cowdery Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 My American whiskey newsletter, The Bourbon Country Reader, is only available in dead tree format. I have been looking for a way to make it a bit more available to people who prefer electronic delivery so, as an experiment, I have converted the article I did about Buffalo Trace's small barrel experiment to a Kindle ebook. I expanded it with some related pieces from The Reader and The Blog and priced it at 99 cents. You can get it here.This piece created quite a stir among micro-distillers, so it seemed like a good choice for an experiment. If it goes well I'll probably re-purpose some other past Reader stories the same way.I know SB is supposed to be non-commercial, but Jim has been generous about letting me drop the occasional plug. No one can say I just come here to plug stuff and don't genuinely participate.Anyway, this is by way of an experiment so feedback is appreciated, either as comments here, or on the blog, or via email or SB message.Commercial over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ejmharris Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I love the idea of it being available on Kindle. I will check it out. Keep us informed how ye experiment goes. Would like to see more in the Kindle format. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nblair Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Bought it yesterday as soon as I saw the blog post. Thoroughly enjoyed it and wish you would do more. Was able to read it on my Android phone too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 It seems to work on every platform except Nook. Imagine that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongBeachScott Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I bought it and really liked it. I have liked a number of Kindle Singles that have come out over the last year. So, re-released articles are a bit like that. It's a bit difficult to root around for good short works on Amazon though. The key for me would be to market it somewhere I would more likely see it. This forum would work, but would probably be frowned upon if it were frequent. I would be very interested in a subscription publication on Kindle.Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eth3rStrik3r Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 As a kindle owner and a huge fan of your book, I would have to say full publications on an e-reader by you would be awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timd Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I bought this piece - and would subscribe to Bourbon Country Reader if it was available in an electronic format.As much as I still love books, I tend to do more and more reading of long-form material on my Kindle - and I'd say 98% of my periodical/magazine reading is electronic at this point.Just seems "weird" to subscribe to a printed newsletter that I have to scan myself in order to store electronically... But I get that many folks older than me (and I'm not exactly a teenager!) still like to have something in their hands. Maybe doing it both ways? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Just gifted a Kindle for Christmas so I'm game... just the other day I was so pissed while looking for the issue on Peoria distilling :grin:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'm generally happy with how this has gone and intend to keep it up. When I do Kindle releases I'll try to announce them here, with the forbearance of the proprietor, but you know I'll also announce them on my blog, which is searchable. If you don't want to subscribe to the blog you can check it periodically and just search for "Kindle" to find out about any releases you may have missed. Kindle does have a protocol for publishing periodicals but it's a bit over my head. The small book or "single" format I can handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 As a Nook owner, I must say :horseshit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 I looked into Nook, as it's the only major platform that doesn't support Kindle books. My experience with Barnes & Noble from my ink-and-paper book is that they are much less friendly to small publishers than Amazon is, and that has been reinforced WRT Nook. Bottom line, I'm not hostile to Nook, Nook is hostile to me. Maybe their customers should complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fricky Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Chuck,Thanks for the opportunity to read the article on my Kindle. I am a bit confused. As you pointed out, some distillers are using small barrels so that aging time can be reduced. The Buffalo Trace experiment consisted of testing the effects of smaller barrels on aging bourbon. Unless I missed something it appears that all barrels regardless of size were aged for 5 years and then evaluated. Unless taste tests were conducted after shorter exposure times, the experiment did not determine the effects of smaller barrels on their intended purpose - shorter aging times. Why would a distiller use small barrels and still age them for 5 years?Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 They, meaning BT, did taste along the way, but I didn't. I didn't have that opportunity. I only got to taste the end result. Remember that when they embarked on the experiment, they didn't know exactly how micro-distillers would be using small barrels because that was still largely in the future. Generally, I think BT's experiments have been pretty valid scientifically because they are very limited. This really only just tested the effect of aging standard BT bourbon distillate for from 0 to five years in 5, 10, and 15 gallon barrels.It is, however, fair to assume that if certain flavors couldn't be found in the 5-year-old distillate, they didn't exist at some previous time and then evaporate. Some of the small barrel defenders assume it was too woody after five years but that wasn't the problem. It was unbalanced and just didn't taste good, that was the problem.Also, the people who keep using the terminology of, as you said, "using small barrels so that aging time can be reduced," would have you believe that whiskey aged in small barrels should, after five years, taste like whiskey aged for 15 or 20 years in a 53, and it sure didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Just a heads-up. The next Kindle release I'm working on is the complete Michter's and A. H. Hirsch story. Since the original was published in 2006, I've gotten a lot of new information, so this should be interesting even to people who subscribe to the newsletter and read it then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timd Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Just a heads-up. The next Kindle release I'm working on is the complete Michter's and A. H. Hirsch story. Since the original was published in 2006, I've gotten a lot of new information, so this should be interesting even to people who subscribe to the newsletter and read it then.What are you thoughts on an email subscription / newsletter that would let people know when these are coming out - or allow your blog to be subscribed to by email (check out Feedblitz).I try to check it out often, but unless it's a blog that posts daily or every other day, I pretty much only check them out "when I remember to..." I've got a couple of blogs I subscribe to by email which is pretty helpful.Yes, I know - there's always an RSS reader. But really, who does that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 I generally do update the blog daily or every-other-day, so that's where I'm most active. You can also visit my Author's Page on Amazon to see what's currently available on Kindle. The blog is there as well.I'm not sure why, but the service that handles ecommerce for my web site won't let me sell electronic products, so that's been an obstacle to electronic subscriptions to the newsletter, but I'm always looking at the possibility. I also like the retro quality of dead trees delivery, since bourbon depends so much on dead trees too.I'll check out Feedblitz. People do use readers, not necessarily RSS. You can follow blogs on Google and do it that way. I'm sure there are others. You can also friend me on Facebook, as I use Networkedblogs to automatically post all blog posts to my wall.And thanks for caring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yountvillewjs Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Just ordered the book, glad to see there is more work to do once I get finished with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy38 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I prefer to keep killing as many trees as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 We can grow more. We have the technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 This is a nice story about bourbon fans helping bourbon fans. A bourbon fan who read what I wrote above about Barnes & Noble and Nook being hard to work with hooked me up with a friend of his who is the Barnes & Noble representative for the region that includes Kentucky, himself also a bourbon fan. Due to their help, I'm happy to announce that both BOURBON, STRAIGHT and Small Barrels Produce Lousy Whiskey are now available in the Nook format.Nook books may be read on Nook readers and on most computers, tablets, and smart phones using the available Nook apps. They can be read on just about anything except Kindle readers, but both books have been available on Kindle for several months.I'm also getting very close to publishing a new e-book, The Best Bourbon You’ll Never Taste. The True Story Of A. H. Hirsch Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Distilled In The Spring Of 1974. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightBoston Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I'm also getting very close to publishing a new e-book, The Best Bourbon You’ll Never Taste. The True Story Of A. H. Hirsch Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Distilled In The Spring Of 1974.Can those of us who have tasted it read the e-book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Can those of us who have tasted it read the e-book? You'd be crazy not to. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvallisCracker Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Can those of us who have tasted it read the e-book? You'd be crazy not to. :) What about those of us who've tasted it AND are already crazy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Funny, but after poking Chuck about a lack of Nook availability I had my second poor experience with B&N in a short time and I've decided to change e-reader platforms.I hope it opens up more sales for ya on Nook, but I'll be picking up the Kindle versions. :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Funny, but after poking Chuck about a lack of Nook availability I had my second poor experience with B&N in a short time and I've decided to change e-reader platforms.I hope it opens up more sales for ya on Nook, but I'll be picking up the Kindle versions. :grin:Now that I'm on Nook it's easy enough to be on both, except Kindle has a lending program that pays pretty well but requires that you give them an exclusive. I had to give that up to be on Nook and it remains to be seen which is more lucrative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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