Hi all -
I'm trying to help out a friend who's pursuing the self-publishing route, for a book he's been working on for a very long time. I'm hoping to get it in front of as many eyes as I can, and posting it here for your perusal.
The pitch: Back in the 1990's, my friend and co-worker James VanOsdol used to be on the airwaves at Chicago's alternative station Q101. He hosted a local music showcase, and during that decade collected a treasure trove of interviews, photos, audio clips and stories from bands like Ministry, Smoking Popes, Steve Albini, Urge Overkill and Liz Phair. If they played in Chicago in the 1990's, James has a story to tell.
Over the past four years he's worked on his book, tentatively titled "Chicago Rocked!", and recently set out to publish the book himself (an earlier version of the book was slated for publication in 2007, but got interrupted mid-year). Since then, he's put a lot of time and thought into the different expenses and vendors he'll need to procure - things like securing copyright, getting an ISBN number, etc. Based on his project summary, I hope you'll see that this isn't some whimsical, vanity-inspired notion, but rather the culmination of a heck of a lot of work.
He's using Kickstarter to outline his proposal, and soliciting donations to reach his goal. There are a lot of different donation/pledge levels (you can donate $1 if you want)... but some of the higher tiers have some pretty fun things tied to them:
Some pledges involve getting your name listed as a "contributor," others get you CD's or comic books from James' personal collection or (unopened) box sets of Slayer and Nirvana. He's also got some RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums up for grabs, from such bands as Shinedown, Blur, Chevelle, Jimmy Eat World and A Perfect Circle. And, of course, many of the donation levels come with copies of the book itself.
His voice and passion were enough to get him on the airwaves in the 90's - and I'm trying to promote his project because I think his voice and passion are worthy enough to get him into print. On top of it all... he's just a straight up swell guy. And I'm sending this recommendation your way, in the hopes you'll think the same.
James has also been doing some updates on the kickstarter site, which list different interviews/snippets. If nothing else, check out the song that Wesley Willis wrote about him (entitled, appropriately, James VanOsdol).
(Note: I haven't donated yet, but will this weekend when there's a little more coin in the coffer.)
Originally posted by: Portnoy tentatively titled "Chicago Rocked!"
I'll donate if he promises to not use that title.
But seriously, sounds like a great project.
My mom's cousin Norm was a part of the rock and roll scene in Cleveland when Cleveland was the rock and roll place to be. He wrote an encyclopedia with a similarly crappy name ("Rock On!") which I have a copy of- talk about a lot of work. Good luck to your friend.