The Backwoods Home Magazine website will go on strike for 12 hours tomorrow, beginning at 8 am Eastern time, to protest Congress’ attempt to pass the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) law, which we view as the first major attempt by our government to censor the Internet. We join companies like Google and Wikipedia in this 12-hour strike. To learn more about SOPA and this strike, please click here.

For those 12 hours tomorrow, all pages on the BHM website will appear as follows:

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Going Kindle is not the only significant move Backwoods Home Magazine is up to these days. We’ve decided to become a major sponsor of the Self Reliance Expos put on by Red Shed Media Group.

If you have attended any of the recent Self Reliance Expos (Salt Lake City and Denver were our last two), you may have met the ubiquitous presences of Ron Douglas and Scott Valencia, the organizers of the shows. They are two of the major principals of Red Shed Media, and I have been impressed with their ability to put on successful preparedness-type shows. Their shows are the only really successful efforts in the 10 or so years since Dan Chittock’s pre-Y2K preparedness shows ceased.

The next Self Reliance Show will be February 10-11 near Dallas.

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BHM went live on Kindle today. Here is the direct link to the magazine.

This is a big deal for us. April Roeske and Sam Duffy on Annie’s staff made it happen. Anyone in the English-speaking world can now subscribe to BHM through Kindle. However, current print issue subscribers will not be able to switch their current subscription to a Kindle one since the money for the Kindle version is handled by Amazon, not us. We are not in the money loop, except to get a check from Kindle every now and then for a percentage of the sales price.

Annie announced the launch on BHM’s Facebook page, and we already have a bunch of “likes” and “shares.” In the announcement, she asked BHM’s fans to go to our Amazon Kindle page to “like” our product there and leave a quick review of the magazine. A number of people have already done that.

Prices are:
US: $ 1.99/month, $7.99/issue
UK: GBP 1.99/month, GBP 7.99/issue
ROW: $1.99/month, $ 7.99/issue

ROW means rest of world, I think. GBP means Great Britain pound, I think. Amazon sets the price, not us. We’re just going along for the ride.

As I understand it, when you start a Kindle subscription, you don’t pay the whole thing up front. There is a free trial period, then the monthly subscription fee kicks in. Amazon will keep charging $1.99/month until the subscriber cancels. Since we’re bi-monthly, that means there are two charges for every one issue, so the per-issue price is $3.98 (comparable to our print issue price of a little over $4 each for subscribers). This is about $24/year.

This is cheaper than the newsstand price of $5.95 per issue for U.S. citizens, $7.50 for Canadians. It’s way cheaper for subscriptions for foreigners. With the print issue, we have to charge the regular subscription price of $24.95 per year, plus mailing costs of $18 per year for Canada, $30 a year for Mexico, and $50 per year for most other places. So this is where the savings really are for potential readers. It remains to be seen how many foreigners (or U.S. citizens overseas) want to read BHM. We’ll have to figure out a way to let them know we are available on Kindle.

Single issues or subscriptions will be available on the Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Fire, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle (2nd Generation), Kindle (1st Generation), Kindle for iPad (Version 2.8 or later), Kindle for iPhone (Version 2.8 or later), and Kindle for Android.

Next, I think we’ll put one or two of the BHM anthologies on Kindle.

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This is a great story: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/02/occupy-richmond-to-tea-party-can-fight-city-hall/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews.

It really is ALL ABOUT a government out of control.

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I received this news release from Americans for Limited Government (ALG) today, and I agree with it completely. BHM has editorialized about this in past issues, at the onset of the housing bust.

For Immediate Release
Nov. 28, 2011

Rep. Barney Frank retires, ALG responds: “Good riddance!”

Nov. 28, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement responded to Rep. Barney Frank’s decision not to seek reelection in 2012:

“Barney Frank has been a staunch defender of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac throughout the buildup of the housing bubble, even accusing critics of exaggerating the risks posed to the Government Sponsored Enterprises in the 2000′s.  Under legislation Frank voted for in 1992, Fannie and Freddie only needed $900 of capital behind a $200,000 mortgage they guaranteed.

