Russell Beck's Blog
October 5, 2025
The Damn Dogs Don’t Like It
October 05, 2025
The world seems to work on sales. We're always selling something, ideas, an image of ourselves, products, etc. If you think about it for a minute you may see that selling, the act of convincing someone to take action is a fundamental part of life.
Lately I’ve been selling something different: my own story.
And I’m starting to wonder what I'm doing wrong or what I'm missing.
Back in the 1980s, when I was a stockbroker at Shearson Lehman American Express, I heard a joke at a sales meeting that stuck with me for decades:
At the annual sales meeting of a major dog food company, the executives gather.
The factory manager says, “We’ve got the most advanced production line in the industry.”
R&D adds, “Our ingredients are premium. Our formula’s scientifically balanced. Our packaging is award-winning.”
Marketing chimes in, “We’ve got the best branding and the best shelf placement. Everyone knows our name.”
Finally, the sales manager stands up and says, “Well, despite all that, our sales are down 50%.”
He pauses.
“Do you want to know why?”
“Because the damn dogs don’t like it!”
That one always got a laugh. But it’s funnier until you realize: some days, you are the dog food company.
📉 Mock Interview: Maybe the Readers Don’t Like It
Interviewer:
Russell, your book, Time and Chance has clean formatting, evocative titles, and a presence across Goodreads, Instagram, and Medium. Yet your stats show 364 views and one sale. What’s going on?
Me:
Let’s start with the covers. We’ve got some of the best in the business — crisp layout, emotional color, typography that could win a staring contest.
Interviewer:
And formatting?
Me:
Flawless. No blank pages, no rogue indents, no font crimes. My EPUBs glide through validators like Olympic figure skaters.
Interviewer:
Outreach?
Me:
Linktree, QR codes, Reels, giveaways, Facebook book groups, Instagram hashtags, LinkedIn book groups; I’ve got more channels than a cable package.
Interviewer:
Pricing?
Me:
I’ve danced between $2.99 and $4.99 like a caffeinated economist. It’s not the money — it’s the appetite.
Interviewer:
So what’s the verdict?
Me:
For some reason, the pitch isn’t landing. For some reason, the damn dogs don’t like it.
And I’d really like to ask the dogs what they think.
Case File: The Curious Incident of the Clicks.
Subject: Time and Chance
Views: 364
Sales: 1
Conversion Rate: ~0.27%
Cause of Death: Reader hesitation, genre mismatch, or emotional misfire? What's holding people back? What is it? I wish I knew.
We’ve laid out the evidence:
The covers are crisp
The formatting is flawless.
The outreach is active.
The emotional resonance is tuned like a vintage cassette deck.
And yet… 364 views, one sale.
Maybe the readers don’t dislike it. Maybe they just haven’t heard me bark loud enough.
Twenty people downloaded a sample of my book, I Grew up in Broad Ripple. No one came back to buy the book. There were no comments. Not a thank you, not even, “Your book was a complete waste of time.”
So here’s my question to you:
What makes you bite?
Is it the blurb, the price, the vibe?
Are we barking up the wrong genre tree?
If you’ve ever chased freedom, made a few questionable decisions, and somehow lived to tell the story — you might just find a kindred spirit in My Wild 1970 Ride.
It’s a memoir of one unforgettable year — hitchhiking to Mardi Gras, blacking out in the French Quarter, working on a tugboat in the Gulf, and stumbling through the chaos of being young, broke, and alive in 1970.
👉 My Wild 1970 Ride—hop in. The engine’s running, and the dogs are welcome too.
https://is.gd/bmw70r
About the Author
Russell A. Beck is the author of My Wild 1970 Ride, a memoir about one chaotic, exhilarating year of youth, luck, and hard-earned wisdom. He writes with humor and heart about freedom, mistakes, and the stories we tell once we’ve made it out the other side.
The world seems to work on sales. We're always selling something, ideas, an image of ourselves, products, etc. If you think about it for a minute you may see that selling, the act of convincing someone to take action is a fundamental part of life.
Lately I’ve been selling something different: my own story.
And I’m starting to wonder what I'm doing wrong or what I'm missing.
Back in the 1980s, when I was a stockbroker at Shearson Lehman American Express, I heard a joke at a sales meeting that stuck with me for decades:
At the annual sales meeting of a major dog food company, the executives gather.
The factory manager says, “We’ve got the most advanced production line in the industry.”
R&D adds, “Our ingredients are premium. Our formula’s scientifically balanced. Our packaging is award-winning.”
Marketing chimes in, “We’ve got the best branding and the best shelf placement. Everyone knows our name.”
Finally, the sales manager stands up and says, “Well, despite all that, our sales are down 50%.”
He pauses.
“Do you want to know why?”
“Because the damn dogs don’t like it!”
