Comments

Episode-1034- Glen Tate on Books 3 and 4 of the 299 Days Series — 49 Comments

  1. I just finished “299 Days: The Preparation” last night, and will be digging into “299 Days: The Collapse” tonight. Books 3 & 4 should be on my porch, via Amazon, when I get home.

    I think anyone with an open mind could enjoy these books, and anybody who has been a longtime listener to TSP will enjoy many references to show topics and phrases even more. Book 1 slowly draws you in over the first three chapters, and I found that the longer I read, the harder it was to put down each night.

    The one word of caution I would throw out is, don’t read this series in bed before retiring for the night. Unfortunately, this is the only time I have to read for any length of time, and once I would put the book down for the night, it seemed like I would lay there with my mind “on fire” thinking about the book, my own preps, and collapse scenarios. However, this did not detract from the enjoyment of reading the book; it just made for some “groggy” mornings 🙂

    Kudos to you, Glen.

  2. Just finished book four while eating lunch!

    I, probably like many folks, can appreciate where Glen is coming from. His journey is not unlike many others. A spouse that is not “on board”. I’m not saying that my wife has turned a page, but she’s licked her finger and is reaching for the corner of the book.

    My wife likes for me to tell her stories while she falls asleep. I’m able to talk my way out of it about 60% of the time :). However, I told her I would read to her. At first she didn’t want that, but the choice was either I read out loud or to myself. About night three of 299 Days she started asking questions and pointing out things she liks and doesn’t like. 299 Days is helping me communicate my concerns to my wife. Not by me bringing things up, but by her asking about it.

    It’s not a new concept; using a book as a stepping stone. It’s one that Jack has mentioned before when answering the reluctant spouse questions. But it’s one that is working for my family. Will my wife ever be leading a class on preparation? I do not know. But she is asking questions, and I’ll take that.

    Appreciate all you do, Jack. Thanks for introducing your audience to so many things!

  3. Think I will have to order this book for myself. I currently live in Seattle, with family in a relatively affuent suburb, which we cannot leave due to some family members that would simply be unable to leave due to special needs.

  4. This comment may not be very well received, but does anyone else take issue with the pricing structure for these “books?” I read, and mostly enjoyed, the first two books and became increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress and that I would be forced to shell out an additional $10 to read what happens next. All told, this series of books (could have been one, maybe two, books total) will cost you well over a hundred dollars. I could see paying $20, but $140? Ouch. If the books were more reasonably priced, say $3-$4, I could easily get past the sometimes poor editing and simplistic writing and would be in it for the series. $0.02

      • Solid suggestion, IFT2000! I just found my county’s library request form online. I was able to request both the print and Kindle edition. Thanks for the constructive comment.

    • Nope, I had the same problem. Love Heavy, and sure the books are awesome, but I can’t justify the $140. *sigh*

      • Um yea stupid jerk is doing what people like JK Rowling, JR Tolken and others have done how dare he do that! Oh except he turns out 12 books in two years vs. 6-12.

        • =)
          wasn’t trolling..

          Like I said, love Heavy, sure the books are great.. hope he sells a shitload of them, and its amazing that he snuck a ‘secret writing career’ into his daily schedule.

          When I heard he’d written a book I thought ‘awesome, can’t wait to support that..’. When I found out he’d written TEN books.. I thought ‘uh, buy and read ten books?’

          I don’t know of any author that has written ten books in a series before the first book is released. Usually its write one, see how its received and then if it goes well, write the next one.

          Again, not trolling and not hating. Hope he makes a million bucks.

        • I know you were not trolling Insidious. DK’s comment was way more annoying then yours. I do want to respond to this though,

          “I don’t know of any author that has written ten books in a series before the first book is released. Usually its write one, see how its received and then if it goes well, write the next one.”

          Some would call a person who did that a person that pays it safe, I call them a fricken wuss!

          And you know what, if Glen had done one book (even the first two combined) and then had book two come out over a year later, do you know what would happen? Plenty of people would be bitching about why it is taking so long.

          You are also free to buy one and judge the book for yourself.

          I don’t feel anyone should feel obligated to buy all the books, hell I don’t think anyone should feel obligated to buy one of them. I think if you think it sounds like something you want you should buy it if you want it. But to bitch because the series is a series is shallow. To complain that the guy didn’t do what everyone else has done misses the point.

