My book comes a littlebit closer to reality

[Chris Netherlands]

hi everybody,

 

a while ago i posted here a message about the fact that i'm writing a book about my relationship with my thai wife.

I got so many good feedback on that. And now comes the time, it will almost come out.

 

A littlebit about myself again...

 

I'm chris, 31 years old from the Netherlands. In november 2010 i met Saengduan, who now is my wife. We married April last year. The unique part of us is, that Saengduan is 12 years older then i am.

And people suggested me, i should write a book about our experiences. At first i think, why? there are some other books as well, but the fact that i'm 12 years younger then she is, makes our situation kind of unique.

 

So ok, i started to write and write. And now comes the time, that my book is almost finished. When i was checking on the internet on how to publish my book and all the aspects that i have to consider, i found out it was kind of expensive to make this happen.

 

So someone sent me an email, telling me i should check out the Kickstarter platform. This is an online crowdfunding platform where you can start your own project.

 

After checking it all out, i can tell you all, that it's now a reality.

 

My project just went live.

 

I'll invite you all to check it out and feel free to read all about it.

And let me know what you think about it.

 

the link is:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chrisverhoeven/long-distance-marriage-with-a-12-year-older-thai-w

 

Thank you all for reading my post.

 

Kind regards,

 

Chris

 

 

[wolfmanjack]

Haven't you heard of Kindle?

[Jdiddy]

Congrats, she looks hot

 

 

Would be interested in reading the book if you set me up with a downloadable pdf and a way to transfer monies to you, pm me if interested

[Jdiddy]

But yeah kindle would be the way to go, no way are you getting to 39k euro

[N47HAN]

Would this story be any different to hundreds that came before ?

Alot of them are on blogs everyday .

Maybe Mobi should write a book too , his blog and thread in the pattaya section are an everyday insight the goings on in his life and to be fair very enjoyable to read too.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[boldface]

^ He has - several of them. 

 

Kickstarter is not really for this, I'd have thought. However, if you get some bites let me know - I can knock up some books as well. 

[Ulysses G.]

I'm not trying to be insulting, but if the book is in English, you need to find an English editor that knows what he is doing. No one is going to wade through a whole book with those kind of grammar, punctuation and other mistakes. It is OK for a short post on the Internet, but a long read that people are supposed to pay for(?)is a different story.

[deknoiJT]

What an extraordinary post!

 

A man asking for 38,000 Euros to publish his love story and translate his blog!  His Wife is older than him!  Gasp!

 

I am sure no one has ever written about falling in love before and Chris is going to tell us all about in meticulous detail, not missing out on any single conversation or trip to the mall the two had together.! I am sure every bowel movement will be described in loving detail.

 

Chris's story sounds utterly and fascinatingly riveting!  Reading it in Dutch is just not enough.  It has to be translated to English so millions more people can bask in the joy of their love!!

 

Here is what your donation to his personal vanity cause will get you:

 

 

Here it will not stop.... If you help me fund even more money then my goal, i will use the rest of it to publish even more books. And also i will be able to translate our personal blog at www.chrisensaengduan.com, where we will post our stories of our holiday and pictures as well. At this moment the blog is only in Dutch language, but for people worldwide to view it, it need to be translated into english and for that i need some extra plugins.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2014 by deknoiJT

[ATF]

So Chris what is the return on equity for investors?

[Sydneycraig]

https://www.createspace.com/ ... in case you don't make the Euro 39k

 

[mesquite]

It's very early in the morning and I just read the OP. 

 

I feel I've entered the Twilight Zone.  The post is not real.  But it is real.  He can't be serious.  But he is serious.

 

 

[DonaldBattles]

I used Xlibris to publish my book Merchant Of The Orient, An Entrepreneur's Journey In Life. It cost me 3k US but they give you a lot of free books and advertising. They are owned by Penguin Books.

[mrtoad]

So Chris what is the return on equity for investors?

Having a go with his missus?

[ExpatJ]

I used Xlibris to publish my book Merchant Of The Orient, An Entrepreneur's Journey In Life. It cost me 3k US but they give you a lot of free books and advertising. They are owned by Penguin Books.

Interesting. What sort of sales did you see after the xlibris advertising?

Im in process of writing a novel and then will put up on Amazon but interested in other options.

[benalibina]

It's very early in the morning and I just read the OP. 
 
I feel I've entered the Twilight Zone.  The post is not real.  But it is real.  He can't be serious.  But he is serious.
 
 

Eventhough this post is not a compliment to the OP and i disagree with it slightly, i nominate it for funniest post of the year. Made me laugh all day.

[wow64]

Good to see she has taught you some thai customs.. Such as how to ask for money.


Sent from my c64

[mrtoad]

I suppose its a different version on a bar fine

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mrtoad]

Lets be honest. I could write a book whichvwould be far more interesting, as could may posters here on TVF. Sorry, but i think this is a sad topic really, and no i am not going to donate 37k to a story of a bloke picking up an old Thai bird

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[neverdie]

Ohhhh dear, I'm lost for words.

[BaldPlumber]

Not being funny, but you look a LOT older than your wife, by at least 10 years I'd say.

Not that a book about a bloke meeting a younger Thai woman and then living apart wouldn't be both fascinating and unique.

[slipperylobster]

Well, a 31 year old just does not have a lifetime of experiences or wisdom to share. We have people that been here thirty years (or more).  Stories of military days (In the Sixties and Seventies)...with love lost and won, international espionage, diplomatic emergencies, war, death, worldwide travel and intrigue. 

