We're in the NEWS!!!

Great news! We ARE today's news!

I just found out this morning that Yahoo! NEWS, The San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Energy Today has just published an article about our film project here on Kickstarter!

We're very excited to see our documentary film get some momentum! We can still use all the support we can get. Thank you so much!

Warm regards,
Luis Aponte

*If you haven't done so already, make to to download your eBook copy of Death of a Gas Guzzler.

*Make sure to share and keep updated with our film's progress on Kickstarter!

Cell Phone Game Version of My Board Game

So I've decided to take the advice of a toy broker; the founder of UNO; and a few friends. I've posted a job on Freelancer.com to see how much it would cost to have a cell phone game app made for one of the board games I invented. This is the first time I've used this website, but there seemed to be some talented freelancers here. After I get an estimate, I will make another Kickstarter page and keep everyone posted. Wish me luck!

Film Agent and New Movie!

Aloha everyone!
My deepest apologies for not writing for so long. A lot has happened since I have last posted a blog on my site. Someone was kind enough to write to me recently and remind me that I have not written any updates in awhile, which of course motivated me to get back on the ball!

Where to begin?! I have a few announcements that are long overdue!

In case you were wondering about my last blog, no my friend Emily and I did not make it to the last selection round of Ford's "Escape Routes" reality show. Oh well. It would have been a lot of fun, but I'm over it. Pushing forward! However, I am thrilled to announce that I self-published my nonfiction eBook about gas prices, alternative fuels and cars. It's called, “Death of a Gas Guzzler” and it is now available on Smashwords.com, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Sony Reader, Kobo eBooks, and Diesel eBook Store for only $1.99!

My 2nd HUGE announcement is that I am now producing and raising money for my first documentary film based on my non-fiction eBook called, “Gas Prices: A Love Story”. The project is up on Kickstarter.com right now and I desperately need YOUR help to get this movie made! There’s only a few weeks left to raise the money we need and I am giving away gifts to everyone who donates. I have worked in the film and television industry for about four years and it’s time to finally make my own projects that I am passionate about and make a name for myself in the film industry. I want to take you all along on my journey, so make sure to also follow me on www.DeathOfAGasGuzzler.com; my Facebook fan page; my 2nd YouTube page; and my Twitter page.

My 3rd announcement that I am excited to share with you is that, during my blogging hiatus, my best friend and I wrote a feature-length hacker screenplay, partially based on true events (because he is a White hat hacker), and partially based on plausible future cyber threats. I cannot give any spoilers about the screenplay, but I will say that it was a lot of fun writing this movie. My best friend and I flew to Los Angeles to shop it around to different film production companies. We now have an agent that is reviewing our movie script and is very interested in representing and finding a buyer for us! Keep your fingers crossed for us. I’m incredibly thrilled and nervous at the same time!

As you can see, it’s been a busy year so far and YES, I want to get back to finding a way to self-produce my two board games, “Global Quest” and “Treasure Hold ‘Em”. Most of all, I still want to find my lost student in China, Ding Mei, even though the last investigator I hired was unsuccessful.

Within the next couple of months, I plan to create another Kickstarter project just for my board games and to hire another investigator to keep looking for my lost student in nearby major cities, such as Shanghai, China. I promise to keep you posted!

Mahalo (thank you) for the great support!

Warm regards,
Luis

Toy Broker List

When I finally submitted my second game, Treasure Hold 'Em t in 2010 to Marra Design and Associates (the same toy broker I hired for Global Quest), I was very pleased and impressed with how much market research they did for me in terms of determining the true potential for my game. Most importantly, I respect people that do not sugar-coat their professional opinions and present a good argument supporting their thoughts. Ultimately, after taking different perspectives into account, I still have to make my own decision and take responsibility for my own actions. I am a firm believer in taking what you like, throwing out the rest, see what happens, adjust, then try again.

For example, perhaps you read my interview with Ed Akerman - the Legendary Man Who Launched UNO. I asked him what he would advise other new inventors, based on his experience? He suggested getting a toy agent/broker and contacting major toy companies directly in order to see if might give you 15 minutes to pitch your game. I liked the idea, so that is exactly what I did. One of the companies I contacted was Hasbro. They have indie inventors trying to contact them all the time; which is why that have a list of respected toy brokers for you to use to pitch your idea for you. The following is a list of seasoned professionals in the toy and game industry. The standard fee for them to evaluate you invention is usually around $125-$150 per game. Trust me when I say that this is NOT a big money maker for toy agents. From what I understand, this is simply a fee used to weed out every Jack and Jane Doe who simply wants to send out the 1,000's of half-baked ideas stored in a notebook with no real ambition to bring their inventions into the marketplace. for the past two years, this has been a great learning experience that has come from lots of trial and errors. Everything that I learn, I am happy to share it with you. I hope this has been helpful. Beast of luck with your ambitions and please share your experiences (positive or negative) with us!

