We should learn something from the way these American Internet companies protested against SOPA and PIPA. A free and democratic society depends on every one of us caring about politics and fighting for our rights. We will not achieve it by avoiding talk about politics.’”

Filed Under: business, culture, geek, news Tagged With: acts, Al Gore, bills, christian fahey, congress, copyright, Darth Vadar, house, infringement, internet, law, Pac Man, PIPA, senate, SOPA, statistics, Storm Trooper

The Great Mess Makers

18 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 12 Comments

When was the last time you picked up after somebody? (Moms: you don’t need to answer that). For everyone else, was it a co-worker? A visitor? A church volunteer who didn’t finish the job?

I’ve found there is a huge difference between making messes and leaving messes.

The creative process demands that beauty emerge from chaos. Painters make messes, as do sculptors, graphic artists, novelists, builders, and scientists. Even God’s best work comes in the most chaotic moments, from creating the earth to fixing a life-problem.

But if those very same messes are not picked up by their creators, they are left for someone else to clean up.

The same messes that were evidence of genius can become the epitome of disgrace. When we are so consistently negligent that we fail to pick up after ourselves, whether in life or in projects, we not only insult those who follow us but we devalue the creations we set out to make.

It’s even more fascinating to realize the converse is true. And God is the prime example.

Not only did he create mankind, and pick up his mess, but when his creation made a mess of everything, he went so far as to pick up our mess, too.

When we stretch ourselves to pick up messes that aren’t even our own, we actually partake in an unseen glory, often noted only by heaven. It credits you for the good deed done, but also of being worthy of the created entity. Whatever credit a creator loses in their failure to pick up after themselves, the cleaner obtains in participation.

Jesus said in Luke 16:12 that if we’re faithful with that which is another man’s, we’ll be entrusted with that which is our own. Long before I co-owned restaurants, the Lord asked me to start picking up public bathrooms when I saw they were a mess. It was nasty. And I didn’t know why I was doing it. But the first time I picked up toilet paper off the floor in my first restaurant, it all made sense. I had been in training for this moment. It’d been a test.

For the Kingdom-minded person, their is no job too small. My senior pastor will vacuum the hallway just as easily as he’ll preach on a Sunday. There is no difference because it’s all service, and it’s all noble. It all affects people; souls are the common denominator.

The high road in the Kingdom is two-fold: do your best not to leave messes for someone else to pick up, and be eager to clean up someone else’s messes when you find them. The Lord knows I’m at fault here too, and so grateful for all those who’ve picked up after me throughout the years.

Who knows, you may just be preparing yourself for owning a business you’d never thought possible. ch:

Filed Under: culture, leadership Tagged With: art, creatives, credit, diligence, messies, picking up, stewardship, toothpaste, value

How To Rarely Be Wrong

17 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 14 Comments

Are there certain buzz words, catch phrases, or tag lines that drive you nuts?

There’s been a word in the press that’s driven me crazy for a few years now. Recently it’s about all I can do not to turn off the radio or TV every time I hear it.

“Allege.”

Someone allegedly did this, or an alleged suspect did that. Heck, I’m pretty sure the alleged reporter covering the story didn’t even call to fact-check on the piece.

Everyone’s got a story but no ones willing to commit to anything for liability’s sake.

Heck, even our cereal boxes make boastful statements but always cover it up with contingencies and disclaimers. Like yesterday morning on a box of my favorite cereal: “May be proven to lower your cholesterol!*”

May be proven?

And the little * lead to small print on how the inconclusive tests relied on a myriad of strict dietary changes that had nothing really to do with cereal.

Those alive today are “alleged-out.” Because the majority of what’s reported is never confirmed at the time, truth is irrelevant. Trust is cashed in on the name of a good story.

Any good leader I’ve ever known has been honest. Truthful. Safe. And if they didn’t know it for sure, they never said it at all.

Both Matthew 5:37 and James 5:12 not only tell us as Christians to “let our yes be yes and our no be no,” but they go further to say we’re in sin if we don’t.

In sin.

Can you say gossip?

I wonder how many of us go up to the altar and repent of that on a needed basis?

If you want to earn the trust of those you’re leading, only open your mouth when you’re sure of what you’re about to say. That way you’ll never have to allege anything. Such behavior will actually endear you to those you’re leading. It’s bold, mature, and so refreshing.

Sure, your inside scoop may not be as juicy or as hot, but you’ll almost never be wrong. And being right is remembered a long time after being juicy gets old. ch:

Filed Under: culture, leadership Tagged With: allege, allegedly, cheap, gossip, lies, news, reporting, rumors, truth, unconfirmed

Commercial Value

16 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 19 Comments

In order to combat the onslaught of self-narcissistic gluttony that constantly assaults those living in these great United States, we talk to our kids often about children who live in the rest of the world without the comforts and blessings we have. When we tuck our kids in at night we pray for children without moms and dads – without houses or food or schools.

