Category Archives: Product

My First Recipe Book Giveaway!

Let’s try something NEW!

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
Wanna guess who’s my hand model?

From time to time I’ve seen other authors online do book giveaways.  These fine folks set up little competitions, and in the end someone wins something from their library of books — YAY!  I became an author four years ago, so I figure it’s about time I give it a try …

What’s at stake?  A copy of my debut recipe book — Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies!  This book features over 50 proven recipes including cookies, biscotti, coffee, some breakfast items, and other comfort foods.  It also has 3 of my original compositions for Highland bagpipes … somehow I suspect most people get use out of the recipes.

Allow me to clarify a few things up front …

To enter my book giveaway you must e-mail me your answer to the following challenge.  I will put your e-mail address on my book-release notification mailing list.  I dislike mailing lists — and I figure you do to — so I will only e-mail if …

  1. You won — YAY!
  2. To notify you of my book releases (obviously!), &/or …
  3. If there is something I think you really need to know.

Later, if you want to get off my book-release notification list — no problem — just email me and ask!  Oh, and I have to say, please give everyone else a fair chance — only e-mail me with one answer to the challenge, and only message me from one e-mail address.  I will disqualify anyone I find sending in multiple answers … so … don’t do it … or at least don’t get caught … but come on, play fair and let’s keep it fun!

Also, I have no intention of starting a news letter.  I will not be emailing people weekly or daily or monthly or yearly — those drive me bonkers!  I’m busy enough publishing a free recipe of the month as it is.

My Upcoming Books

I am working to release 5 (yes, five) new books with the following release goals …

  1. Thanksgiving / Xmas / New Years cookie recipe book — September 2022
  2. 2020 Recipe Of The Month Keepsake book — October 2022
  3. 2021 Recipe Of The Month Keepsake book — November 2022
  4. Scot / Irish recipe book — February 2023
  5. 2022 Recipe Of The Month Keepsake book — March 2023

Enough with all of that — The Challenge!

The following picture is from my
April 2022 Recipe Of The Month
… and it has an error in it!

Granola Bars ingredients
Expand the picture — look close!

Find the error — or what you think is the error — and e-mail me with your answer.  If you give me the right answer, your name / e-mail address will go into a ‘hat’ (figuratively speaking) with the other correct entries.  At the end of April 2022 one of these entries will be drawn along with a few runners-up.  I will e-mail and notify the winner — I will wait 7 days to hear back from this individual as to where to mail their book and if they want their copy signed (and so-on down the list of names drawn).  I intend to further announce the name and city of the winner on social media after making contact by e-mail.

If this goes well … I just might do more giveaways in the future!

What if I just want to get on your new book notification list, Don?

Great — no problem!  Just e-mail me with a note saying that you would like to be added to my new book notification list — and … Voilà!

What if I don’t win?

Let's Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!CONGRATULATIONS!  You have the opportunity to grab a copy of my FREE SAMPLE e-book Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti! — available through most major e-book retailers!  Within this fabulous first free e-book edition are 2 recipes from Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies.  You will also see a step-by-step photo section that guides you through a few processes that some folks might find a little more tricky.  Check it out!

Watch here on WhidbeyIslandBaking.com for further updates on my upcoming books along with my Facebook and Twitter online locations.

Thanksgiving & New Years Photo-Help!

Shutter-bugs, Photographers, Folks with Photo-collections – I need your help!

One of my nutcrackers — not these — will stand guard for Christmas

My latest cookie recipe book is on track to publish Spring 2022.  This book will feature tasty treats for winter holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  Although time is getting snug, I think I’ll make it – but I need a few pictures …

The photos of my cookies are in good shape.  I have found that getting other people involved makes my books more fun.  What I lack are pictures for the chapter openings.

What I am looking for are simple photos with a single icon that is immediately recognizable with its holiday.  I have a small collection of nutcrackers, and I will be taking a picture of one to represent Christmas.  I still need photos that represent Thanksgiving and New Years*.
* Update – I may have some New Years fireworks photos to choose from already.

I will of course need colour photos with good composition, lighting, and resolution.  These pictures be used in multiple products – print books, e-books, etc – possibly in some marketing.  The contributors of these photos will be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section of the book and receive a complimentary copy of the book in gratitude.  Also, the copyright section of the book will acknowledge you as the owner of the image.
(Note that the primary product will be a print book with black & white photos in the interior, including these chapter openings.)

Have photos or ideas for these pictures?  Send me an e-mail.

Hope you can help — Happy Holidays to you & yours!

Don

Becoming an Audiobook Narrator?

Oh… family!

