In addition to drumming up interest in my book (check out Chapter One), I will be sharing whimsical and funny cat videos from the YouTube archives, usually on Mondays. Enjoy!
This amusing collection of cat videos features cats riding on the automatic vacuum cleaner known as the Roomba.
Our first selection is courtesy of poutamo from Finland and is most appropriately entitled ‘Roomba Driver’…
After the jump are two more wonderful Roomba videos not to be missed…
You will notice that I’ve made another set of changes to Vitothecat.com.
I’ve added new navigation above the header and have debuted a rotation of positive ‘celebrity’ reviews to the top right of the page.
There are more tweaks to come, but I think the site is starting to shape up nicely.
I also plan to add, starting next week, a regular blog post covering whatever random topics hit me at the moment, dubbed appropriately enough, Random Musings.
One hopes it is a way to introduce the web at large to my writing style and dazzling wit, such as it is, above and beyond the chapters of my book.
Yeah, I know. Good luck with that.
As for my March to 100 (I’m starting to feel like the late Ed McMahon at the Jerry Lewis telethon), drum roll please…
20 comments, 11 Twitter followers, 9 diggs and $3.00 donated.
Stay tuned, much more to come next week, and don’t forget to let me know what you think of the changes I’ve made to the site!
DiG…
In addition to trying to get my book published (you can read the first chapter here), I am presenting endearing cat videos from the YouTube archives on Mondays. Enjoy!
This week’s cat video, ‘Kitty Wrestling’, was shot by C.B. Cebulski, a writer at Marvel Comics.
As C.B. notes, “These two active little kittens were having a playful Sunday here on Broadway in NYC as they waited for the right person to come along and adopt them…”
After the jump is another cat video from C.B. Cebulski, eerily reminiscent of Vito’s escapades in The Chirping Bird…
Technically, Vitothecat.com went live one month ago today.
Huzzah!
And my March to 100 stands as follows:
18 comments, 7 diggs, 7 Twitter followers and $3.00 donated.
As I’ve stated previously, I really need to get to 100 in at least one of the above categories before I can post the next chapter, Summers in Philadelphia.
To that end, I would like to thank Carol Johnson (alias anubisgrrl) for her help in spreading the word on LiveJournal, and Tim Susman for the shoutout on his blog, Thoughts on Writing and Other Afflictions.
In other news, you will notice I’ve made some changes to the formatting of the first ten chapters of Vito: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Purr, starting with Introducing Vito.
I’ve increased the font size of the chapter text, added explanatory text at the end of each chapter for those unfamiliar with Vito, and streamlined the chapter navigation.
Hopefully these changes will make the story easier to read and transform the feel into something more like a book rather than a web page.
So if you haven’t already done so, add a comment, Digg the first chapter, and follow me on Twitter.
And don’t forget to share this site with your friends.
DiG…
In addition to trying to get my book published (you can read the first chapter here), I will be presenting endearing cat videos from the YouTube archives on Mondays. Enjoy!
I start off the weekly Cat Video feature with one of the funniest and cleverest cat animations I’ve ever seen.
It’s not from Disney. It’s not from Pixar. And it’s not from the Warner Brothers.
It is a wonderfully simple animation by Simon Tofield.
So without further ado, I present the award-winning ‘Simon’s Cat’ and my personal favorite short, “Let Me In”…
After the jump are the two remaining ‘Simon’s Cat’ animations…
12 comments, 6 diggs, 3 Twitter followers and $2.00 donated.
Not too shabby for a first week.
But before I can post the next chapter, I really need to reach my goal of 100 in at least one of the above categories.
Now I know some of you are wondering why you should come back to this site on a regular basis if it might take a while between chapters.
Well, starting on Monday, I will be adding fresh content to the site on a weekly basis. Content like amazing cat videos, adorable cat photos and more.
So if you happen to have some terrific cat photos you would like to see featured on the site, please email them to me at dig@vitothecat.com.
And remember to share this site with your friends, leave a comment if you haven’t already and make sure to come back on Monday.
DiG…
Working in the web industry, it is easy to forget that not everyone uses Digg and Twitter.
So when I asked readers who have enjoyed ‘Vito: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Purr’ to follow me on Twitter, and Digg the first chapter on Digg as a public affirmation of the story, I didn’t realize I was placing an obstacle in their path.
Long story short, it’s time for Plan ‘B’.
What is Plan ‘B’?
Encourage readers to share their enthusiasm for the story in a way that they’ve been doing all along — by leaving a comment.
Or more specifically, leaving on comment on THIS page.
It doesn’t so much matter what you write, as long as you leave a comment (though something positive would be preferred) because the more comments we generate on this page, the more we can show publishers that there are readers for this story.
And if you’re not sure what to say, perhaps you can suggest that not only would you buy ‘Vito: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Purr’ as a book, but you would also shower praise on any publisher wise enough to publish it.
I’ve received some very positive feedback on the site and on the first ten chapters of the story in the past few days.
I’ve also been asked the same question over and over again.
So when does the next chapter go live?
While it is true that I am interested in sharing my story on the web, it is critically important that I demonstrably quantify the story’s online popularity in order to convince an agent and publisher that ‘Vito: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Purr‘ should be published as a book.
So here’s the drill…
Once I have achieved ONE of the following goals (described in greater detail here), I will publish the next chapter…
- 100 followers on Twitter (you can follow ‘VitotheCat’ right now for free)
- 100 Diggs on Digg (you could digg ‘Introducing Vito’ this very instant, also for free)
- $100 donated on PayPal (or donate $1.00 at a cost of $1.34, after fees)
And don’t forget to tell your friends.
Deal?
Okay, so I’ve written a book about my life with my late cat, entitled ‘Vito: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Purr‘.
Or as my tagline puts it…
A whimsical, funny and ultimately touching series of vignettes that narrates my journey from college to fatherhood with Vito, my rather mischievous and larger-than-life black alley cat.
The good news is that everyone who has read my manuscript so far has liked it.
A lot.
As in, hey, I feared your book would suck, but it was really, really good.
In fact, you can read their kind words right here on the website if you are so inclined.
The bad news is that I don’t know many people in the literary world.
So after some networking, I finally got two agents to read it (or at least got their readers to read it).
And they both said they liked it.
Unfortunately, they also said they didn’t love it enough to take it on.
Okay, I thought, they’re blowing smoke, trying not to hurt my feelings.
But when I talked with a few published authors, they told me that agents wouldn’t say that if they didn’t like the book.
So here I am trying to figure out what to do next.
And it hit me.
Why not publish the book on the web, a chapter at a time, and see if people like it.
And if perchance enough people really enjoy it, well maybe I can get a book deal out of the whole thing.
So if you have enjoyed the story so far, please check out Four Ways You Can Help.
And as my son Dante asked, “Wouldn’t it be really cool to see your book on a shelf at Borders?”
Yes, it would, Dante. Yes, it would.
Joel ‘DiG’ DiGiacomo…
