A Pitch about Quality

I got my first Amazon check today (actually a direct deposit) for BIG E and the SANTA MAN. The response to my book has been most gratifying, and I thank all of you who bought a copy.

It’s been fun coming up with entertaining ways to pitch the book here on ElvisBlog. There’s been four posts so far, and I’ve tried to keep them interesting so people would read all the way through.

On this post, I’d like to get more serious, so I hope I don’t lose you. Even though the sales of the book are good, there’s lots of potential readers who might still be unconvinced. Over 12,000 visitors come to ElvisBlog each month, so what’s holding some folks back? I think it might be three things.

The whole premise of the novel is that Elvis didn’t die in August 1977. Instead, he went off to a remote, but very special place, to start a new life – living with Santa Claus at the North Pole. I know some Elvis fans are totally turned off by what they call the Elvis is Alive nonsense. Okay, fine, but this story says right on the cover that it is a Rock & Roll Christmas FANTASY. If you lighten up and just go with the premise, BIG E and the SANTA MAN is wonderful fun story.

Perhaps another thing causing doubt is a concern that the book is just too weird to be any good.

Elvis living with Santa – ridiculous
Scrooge converted to a mad scientist in a space craft – get real
A flying 1959 Cadillac jet sled – impossible

All I can say is that the story was conceived as an animated TV Christmas special, and people who have read it say they can see the drama, and action, and humor playing out on the screen. They started reading with an open mind and loved the story. Although it is the strangest Christmas story ever written, it is not too weird to be any good. No, it is very good.

The third possible stumbling block for some people may be their doubt that the host of a blog could craft a good piece of fiction on his first try. Actually, it is my second novel.

Elvis Claus is what I wrote first to hone my fiction writing skills. I plan to publish it next year. It might be even harder for folks to get beyond the Elvis is Alive premise on this one, because it’s not a fantasy, it’s a love story.

Writing fiction is a lot more challenging than writing non-fiction, but my extensive production of magazine articles has contributed to a sound grasp of grammar, punctuation, and other factors that can make your work look amateurish if you don’t get them right. BIG E and the SANTA MAN is clean, very professional looking.

For what it’s worth, I have written 54 articles for Elvis International magazine, including “Artist of the Century” in this issue.

I am very proud of the quality of my writing. I was hired by famous Elvis photographer Al Wertheimer to write the forward for his book ELVIS: The Early Years.

The author of Elvis: He Touched Me hired me to write two chapters and the “About the Author” section.

Okay, that’s enough proving I’m a good writer. You get the idea. I just wanted to emphasize any way I could that BIG E and the SANTA MAN is a quality work of fiction.

I am also very proud of the book’s cover. I engaged a top-notch graphic artist to create it, and she came through big time. She also did the cover for Elvis Claus. Scroll back and look at the outstanding job she did aging Elvis. She also did the Joe Biden and Minions pictures above.

So, that’s my pitch about quality. I truly believe this is the perfect Christmas present for Elvis fans. All you need to do is tell someone to type BIG E and the SANTA MAN into the Amazon search box, or click here and buy it yourself.

If you want a signed copy, and you have a PayPal account, send an email to philarnold@charter.net, and I’ll take care of the rest.

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I would like to end by paraphrasing the message in the above picture.

Who is this Big E guy?
And will he be under your Christmas tree?

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Thank you,

Phil Arnold

Original ElvisBlogmeister