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone here in the U.S.!  Many of us spent the holiday with relations, having huge feasts, yelling at the game on T.V., and starting our Christmas shopping.  Not me — I pent five days all to myself — and it was WONDERFUL!  Don’t get me wrong — like you I enjoy a little travel, time with friends and family, and even being involved in the cooking (for obvious reasons) — however I also immensely value my personal time.  For what might not be so obvious … I’m an introvert — I’m glad to spend five days straight doing my own thing and not seeing another soul! Audiobook Narrator

In advance of the holiday weekend I wrote myself a To-Do List. For the most part it was a collection of things that are different from my regular grindstone tasks — and frankly … they were more interesting, too.  As my five-days-alone approached I got excited to dive in on my list.  Oh yeah, I’d planned to make progress on all this stuff, get some time on neglected projects.  So when the first day hit …. yeah, I didn’t really do anything.  The second day went pretty much the same way.  Then I remembered …. every once in a while, take a break!  After two days I forgave myself and then rolled up my sleeves.  Now at the end of my five days most of the list is not marked off, but I’m pleased with things I have done. Audiobook Narrator

But how does this relate to audiobook narration?

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
Wanna guess who’s my hand model?

One of the scribbled lines on my To-Do List was to audio record my debut recipe book Make Your Own Darn Good CookiesWhy would I do this?  Well, for one … because I can … and for two, because I’m once again exploring  the idea of becoming a professional Audiobook Narrator.

In Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies I tell the story of how my recipe book came to be — which includes dealing with a hard drive crash 1/2 way through*.  Around that time I had a laugh with my editor — obviously I can read, I have a small collection of recording gear from my other super hero persona as a musician, and I’ve been told I have a nice voice — I could make an audiobook version of my recipe book!!!  The laugh was that I could completely produce this myself at little cost, but who would want to listen to a recipe book?!?  … And then I found some recipe books that ARE also available in audiobook form.  The laughter stopped and the research began.
* NOTE — Back-up your hard drive.

Life Of The Audiobook Narrator

Long-story-short … audiobook narrators are work-from-home contractors who get paid to read books aloud and prepare their finished recordings for the client.  Tons of information about the industry is available online.  If you dig down you can find the ‘realities of the industry‘ as well.  While many articles sing the praises of the work and tell you what’s involved, only some of them break down the hard numbers and tell you what you didn’t know or maybe don’t want to hear.  Me … I DO want to get that part of the picture.  Twice before I’ve toyed with the idea, lately I’ve been taking a hard look at it again.

Getting Ready

I’ve read additional articles and listened to numerous audiobook narrators objectively to understand what they do in their performances.  To ‘cut my teeth’ I’ve decided to finally record Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies to see what I think — and to finally produce the audiobook version so I can release it with the upcoming new cover-art for the book and e-book.

Last night I practiced reading some of my recipe book aloud. Something about it felt better than when I last gave it a go (which, unrelated, I did during a power outage because I had little else to do). This time it felt more natural and confident …. no idea why. All I can think of is that I’ve had nearly a year of listening to additional audiobooks — when I listen it’s not only for entertainment and interest, part of me also tries to observe what the author is doing. Perhaps part of it too is that I’ve listened to about 1/2 a dozen topical books since spring 2021 — straight reading which the narrators need to bring out as opposed to working with a diversity of characters in fiction.  A recipe book requires straight reading, which a good narrator will give intonation to keep it interesting to the reader.

I just finished about 30 minutes of recording work and I’m about to listen to the playback.  I feel good about this.  Let’s see how it goes …

But What About Recipe Books?!?

Yes, I had a production baking business.  Yes, I switched to writing recipe books.  Yes, I am also a professional musician.  And, yes, I like to eat and have bills to pay.  I have been working to get work since closing the production baking — clearly with little luck.  Frankly folks, writing and selling books alone is not enough — BiscottiDon needs a day-job.  My passion for baking, cooking, and writing (and playing bagpipes) does not change with working a day-job.  In fact, I have 3 new recipe books nearing completion — publishing around spring 2022.  I’ve been interested in getting a work-from-home position, and audiobook narration looks like it could be a good fit!

Recipes Of The Month Become Keepsake Books

You know that I’ve been posting a FREE Recipe Of The Month on my blog since 01Dec2019 — RIGHT?!?  This has been an absolute ball — thinking up something different to present, seeing people’s responses online, and knowing that folks are inspired to try new things in their kitchen.

But could there be … more?

YEP – these cookies are GREEN! Trust me, I know – I live in a state where 1/2 of everything is green. So far as I have found little of it tastes minty though.

During this time I have been thinking of ways to do more with these recipes.  I could start an e-mail newsletter, a Patreon account, and maybe even produce demonstration videos on YouTube.  While I think those are great ideas, these are not really manageable for me at this time.

Instead I have started turning my Recipe Of The Month content into books.  My aim is to publish the first two — the 2020 and the 2021 Collections — in early 2022.  Folks who want nicely published keepsake copies will be able to get these for their recipe-book shelf and e-reader.  My plan is to keep the prices of these low, and the sales will help to support what I do.

What recipes will be in these books?

These books will feature the twelve recipes from the year — and so far each book has ended up with a few bonus recipes!  In some cases these recipes will include previously unreleased photos and additional content.  Here’s what’s to come in the first two recipe books …

Giant Ginger Snaps
Bonus recipe — Big Soft Ginger Cookies!