The following list of Toy Brokers/Agents are featured on the Hasbro website. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily endorse or promote any of these particular agents. I encourage you to do your research on each of these individuals listed and make your own best judgments. I have personally used Marra Design Associates, Inc and was very pleased with the thorough and honest feedback they gave me for Global Quest. I also had the privilege to meet Mary Cousins from Discover Games at last year's New York International Toy Fair. In 2009, Ms. Cousins received an entrepreneur award at this highly respected trade show. The extensive experience and backgrounds of these brokers can help you avoid a lot of unnecessary mistakes that I have made in the past. Then again, reading my blog could help you avoid a lot of mistakes as well, lol. Enjoy!

Mike and Lynn Marra (USA)
MARRA DESIGN ASSOCIATES, INC.
7007 Dakota Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317
952-937-8141
Fax: 952-934-1180
Email: MDA1Mike@aol.com
www.marradesign.com

George Delaney (USA)
DELANEY PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
6956 Hawthorne Lane
Hanover Park, IL 60133
630-289-1583
Fax: 630-837-2952
Email: delaney369@att.net

Jonathan Becker (USA)
ANJAR COMPANY
New Product Submission Department
42 Russet Road
Stamford, CT 06903
203-321-1023
Fax: 203-321-1079
Email: jsb@anjar.com
www.anjar.com

Andrew Berton/Adam Wolff (USA/UK)
EXCEL DEVELOPMENT GROUP
1123 Mount Curve Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403-1128
612-374-3233
Fax: 612-377-0865
Email : info@exceld.com
www.exceld.com

Mary Couzin (USA)
DISCOVER GAMES
6842 N. Kilpatrick Ave.
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
Tel: 847-677-8277
Email: discovergames@hotmail.com

Peter Carr (USA)
CACTUS MARKETING SERVICES
1553 South Military Highway, Suite 101
Chesapeake, VA 23320
888-215-7040
Fax: 757-366-9913
E-mail: cactuspete@cavtel.net
www.cactusmarketing.com

Howard Fleischer (USA/EUROPE)
ROYALTY PROS
20 West 22nd Street, Suite 1503
New York, NY 10010
212-366-6876
Fax: 212-366-6862
Email: info@royaltypros.com
www.royaltypros.com

Paul Lapidus (USA)
NEWFUNTIERS
1936 Balzac Court
Redding, CA 96003
800-846-0701 Toll free US & Canada
Voice: 530-223-3330
Fax: 530-223-3033
E-mail: Paul_Lapidus@newfuntiers.com
www.newfuntiers.com

Ronald Hofstaetter (EUROPE)
WHITE CASTLE GAMES
MuseumsQuartier, Museumsplatz 1/6
A-1070 Vienna Austria
(43) 1 522 04 78
Fax: (43) 1 522 04 78
Email: r.hofstaetter@whitecastle.at
www.whitecastle.at

Mike Moody (UK)
SEVEN TOWNS LTD.
7 Lambton Place
London W11 2SH United Kingdom
(44) 20 7727 5666
Fax: (44) 20 7221 0363
Email: mikem@seventowns.com
www.7towns.com

BRITISH TOY & HOBBY ASSOCIATION (UK)
80 Camberwell Road
London SE5 0EG United Kingdom
(44) 20 7701 7271
Fax: (44) 20 7708 2437
Email: admin@btha.co.uk
www.btha.co.uk

Richard Brown (UK)
CACTUS MARKETING SERVICES
109A Hamilton Road
Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 7BL United Kingdom
(44) 800-389-8408
Fax: 01394-275275
E-mail: games@cactus marketing.com
www.catusmarketing.com

Dugald Keith (Australia)
Imaginiff Design
17 Viva Street
Glen Iris
Victoria 3146, Australia
61 3 9509 9551
Fax: 61 3 9509 9551
Email: skeith@bigpond.net.au

Malcolm Hall (Australia)
Malcolm Hall & Associates
P.O. Box 171
Asburton, VIC 3147 Australia
613-9886-9122
Fax: 613-9886-9133
Email: mha@ozonline.com.au

Alex Holzer (Australia)
Blue Opal Australia Pty Ltd.
135 Bamfield Road
Heidelberg West
Victoria 3081, Australia
61 3 9450 9800
Fax: 61 3 9450 9850
www.blueopal.com.au

An Inspiring Story

I just returned home from my very first clinical trial and I am relieved to say that I am perfectly healthy with no side-effects to report. LOL. That is a sentence I never imagined I would ever be writing, much less sharing with the world.

