| (no subject) |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|10:16 am] |
I'm in, and will be here most of the day.
Bagels and Sunday newspaper optional. Wordage is not. |
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| on signing tours |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|01:25 pm] |
For the record, I’m not going on a signing tour in a couple weeks. I’m going home to Alaska to visit family and friends, and am stuffing a couple of book signings in on the way through.
But since I’ve been talking about the signings, many of you have hopefully suggested you would very much like me to come to your location and sign books. I, too, would like to go to your location and sign books. I think it would be tremendously awesome. I would, however, have to sell about 300% more books than I do in order to make it even vaguely feasible. It’s not a lack of promotion on the publisher’s part, or a writer having to do all the publicity leg work herself. It’s pure finances.
As a rule, when you buy one of my books new, I get about a dollar from that sale. That’s the money I live on, day to day. That’s what I pay bills and rent and student loans with. So in order to fly to New York on your average economy ticket, I’d have be certain of selling, oh, say, an additional 600 books at a signing in order to break even. And that’s not including food or hotel, so throw those in and even if you’re being very cautious with money you’re looking at needing to sell an additional thousand or twelve hundred books to not lose money on the prospect. And really, most people at book signings bring the books they’ve already bought to get them signed, so even if by some incredibly unlikely stroke of luck I had 1200 people show up to a signing (and I’m much more in the realm of “if 40 people show up it’s an unqualified success”), the odds of selling 1200 books would be infinitesimally small. So although I have a good solid readership (for which I am *extremely* grateful), there just simply aren’t enough dollars coming in to support a self-financed book tour.
Ah! you say, so get your publisher to send you on a tour!
Well, the finances for the publisher are basically the same. My sales numbers–which, like my readership, are good solid numbers–are not nearly that good. I’m not a bestseller in terms of moving a large enough quantity of any given novel in the first month of publication. Over my career thus far my books have had what the industry refers to as “legs”–in other words, I’m still selling a lot of copies of URBAN SHAMAN, even 4.5 years after it came out. Now, if I could get everybody who’s bought a copy of URBAN SHAMAN to buy my next book the month it came out, yeah, I’d probably all of a sudden get to have shiny words like “USA Today Bestseller” or possibly “New York Times Bestseller” in front of my name. And there’s a degree of self-perpetuation to that, so once you start reaching that status it may become worth it to the publisher to (probably) lose money on financing a tour themselves, in hopes of making it up in sales down the road.
I’d greatly love to reach that status, or be in a position where it’s financially feasible to take myself on a signing tour and go all over the place to meet people. But for the moment, I’m really only ever going to be able to manage signings at places that I’m going to anyway, and sadly there just aren’t that many of those places to begin with. :)
(x-posted from the essential kit) |
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| Word Wars |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|04:39 am] |
Still here if anyone wants to come play.
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| War in the afternoon |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|02:29 pm] |
The spousal unit has gone off to be packed in mud, and I am alone and undisciplined.
Come, let there be war, let that war be the driving force I need to produce words of breathtaking beauty, and let the war drive you to words, as well!
http://tinychat.com/vjp2m |
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| bookstore signings poll |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|12:01 pm] |
This is more so I can perhaps give the bookstores some sense of what to expect/order/etc than for my own self-aggrandizement. Regardless, I didn't put a "no" option on the 'are you attending' because I didn't figure that'd be very helpful, since most of my 600+ friends list do not live in Seattle and Fairbanks. :)
Poll #1482005
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54I will be attending the Fairbanks booksigning on November 27th: I will be attending the Seattle booksigning on December 2nd: I'm likely to: If I'm buying books, I hope: I am glad there's a ticky box option even if I'm not going to either of the signings: |
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| Fairbanks book signing! |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|11:58 am] |
There will be a book signing event in Fairbanks, Alaska!
Where: The Fairbanks Barnes & Noble
When: 1-4pm on Friday, November 27th, 2009
What: I will definitely be signing, and my books will be for sale. I may do a reading or two, since I’ll be there a while.
Further details: The Fairbanks B&N is leaning toward mostly bringing in copies of WALKING DEAD to sell. I’m also encouraging them to stock up on first books in all of my series, but if you’re in the Fairbanks/North Pole/Nenana/etc region and would like books other than URBAN SHAMAN, WALKING DEAD, HEART OF STONE and THE QUEEN’S BASTARD, let me strongly encourage you to call then (907-452-6400) sooner rather than later to put an order in for the books you want. It’ll encourage them to have copies on hand, and they’ll be ordering books for the signing next week, so you’ll want to move briskly!
(x-posted from the essential kit) |
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| Grounded |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|12:18 am] |
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Tonight was the Firefly game. I got to play Doc again (I don't know how much longer I can keep him alive, given the concept) and he was even cooler than last year. Good GM, good group. And at the end of the night, we'd done the right thing and finally gotten back into the black. |
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| Seattle book signing! |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|07:38 pm] |
There will be a book signing event in Seattle!
Where: The University Book Store on University Way in Seattle, Washington
Where, in greater detail: This will be a Fireside Event, taking place downstairs on the far side of the cafe, rather than in the usual event area.
When: 7-8pm on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
What: I will definitely be signing, and my books will be for sale (cash registers close at 8, we may be permitted to hang out a bit longer afterward to finish signings & things).
I may do a reading. I may do a reading of the first chapter of DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers, due out in June 2010. Let me suggest you turn up on time if you want to hear that. :)
Further details: Me doing a signing in Seattle means there will be, at least for a time, signed books available for ordering within the continental US. If you can’t make it to Seattle but would like me to sign books and have them sent to you, order the books through the University Book Store website, and make certain to put in the Comment Box that you would like signed books, and exactly how you want them signed.