That one always got a laugh. But it’s funnier until you realize: some days, you are the dog food company.
📉 Mock Interview: Maybe the Readers Don’t Like It
Interviewer:
Russell, your book, Time and Chance has clean formatting, evocative titles, and a presence across Goodreads, Instagram, and Medium. Yet your stats show 364 views and one sale. What’s going on?
Me:
Let’s start with the covers. We’ve got some of the best in the business — crisp layout, emotional color, typography that could win a staring contest.
Interviewer:
And formatting?
Me:
Flawless. No blank pages, no rogue indents, no font crimes. My EPUBs glide through validators like Olympic figure skaters.
Interviewer:
Outreach?
Me:
Linktree, QR codes, Reels, giveaways, Facebook book groups, Instagram hashtags, LinkedIn book groups; I’ve got more channels than a cable package.
Interviewer:
Pricing?
Me:
I’ve danced between $2.99 and $4.99 like a caffeinated economist. It’s not the money — it’s the appetite.
Interviewer:
So what’s the verdict?
Me:
For some reason, the pitch isn’t landing. For some reason, the damn dogs don’t like it.
And I’d really like to ask the dogs what they think.
Case File: The Curious Incident of the Clicks.
Subject: Time and Chance
Views: 364
Sales: 1
Conversion Rate: ~0.27%
Cause of Death: Reader hesitation, genre mismatch, or emotional misfire? What's holding people back? What is it? I wish I knew.
We’ve laid out the evidence:
The covers are crisp
The formatting is flawless.
The outreach is active.
The emotional resonance is tuned like a vintage cassette deck.
And yet… 364 views, one sale.
Maybe the readers don’t dislike it. Maybe they just haven’t heard me bark loud enough.
Twenty people downloaded a sample of my book, I Grew up in Broad Ripple. No one came back to buy the book. There were no comments. Not a thank you, not even, “Your book was a complete waste of time.”
So here’s my question to you:
What makes you bite?
Is it the blurb, the price, the vibe?
Are we barking up the wrong genre tree?
If you’ve ever chased freedom, made a few questionable decisions, and somehow lived to tell the story — you might just find a kindred spirit in My Wild 1970 Ride.
It’s a memoir of one unforgettable year — hitchhiking to Mardi Gras, blacking out in the French Quarter, working on a tugboat in the Gulf, and stumbling through the chaos of being young, broke, and alive in 1970.
👉 My Wild 1970 Ride—hop in. The engine’s running, and the dogs are welcome too.
https://is.gd/bmw70r
About the Author
Russell A. Beck is the author of My Wild 1970 Ride, a memoir about one chaotic, exhilarating year of youth, luck, and hard-earned wisdom. He writes with humor and heart about freedom, mistakes, and the stories we tell once we’ve made it out the other side.
October 4, 2025
Sample a chapter
If you'd like to read or listen to a sample chapter, titled, One Wild Unforgettable Night,
Click on the link: https://is.gd/1wildnite
My Wild 1970 Ride: Easy Writer V2
Click on the link: https://is.gd/1wildnite
My Wild 1970 Ride: Easy Writer V2
Sample a chapter
If you'd like to read or listen to a sample chapter, titled, One Wild Unforgettable Night,
Click on the link: https://is.gd/1wildnite
My Wild 1970 Ride: Easy Writer V2
Click on the link: https://is.gd/1wildnite
My Wild 1970 Ride: Easy Writer V2
October 2, 2025
Remember when adventure was a thumb away?
This is the true story of the year I turned 21, broke free, and hit the open road. It was 1970. I hitchhiked to Mardi Gras with a knapsack, worked on an oil rig in the Gulf, and drove 14,000 miles on canned sardines as a sidekick for my friend Steve. We were on a promotional tour for the singer Glenn Yarbrough in a rented VW.
I spent two months living alone, in a truck bed camper in Crawfordsville, Indiana. No, my parents weren't punishing me, but it wasn't their greatest idea. I took off and hitched a ride to LA thinking I'd get a job on a merchant ship as an ordinary semen (seaman, I don't know why it always does that.) I ended up in Banning, CA and helped my great-aunt lay her husband to rest. These are just a few of the many wild and crazy adventures I had that year.
Think: hitchhiking, hangovers, and hard lessons on the open road. It’s a hilarious, heartfelt ride through the chaos of being young and free.
Want to escape to a different time? Enter the giveaway—it's quick and easy!
👉 ENTER THE GOODREADS GIVEAWAY NOW My Wild 1970 Ride: Easy Writer V2
I spent two months living alone, in a truck bed camper in Crawfordsville, Indiana. No, my parents weren't punishing me, but it wasn't their greatest idea. I took off and hitched a ride to LA thinking I'd get a job on a merchant ship as an ordinary semen (seaman, I don't know why it always does that.) I ended up in Banning, CA and helped my great-aunt lay her husband to rest. These are just a few of the many wild and crazy adventures I had that year.