          I mean who the hell starts a podcast in a car, builds it to a full time business and walks away from a six figure career in two years time right? That isn’t the way everyone else in broadcasting did it now is it? I mean how dare I sell a membership and expect people to pay for it annually instead of once right?

          Basically I come on the air every day and say, “make your own way” and some actually do it. Glen is one of those that did. It takes major balls to beak a mold, some have them, some don’t.

    • @DK really? Isn’t each book a full book, want to go bitch at all other authors that wrote a series but took 10 vs. 2 years to do it. No it isn’t well received by me.

      Perhaps you can get up at 3AM for two strait years then sell the results in one 10 dollar book and show us how to do it properly.

      I have to say if you thought the books sucked that would be one thing, but to bitch about group of books “you enjoyed” because they are each sold for what any other book of about the same length would sell for is pretty crappy.

      Again how about you do it and show us all how to do it right.

      • @Modern Survival Nope, each “book” isn’t a full book in my opinion and that’s what I was saying. I hardly call 152 or so pages that don’t tell a complete story a book, at least not one worth $10. It’s too bad you see my comment as “bitching” – I was merely sharing my point of view. Is everyone that disagrees with you or someone who repeatedly promotes your site “bitching?” Not only did I offer my opinion, but I also offered up what I thought was a reasonable price for each book – i.e. a solution very rarely accompanies bitching. Amazing how worked up you can get by one guy’s opinion when it doesn’t align with yours.

        Also, you’re picking on straw men, not my comment. I am not talking about other authors or their stories; I am talking about Glen’s. Further, at no time did I say I could do it better or “right.” Again, this is just my opinion, not facts – neither is your opinion, Jack. If Glen decides to offer this up as a boxed set, I am in for $40 (BTW, Tolkien’s are $20).

        • You are entitled to your opinion as I am that you are bitching. I also can’t believe you complained about editing after reading that comment, LMAO.

          As for Tolkens being 20 they sure were not in the 80s, all books go down in price over time, well reprints do. I have a first edition of Use Enough Gun, want to put a value on that?

          Again, go get you ass out of bed at 3 AM for two years and show us all how it is done.

  5. I’m just starting to listen to todays show, but I’ve read the first two books and am reading the third book. I LOVE the books! It’s a great way to learn about things, wrapped up in a great story line. I have the third and fourth books and am currently reading the third book. My 12 year old daughter, after reading the books, now wants to get more involved in things and is more understanding of where I’m coming from – awesome! Thanks Glen Tate!

  6. ..on a completely different topic.. 😉

    In many ways I found this to be one of the grimmest survival podcast episodes I’ve listened to.

    Being pretty self-reliant, I’ve never put a lot of thought into what happens to the herd after the first responders stop showing up. I know that my local community is heavily pharmacy reliant (about 50% retirees) and that there’s going to be a lot of trouble with withdrawal, but I hadn’t thought in terms of violent psychosis (more depression/suicide).

    I too am not sure what to do/think about my ‘fellow citizens’, although its hard to tell how many of their ‘reported’ beliefs are in fact true. Does the ‘average’ American really believe what the media says they do? Or is what we ‘hear’ all spin? An example of this would be ‘Obama Care’ (or whatever its called).. which was widely opposed (from what I’ve heard) by the ‘common man’. Another would be ‘citizens wanting’ gun control, while buying record numbers of guns.

    I’m still focused on Government 2.0, as I got my own ‘behind the curtains’ wake up call a while back.. so what does that look like? Once we go the way of the Weimar Republic, how do we avoid the dictatorship?

    ‘They’ have plenty of ‘solutions’ to offer us.. how do we avoid them, and how do we plant OUR seeds for the future?

  7. First of all, I loved the first two books. I have the next two sitting here, but I have to wait for Santa to give them to me before I can read them!

    With regards to the price of the books, one thing to keep in mind is that this is coming from a small publisher. This is not Random House, Scholastic, etc. Heck, even paperbacks from the big publishers are printed on cheaper paper and cost almost as much. I would expect smaller print runs to cost much more than the large runs places like Random House put out.

  8. Loved the show Cant wait to start reading the series. I think We can all learn from the Books. I live in Central WA and might want to chat with Glen Someday. U to Jack!! Peace

  9. @DK

    Dude heres the deal, someone makes something, whether its an phone, computer game or jacket. You like you buy it, you like but dont like the price, then you choose what is worth more to you, you dont like it you dont buy it.