“From 2007 until the end of 2010, Frank was the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and when the crisis hit was blindsided by the bankruptcy of the GSEs.  Frank led the House’s efforts to bail out Fannie and Freddie and other financial institutions in 2008.  To his departure, American taxpayers say good riddance.

“When the time came to reform the financial system, Frank excluded Fannie and Freddie from his signature legislation, even though the GSEs were ground zero of the financial crisis.  Frank ignored the warning signs of the crisis, and then when it hit, did everything in his power to cover for Fannie and Freddie.  Meaningful financial reform would have been to unwind government involvement in housing finance, instead of affirming it.

“Frank leaves behind a disastrous record that will have consequences for years if not decades to come.  His departure comes about twenty years too late.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

###

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Working on deadline again. Annie, Lenie, Lisa, Rhoda, and I really whipped the upcoming issue into shape today. Very powerful issue, though not the extra signature (additional 16 pages) we had planned to produce. Instead we stuck with our usual 100 pages, but the articles are tightly written with good info. The issue will be among the best we’ve produced. Annie has become a good conductor of a strong BHM orchestra of writers.

I use the word “writers” vaguely. BHM writers are “deep” in knowledge and analysis. You should sit where I am to see the array of talent that gives its best for BHM readers. I’m very grateful to them. I have the luxury of watching the performance, and helping my daughter assemble all the parts into a cohesive issue.

Tomorrow I’ll settle into my own editorial. It’s been swirling in my mind for a couple of weeks. I’ve never been a quick writer who knows what to say. I need time to think.

Yesterday I hit a drive 260 yards on Hole 7 of Cedar Bend Golf Course. That’s 40 yards longer than what I normally hit. I discovered something about how to hit a golf ball a long ways. This is one of the things that’s important at 67 years of age. Most people lose distance at my age, but I am gaining in distance. I’ll work on my editorial in the morning, then go out and try for 265 yards. Just thinking about that will make me sleep well tonight.

Molly is doing pretty well. Her medicine agrees with her, she’s walking a little better, and she’s wagging her tail a lot. We brought her into the office today and will again tomorrow.

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We made it to Utah, through a lot of light snow and heavier rain. Interesting keynote speaker, Fernando (FerFAL) Aguirre, who has an interesting website. He’s from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived through that country’s 2001 economic collapse. He’ll do an article for us, possibly for next issue.

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We got the motorhome, and John and I will be off early tomorrow morning to show the magazine at the Self Reliance Expo in Sandy, Utah. Unfortunately our first storm of the year has moved in so we’ll be driving through wind and rain, with snow at elevations above 5,000 feet. It’s a two-day drive.

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I’m trying to buy a used Class C motorhome at an auction today so Lenie and I can take Backwoods Home Magazine on the road every now and then. It’s an idea we’ve had for a couple of years. If successful, John and I will drive it to the Sandy, Utah Self Reliance Expo.

The original idea was to meet more readers, perhaps do more shows. I thought the motorhome and trips would pay for themselves with increased subscribers and by selling anthologies. A good Class C motorhome had cost more than we were willing to spend, but with the economy still down after several years, the prices for the motorhomes, especially the used ones, have dropped.

This is an auction for RV dealers, so I’m doing it through a small local RV dealer. We’ll see what happens real soon.

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Now it’s on to to the Self Reliance Expo Oct. 7-8 in Sandy, Utah, which is on the southern edge of Salt Lake City. John Silveira and I will drive two days to do this one. John and I have not done a show together for at least 10 years so this will be fun. If you want to talk politics or economics, this is the one to go to. O.E. MacDougal will also likely be there.

Self reliance and preparedness shows in and around Salt Lake City are always a big deal. Some of the best prepared people in the country live there, and I always learn something new.

This should be our last show until spring.

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