Launch party recap

The launch party for Mind Play was Saturday (7/27) and it was everything I wanted it to be.

It started with a presentation sponsored by The Eulenspiegel Society (TES) Hypnosis SIG.  MrDream, ZanyM, and Mephki put it all together for me and TES got the word out.  As a result we had over 40 people in the room, almost all of which came in pairs.  We filled the room.  Mephki's introduction was appropriately embarrassing and sweet, and then it was my turn.

It turned out that a good half to two-thirds of the room were people who were new to erotic hypnosis, so I quickly altered the plan to make the talk more useful to them.  We covered some of the basics from Hypnosis 101 and then I taught a few inductions.  For Body Scanning and the Hand Squeeze, I demonstrated on a volunteer and then we had everyone practice with their partner (since just about everybody had a partner).  Then demonstrated Terence Watts's exquisite "Seven Plus or Minus Two" induction.  About half the room opted to go into trance for that.

The First 100!

Mind Play sold its 100th copy earlier today, not quite three weeks after it first went on sale.  I'm ridiculously excited at the milestone.

So far over half of the sales have been Kindle editions sold through Amazon.  Print copies are next, with Smashwords a distant third and Nook trailing.  (Really trailing -- there have been more copies sold to Amazon users in Germany than to the whole Nook world.)

This is even before the launch party this weekend in New York, which is very cool.  I haven't blogged about them yet, but I have two more appearances coming up:

• Saturday, August 10th, in the Boston area 
• Labor Day Weekend at FetFest in northern Maryland

At both of these appearances I'll be doing a talk ("Kinky Human Tricks" at FetFest), signing books, and I'll have some print copies on hand for direct sale.  (No, those copies aren't counted in the 100 because they haven't been sold yet.)  Plans are brewing for more road trips coming up, too.

A million thanks to everyone who's bought, reviewed, or talked about this book.  This has been a great personal and professional thrill, and it's only just taking off.

-wg

The Dangers of Writing About Ethics

When I put a section on Ethics into Mind Play I knew I was painting a bullseye on my back to some extent.  After all, ethics are always subjective.  And sure enough, the first negative feedback I've seen so far on the book stems from one of my Rules for Ethical Online Hypnoplay on page 47 of the print edition:

You have an obligation to disclose your true biological sex to the hypnotee before there is any agreement to play.

The discussion, in this Fetlife thread (a Fetlife login is required to follow the link), makes some good points before it starts getting emotional.  The first person to object, for example, pointed out that the phrase "true biological sex" is hard to define and may be viewed as prejudicial to transsexual, genderqueer, or gender-fluid people.  They're right; it probably would have been better to say "gender identity" instead.  Unfortunately, the discourse has been swirling dangerously close to the drain of ad hominem -- one poster, whom I respect and generally think of fondly, has apparently concluded that because that one sentence exists the whole book is unworthy, and actually wished they'd bought a print copy so they could return it as some kind of protest  -- and the real issue is in danger of being lost.

Mind Play launch party

The Eulenspiegel Society (TES) Hypnokink SIG in New York is sponsoring an event to celebrate the launch of my book Mind Play: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis on Saturday, July 27th at 440 Studios in New York City.

My friends Mephki, MrDream, and ZanyM are organizing the event.  I'll be presenting material from Mind Play including some Kinky Human Tricks, and I will also be demonstrating the famous Seven Plus or Minus Two confusion induction.  We'll have paperback copies of Mind Play on hand and I'll be signing copies as long as people want me to.

TES is asking $8 for TES members and students, $10 for affiliates, and $12 for non-members to attend the event to help defray their costs for the venue and support staff.

More details when we nail down the plan the rest of the way.  Until then, check out the FetLife event page for the latest.

Mind Play, Kindle Edition

The Kindle edition of Mind Play is now up for sale on the Kindle Store (see the link to the right.)  This version has no DRM and sells for $9.99.

I know a number of people have been waiting for ebook formats.  This was the easiest of the ebook formats to create from the original print files.  I'm working on an .epub version I will be able to post to the Nook Bookstores and SmashWords.

-wg

How Deep is Deep?

(This is a free sample from my new book Mind Play: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis.  If you like what you're about to read, see the links to the right to buy the book.)

-wg

How Deep is Deep?

Like so many aspects of the art of hypnosis, the whole concept of depth is an abstraction. We tend to think of going into trance as going “down,” so it is logical to measure degrees of how far down and to call those degrees “depth.” In reality, though, hypnosis isn't a vertical thing; it is merely an altered state of consciousness, one of focused concentration. So when we say someone is going deeper, what we really mean is they are becoming more focused on the trance state and less inclined to respond to external stimuli or distractions.

In the mid 20^th century two major scales for measuring hypnotic depth were commonly used: the Friedlander-Sarbin scale and the later Stanford Scales, developed by Andre Weitzenhoffer and Ernest Hilgard. These sought to measure hypnotic depth by applying a series of test suggestions of increasing difficulty – that is, requiring an increasing ability to distort, ignore, or invent sensory information to comply with hypnotic suggestions. The problem with these measurements is that they assume everyone is identical in that everyone, if they are “deep enough,” can perform every suggestion on the scale. In reality people's minds are different; some people find it far easier than the scale's inventors thought to do some things and all but impossible to do others regardless of trance depth. The scales also fail to take into account that people get better at manifesting trance phenomena with practice. Today most of the professional hypnotists I know don't bother with these formal scales unless they are conducting research and need to cater to academia.

It's Here!!

The print edition of Mind Play: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis went on sale today at the CreateSpace eStore.  The list price is $23.99, but I'm offering an introductory discount that brings the price down to $19.99 if you use the discount code 5WB8FDRZ when you check out.

The print edition of Mind Play will be up on Amazon.com in 5 to 7 days, but the discount code above will only work on the CreateSpace store, and only until July 31, 2013.

I'm working on ebook editions and will have those up soon.  The ebook will list for $9.99 and will be on the Kindle Store, the Nook Bookstores, and Smashwords.

I'm excited to see this project finally taking off and I hope you will be, too, when you read the book.  Free copies will be going out to local hypnosis groups starting next week.

-wg