Guys, I just was informed by the Random House, my publisher, that Masters of the Art has gone to second and third printings!

What does this mean?

Well, first they give you an advance of money to do the work required to get the book published. With Masters of the Art it was mostly rewriting from the original hardcover version, and updating to include info on the War on Terror.

Then they print so many books in the first run, enough that if they all sell you "earn out" which means the book made enough money to give back to the publisher the amount they advanced you. In my case it was 20,000.

Then they then sit back to see if they sell.

I was having a hard time finding out what was going on most of this year and only yesterday did I learn that the editor I was working with at Random House had left. He never told me, they never told me and I got no updates on the book sales.

In a nutshell, I haven't made any money on Masters of the Art since it was in hardcover and don't expect to. What matters to me is that finally people in a much wider audience are reading what really happened in Vietnam, and how it relates to the War on Terror, especially in Iraq. I wrote that book so people who had spit on us and shit on us in the 60s and 70s would some day have to answer when the real word got out.

The word is getting out! For that I am happy, and believe me, grateful to everyone on PopASmoke who read the book, reviewed it and recommend it to others. In the final analysis it is about all of us, especially those of us who take pride in our service and in bearing the title Marine!

Thank You and
Semper Fi
Ron