It’s overdue, but it’s here! Up until now, all the items in our catalog were intended to be ordered one item at a time. The “Buy Now” button takes you directly to PayPal’s checkout feature. If you want to buy several different books, up until now you had to pay shipping for each on an individual basis.

No more! I thrust my way through the tangled thicket on PayPal’s website and figured out how to use the shopping cart feature. So, you can add an item to the cart, continue to peruse the site and add more items, and when you’re done you just click on any “View Cart” button and you’re whisked to your shopping cart, where you can finalize your order. Of course, you can remove items or change quantities at any time, simply via the “View Cart” button. All “View Cart” buttons take you to the same place: your shopping cart.

The cool thing is that the shipping is calculated on the weight of the total order. That can represent significant savings. The starting point for shipping is $2.75, but if you order, say, the Railroad book plus Mary Ann Dismant’s memoirs, the total shipping is just $3.00. What a cool way to save money!

I’ve got the cart up for the Mt. Sneffels Press catalog and will update the extended catalog soon so that it has this feature also.

UPDATE Jan 22, 2010: The Extended Catalog has been upgraded to add the shopping cart feature.

Mt. Sneffels Press

Greetings from Geekland here. I’ve spent the last couple hours upgrading the blog software that underpins this site, WordPress. The auto upgrade feature doesn’t work for me (I must have a configuration file set wrong somewhere), so that means transferring hundreds of files to my hosting provider. They make it fairly easy, but I did run into a snag here and there. I like WordPress because 1) I’ve been able to make it work, 2) it’s pretty easy to post things and add shopping buttons and whatnot, and 3) it’s well supported. Oh, and 4) it’s free! If you want to experiment, Wordpress allows you to create your own blog on their site. Mt. Sneffels Press isn’t hosted there, but rather at Digital Space.

I’ve been putting off this upgrade for awhile now, but it pays to be current, as the latest version has all the bug patches and security fixes. I decided to devote this evening to getting my Internet house in order, although I hope to spend a little time working on the first draft of The Unexpected Traveler!

Mt. Sneffels Press

This paragraph about Mt. Sneffels Press’s book, Narrow Gauge Railroading in the San Juan Triangle: The Rio Grande Southern, the Ouray Branch of the D&RG and Otto Mears’ Silverton RR, appears in the January 2010 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. You too can have your own copy by clicking on this link to our catalog. Click here to go to the Railroad Model Craftsman website.

Mt. Sneffels Press, Railroad

I had a blast at last year’s Mensa national convention in Denver, selling every copy of Broom 1 and Broom 2 that I had with me. And I’m looking forward to speaking by invitation at the Mensa Regional Convention in Reno on October 3rd. About flying broomsticks of course!

But I never thought I could become a member.

I told those who urged me to take the test that I didn’t see Read more…

American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press

The Ridgway Railroad Museum’s book, Narrow Gauge Railroading in the San Juan Triangle: The Rio Grande Southern, the Ouray Branch of the D&RG and Otto Mears’ Silverton RR, is earning plaudits from the magazines that follow narrow-gauge railroading.

From the NG&SL Gazette Review, Sept/Oct 2009:

This book describes three of the 3-foot gauge railroads that once ran in the Silverton, Ouray, and Ridgway areas of Colorado. There are stories, short histories of the area described, maps and black and white photos. These include “Ridgway Street Names,” “The Legacy of Robert M. Ridgway,” “The RGS Through Telegrams,” “Unusual Spikes on the RGS,” and an item about a runaway RGS flatcar. The book also describes the Ridgway Railroad Museum, and the narrow gauge equipment located there. Included are D&RGW Boxcar #3130, Stock Car #5574, and Drop Bottom Gondola #702. Articles also describe the restoration of Caboose #0575, Goose #4 and the re-creation of Motor #1. All great reading!