I've only been home for about an hour and I am already at the library researching more information about the toy and game industry, as well as researching more literary agents to contact for my nonfiction book. I found an inspiring story about a fellow toy inventor who had followed his dream to the point that he was down to $5.62 in his bank account. After a lot of endurance, faith, and help from family and friends, he was able to share this incredible success story. Check out this article to read the whole story:
The Toy Story: An Inventor’s Dream Come True

~Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com

Clinical Trials

You know how I casually joked/commented how I understood how some people might consider trying alternative means to generate income while actively searching for a job in this crazy economy (such as medical experimentation)? Well, I actually took a risk and decided to participate in one of those clinical trials you sometimes read about in newspapers or job search publications. This particular study needed healthy people to test the potential side effects an experimental drug. I will not reveal too much detail because I honestly do not know if it is permitted.

I know you may (or may not) think I am absolutely crazy for even considering this as an option. However, being the studious person that I am, I did a lot of research on the pharmaceutical company, the drug itself, and the organization before deciding to participate in the study. Fortunately, I could not find a single negative review about the company. I also learned that over 90 people participated in the trial before me. Out of those 90+ people, only two had any reported side-effects. One person had a slightly elevated heart rate, while the other had some small spot(s) that appeared on the eye itself without affecting their vision at all. In the documents I signed, the company said they would pay to treat me for any potential side-effects that may result from the clinical trial. This seemed like pretty good odds so far. Plus, the study was only for two weeks and would wash out of my system once I stopped taking the pill.

I know that I was taking a major risk by not having employment secured before moving to out here to Los Angeles. However, it was a risk I was willing to take for the sake of pursuing my goals and dreams, verses remaining unemployed in a location that dried up for the film industry.

What is great about this program is that it has given me a lot of time to catch up on my studying and reading on various topics, reflect on my goals for the year, meet some interesting people from Los Angeles, rest (for a change), and converse with some beautiful Japanese and Filipino nurses I would have never been able to meet otherwise. ;) Too bad they're all married.

Even though we are not allowed to leave the hospital or eat any outside food (I miss my local Chinese restaurants), we do have a recreational room that has movies, internet access, video games, and board games. In fact, I am thrilled to say that I played Risk for the first time ever. All this time, I thought it would be an incredibly boring game and even picked on a former president because it was rumored that it was his favorite game in college. However, I retract my uninformed preconception and wholeheartedly recommend this classic board game.

In the mean time, the moment I receive a check for participating in the clinical trial, (after paying my bills) I plan to send my second board game invention to the same toy broker for review and to see if he might be able to license it to a major toy company for me. Hopefully, when I return home, I will have heard from one of the literary agents for my nonfiction book as well. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed for me. Have a wonderful weekend!

Mahalo! (Thank you!)

~Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com

So Many Great Ideas!

Today, I was flipping through a notebook that I write a variety of ideas and tips I receive from books, magazines, website articles, seminars, meetings at my local Small Business Administration and interactions with friends. I was surprised to find so many ideas I wrote down and completely forgot. This is a perfect reason why someone like myself needs to write down ideas AS SOON AS INSPIRATION HITS! (Hence the reason I always have a pen or three in my pocket.)

Some of the methods I use to figure out which ideas are worth pursuing include:

1. Write down your idea in a journal or notebook! I personally like to make sure I include the date I wrote the idea and where the inspiration came from. It gives me a personal insight on what fuels my creativity and how important the idea is to me, based on how long I have been procrastinating to take action.

2. Compare the idea to your goals in life. I like to review each idea I have and compare them with the goals that are most important to me in my personal life. There is only so much time, money, and resources that you can dedicate to so many goals, desires, and obligations. Everything needs its own time and commitment to be accomplished, i.e. exercising, family, education, work, investing, hobbies, etc. Therefore, I recommend waiting at least a few days after you have written down your goal and then going back to determine if it still makes sense and coincides with your personal aspirations in life.

3. Get feedback! Sometimes, if I spend enough time focusing on a creative project (i.e. designing a new board game or writing a book), I might lose perspective on what may or may not be well received by the public. It is absolutely critical (if you are trying to sell a product) to have a group of people that can give you honest and brutal feedback about your ideas and projects. This is something I ALWAYS emphasize to those I trust and value for their opinions. If you recall from my previous blogs, I have also received feedback from professional toy brokers/agents, board game groups on Meetup.com, and from touring my games in local libraries. (See below for the list of questions I asked people to rate from 1 to 10.) Don't forget to say "thank you" in your own way to those that took the time to evaluate your work.

4. Re-evaluate, if necessary. Once I receive honest and brutal feedback, I will take it all into consideration, then keep what I want and throw away the rest.

5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 until you are thrilled with your results!

This has been a major help to myself over the past couple of years and I hope this is helpful for you and your goals.

Mahalo (thank you) for reading my blog. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Warm Regards,
~Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com