    He doesnt charge more than what you pay for alot of books.
    He worked his ass of to write it, took time away from sleep and other things he enjoys, then spent the time editing it, contacting a publisher, getting it done and then spending time promoting it, writing facebook posts, keeping in contact with people who write him and from time to time have to deal with people who bitch, because they just cant go, “great book i liked it, moneys tight maybe will have to wait till next month to buy the newer one”

    Anyways, that pissed me off

  10. I can’t wait till comes out on audiobook maybe something by graphic audio working 3 jobs running a prepper group a beekeeper environmental engineer and security in a custodian for the local school district the only time I have enjoyment is on the podcast if I could download 1 of these audio books my nights would be so sweet

  11. Pingback:Jack Spirko interview (Episode 1034)

  12. Thanks for all the kind words. The fact that this book is getting people to prep is the biggest honor of my life. I never expected this. Thank each and every one of you who is reading this. – “Glen”

  13. I am currently reading the first two books in the series and I am planning on buying the entire series as it becomes available. As far as the comments posted about the books being over priced I guess the statement “Something Is only Worth What You are Willing To Pay For It” would apply. When I read a book I am doing it for entertainment are the information it has are in the case of Mr. Tate’s books a combination of both and I personally don’t see editing and typos to be a problem.

  14. Just started listening.

    The guest is discussing the books and starts discussing a point in the books in which the characters realize they need to acquire things (through trade) and he says “in legal ways.”

    I think the term “legal” has come to replace “ethical.” A lot of times we say “legal” when we really mean “ethical”. For instance, in these books if it is a total collapse scenario then there is no law (effectively). “Ethical” would have been a more appropriate term.

    Collectively, we do that in a lot of other cases as well. I think this is the result of intentional manipulation of our language by those in power to “trick” us into speaking in a way that acknowledges law is the ultimate authority.

    I would like to propose we do not allow government tell us what is right and that legal and ethical are not interchangeable. I will make a personal effort to use the term “ethical” a lot more often and “legal” a lot less often. We should take back our language and disempower conventional government in this regard.

    • Excellent point.

      In a moral society, laws are logical codifications of ethics. In a corrupt society (immoral) they’re simply tools of oppression.

      Just laws are easy to understand.. unless you’re a lawyer, then they’re terribly confusing and open to ‘interpretation’. 😉 [Think Bill of Rights]

      ‘When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.’ – Frederic Bastiat

      (by ‘moral code that glorifies it’.. Bastiat means a system of belief. Men who plunder successfully are held in ‘high esteem’ by members of the society)

      • Keep in mind Glen is a lawyer, some terms are just going to come from a guy that deals with and key here, respects the law differently then a guy who turns wrenches or manages a sales force every day. You know guy like me, LOL. Yep the law is something different to different folks. Ever watch John Adams the mini series? The man had such utter respect for the law and understood the value that ethical law had to society.

        I do think we all need to understand what isn’t okay during normal times may become okay or even necessary in a disaster.

        Here is a thought, a family next to you loses their house due to a job loss. Now if you when and “salvaged resources” from that house would we not both agree it is both illegal and immoral?

        Okay now the entire US collapses, half of everyone is dead. Society lies in ruins but you have held out. There is no law and order, your neighbors are dead and or gone. Laws are on the books but not enforced. Harvesting resources from their house or the car lying in their driveway may be illegal but is it immoral? I’d say hell no.

        • Incidentally Jack if you read classical property rights theory (you can find tons of this stuff through the Mises Institute) what you are describing jives with old-fashioned property rights.

          In that scenario, the property in question has been abandoned and therefore is legitimately “up for grabs”.

          I agree your scenario is acceptable behavior and there is a ton of legal philosophy/property rights philosophy to support that as well. I’m not a lawyer, but I would be willing to bet there are threads of that philosophy still represented in our current law.

  15. I read books #3 and #4 over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Enjoyed all four. Only negative is I now have to wait for the next installment (patience is not a virtue known in our household)…

  16. I enjoyed the mention of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in the podcast. I was a cadet in the first half of the ‘80s. In the last few years I have become active again mentoring young cadets to be tomorrow’s leaders. A portion of the program is concerned with disaster relief and disaster preparedness. For more information go to http://gocivilairpatrol.com/

  17. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any sympathy for DK and others who say the book series is too expensive.

