Bulkowski, Thomas N. 1957-

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BULKOWSKI, Thomas N. 1957-

PERSONAL:

Surname is pronounced "Bull-cow-ski"; born 1957, in Syracuse, NY; son of Bruce (an apartment manager) and Wanda Bulkowski. Education: Syracuse University, B.S., 1979. Hobbies and other interests: Creative writing, gardening, reading, guitar, investments, walking.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Wiley Publishing Group, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Raytheon, Missile Systems Division, Bedford, MA, hardware design engineer, 1979-81; Tracor Westronics, Fort Worth, TX, software manager for process monitoring systems, 1981-82; Tandy Corp., Fort Worth, senior software engineer, 1982-93; IMI Systems (consulting service), Dallas, TX, consultant, 1993; freelance writer, 1993—. Vice chair of a local recycle task force committee, 1992; Keller Parks and Recreation Board, chair, 1990-95; Keep Keller Beautiful, president, 1990-92; Friends of the Keller Library, vice president, 1990; Keller Chamber of Commerce, vice president for membership, 1994, treasurer, 1995.

MEMBER:

Keller Writers' Association.

WRITINGS:

Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, Wiley Publishing Group (New York, NY), 2000.

Trading Classic Chart Patterns, Wiley Publishing Group (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities, Stock Futures and Options, and Active Trader.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Head's Law, a fantasy novel; Burning Desire, a romance novel, completion expected in 2004; Pinion's Search, a fantasy novel, 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Thomas N. Bulkowski commented: "Have you ever stood on the edge of a cliff, then jumped off? I did that in 1993, the year I retired at age thirty-six as a senior software engineer. No wife, no inheritance, no dot.com millionaire, nothing to support me but twenty years of hard work and a few pennies invested in stocks. I figured I'd be flat broke at sixty-five. That was ten years ago. I didn't figure that homeowners insurance would double in five years, that health insurance premiums would quadruple in a year-and-a-half. I didn't plan on my appendix exploding with gangrene or plan falling off my bicycle and using my collarbone as a spear to pop my lung. I didn't think life would cost so much. Oops.

"In late 1995, I made an investment that I thought would be worth writing about. I submitted the article to Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities magazine. A month later, the editor called me about proofreading the article before publication. My jaw dropped. A dozen articles later, in 1998, I decided I needed a book to improve my trading. No books covered chart patterns and provided statistics on how well they performed, so I thought I'd write one. I e-mailed an editor at John Wiley and Sons outlining my book idea. The next day, she called and said they were interested in publishing it. No anguished nights slaving over a keyboard on a query letter; no rejections, just a simple e-mail.

"Two years later, Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns arrived in the bookstores. It's a unique book because it covers chart pattern identification, failures, statistics, and trading tactics. No other book comes close to doing all that. Sales have been phenomenal. The publisher sold the rights to translate it into orthodox Chinese. The book sold out of its two printings. My next book, Trading Classic Chart Patterns, arrived on the shelves in 2002. It's done very well despite a bear market. So well, in fact, that both books are in the process of being translated into simplified Chinese. I guess I'm big in China.

"Now I'm writing for three nonfiction finance magazines on a monthly basis. I'm not a television personality, nor am I a magazine editor. I'm just a private investor and author. Thus, getting a new book idea in nonfiction finance worth publishing is close to zero. So I'm polishing my prose for the fiction market. I've written four novels (the first in college) and should start scouting for an agent or publisher soon.

"I wrote my first book for the information: I needed it to improve my stock trading. I wrote the second book for money. With property taxes climbing by double digits one year and valuations the next, with my health insurance company raising premiums three times a year, I need to marry rich or write more books … or both! Wish me luck and continued good health."