Author / publisher Lynn-Phillip Hodgson, to date, has sold 7,500 units of his
self-published book "Camp X" and that is only within its third month of launch. His projected sales will hopefully reach 10,000 by this coming summer.
 
 

This is incredible news especially in our Canadian climate, where "we" as a group
don’t take our history all that seriously. It is far too easy to accept what is "new"
and sacrifice what is "old". This kind of "throw-away" attitude has caused many
social problems over the decades and that is a shame. We may be the benefactors
of our cultural heritage, but we are certainly the victims of our cultural narrowness.

Our cultural perspectives are molded by the spin-doctors of consumerism.
Collectively we suffer from amnesia perpetrated by the gatekeepers of the written
word. How do we break out this bond of ignorance? Well, for starters, we can look to the fortitude of independent publishing companies and the brave entrepreneurs who own and operate these enterprises. In their efforts to get a story out, they keep the "truth" alive.

In this interview, Hodgson carves out a consciousness beckoned by passion and
pursued by tenacity. His success is an inspiration. It also stands as testament of
the act of the will to bring the past into the present, in order to educate the future.
 
 
 
 
 
 

THE INTERVIEW
 

Q: Before you took the steps to self-publish your book, what were your first
attempts to get your book seen?
A: I contacted many publishers, some of them famous, in an attempt to receive
financing for my project. In each case the answer was the same; send in your
finished manuscript and we'll take a look at it.

Q: Who helped you with your research?
A: I had help from my good friend Alan Longfield for one. He was my next door
neighbour in Whitby at the time of the investigation. I also received a great deal of
help from the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) in London, England. They
were able to authenticate my findings against file records upon requests from me
to specific questions.

Q: Who helped you with your editing process?
A: My good friend Barbara Kerr. She is the mate of my guitar teacher, Sean
Donnelly. Sean and Barb would come over to our place on a Sunday afternoon for a barbecue and my guitar lesson. One day I was explaining to them that I was
writing a book about Camp X which just happened to be a life long dream of mine. Barbara said that she had a degree in English Literature and offered to help by editing the book.
   At first we were both concerned that it would put a strain on our friendship but I promised that I would make sure that it would not. She agreed to do it and for the next six months we worked together like peanut butter & jam. Barbara did a great job editing my book and she is already editing the next book, 'Almost' and is
scheduled to edit the third book next year.

Q:What was your first pressing run?
A: If I understand this correctly, how many copies were in my first printing? 3,000 soft and 300 hard covers which sold out in about eight weeks.

Q: What ways did you promote your book?
A: I approached the local press with a review copy of the book.

2./ I had a book launch at the 420 Wing at the Oshawa Airport and invited the local press, the Mayors of surrounding towns and local dignitaries.

3./ I signed up for Amazon.Com, Chapters.ca, ChaptersGlobe.com, Indigo.com,
Barnes&Noble.com and other on-line book stores.

4./ I put up my own web page offering an excerpt from all of the chapters and
purchasing on-line.

5./ I sent a press release to all of the major newspapers in Canada.

6./ My wife Marlene and I personally went into every book store in Durham region and convinced them that they should be stocking 'Inside - Camp X'.

Q: What do you have for follow-up books?
A: My partner Alan Longfield and I have plans for ten books in the series of 'Inside - Camp X'.
   The next one 'Almost' is a true story about a 20 year old Camp X agent named
Joe Gelleny. His story is about his mission behind German lines, his capture,
imprisonment, torture and miraculous escape.
   The third book is a fiction about the role of Camp X if things had turned out
differently for the Allies.

Q: As an independent publisher, what advise can you offer other individuals who
want to see their words in print?
A: Very simple, just do it! Don't procrastinate. It's like anything else; what could
have been, if only.

Q:What are your roots... born....raised?
A: Born in Toronto, Ontario in a house on Rainsford Road just a stones throw from the old Woodbine Racetrack in 1946.
   We moved to East York when I was eight. Then, my father bought a park in
Pickering called Cedar Glen and I lived there until I met my wife at high school and we were married in 1964.   We moved to Scarborough where we both worked and later had a daughter named Renee.   In 1969 we moved back to Pickering where we bought our first house and had our second daughter, Karen.   I was working for 35 years for a large corporation when I retired in 1998 to become self-employed as President of 'Hodgson Consulting 2000'.

Q:What is it about history that keeps you motivated?
A: I have always been keenly interested in world history and especially the
Second World War. I suppose because of the significance of the outcome if the
Allies had not won. Now, it has been my greatest thrill to write a very important
part of the history of Camp X, Canadians in W.W.II and Canadian participation in
making world history.

Q: What do you feel is the most important element of knowing about your
historical past?
A: I think that one knowing about their historical past breeds a passion within
each of us which is going to be required if we are to sustain our heritage and keep
Canada united in future generations to come.

Lynn-Philip Hodgson
Author of ‘Inside - Camp X’

www.camp-x.com

dateline: March 2000
 

Karla Ingleton

SEEN.COM Magazine