From the Colorado Railroad Journal, Sept 2009:

The 110-page volume contains 40 carefully researched short articles by seven museum members, along with 60 photographs, maps and drawings. The articles contain information available nowhere else. Some of the topics covered include history of each of the museum’s railcars, snow fighting on the narrow gauge, life working for the railroad, locations along the featured routes, the Corkscrew Gulch turntable, Ouray depot, water tanks on the narrow gauge, Ouray to Ironton by rail, the Ramona townsite affair, dispatcher’s train sheets, and many more.

Check out the book in our catalog.

Mt. Sneffels Press, Railroad, Reader Comments

At last! It’s here! The third book in the series, The Story of the Great American Flying Broomstick, Book 3: FOG at the Crossroads, is just about here. I received the proof from the printer last week. Everything is as it should be. And the print run should be here this week or next. As soon as it is, I’ll put a “Buy Now” button in the catalog.

Here’s the blurb for the new book:

Book 3 in the American Flying Broomstick series starts with a bombshell. The tiny Fraternal Order of the Grail (FOG), the group that has safeguarded the Holy Grail for two millennia, has misplaced it. The Keeper, Reggie Baker, moved the Grail to its new secret repository and then died while walking his dog—before he could tell the other brethren where he’d put it! The loss causes a rift between powerful American brother Hal Bender and the English branch centered in London, and Dave is caught in the middle. Dave makes haste to London to organize FOG’s new young novices to find the Holy Grail—by using flying broomsticks, of course. But the media is full of rumors that FOG will take back the Power that enables broomsticks to fly. And the sinister Plasma Vortex organization is after Dave’s wand so they can use its power for extortion and general mayhem. FOG at the Crossroads records Dave’s high adventure in the American West and in Southern England. Come along for the wild ride!

So watch this space for availability!

The official launch will be at the Regional Mensa Convention in Reno, NV, in early October, but unofficial availability starts as soon as I receive the print run.

American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press

For those following the Ridgway Railroad Museum, here’s a blurb of interest if you happen to be in the area this September 12th. The book has been quite the hit—the museum asked for a reprint because they’re selling them so fast! You can check out their book and order from us by clicking on this link to our catalog. The book is available from us for $19.95 plus S&H. If your shipping address is in Colorado, there is a nominal sales tax.

Mt. Sneffels Press

Book 2 in the Flying Broomstick series, or, more formally, “The Story of the Great American Flying Broomstick Book 2: The Missing Wand,” is now available on Kindle. Click on the image to be taken to the Amazon Kindle website where you can download it to your Kindle via Whispernet for only $6.95. Check it out!

The Kindle seems to be the next great “thing” in publishing. It’s easy as pie to upload the content and I can make corrections to the text if those turn out to be required. It’s straightforward to use—my 84-year-old mother uses one.

That makes both Broom 1 and Broom 2 available on Kindle, each for $6.95. I dropped the price to something very affordable (although, to be truthful, if you can afford a Kindle, you can afford more for my books!) and I still make more money per copy than selling print editions via Amazon. I will be publishing Broom 3, “FOG at the Crossroads,” via Kindle as soon as I have it ready to go to the printer. Stay tuned!

American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press

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American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press

I received a query from Karen about Book 3 and whether I’d be at the Mensa AG Conference this July in Pittsburgh. In short, it’s “almost” ready and, no, I won’t be in Pittsburgh.

But…I will be at the Reno regional Mensa event in October. For sure with Broom 3!

Broom 3 is “almost” done. It’s been “almost” done for quite some time—months even! It seems there’s one little bit that didn’t satisfy a key reviewer. He thought it irrelevant. I thought it vital to set up the central problem that’ll be addressed in Broom 4. So…I’ve rewritten most of it, but still have a couple chapters to go. Once that’s done, Broom 3 will go into production, which means creating cover art and sending it off to the printer.

I was invited to Pittsburgh, but my schedule just won’t permit it. However, my good friend Randy Cassingham Read more…

American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press, Reader Comments