Dear Fellow Members of OWAA,
As many of you know, during the first 18 – 20 months after BAREBOW! was initially published in the fall of 2008, it garnered many awards (five, to be precise) — including a top EIC award from OWAA, as well as the Mossy Oak PINNACLE Award from POMA.  When I republished the 360,000-word, ten-pound coffee-table book as a 7-volume digital series of eBooks in late 2012, I entered that as a single-item entry into the national  eLit Awards Competition, sponsored annually by the Jenkins Publishing Group.  On April 19, 2013, I was notified that THE BAREBOW! BOOK had won the top award — the Gold Award — in the category of “Sports/Fitness/Recreation.”  Quite frankly, I was not expecting any such success, since that broadest of all possible categories meant my entry had to compete against hundreds of other works in such fields as fishing, mountain-climbing, skiing, hiking, cycling, tennis, golf, all water-sports, baseball, basketball, and football — to name just a few.  Over the past seven years, BAREBOW! has been reviewed in print by over a hundred magazines and newspapers around the country (including by a number of OWAA Members) — all of them positive, without exception.  I would ask that one of you please set me straight, if I’m in error here, but I believe it is an accurate statement, to say that BAREBOW! has now won more literary honors than any other hunting book ever published.
My purpose, here, is not to boast, but only to lay the groundwork for the news I want to share with you today.  Even though BAREBOW! came out seven years ago, it now seems to be taking on a new life of its own.  Sales drop off significantly after the first couple of years for nearly all print books.  To my delight, book sales for BAREBOW! have been the past three, successive years, and — more importantly — stories from my book are currently being re-published in no fewer than four different web magazines, at the same time.
1)  OUTDOORHUB:  In June of 2013, this fine hunting/fishing website launched an ongoing series, titled, “The BAREBOW! Chronicles”.  For well over two years, at the rate of one new tale every two weeks, my stories have been reaching an ever-expanding readership.  Chronicle #57 just went up last week (called, “The Swimming Bear Polka”).
2)  SPORTSMAN’S NEWS (official publication of Sportsman’s Warehouse):  In August of this year, the stories from my book began appearing monthly in SN’s digital online magazine, under the name, “The BAREBOW! Sagas”.  The November Issue just came out yesterday, and story #4 (called, “El Flechador del Sol”) can be accessed on pages 58, 59 & 61, by clicking on this link:http://issuu.com/sportsmansnews/docs/sportsman_s_news_november_2015_digi?e=10374194/30999204
3 & 4)  DEER HUNTING ONLINE and BEAR HUNTING ONLINE:  Both digital magazines are bi-monthly, published in alternating months by Turnbull Publishing. Each issue of both magazines will carry a feature story, drawn from my book — to be salted, from time to time, with new stories written since the print book came out.
I pray that Craig Boddington was prophetic back in early 2009, shortly after BAREBOW! reached the market.  He wrote, “BAREBOW! is truly a landmark achievement and will become a classic.”  Or perhaps outdoor writer Dr. J. Y. Jones was clairvoyant when he wrote, “I think this will become one of the most coveted hunting books of all time.”  I know history, alone, will determine such matters, but it is starting to look as if Craig and J. Y. may have had an accurate instinct.  On my books’ website at www.barebows.com, you will find thirty more rather extraordinary testimonials that humble me greatly whenever I reread them.
Jim Slinsky, radio host at Outdoor Talk Network, reviewed BAREBOW! in 2009, saying, “There has never been a book like BAREBOW!, and probably no one will ever duplicate it.  It is so extraordinary in the present, we need not wait for time to establish it as part of history.”
Yet, of course, only time will tell the real story of this book — and perhaps make prophets out of Craig, J. Y. and Jim!  Nonetheless, something would clearly seem to be happening out there.  For those of you who reviewed BAREBOW! several years ago now, maybe a follow-up story is in order.  For those of you who never wrote an article or did a radio interview with the author before, perhaps something would be timely  right now — with Christmas less than two months away.
The book first came to market in September of 2008, at the worst possible time, with the economy in shambles.  Cabela’s was getting ready to carry BAREBOW! in their stores — when it suddenly became obvious that a $95 retail book was not going to do well in those depressed economic conditions. Today they carry no books they can’t be retailed for under $30.  As it turned out, I had 5000 copies printed of the cloth hardcover edition.  Although the cowhide leather-spined, slipcased, Limited Edition copies (750 bound) are all but gone, I’ve still got around 1800 of the Regular Edition yet to sell.  It has been priced retail at $55, ever since the eBook series came out in 2012.  HOWEVER, the good news for Christmas shoppers is that I’m now selling the Regular Edition by the box of four (the way they arrived from the printer) at my wholesale price of $30 per copy!  So, a full box of four can be ordered for only $120 (plus S & H).  Any one of you who owns this book, or has looked through a copy, knows what a real bargain that is. Particularly since it is 50% a Fine Art book, illustrated by the amazing wildlife art of Hayden and Dallen Lambson.
I will be happy to send a complimentary copy of BAREBOW! to any OWAA colleague who lets me know that he or she is willing to do a serious review of the book — either on-air, or in print.  Once the review has been done, if you wish to keep the book for your own library, I would simply ask that you reimburse me for the shipping and handling costs ($19.95).  The shipping carton weighs about 11 pounds, but the book is well protected.
Thanks to all of you for reading through this lengthy missive.  I hope you will feel it was worth your time to do so.  For those of you who’ve never had any exposure to BAREBOW! until now, the attachments to this email will give you a much better understanding of what my unique and much celebrated book is about.
Only the best to you in the rapidly-approaching Holiday season,
Dennis Dunn
Kirkland, WA
www.barebows.com
206-696-2174[/level-membersupporter]