Think: hitchhiking, hangovers, and hard lessons on the open road. It’s a hilarious, heartfelt ride through the chaos of being young and free.
Want to escape to a different time? Enter the giveaway—it's quick and easy!
👉 ENTER THE GOODREADS GIVEAWAY NOW My Wild 1970 Ride: Easy Writer V2
October 1, 2025
My Wild 1970 Ride FREEBIES
You can listen for free to a chapter, from My Wild 1970 Ride, titled, One Unforgettable Night here: https://bit.ly/3ImVZoK
(If you are asked to choose an account you want to select: rbeck.usa)
You can watch a 30 second Instagram teaser which picks up the story in the next chapter after Mardi Gras here: https://is.gd/wildride
Be sure to check out my Link Tree site for the latest updates. https://linktr.ee/rbeck.usa
(If you are asked to choose an account you want to select: rbeck.usa)
You can watch a 30 second Instagram teaser which picks up the story in the next chapter after Mardi Gras here: https://is.gd/wildride
Be sure to check out my Link Tree site for the latest updates. https://linktr.ee/rbeck.usa
September 30, 2025
Reviews-My Wild 1970 Ride
"Indianapolis, Indiana, February, 1970 The draft was behind me, and freedom beckoned like an open highway stretching into a golden sunset. At twenty-one, job prospects in Indianapolis were slim for a college dropout. I knew exactly nothing about what I wanted—only what I didn’t..."
"I was twenty-one, broke, and itching to escape the gray slush of Indiana winters. The draft and the thought of Vietnam had been breathing down my neck for years, but with a lucky twist of fate—I was free. What I wanted next was simple: adventure."
Goodreads Readers' Reviews
Average reader score: 4.75
"It's basically Russell Beck saying yes to every crazy idea that came his way in 1970."
-Malaika
"What a thrilling and fun read it was. I was on pins and needles the whole time because Russell really did take a lot of risks."
-Caroline
"I finished this book in just 2 sittings. Absolutely recommended!!!" -Bonnie"
"You get the funny, the messy, and the “what was I thinking?” all rolled together. If you like stories that feel like a road trip with a slightly reckless friend, this book is such a fun ride.
-Malaika
"We all need a friend like Steve and a runaway to Mardi Gras because life's too short otherwise." -Caroline
"All in all, a great fun read with hints of humour and a bit of spice." -Casey
"I know a lot of people hate autobiographies but please take my word for it and read this one."
-Humble
"Hitchhiking to Mardi Gras, blacking out on cheap wine, and working a tugboat during an oil fire?" "How did he survive all that?" -Malika
"The part where a woman calls him inside her house was too funny." -Casey
"A cross-country road trip fueled by canned sardines and optimism." -Hoor
Please pick up this book, you won’t regret it. You can thank me later.
-Usman
This book was an absolute thrill—captivating, adventurous, and full of heart. -Ayesha
"The author didn’t shy away from telling the truth about his odd jobs
or drinking cheap wine and almost going blind." -Nat
"I was twenty-one, broke, and itching to escape the gray slush of Indiana winters. The draft and the thought of Vietnam had been breathing down my neck for years, but with a lucky twist of fate—I was free. What I wanted next was simple: adventure."
Goodreads Readers' Reviews
Average reader score: 4.75
"It's basically Russell Beck saying yes to every crazy idea that came his way in 1970."
-Malaika
"What a thrilling and fun read it was. I was on pins and needles the whole time because Russell really did take a lot of risks."
-Caroline
"I finished this book in just 2 sittings. Absolutely recommended!!!" -Bonnie"
"You get the funny, the messy, and the “what was I thinking?” all rolled together. If you like stories that feel like a road trip with a slightly reckless friend, this book is such a fun ride.
-Malaika
"We all need a friend like Steve and a runaway to Mardi Gras because life's too short otherwise." -Caroline
"All in all, a great fun read with hints of humour and a bit of spice." -Casey
"I know a lot of people hate autobiographies but please take my word for it and read this one."
-Humble
"Hitchhiking to Mardi Gras, blacking out on cheap wine, and working a tugboat during an oil fire?" "How did he survive all that?" -Malika
"The part where a woman calls him inside her house was too funny." -Casey
"A cross-country road trip fueled by canned sardines and optimism." -Hoor
Please pick up this book, you won’t regret it. You can thank me later.
-Usman
This book was an absolute thrill—captivating, adventurous, and full of heart. -Ayesha
"The author didn’t shy away from telling the truth about his odd jobs
or drinking cheap wine and almost going blind." -Nat
