Play and Learn 2/19941.ZIP/19941/SOLVERS/WORDFIND/S-WARE.ASC

Text File | 1994-02-05 | 6.4 KB | 132 lines

                     ADVENTURES IN SHAREWARE
                        by Robert LaFara

This article will describe some of my experiences in selling
shareware.  I can't match Marshall Magee's success in selling
AUTOMENU, but I can relate some of the interesting aspects of the
process.

Each of us can list many interesting experiences that have oc-
curred in our life.  For me, one of these is having some success
with shareware.  There have been others, many of which I didn't
appreciate the significance of at the time.  For example:

In 1951 I visited the Remington-Rand factory in Philadelphia and
saw UNIVAC I, serial number 1.  It had been accepted by the
Bureau of Census but they elected to keep it in the factory for
90 days.

Later I enjoyed wiring control panels for IBM calculators.  It
could be quite a challenge.

Our first computer had to be coded in machine language (I do mean
numbers, not assembly code.)  That was fun, and who had ever
heard of higher order languages anyway?

Then came FORTRAN, wow what an innovation!  (I'm still more
competent in FORTRAN than in other languages.)

The introduction of a multi-user operating system provided the
equivalent of a personal computer on my desk with the power of a
mainframe.

In 1976 I took a microcomputer course and was introduced to CP/M.
The instructor in charge of the course was Gary Kildall.

The acquisition of personal computers at work and at home has led
me into many new and interesting aspects of computing.  One of
these is shareware.

In January of 1989, I developed a program, WORDFIND, for my own
use to assist me in solving word puzzles.  With this program you
can enter a template which contains known letters of a word in
known positions and wild cards where the letters are unknown.
The program then searches a vocabulary and returns all words that
match the given template.  From this list, the user must then
select the desired word based on its definition or use in con-
text.

I ran a classified ad in COMPUTER SHOPPER in the April, May, and
June 1989 issues.  The results were disappointing; although I
probably sold enough to pay for the ad.

I submitted an article on WORDFIND to COMPUTER SHOPPER; and
surprise, they not only accepted it for publication, they paid me
for it!  It appeared in the May 1989 issue.  This article result-
ed in several requests for the program.

At about the same time I distributed copies of my program to
vendors such as PUBLIC BRAND SOFTWARE.  To date, this avenue of
marketing has not been very productive.

I also sent a copy of my program to Jerry Pournelle, hoping to
get a review.  Again, I was lucky.  He decided to add a new
feature to his monthly column in BYTE magazine called "Shareware
of the Month".  WORDFIND was the first to be selected and mention
was made in the August 1989 issue.  This has been the most fruit-
ful event.  BYTE assigned an inquiry number which means a reader
can circle that number on the Reader Service card to request
information on my product.  It has been interesting to learn how
this works.  BYTE keys the reader's information into a computer
and then generates lists for the various inquiry numbers.  This
is not just a printed list, it is a list printed on pre-gummed
mailing labels that I can then use to mail out information.  A
duplicate list is included for my retention.  It is possible to
get the list on floppy but this only makes sense for lengthy
lists as there is a charge for that service.  These lists are
mailed on a weekly basis.  The first list arrived before August 1
and they are still coming.  (BYTE has no expiration date on their
Reader Service card.)

So far, I haven't made enough money to pay me for my time; but
I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the notes that I receive
from people.  One user in Virginia was using another shareware
product called CROSSWORD CREATOR (CWC) to make crossword puzzles.
He found that WORDFIND made it even more productive and notified
me that he had sent a copy of my program to the author of CWC in
California.  That person, Brad Kaenel, has interfaced his program
to mine and we have worked out a licensing agreement for him to
distribute my program.  This chain of events has added several
new registered users including one in Luxembourg.

WORDFIND has gone through various versions.  The latest version,
the one which is sent to registered users, includes the capabili-
ty to specify that certain unknown letters are duplicates of each
other.  This is very useful in solving letter substitution cryp-
tograms.  Another shareware product, SUBSTITUTION-CIPHER UTILITY
(SCU), which helps to solve cryptograms, also interfaces to
WORDFIND.  Its author is another Indianapolis programmer, Don
Bryant.

There has been other interesting fall-out in the course of de-
veloping this software.  Do you know the letter which is used
most frequently in long words in the WORDFIND vocabulary (words
of 13 or more letters?)  It is "I" not "E".  This is probably
because of its use in prefixes (in-, dis-, etc.) and in suffixes
(-ing, -ion, etc.)

As I have developed new versions, I have tried to maintain a
capability to make the program useful to the broadest range of
users.  In version 5.1, I included a CP/M version; however there
has been no identifiable interest in it and I have not included
it in later versions.  All versions up to version 7.1 did not
require full IBM compatibility.  However, in version 7.1 I intro-
duced some inverse video but I also provide a version 7.1M which
will still run on MS-DOS systems that are not IBM compatible.  In
version 7.2 I have added even more IBM dependent features.  The
words scroll in a window as they are displayed and the display
pauses every 19 lines.  Included in version 7.2 is a monocrome
version, a color version and what I call a "glitzy" version where
the words are shown in various colors.

Also included for registered users is another program that I have
written, UNAGRAM, which unscrambles anagrams.  I have other
programs under development which I will eventually distribute as

shareware.  Some of these are programs that I wrote several years
ago but I wish to improve and modernize them before distributing
them.  In the future I hope to develop even more shareware.