Prior to beginning his campaign, Kelly had formally written fifty-seven books. His early books were all computer-oriented and were published and made available for sale at various venues by major booksellers such as Harper & Row--Ballinger; John Wiley & Sons; Cardinal Business Media; Midrange Computing; 29TH Street Press and others. Eventually, from Kelly's point of view, seeking another book contract from a major publisher became more arduous a task than writing the book itself. Caring more about writing down his ideas than selling them to publishers, Brian charted out a new route in which he would begin a publishing company and avoid the issues of negotiating with publishers.
Publisher contract demands had made his first ten books very difficult to begin and Brian learned that publishers are oblivious to the major writing efforts expended on book projects. Many works are rejected by publishing tycoons for unspecified reasons. Big publishers run the show. They demand that writers submit high quality competed manuscripts that often take years to create. But there is no guarantee that any book will ever be published. For an author, it is much like casting lots. Too many authors go home empty after experiencing the harshness of the mainstream publishing process. Many never write again. Kelly was very fortunate to have had so many books published in such a short time. However, even for him, the effort to convince publishers of a project's worthiness, and the uncertainty of the outcome, prompted Brian to look for a better way to showcase his work.
So, at the beginning of the 21st century, after using mainline publishers for his first ten books, Kelly created his own publishing company, which he calls Lets Go Publish! In this way, he controls his own destiny. Books are successful or not depending on his company's efforts and not a faceless New York publishing house. Brian was already a well-known author of books and technical articles and so, for his new company, he was able to sign up a number of computer industry book publishers who agreed to distribute his books as produced by Lets Go Publish!
Moving forward to the beginning of his mayoral campaign in the Spring 2015, Brian had already written almost thirty technical books, and a ton of human interest and patriotic books. He had already begun to compose some of the stories about Wilkes-Barre and he found pictures to go with many of the stories. Before he knew it, he had the bulk of his 58TH book ready to be completed.
After six weeks of dedicated effort in February 2015, right as the 2015 Primary Election campaign began, Kelly finished the Wilkes-Barre book. He was very interested in Wilkes-Barre having this book as its own. It represented a lot of citizens and their personal adventures. He asked his printer to build an eBook from his submission so that when he created the www.briankellyformayor.com web site, he could post the complete book online for anybody to download from the site for free. The book has been on the site since then and it has been downloaded numerous times.
Most people have their own agendas, and since Brian Kelly was running for the office of Mayor, there were some who thought the book had to be political. It is not. None of the media outlets (newspapers, radio, and TV) ever mentioned the book during the campaign or afterwards. Perhaps the fact that Kelly was running for public office made it seem like this 38-chapter book about Wilkes-Barre, PA was not so special. But it is! Perhaps if there were not an election brewing at the time of the book's release, the deans of the Wilkes-Barre media would have at least examined it. Who knows?
Tony George won the Primary Election handily and in November, he won the General Election v Frank Sorick. Mr. George is now WIlkes-Barre's Mayor-Elect. The Wilkes-Barre Book, as many refer to it, has been available for downloading for well over nine months. During the full election period and somewhat afterwards, some great Wilkes-Barre long term establishments such as Peters Ice Cream Store on Blackman St.; Harrold's Pharmacy on Old River Road; and Philly's Phinest on Carey Ave. sold the printed copy of the book at list price on their premises. Meanwhile the eBook version continued to be available for free for downloading from the Brian Kelly for Mayor Web site.
Brian tells us here at Let's Go Publish! that he gave it the old college try when he attempted to convince Barnes & Noble on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre to stock and sell the book. For its own reasons, Barnes & Noble chose to decline. Brian donated books to the King's Library (his alma mater) and the Osterhout Free Library for distribution. Coincidentally, just this week Brian ran into an Osterhout librarian who was reading the book quickly in the library after it had been returned. He was putting the book away for the next patron and found it quite interesting.
Like many of us, Brian laments the demise of the small-city oriented book store. As a small-town author, Brian sees the big name booksellers having no time for him or for the rest of Wilkes-Barre's other small-city authors. "The big guys make a ton of money in small towns such as Wilkes-Barre. Yet they have no allegiance to the cities that host them." Kelly laments. One can see how tough it will be to help make Wilkes-Barre great when the big city guys choose not to acknowledge Wilkes-Barre locals. Barnes and Noble as a major bookseller unfortunately seems content to highlight only big city wares. Can you imagine a bona fide local Wilkes-Barre book store not choosing to sell a positive book about Wilkes-Barre? When you go to Barnes and Noble next time, ask them why they choose not to carry "the Wilkes-Barre Book." Brian still says he cannot figure it out. He thanks Peters; Philly's; and Harrolds for their help in making the book known and available.
