Contact! – Revised and Updated
I had some good feedback from some good people about Contact. Now that I am waiting for Beta Testers to get back to me about Patriot Dawn, I’ve had the time to go back and revise and edit Contact.
It has an updated over and I have taken the advice about increasing readability seriously, going through and breaking up long paragraphs and working on the layout.
I have also added some new stuff to the book that has come to my attention since I originally published. Either that or it was topics that people responded to and found interesting on the blog – Aerial Thermal Surveillance is one, and now has a section in the book.
CreateSpace are doing their review process right now. When the new book cover (below) shows up on Amazon, it means that the new version is available.
MV,
If we’ve already purchased the book via kindle do we have to repurchase it for the updated version or is that included in the original purchase merely requiring a re-download?
Hmmm – I don’t think there is a machanism for that throug Amazon. I simply updated the manuscript and the cover. Be assured that the main changes are cosmetic, breaking up some of my page long paragraphs. I have added stuff from the blog into the body of the book, but if you read here then you are not missing out on anything. I amedned a couple of things, like updating my comments on urban fighting, but that’s on the blog as well.
In my opinion, I don’t like the kindle version too much anyway. As an author, you have to do kindle in this day and age, but with a book such as mine it does not work as well as a hard copy. I think that is why for Contact, hard copy sales well outstrip kindle sales. It’s more the kind of book you want a hard copy of, and the tables such as orders layouts and the combat estimate are easy to view on the page, but not so easy in kindle.
I’m not trying to get you to go and buy the hard copy as well, it’s just what I think
MV,
Thanks for your response! Am overseas presently and am unable a hard copy,but one is in the future barring TEOTWAWKI today.Keep up the fine work,am looking forward to Patriot Dawn when it goes kindle.Best of holidays to you and yours!
Max, just got turned on to you from Mountain Guerilla. Bought both your books,just last week and am in the process of reading them, but I don’t see anything in “Contact!” about Aerial Thermal Surveillance…..
How do I know I have the current copy? My cover looks similiar to what you posted, except the only thing on the second line is “Survival”.
Jim, you don’t have the updated copy, you must have purchased shortly before the update went through. The new version is on the createspace estore and would be what you received if you bought now, but it takes a few days to creep through the Amazon system. For example, the new page count is shown on Amazon now but the old cover is still up – the one you have – the Amazon spiders take a few days to work through.
For the new version, the increased page count is a result of breaking up the text a lot more in a quest for increased readability, and also the addition of material from this blog. The aerial thermal surveillance is a post on this blog, so look over it here so you don’t miss out.
The other thing is that I also added a comment in the book description for Contact and Rapid Fire – explaining that they were never meant as sequels, but aimed at different audiences. There is sufficient difference between the books to take account of the different target audiences but there is also the large amount of TTPs that are either very similar or the same. I was turned on to the fact that people were buying both by my only two star review on Amazon, from a dissatisfied reader who was unhappy that in his opinion there was not sufficent difference between the two. I don’t think he read far enough though…and he never actually commented on the books themsleves, just that there was cross-content between them.
If you are in any way disatisfied by how this has turned out, please email me at maxvelocitytactical@gmail.com
Thanks for the reply max.
I’m totally happy with the books-just diving in to them now, it just sucks to buy something and the new version come out right after that!
I did Cambrian Patrol in ’93, so a lot of the British terms are familiar to me in the books. Had a couple of Para “advisors” who chaperoned us (to the best bars!) during the competition.
Merry Christmas and keep up the good work-I’m really enjoying the blog!
I finished my first read thru of the hard copy (ver 1.0)and IMO it is very informative, exactly what I think I needed. I’m also reading the Ranger handbook kindle version and your book is like its Rosetta Stone, it makes much more sense after reading your book.
Thank you, happy to be of service. If you felt the urgent need to replicate that comment in an Amazon review, it woud be very helpful. Thanks.
Actually I did not feel any need to put up a review, but once asked I did, and gave an honest and hopefully informative one. Look for the review by WASP (FTR both sides of my family are pre-Revolutionary war colonists) RobRoySimmons
RobRoy: I just saw your review on Amazon. Thank you, that is very useful and helpful.
Myself I usually do not pay much attention to the actual contents of reviews, but the actual number of reviews. Too much axe grinding in most of them. I’m a big fan of Rhodesian Bush War non-fiction and fiction and basically alot of the reviews have worn down the metal to the wooden handle, especially the Scout’s literature.
As for the reviews of “Contact” the usual babble on which scenario plays out and why you didn’t address it, and all of that has to be put in context seemed to occupy the minds of the lesser reviews. Basically IMO information is a tool first and foremost. thanks for your work RobRoySimmons and thank you for your ancestors meanness to my Borderlands and Danelaw ancestors otherwise I would like warm beer (FTR I love fish & chips if the fish is cod)