Fire Station Buddies Success

Fifty dollar House

2009-02-05T15:27:00.003-07:00

Hi,

Well it has been a crazy for the last two weeks, ever since I won a $1.2 Million dollar house in Maryland. I bought a raffle ticket in December and figured I would get an email in January telling me who the winner was.

Friday the 23rd was the drawing for the house and what do you know, I WON! I still can't believe it. I took a trip to Maryland last weekend and visited my new estate. I live in Colorado and plan to sell this wonderful house, so it is now on the market for $800,000.

www.fiftydollarhouse.com

One thing you have to remember is that since this was a raffle I have to pay gambling taxes on the win and this is about $300,000. Ouch!

What has been a blast is all the media attention. I have been on the local TV stations in Denver as well as Wash DC. I was on Inside Edition, Good Morning America and went to NY this week to tape the Tyra Banks Show. www.tyrashow.com

It was a very interesting experience, they took my cell phone at the door and it is crazy back stage. The green room is really 8 green rooms and lots of noise and people. Tyra was doing a show on how to save money in a bad economy and I won a $1.2M house with a $50 raffle ticket.

While I evjoyed the 30 seconds I got on the show, it was the other people on the show that were the most fun. Heather, Freebies4Mom.com, and I went to the Colo School of Mines together but had never met. We are now best friends and will stay in touch. Then Wendy, sweetiessweeps.com, does nothing but enter free contests and she wins all kinds of stuff. These lady's are my kind of girls!

Now that the media attention is starting to die down, I can get back to my normal life, I hope.
The Fire Station Buddies on the other hand are getting a lot of attention as well. They have been part of the print media interviews I have done and can now add the Washington Post to their resume. With the money that I do make on the house will get me more advertising spots and allow me to get more books, Buddies and gear available for sale.

We are all flying high and having a lot of fun.

Press Release - The Legend

2009-01-23T10:40:00.002-07:00

Hi,

The first book of ten is now available for purchase at the web site. Massive marketing will begin next week to promote this book. There will be future book signings where kids can come and see the Buddies, fire trucks, ambulances and law enforcement. So stay tuned.

See what is happening at www.firestationbuddies.com

Thanks,
Karen

Fire Station Buddies, Inc. – The Legend
by Karen McHale
Fiction
Soft cover; $9.99
ISBN: 978-0-615-24602-4
Available at
www.firestationbuddies.com

For more information,
please contact
the author at
firebuddies@att.net
Karen McHale
303-803-2669

Announcing the First of Ten Children’s Books in New Series Featuring the Fire Buddies
Author teaches kids to be prepared for emergency situations and raises money for volunteer fire departments across the United States Meet the Fire Buddies. These irresistible friends live in the mountain town of Glacier Creek, Colorado, and help the local firefighters take care of the
station and the trucks. They’re too young to go out on calls, but they just happen to be napping on Engine 2 one day when the alarm sounds and the engine takes off!

Arriving at a house fire, the Fire Buddies see frightened children and immediately get off the truck to comfort them. This helps Fire Chief Mark realize the Buddies can be useful, even though they can’t yet fight fires. Hereafter, the Buddies are each assigned to a truck and help the kids at the scene. Part and parcel with their new responsibilities, each has to learn how their individual truck and all its equipment operate. In short, the Buddies are now “firefighters in training.” Fire Station Buddies, Inc. – The Legend is available at www.firestationbuddies.com.

In addition, a safety and operations manual for older kids, other training-type and miscellaneous items, and actual hand-made Fire Buddies that love to play in the dryer are available on the website. 20-25% of all sales go into the fire fund to help volunteer fire departments purchase equipment! Kids can even join the crew at Station 2 and become volunteer Fire Buddies!

Future books: In the next nine books in the series, real children can learn about problem solving, strategy, and fire fighting right along with the Fire Buddies. Fire Station Buddies, Inc. – Incident Command System will be available in May of 2009, Fire Station Buddies, Inc. – Stealth Team 2 will be available July of 2009, and Fire Station Buddies, Inc. – Animal Control 22 will be available in late 2009.

# # #
Fire Station Buddies, Inc. – The Legend by Karen McHale, Fiction; Soft
cover; $9.99; ISBN: 978-0-615-24602-4

Author: Karen McHale is a chemical engineer and volunteer firefighter with the Clear Creek Fire Authority in Idaho Springs, Colorado. She is on the wildfire team, drives the ambulance, and helped compile the emergency operating procedures in her county. She has worked on hazard
management, mass causality, and pandemic planning and holds several certifications for fire fighting, safety, and management.