Heartwarming Human Interest Story
Recently, Brian's wife Pat came home from her normal hairdresser appointment and Brian says she looked particularly beautiful. In the short while that she waited for her chair, she found a nice couple reading Brian's book titled Wilkes-Barre: Return to Glory. It made her feel good that somebody was enjoying the book. In this particular hairdressing venue, where expert hair stylists flourish, gentlemen often accompany their ladies while the ladies get their periodic cuts, styles and sets. Most men enjoy the experience because at such places, there are a number of comfortable waiting chairs and all the hairdressers and other personnel are very nice. The men feel quite welcome and some even choose to get haircuts there.
When Pat came in for her appointment, the couple with the book were ready to greet her. It was not an accident. They were primed that she would soon be in for her appointment and they wanted to talk about how much they liked the book. The lady told Pat about how her husband first began to enjoy the Wilkes-Barre book. Over a number of appointments, he had grown accustomed to reading the house copy of Wilkes-Barre: Return to Glory. During the past months when his wife came for an appointment, he looked forward to reading the book.
She said that because he liked it so much, she was thinking about getting her husband his very own copy for Christmas. Before Pat could offer them a book from Kelly stock, the proprietor, who had been listening, recognized how much the gentleman liked the book, and she gave it to him right there on the spot. Christmas came early. Pat saw how much the gentleman loved the book. He was thrilled at the kind act and now he had his own copy. The couple had introduced themselves to Pat and told her some nice stories about how the Mr. loved reading this 36-chapter book all about Wilkes-Barre.
You never know where in Wilkes-Barre something nice is going to happen. It may just happen to be a great beauty shop with a wonderful proprietor where all clients are beautiful and all servers are kind of heart.
Brian Kelly understands what it is like to be on the outside of politically correct. That's one of the reasons why he ran for office. He sees the City at odds with itself. Wilkes-Barre citizens say they do not want anybody who is politically connected to hold office. Yet, ironically, the same folks choose not vote for anybody who does not have the experience of a politician. Think about that for awhile.
The book, Wilkes-Barre PA: Return to Glory is not political. It stands on its own merits as an apolitical offering by a man who simply was running for political office at the time of its release. Brian Kelly is very proud that he took the time to put this book together and that it is available for all to read. He is especially proud of his role in helping some other ordinary people in an extraordinarily nice beauty shop enjoy reading some good stories about their City.
Note from Brian Kelly
As an author, this story really got to me. I am so glad that my wife encountered it blow by blow so I now understand it well. It sure gave me a good, warm feeling and I hope you feel the same.
Wrapping it up, thank you all for reading this whole press release. I am just a person like most from Wilkes-Barre. We're regular people. I have always enjoyed sending letters to the editor about topics like this and others. Until recently when I ran for Mayor, the letters were often published. Now, they are almost always rejected by the Times Leader and the Citizens Voice. The local radio stations do not seem to care about write-in opinions. I think the media in Wilkes-Barre can do a lot more to help the people and the City.
When I was reaching retirement age, I ran for Congress in 2010 and as noted I recently ran for Mayor. It is not easy for a regular guy who worked in the business world to run for office. Try it some time. Yet, if none of us ever decide to give it a try, who would we have running our cities, states, and the country? We would have nothing but politicians.
Despite my having a great resume that nobody in the media challenged, when I ran for office neither paper felt I was worthy enough to endorse because I had no experience as a politician. That is their opinion. I admit that I thought that not being a politician would be an advantage. Funny! Just as it would be a big deal for you, it took a lot for me to take on the challenge of running for office.
I challenge the opinions of the media. If they are so smart, then perhaps we should have no issues in Wilkes-Barre. So, dear people of Wilkes-Barre I highly recommend that we all use our own values; we stick to our own guns, and we listen to the media just enough to see which way the wind is blowing. But, we do not owe them anything. We do not have to believe them unless we know they are telling the truth. By listening closely, we will learn that they have their own agendas and they lie when it is convenient. Obviously they do not say when they are lying so it does make it difficult to know what to believe. Therefore, please do not always take their word. Evaluate all questions and issues logically and form your own conclusions. Do not be a push-over. You will be a better person for it, and our City will be a better City for our collective scrutiny and perseverance. Talk about issues in public. Do not be politically correct!