 

What are you adding?  I remember reading "Private Dancer"...and I just laughed my heart out. What an obvious overstatement. After being in Asia since the late Seventies (Philippines, Korea, Japan and Thailand), and seeing first hand (at an early age) the dramas with Filipinas/Thais working for the Yakouza (have a daughter 21 years old from that experience).....a wife 8 years older who I brought to the USA (now her daughter runs the bank at a major Casino in Nevada. I worked for her daughter to pay for a divorce. The employer was a retired mamasan/Maitre D  there who booked Frank Sinatra and Elvis. Had many friends murdered, killed by Asian gangs for hire or committed suicide.  Some whose wife had killed them, and the bodies eaten by dogs after laying in the house for several days.  

 

So what is new in your book?  Visa problem?

[benalibina]

It looks like most of the posters on this thread know the OP personally and therefore write negative about his to be published book.

Sad really.

Wish you best of luck and hope you achieve your goal for the book to be published and dont let all the negative comments distract you from it.

[Stargeezr]

Slipper lobster, I liked your post best. Your book would be an interesting read.
My book would only be Lived, loved, married, lost, Lived again, loved again,
married again, Asian style this time, still losing!
Not much of a story really, but then I certainly will not be writing a book about it.
Stargrazer

[rhythmworx]

She looks younger than you.

 

Are you sure you didn't male a typo and it's you that's 12 years older than her?

 

Either way fair play and I sincerely wish you success in your relationship and also with your book.

 

When you say it went live, what exactly do you mean by that?

[slipperylobster]

Do not misunderstand.  The question is...what is the book about?  Your experiences in Thailand, or the marriage?  Practically speaking, you are looking to sell the book?  What will make it sell?  How long have you been married? What were the circumstances of your marriage?   Is it interesting?  Perhaps a brief sample of something in the book will wet the appetite. I do not mean to be negative....  I just wonder, as any publisher would...what makes it unique?  Certainly not the age difference?

 

And, by the way, good luck.  Your wife does look very nice for her age. Congrats, in advance.

Edited August 9, 2014 by slipperylobster

[DonaldBattles]

Publishing a book is not so difficult. However, you need a good editor to help you when you have finished. My book, Merchant of the Orient,  An Entrepreneur's Journey In Life covers 30 years of living and working in my own business in 9 provinces in Thailand. I must say that I am not pleased with the sales record of Xlibris.

 

I have some free downloads if anyone is interested contact me at [email protected].

[mrtoad]

It looks like most of the posters on this thread know the OP personally and therefore write negative about his to be published book.

Sad really.

Wish you best of luck and hope you achieve your goal for the book to be published and dont let all the negative comments distract you from it.

Sorry bud, but there are far more interesting stories out there than a 31 year old marrying a 40 year old Thai.



Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[HooHaa]

It looks like most of the posters on this thread know the OP personally and therefore write negative about his to be published book.

Sad really.

Wish you best of luck and hope you achieve your goal for the book to be published and dont let all the negative comments distract you from it.

 

to the contrary, if i knew the op i would tell him to pause and take a serious look at what hes asking. 

 

the word delusion comes to mind, i mean who could possibly care?

[boldface]

I'm never quite sure who bothers to read these books written by farangs about their lives in Thailand. On amazon there are thousands of them, and it seems to me that half the times some guy in a bar has been told "you should right a story about your life" and they therefore think it is a good idea and do. This is all very well, and writing is a very joyful pursuit, but you do need to have a modicum of talent to begin with, and a story worth telling. 

 

Take for example, the OP book. A book about some guy from Europe falling in love with an older thai lady. Sure that might be a story worth telling to his kids, but is anyone else actually interested? I might lend him an ear for 3 minutes in a pub before getting bored, but I would not buy a book about it, and certainly not invest $1500 to get this published, not least because who would buy it? 
 

Don's book about scraping a living in Asia. What are people buying in to? Imagine you are in a book shop, pick up the book (the artwork and cover would need a lot of work to get that response in the first place) and you read the blurb about the author, selling you a book about being an entrepreneur. You might expect him to be writing from his castle in the Alps and see a load of brand names he has launched onto the world to make his billions. However, no, he is a successful shop owner with a shop in chiang rai and in china. This is not an entrepreneur as the book buying public would expect. On Amazon, we are told "From 30 years in the orient, Don has met thousands of people as customers and business associates. These relationships and experiences are brought out in detail in this book. From love to heart breaks in the Orient this book gives you the insight into both business and love life in Thailand. The lovely sexy women in Bangkok are captivating and can easily take control of your life."  This is the same for about a million other people. Why are your relationships and experiences any more special than someone elses? Tell the reader that on the blurb, and you might get mire bites. The suspicion would be that they are not. They are special to you, but they are not interesting to other people especially if it means they have to pay cash for it.

 

 

I don't think the OP is serious though about his book. The figure he wants is what he has calculated he would need to sit on a chair in issan for a year or two and thinks other people will pay for that. Test your book out, OP. Make people pay to read your blog. $2 a year - they can see the head lines, but will have to pay to read the content. Then see if your stories are worth paying for. 

 

 

 

[DonaldBattles]

I must admit that my book is not selling good at all. I think that this in part is due to Xlibris the publisher. I am trying other avenues to sell the book. The book party we had in Phuket in April we sold 50 paperback books. The selling of a book that is self published requires a lot of effort. Living in Chiang Rai it is not so easy for me to take books to other places outside of the country and do the promotion. Will do one in Chiang Mai and Bangkok which I think will do OK. If I was in the western world to book parties would be more productive. I believe that my book is worth reading but somehow the promotion is just not there.