    You’re not just buying a commodity here, OK? This is PATRONAGE, in the oldest and best sense. Glen (Heavy G) is a unique personality with a very realistic insight into the collapse that is presently in progress, and is writing about it. That’s the kind of guy I want to keep writing throughout the next few years.

    He is ONE OF US, guys. If we won’t take care of our own, who will?

    And I disagree about the value proposition. I have read a LOT of prepper novels. I have spent $10 for e-books that turned out to be CRAP. This is a good series, and I believe well worth it. I will buy every one, if we make it that far before the Internet crashes 😀

    • Because I and the TSP community are featured in the series. Additionally the author is a community member of TSP as are many of people characters in the book are based on. The biggest reason though is Glen asked me to.

  18. @ DK – Jmtc on the cost of the books and the length of the series; I could give you probably a hundred + authors that have created a “never ending story” of book after book after book of incomplete stories to keep their character(s) (and cash flow) going, the Don Pendleton/”Executioner” one from the 70’s comes most immediately to mind. Does that mean they were ripping off the readership too? Imo, no, though we could certainly debate the “value” of those books vs cost as well.

    Who sets the “value” on “created work/art”? You might think a Warhol painting of a soup can is worth $ thousands and I wouldn’t pay $10 for it.
    “Glen”/Heavy G has created something and attached what he thinks is a fair value to it. The fair market will decide if he has made the right choice and from indications, he has. If you don’t feel it’s worth that, you are free to try to buy it used on Amazon or eBay and maybe you can get it at your “fair” price. Maybe not. Or you can choose to wait until if/when your library system decides to carry it and maybe wait on a list until it’s “your” turn, and thus not have the gift of Glen’s labors as soon as the rest of the readers who are making a free choice to support one of our brother ants’ efforts .

    I’m sorry you can’t see the value of that. 🙁

    • Brian, I want to thank you for your mature and reasoned approach to this discussion. Rather than berating and taking an angry and impertinent approach (Jack could learn something from you), you’ve given me some excellent food for thought. I appreciate you taking the time of respond as it gives me some additional context to help frame this up. While I agree Warhol’s paintings aren’t worth the canvas they’re painted on, I definitely get your point.

      And Jack, no hard feelings, right? I’ll continue to pay my MSB dues and listen to your shows. At the end of the day, your excellent guests, depth of knowledge and tremendous efforts are worth dealing with your short fuse and diatribes. I would, however, encourage you to take a less adversarial approach to dealing with comments you take issue with. You’re a smart guy and I bet you can be quite persuasive if you’re not all up in someone’s face.

      • @DK, GET OVER YOURSELF, especially the MSB part. I know some think being MSB is supposed to make you some special little daisy or something. I provide a service you pay for it if you want it, if you have a problem with the MSB product being a customer matters, if you don’t like my comments to you IT DOES NOT.

        FTR it was you statement of

        “does anyone else take issue with the pricing structure for these “books?” ”

        If you said you think they are over priced or don’t want to buy them or something like that I would have not even batted an eye but you “take issue with” the fact that they are sold one book at a time and the man charges what he and HIS PUBLISHER choose to charge. Yea you got something to think about from Brian and it should make you THINK about why I told you off just a bit.

        Seriously dropping “I will just keep paying my MSB dues”, screw that! SCREW THAT, if you feel you got one penny less then what I charged, give me your MSB username and you can have back every penny you ever gave me no matter how long you have been a member.

        Either that or comprehend if you say something stupid or bitchy or assclownish I am going to call you out, MSB or not, my best friend or not, hell my Father or not, get it?

  19. Think Jack and Glen bought into the Republican spin and the false dichotomy with your comments about the Obama win. It wasn’t a choice for handouts versus no handouts. As bad as Obama has been, Romney made it very clear that he was even more in favor of expanded military action, so for many people (libertarians included) Obama was the lesser of two evils. Romney care or Obama care – any real difference? Romney made his money on “Wall Street”, wall street is viewed as part of the problem. By Obama winning at least there will no incumbent in 2016 – maybe we can have a Rand Paul run then. I voted for Johnson, but as bad as Obama is, I was relieved that Romney lost.

    I’m not surprised at the surprise that military personnel, law enforcement and government insiders are involved in prepping. They can actually see what is happening, even if they feeding everything is fine propaganda to the rest. The average person doesn’t see what they see and are buying the propaganda.