I have recently come to like the Independent Gazette because they offer notions that are not washed by the important people in our area before we all can read them. I don't plan to submit many more letters to the editor to the Times Leader or the Citizens Voice, because they clearly do not like what I have to say. The good news is that from all the writing and submissions of various types that I have made over the years, I do know how to send out Press Releases such as this one to all of the media outlets that choose. They may choose to open my musings and make them known or file them in the trash heap of life.
I will be putting this small piece out as a press release soon. I cannot recall one press release that the Times Leader or the Citizens Voice has ever printed or quite frankly any of the media outlets-- television, radio, etc. They have found none of my press releases worthy enough to print or discuss. Then again, their advertisers pay for the copy, and they are not beholden to the regular people such as you and I. We merely happen to live in Northeastern PA and some of us may even subscribe to their jottings or listen to their opinions on the radio.
If you would like to receive my press releases, please contact the Independent Gazette or perhaps Steve Urbanski's Examiner.com. They offer NEPA a great diversion from the same ole same ole. They often print my releases but there is no guarantee. You can always count on the Wilkes-Barre Record site, wbrecord.com to carry all of my press releases. None of us want all of our news presented by people who care little about us. So, consider every now and then looking elsewhere for your information than just the people who take your subscription money and run.
This story of the hairdresser shop really did make my day. I am still smiling. It is nice that real people in Wilkes-Barre have come to like the WB book. It should not be a surprise. What is a surprise to most of us in Wilkes-Barre is that the press, which theoretically serves us all would choose not to tell Wilkes-Barre residents about a book that they may like . This book has been available for nine months for free downloading. Yet, that was not worthwhile news for our esteemed media "friends." Remember this book is about Wilkes-Barre, not Scranton; even though that fact did not move the Wilkes-Barre press. I wonder if the Scranton media would treat one of their own the same as the Wilkes-Barre media. Maybe my little statement of disapproval here will help the media in our town better serve us. Let's hope so.
To read the hard copy of the Wilkes-Barre book for free, you can take out a copy from the Osterhout Free Library or the King's Library or you may download it for free. If you want your own printed copy, feel free to go to www.bookhawkers.com. Download the book from the www.briankellyformayor.com and feel free to make a donation if you wish. Of course, you can avoid all that fuss by taking the direct link right here: http://www.briankellyformayor.com/files/ebook.pdf
God bless us all and let's all wish Tony George the best as he prepares to work hard for Wilkes-Barre over the next four years.
About Brian W. Kelly, the author who wrote this work in the first six weeks of January, 2015.
Brian Kelly is a former IBM Senior Computer Systems Engineer and Professor of Business and Information Technology (BIT) at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. He holds a B.S. in Data Processing and an MBA in Accounting and Finance. He was a candidate for US Congress from PA District 11 in 2010. He also ran for Mayor in his home town of Wilkes-Barre PA in 2015. Brian still manages his own IT Consultancy, and you can learn about his IT business at (www.kellyconsulting.com) .
Your author is a registered Democrat but he operates as a JFK Democrat (conservative). His basic ideas on life were formed not much after his fifth birthday from great parents and grandparents, who believed that hard work is the secret to success. Kelly still recalls cuddling next to a dining room Heatrola coal stove, and a kitchen coal stove for warmth on the cold nights of winter. He also recalls climbing in under the quilts in the dead of winter and then, upon awakening, finding his half-finished water glass on the dresser topped off with a thin film of ice.
Even if you include William F. Buckley, (50 books) and Pat Buchanan (14 books), Kelly has written more books than any conservative writer --- ever. Yet, this particular book is neither conservative nor liberal. It is about a wonderful city, our city, that reached its peak from coal mining, and its bottom from two major floods. Unfortunately, while it was digging itself back from the death of its major industry; its seemingly final blow was the nasty flood in 1972. Wilkes-Barre has never fully recovered from its 1972 encounter with nature. The 1936 flood did not destroy quite as much.
Mr. Kelly works very hard while writing several patriotic books each year to help America. This is his fifty-eighth book and it was his first in 2015. You may reach Brian by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or by contacting the publisher at 570-417-1558.
This book and all of Brian Kelly�s patriotic books, and many of his technical books, published by Lets Go Publish! Publishers (www.letsgopublish.com) are available for purchase at BookHawkers, Internet Bookseller! (www.bookhawkers.com).
"Enjoy Wilkes-Barre as it returns to glory!"