In the midst of watching some TV last night, a 3rd world assistance commercial came on. I noticed Eva seemed particularly concerned. But I didn’t say anything, wondering if she’d bring it up later. Some more humorous ads passed before our show came back on, including Terry Crews’ Old Spice commercial (in which his “mind gets blown”).

Finally at dinner Eva brought up the ad she’d seen.

“Daddy, did you see that commercial with those little kids?” she asked.

“Yes, Eva, I did,” I replied.

But before I could go anywhere else with the conversation, Luik added, “Daddy, did you see that commercial with guy’s head exploded?”

And there goes the mood. Jenny and I completely lost it.

Boys will be boys.

The worst part is I thought the commercial was hilarious too. He’s so my son.

As a closing comment, it’s worth noting that Luik is extremely grateful to live in the US. Just the other day he walked in the kitchen and asked, “Daddy, can I go to America someday?” (I think he’s been watching a little too much Fievel Goes West).

“Want to know a secret, Luik?” I knelt down close to him.

“Sure.”

“You live in America.”

His jaw dropped and he literally couldn’t talk. ch:

Filed Under: culture, hopper clan, The Hopper Kids Tagged With: 3rd world nations, america, eva, gratefulness, luik, Old Spice, Terry Crews

Intimacy Not Ethics

15 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 15 Comments

Two types of Christians stand out to me, both for opposing reasons.

The first are those whose faith is based upon ethics. Their adherence to the Bible and a code of stringent morality most often sets them apart from others who do not encompass the same value set. The result is a cloistered lifestyle, and making anyone who lives to the contrary feel uncomfortable and judged.

While this often starts with good intentions, it quickly becomes a breeding ground for a religious spirit cloaked in the guise of purity if not challenged to maturity. It is birthed in self-righteousness, and if left unaddressed it kills the Christian and those around them.

The second are those who base their faith upon relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit. While certainly pursuing an understanding of God through classic forms of reading, prayer, and meditation, they emphasize a keen and dominant interest in knowing the Lord intimately, choosing Jesus Christ’s righteousness to be their morality through impartation.

The result is an individual who actually attracts those living outside of a pursuit of Christ, and in fact makes them jealous for it, often without being able to articulate it. This Christian thinks nothing of the public association with the wayward, and feels most alive when loving them selflessly.

Unbelievers loved being with Jesus. The dirty, the drunken, the destitute, the broken, the orphaned. And he loved being around them, to the point that observers thought he might actually be drunk in the bars and cavorting with the prostitutes.

Yet he was without sin.

Everywhere Jennifer and I go we desire to be attractive. Loving. Open. Full of Jesus. But sometimes we try and sneak into a restaurant for a date unnoticed.

Only one problem:

You can’t hide a light under a basket.

Our server Friday night, Christina, couldn’t put Levi down. And though her speech was more Mandarin than English, one thing was clear: she loved being around us at dinner. So did the restaurant manager. And the rest of the servers. There was something contagious in the air. The smell of Jesus. And they wouldn’t leave us alone.

Don’t substitute you’re pursuit of ethics for divine relationship. Intimacy with God will always produce morality, whereas ethics never produced heaven.

Souls are waiting for your personal freedom. ch:

Filed Under: #heavenmeetsearth, culture Tagged With: attraction, christianity, ethics, evangelical, intimacy, Jesus, Mandarin, sushi, the Holy Spirit, witnessing

Whiteout

14 Jan ’12 By Christopher Hopper 12 Comments

It was only a matter of time. The north country finally got hit with snow yesterday.

Driving in whiteout conditions is very dangerous. Severely inhibited visibility is certainly the first thing that comes to mind. Then there are the road conditions themselves which may or may not be a product of the current precipitation. And then the performance of your vehicle. Its wheel base length, tire type, handling, and drive train all play key roles.

Of course all this is amplified when you consider every other driver behind you, in front of you, and those oncoming, all must factor in the same variables into their own driving equations.

In short, it’s a disaster.

This why our local news was overthrown by a coup of reports on multi-vehicle accidents throughout the day.

This particular shot was taken at 11:55am.

Almost anyone can drive in perfect conditions with a solid vehicle. But it takes something a little extra to manage adverse conditions.

Adversity is inevitable. If we live our lives constantly looking to avoid hardship then we are ill-prepared when it finally comes knocking. We freeze, blinded, unable to navigate. Meanwhile others are “magically” able to move forward through it, taking their time, looking for references, steering for traction, and anticipating turns and hills.

If you find a driver in life like that, follow them, especially if they’re *not* driving an SUV. The vehicle doesn’t make the driver. They probably grew up handling adversity; navigating these types of roads is second nature.

One reason I love people who live in harsher climates year round is that they tend to have a stronger outlook on emotional and spiritual adversity; if they have the fortitude to endure and even laugh at hardships in the natural, they are more prone to view the later in the same way.

I mean, how can you not laugh when you park your car at the mall in a snow storm only to return and find it ensconced in a snow drift?

Happy driving. ch:

Filed Under: culture, leadership Tagged With: accidents, adversity, driving conditions, roads, snow storms, stability, strength, weather