The 2020 Collection — Krampus Coal Cookies, Broccoli Beef Stir-Fry, Avgolémono Soup, Irish Soda Bread, Mississippi Mud-Pie, Big Soft Ginger Cookies, Marshmallows, Mocha Brownies, Raspberry Chocolate Cookie Squares, Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake, Wacky Cake, Sautéed Apples, Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Soup, and Ginger Pancakes

The 2021 Collection — Burmese Chicken Soup, Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, Farls, Grasshopper Squares, Jambon, Cake Mix Cookies, Lemon Almond Pudding Cake, Peppermint Patties, Dirty Chai Coffee Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Graham Cracker Pie Crust, my current November recipe for Peanut Butter Pumpkin Soup (pictured below), my December recipe which hasn’t been decided yet, and a bonus dessert recipe … which you’ll have to buy the book to find out what it is …. but I’ll tell you this, it doesn’t exist anywhere else!

Keep an eye on the WIBC blog

My aim is to release these first two Collections in Spring 2022 along with a Christmas cookie recipe book.  Keep an eye to my blog along with Twitter and Facebook for updates!

Have a recipe to submit for me to present as a Recipe Of The Month?  Drop me a line!


Want a recipe book NOW?

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
Wanna guess who’s my hand model?

My debut recipe book — “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” — is now a 3 year old!  If you can’t wait to start buying my Recipe Of The Month annual collection books, fire-up your browser and order a print copy today.  Darn Good Cookies is also available in electronic form from most e-book retailers.  In it you will learn to make over 50 proven recipes including cookies, biscotti, coffee, some breakfast items, and other comfort foods.

Recently, multi-award winning author, Kathleen Stone, wrote “Scoby’s comfort foods are themselves a thing to behold, but this book is so much more. There are wonderful stories and anecdotes as well as beautiful photographs, and all of that combined with the mouthwatering recipes makes this a book I’m excited to have in my collection.  … The book in its entirety embodies what the author is all about — comfort food, family, friends, music and a love for life in general.

Want to try a few Darn Good Cookies before you buy?

Let's Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!Grab a copy of my FREE SAMPLE e-book Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti! — available through most major e-book retailers!  In the text you will get 2 recipes from Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies, which will show you my writing and direction style.  You will also see a step-by-step photo section that guides you through a few steps that some folks might find a little more tricky.  Check it out!

Wild Day for My New e-Book!

Let's Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!A year ago I started work on a free-sample e-book.  Life happened, Corona Virus quarantine stuff happened, priorities shifted and I wasn’t able to immediately finish the project.  15December2020 my permafree e-book “Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!” … PUBLISHED!!!  Since then, thing have been so busy I haven’t even had time to list the e-book on my site.
(Bear in mind, I also published a book on November 22nd and have been busy promoting it, too — find out more on BagpiperDon.com.)

The Patriotic Piper, Vol. I
The other book I published

This morning I woke to a message from my friend, Eldritch Black — another author here on Whidbey Island.  He has far more game than I do when it comes to the book-business world.  Lacking all possible caffeine in my system, I understood his message to say that “Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!” was listed on FreeBooksy.  I thought to myself, “What’s it doing on there — I didn’t list with them?!?”  Eldritch went on to say that it was registering at 48 in Amazon’s Top 100 and that I really needed to go take a look.

Saving you details of my sleep-tussled hair and long drawn out drama involved with getting out of bed, I finally got to my laptop and started examining data.  Over the course of today I watched the results from my author-interface on Amazon.com.  FreeBooksy’s free promotion Made Things GO NUTS!

Before I give you the end-of-day numbers, understand a few things first …

  • “Free” technically has a dollar amount — it is $0.00.
  • When someone buys a free e-book it counts as a sale.
  • My previous best number of sales in a day for Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti was 104 copies on its second day of publication.  I’ve been proud of that number because most of those came from my work to promote it using my Twitter profile.

By the end of today,
my free-sample e-book achieved…

#35 Free in Kindle Store (Top 100)
#1 in 45-Minute Cookbook, Food & Wine Short Reads
#1 in Dessert Baking (Kindle Store)
#1 in Cookie Baking (Kindle Store)

And my little-ebook-that-could reached a new Record Sales In A Day rank …

2,822 Copies

It’s been a wonderfully wild day for Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!


Make Your Own Darn Good CookiesLet’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti is free and I intend for it to remain free.  It is also available at Smashwords, B&N, iTunes, Kobo, and …. well … pretty much everywhere.  Free.  Look for it on your favourite e-book retailer’s site.  Also, please inform your local library that all of my e-book titles should be on Overdrive and are available to libraries for FREE — ask that they add these to their collection.  The recipes and writing in this book are directly out of Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies.  If you like these recipes please consider a copy for your kitchen collection.  And as always — your book review on Amazon and GoodReads helps to support the author, other readers, and is greatly appreciated.