Some background on me and what we're doing.

Hi ALl;

I've included the body of an e-mail I just sent to someone that is interested in printing additional copies of wmy scrounging book and printing my pump plans. He's also interested in promoting them on Amazon and Natural Builder's sites! Yahoo! I need the confidence to 'cut the cord' from my old teaching job and this might be the motivation to just that.


I wanted to keep the book an 'easy reader', but am very willing to take suggestions and make
corrections. My in-laws just returned my 'gift' copy with a couple of hundred suggestions for
improving the consistency, spelling, grammar, syntax, format, pagination, etc.,
(both are retired teachers) and if it improves the clarity of the book I'm all for it! Your suggestions
would also be helpful and welcomed. I would like to have some broader advertisement for the
book and if you are willing to do the fronting to amazon, etc. I'm sure we can work a deal.
Back Home Magazine just sent me a contract for an article I wrote called "The King of Scrounge",
Richard Freucenberger is one of their main editors and he's trying to review the book and sell it
to Chelsea Green or New Society....he's had a rougher version for over a year now, which is why
I self published.

I'm trying to get outy of the public school teaching business and books and articles areis one of the
ways I'm beginning to make this transition. I have outlines and more for a dozen books and several dozen
articles. Most of them are on self-reliance topics. We do practice what we preach. Our home is self
built (along with three other homes on the property), our intentional community is off-the-grid, and we're
at around the 40%-50% mark for producing our own food. We've expanded from a really big garden
to a small farm (orchard and 1600' of drip irrigation went in this past Spring). I'm beginning to be 'heard of'
with my lectures, writings, appearance on the Science Channel's "Invention Nation" show on home made
wind turbines and articles in the newspapers (check out "The King of Scrounge" article in the on-line
version of the Syracuse Post-Sandard October 10, 2008), radio interviews, etc. My friend, Rob Roy,
warned me about the need to self advertise to get the ball rolling on this kind of home business.... indicated
that I'd have to hit a certain level before my programs became self supporting and an entity unto themselves.
It feels like I'm getting clost to that point. Time will tell.

Thanks for reading my rants! Have a great day! -Jim-