Forget the Publisher

2008-12-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I hope that you enjoyed the Holidays and you have recovered and are ready to get back to work. Several people have asked me why I didn’t bother to even look at getting a publisher for my book and my response was “what do I need them for”?

All I have heard is horror stories about unknown writers trying to get a publisher and I at first thought that finding a Publisher would help me get my book out on the market. Wrong.

With the help of the Internet you don’t need one and if they come after you then you can decide if you want to have a joint venture with them or not. A joint venture is really what it is. They don’t just hand you a check, take your book and make you famous, you are still going to do all the work. That includes the marketing, books signings and supply chain.

Children’s books are a brutal market (so I wrote one) and unless you are already famous like Madonna then you have to have the vision to do it on your own.

Over the next few weeks we are going to talk about building a vision and then taking the steps to reach it. It will be somewhat painful and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune either. I put The Fire Station Buddies together, published my first book and got the marketing contracts I wanted for less than $4,000.

Stay tuned and let me know if you would like some help.
www.firestationbuddies.com

Thanks,
Karen

2008-12-28T11:46:00.002-07:00

Yahoo it is Sunday!

That means we are all headed up to the slopes to do some major boarding.

The sun is out and we have all our gear packed and it is time to sail through the air, glide through the snow and have an awsome day.

Have fun and stay safe.
Flash

It's Saturday

2008-12-27T08:42:00.003-07:00

Hi Buddies,

I hope that you had a nice Christmas but it is time to get back to work. That's right it is Saturday and so we need to wash the trucks.

Only two of them are dirty since we had some snow this week and it is really cold outside so I don't think we are going to wash them outside today.

We put the chains on the SCAT truck and Rescue 2 last week, so we are ready to go out on calls in the snow now. Engine 2 is nice and warm in his bay and will not see a lot of activity now since it is winter and Engine 2 doesn't have 4 wheel drive.

www.firestationbuddies.com

Have a nice Saturday and get your chores done.

Love,
Tundra

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T09:52:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
Love Inferno

Don't eat to many cookies.
Love, Chinook

Let's go play in the snow.
Love, Flash

Are you going to Grandma's house today?
Love, Tundra

What did you get for Christmas?
Love, Scout

I'm going to sleep in all day!
Love,Hydra

Swift Water Rescue

2008-12-23T09:51:00.003-07:00

Hi,

My name is Inferno and I am the head Fire Buddy,

Today we are going to discuss the Swift Water Rescue due to the water main break in Bethesda, MD.

These guys did a great job and used all their training and experience to rescue the people that were trapped in the rushing water. They had on their wet suits, helmets and life jackets. They went out in their boats and you could see that they were tied to the bank and that the shore crew was working with them.

Even though it was a water main break, the flow was very large and moving very quickly and you could not walk in it. When in an incident like this you should check out your surroundings and see if it is safe to leave your car or not. Always remember to do what the responders request, they have been trained and the know the quickest way out of danger.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5heCh49kilrODnqGRS3Iovw8E20nAD958L4CG1

The Fire Station Buddies are working on their Operations & Safety Manual and in it you will learn more about Swift Water Rescue.

Stay Safe,
Inferno
http://www.firestationbuddies.com/

The road painfully traveled.

2008-11-28T13:13:00.003-07:00

I never realized when I started all this that it would lead me down a road of adventure.

I have been making the Fire Buddies for over 17 years and they are all over the country now. They were just a little pillow buddy for the kids at the scene to snuggle. Working at a volunteer fire department in a small town made fund raising a constant struggle. One day I just thought - I can sell the Buddies, give them a life and raise money. No problem - should be simple, I'm an engineer , I can figure this out. I don't need any help! I was an idiot!! I should have just ran myself over with the fire truck and moved on.

My first goal was to write a children's book about who the Buddies are and what they do. As I wrote the first book "The Legend" all the other 9 books fell into place. The writing was the easy part but I can't even draw a straight line much less a picture. I went out on the internet and found an illistrater. I got several quotes and decided on Simon who lives in London. He and I have done the first book by email. He is a great illistrater and you can find him at www.simongoodway.com.

I worked on the layout and the story for almost 6 months and it is now finally done. The next challenge was getting it printed. Again, I know that it is impossible to get a publisher and help, so I turned again to the internet. I found several printers and their quotes ranges from $2 to $10 for my 24 page kids book. The book is now at the printers, I have a web page and I have also put together a marketing plan for 2009. I have figured out how to put a business together, market it and make it a success. Please feel free to visit www.firestationbuddies.com to see how I did it.

If you have any questions about getting your ideas off the ground. Just reply to this blog.

Thanks,
Karen