I’ve written a book called Unikonics. This book won’t cost you any money, but it will cost you some time. So it’s somewhat free, but not entirely. It’s only 18,000 words, but if you’re a slow reader like me it will require about three hours of your life to complete.
I first wrote this philosophy and self-help book in 2014, and true to self-help form, self-published it on Amazon. I can count on the fingers of one finger how many copies it sold. And that poor bastard who paid 99 cents for it must be kicking himself, because now I’m giving it away free.
I recently had a very boring experience. I was called in for jury duty and had to sit around for hours in a courtroom, waiting for some lawyers to not pick me for a trial. I handled the monotony by bringing along a copy of Unikonics. I hadn’t read it in years so it was sort of fresh material for me. And as I read I realized that, hey, this book might actually be kind of interesting if I made a few revisions here and there.
And so I did, and now I offer it for your consumption. Or at least, I think it might make good blog filler.
The original Unikonics was such a failure that I decided to make a joke of it in 2016, by starting this blog called Chasing Unicorns. The joke being on us writers. We know from experience that catching fame and fortune from our works is about as elusive as catching a unicorn.
Unikonics is derived from the word “unique”. It’s a philosophy about life and change, and how the most unique changes can help us to get the most life out of life. But this blog, Chasing Unicorns, is a devolvement from Unikonics into something a little less dry and hopefully a little more fun. I’ve tried to use this blog to show that chasing after anything unique is where the fun is, whether we pursue elusive things, like fame and fortune, or more catchable unicorns, such as a hike in the wilderness.
It’s been over two-and-a-half years since I started this blog, and up to this date I’ve made no mention of my Unikonics book. I wanted to avoid boring you. Besides, Unikonics is a philosophy, and philosophy can easily come across as tedious or proselytizing.
I wanted to have fun, rather than preach gospel to deaf ears. And so I put the philosophy of Unikonics into action, by trying to keep my posts as unique and enjoyable as possible, without mentioning the skeletal structure that supported my thinking behind my posts.
I even made light of my philosophy by turning it into unicorns, and equating my pursuit of unique experiences to chasing unicorns. And I changed the name of the philosophy from Unikonics to Unicorniks. Because it sounds corny. And it sounds like unicorns. And I just wanted to have fun, and wanted you to have fun also. I still do. Because no philosophy is worth anything if you can’t have fun with it, or make fun of it.
But I do also take the philosophy seriously. I love Unikonics. It colors my life with rich variety, attracts the needle in my compass, and takes the sting out of empty existence, by giving my life meaning. It may not be for everyone, but it’s just right for me. And I hope that the dude who paid 99 cents for it at least got his money’s worth.
Philosophy is personal, and so is our journey through life. I want you to be as free as me, so I’ll never pressure you or expect you to read my book. But just know it’s here for your perusing in case one day you’re so overcome with boredom that you’ll do anything for relief.
The way to read Unikonics is to click any word in this post that says “Unikonics” in bold. Or you can click on the image of the book cover, found at the top of this post or on the front page of this blog. This will open a PDF file that is the book. You can then start reading right away, or you can download the PDF file and consume the 18,000 words at your leisure.
Unikonics was recently published at obooko.com, which is a website that offers free electronic books. So another way to read this book is to download it in Kindle, E-pub, or PDF format from the obooko.com website, by clicking this link: https://www.obooko.com/free-mind-body-and-spirituality-books/unikonics. You have to sign up as an obooko member to obtain the download. But membership costs nothing and entitles you to free downloads of any of the wide variety of books they offer in their collection.
I’ve released most of my rights to Unikonics under a Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0 License. This gives you the freedom to distribute it to anyone you want, or even sell it for profit (who knows, maybe you can make more money from it than me). You just have to give me attribution (so I can achieve the fame I so desperately desire). And you’re not allowed to modify it (though you’re free to write your own book about Unikonics, using your own words, and own name as the author). And there are a few other rules, so obscure that most people don’t have to worry about them.
But in case you’re wondering about those rules, the following is a link to the legal code of the license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/legalcode.
Categories: books
Chasing Unicorns 
I’ve downloaded the pdf to my desktop. My kindle is so un-charged that I’m not sure it can be charged… Anyway, rain is forecasted for tomorrow. Rain has been forecasted monthly since early spring, but it never comes. If it does, though, I plan to read Unikonics.
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Gee, thanks for your interest in my book. And I’m glad it rates just a little bit higher than going outside in the rain. I hope you have a good read, whenever you get around to reading it.
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On the other hand, I’ve heard that the drought in Texas is getting kind of bad. So if it rains, you might want to go out and plant some crops.
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They are planted; they just need some love.
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Good. I hope plenty of it falls from the sky.
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I’ll read it in a little bit. BTW, it’s always been my understanding of Creative Commons Licensing that the materials is offered for free, and that anyone who then uses that material in any way cannot offer it on any other terms. They would have to give you credit for use of the material, of course, but cannot offer it for sale without your express permission (and a cut of the substantial profits). You still own all rights to the material, but simply are offering to share it for free. I don’t see anything in the licensing link that says otherwise.
But then, I don’t use Creative Commons Licensing because I want full control of anything I publish, whether it be written or photographic. I’m getting every bit as far with that as you did with Creative Commons.
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From my understanding, there are six different versions of the Creative Commons license. The version I chose is the CC BY-ND, which is “Attribution-No Derivs”. It allows for redistribution, whether commercial or non-commercial, but it must be passed along as unchanged and in whole, with credit to the author.
Perhaps you are thinking of the CC BY-NC-ND, which is “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs”, which is basically the same as the license I chose, except that commercial distribution is not allowed.
I chose to go with Creative Commons so that people would feel at ease sharing the book. Copyrights leave some people a little nervous. As for control, hell this book has sat around with no one reading it for years. I really don’t see what I’m giving up by releasing distribution control.
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Thanks for the clarification on the licensing issue. I believe that is correct.
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No problem. I had to really study it to figure it out, myself. When it comes to legal stuff, nobody makes it easy.
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how kind to share
your creative insights!
after many reat it
i can imagine a better world,
gone a bit Tippy
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thanks smilecalm.
yes after many read it
a gnu day will dawn
on the world
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Reblogged this on Spirit Lights The Way and commented:
What’s better than spotting a Unique Unicorn?
How about snagging a FREE copy of Unikonics ~> TG’s life philosophy in legible digital printed form!
That’s right! His life philosophy. For FREE!
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Thanks for the reblog Nancy. Although my philosophy has always been free to those willing to listen. Which is usually those I’ve been able to tie to a post.
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I look forward to reading Unikonics . . . but I’m in the middle of a Top Secret (hush-hush) project at the moment and life philosophy issues will have to wait until I’m done. 😀
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Oohh, Top Secret? Do tell.
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Well . . . I read it. Word for word and cover to cover. On more than a few points, you and I are in complete agreement. On other points, we part ways.
As you note, teachers can point the way, but they are not, themselves, the way:
“I am a finger pointing at the moon. Don’t look at me; look at the moon.” ~ The Buddha
And, of course, some of the parting of ways may have to do with the limits of language rather than true disagreement about the premise under discussion:
Truth has nothing to do with words.
Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky.
Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger.
The finger can point to the moon’s location.
However, the finger is not the moon.
To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?
~ The Laughing Hotei
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Thanks for reading it, Nancy. I don’t expect complete agreement. In fact I often prefer disagreements over agreements, as that is more stimulating. I like the analogy to pointing at the moon. Words are very limited. One must actually see the moon to truly understand.
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