    Otherwise a great program, I’ll be checking out the books. Thanks!

    • If you think anything I gave you was “republican spin” you are totally clueless.

      • Jack

        Perhaps you misunderstood my comment. I know that you have been saying all along that both parties are horrible and there is basically no difference between them. So I was surprised when Glen stated that the Obama re-election meant that the American people voted for a handout and you agreed with him.

        If there is no difference between the parties then the election than the election results made no statement.

        In reality there are a lot of reasons why people might have considered Obama the lesser of two evils. 4 years of Obama would be better than 8 years of Romney or Obama is less likely to invade and occupy another country (Dems are aligned with unions, the Reps with the war machine war) or he is less likely to start a trade war with China (as Romney indicated he would do).

        The idea that Obama would only win if Americans preferred a handout was started by Romney during his campaign. It seemed like you bought into that idea, which was a surprise to me since you had made it clear that you thought there was no difference between the parties.

        Bob

  20. Wow! Didn’t expect to find all this drama on the comments section. I’ll keep my thoughts to myself for now (Tempted as I may be!). I will however share something a very smart lady friend of mine once told me, “It’s almost always best to wait at least 24 hours before commenting on anything you are passionate about, especially if you are angry or irritated about it.” Granted, it is easier said than done, but I must admit that it was some of the best advice anyone ever gave me; worth its weight in gold.

  21. The discussion on the length of the books versus the price intrigued me.
    Jack said: “@DK really? Isn’t each book a full book,” and then later
    “because they are each sold for what any other book of about the same length would sell for”

    So the question arises, *are* they each a full book? Do they sell for what another book of the same length would sell for?

    Let’s see.
    “pp” means “pages”, and all prices are in Kindle format.

    One of the most popular 4-book sets out there: The Twilight Saga
    Twilight: 513 pp $6.77
    New Moon: 577 pp $6.91
    Eclipse: 641 pp $6.99
    Breaking Dawn: 769pp $6.99
    —————————————
    4 books: 2500 pp $27.66
    .011 cents per page

    How about Tom Clancy’s last four books?
    Dead or Alive: 705pp $8.99
    Against All Enemies: 756pp $9.99
    Locked On: 862pp $8.99
    Threat Vector: 848pp $14.99
    ——————————————–
    4 books: 3171 pages $42.96
    .013 cents per page

    Now, these writers had professional publishing houses with professional editors. So let’s compare to a popular self-published series with no editor:

    50 Shades of Grey: 530pp $9.99
    50 Shades Darker: 546pp $9.99
    50 Shades Freed: 594pp $9.99
    ——————————————
    3 books: 1670pp $29.97
    .017 cents per page

    And then the 299 Days series, so far:
    299TP: 299 pp $9.95
    299TCol: 152 pp $6.95
    299TCom: 250 pp $9.95
    299TS: 222 pp $9.95
    ———————————-
    4 books: 923 pp $36.80
    .039 cents per page

    – In answer to the question “Isn’t each a full book?”
    No, not compared to other books. Each is about half, or even a fourth, the length of other books.
    – Are they priced the same as other books of the same length?
    Going by price per page, no. They’re 3 times the cost of other books, including those by well-known authors who have been writing for decades.

    I’d be interested in seeing a breakdown like this comparing the paperback print versions of the books as well, but don’t have the inclination to do it myself.

  22. REALLY? SERIOUSLY? Are you guys actually having this conversation?

    “Glen” is a member of this community. He’s used his own initiative and worked his **** off to produce a product to entertain and inform. I’ve read all four books and yeah, they may be shorter than some of the “best sellers” previously mentioned by others. But I enjoyed reading every single one of them, more so than some “best sellers” I’ve read, I and can’t wait for the next batch.

    The VALUE to me was immaterial of the length of the book, and the PRICE for that VALUE was acceptable ot me, so I’ll carry on buying them.

    Frankly it bugs me that some of you are bugged by the length/price enough to comment on it. Buy them/Don’t buy them – it’s YOUR decision.

    Thanks though to “Glen” for making the effort to write them!

    • Well some people are just hateful when others work hard and enjoy success for doing so, I’m just saying.

  23. Good show. Can’t wait to buy the books.

    Quit bitch’n about the price people, don’t by it, move on. He invested the time and energy and can set the value. It’s your choice to purchase or not, not set the price. Everyone is so used to buying cheap China Crap.