(x-posted from the essential kit) |
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| Haven's Library |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|03:20 pm] |
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Lee and I have always valued books as repositories of knowledge. We had substantial personal libraries before we met, and our now-combined collection is proportionately larger.
We are in agreement that Haven's Library will be an important, essential part of Haven. Besides our personal love of books, Haven's Library is shaped by the need I see to preserve culture and knowledge, and to survive and shape a sustainable new, more local cuture as the world enters the many decades of energy descent, and must change in response to decreasing availability of fossil fuels. So we have been collecting books with these needs in mind. So many books! There are, of course, many books on Peak Oil. Also Permaculture, gardening, Edible Forest Gardening, Beekeeping, Raising Rabbits, Cobbing, biodiesel, health self-care, humanure composting, dry toilets, greywater systems, site preparation, road-building and maintenance, community building, local economies, wild foods, wilderness survival skills, and on and on and on...
Of course, there are also books and DVDs for pleasure, fiction stories we have enjoyed.
We have talked many times of how to physically house the Library at Haven. One of Lee's ideas was to build a "Hall of Knowlege" -- a book-lined hallway connecting the rooms of our home.
While we were away for our anniversary (over Beltaine Weekend), we found a village coffee shop with a couple of full bookshelves -- of course, we sat by it. It housed a book exchange. A sign said that one could exchange a book for $1, or buy a book for $3. I liked the idea, and so jotted it down, as I am inclined to note ideas for Haven.
Many of the books we have collected for Haven's Library are reference books that will be important to preserve and keep available in a permanent collection. Generally, these books would not be loaned out, but could be read on the premises.
On the other hand, we also have books that could be part of a nonpermanent collection -- a book exchange, similar to the one in that coffee house. Perhaps it could be located in Haven's Common House and Brew Pub, with any money collected going to help pay for the brews!
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| Prime Selling Season (April-July, 2009) |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|02:40 pm] |
Finally, the prime season for selling houses was upon us, and I was desperate to sell our home. I had tried to keep progressing in Haven-related tasks, but until we sold our home, these were limited, and our energies drained by the sheer work of attempting to sell in such a terrible housing market.
My aged mother, after long procrastination, gave us the 1982 diesel Isuzu P'up and 1984 Itasca Phasar (a tiny 21' diesel RV) that my father had selected for fuel efficiency. The Itasca would be our interim living quarters once we sold the home, until we could buy land and either build Phase 1 of our cob home or move into other temporary living quarters while we did so. The little Isuzu had been my father's primary vehicle, and so had sentimental value for me. But beyond that, it was designed as a highly fuel-efficient vehicle, and, like the Itasca, was diesel-powered. So we hoped that we might be able to convert these to biodiesel and/or straight Veggie Oil, as future needs might require.
But they were old, and had set unused since my father died in 2007. In his later years, it became harder for him to maintain them. So they needed a lot of mechanical work. This proved to be quite expensive as it was hard to get parts.
The worsening national economy impacted my jewelry sales.
The new mortgage, increased by the expense of the remodel, was burdensome, and we were eager to get out from under it. I turned my efforts to improving the curb appeal of the place thru landscaping efforts: planting flowers, pruning, clearing out clutter, and mulching -- thank the Goddess for Lee's and Scott's and Shannon's help! I had talked to our real estate agent, asking if there was anything more we could do to improve the chances of selling, but he had little to suggest. We decided to try a broker's open, and worked hard to get the grounds ready for that. It was a stressful, anxious, burdensome time.
Showings were few, but we had to keep the house show-ready constantly anyway. I was getting sick and tired of it, and looked for ways to get a break away. We decided to take a trip to the coast for our anniversary in May. It was a good decision. |
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| BLARG! |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|08:17 am] |
That is all.
(Everything is fine. I'm just feeling BLARG!) |
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| Nano post two |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|09:43 am] |
I just went to type 'elves' and accidentally wrote 'elvis'.
And I think I'm gonna keep it.
I mean, they'd be as susceptible to pop culture as anyone else. Maybe more so. And if in my story that susceptibility takes the form of rhinestones and poodle skirts, y'know, I'm totally okay with that.
(It's pronounced 'elvzzzzzz', by the way. It helps if you curl your upper lip while you say it.) |
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| ...is a sold out scandal |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|01:28 am] |
Poll #1481074 Just like the television show.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12Do you have passion? If yes, about what? Bonus Question |
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| who's up for some midnight writing |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|11:20 pm] |
If anyone is up for it, I'm still habitat-ing in the war room ... should be here for about another hour or so.
grand total for the day ...2600 ... and now I'm done for the night.
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| Incredible Voyage |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|07:39 pm] |
I'd forgotten how twigged I was by the UberMensch* undertones in The Incredibles.
The rest of the film is still a lot of fun, and it gave my PCGF work; it's just the one thing.
*Society is a burden to the UberMench, forcing him to sacrifice his excellence and take on the mediocrity of the herd. If only the world would let him be himself, existing outside the rules of society, everyone would benefit.
EDIT: A discussion with a friend indicates that I need to expound on my topic. It is not that I think the characters are UberMenschen who need to be dragged down to the level of everybody else. It's that I think the director feels that if only society would recognize the greatness of certain people who were born great then they could feel free to be full of greatness. Or something. I mean, at the end of the movie you have the track competition where our newly heroic hero tells his son how to be less exceptional than he really is, in order to fit in. Which, as far as I can tell, was directly against the point the director was trying to make. Jesus fuck, it's one in the morning and I'm so far behind schedule and so stupid tired that you should quit listening.
But I still think it'd be funny if Google were invited to take part in College Bowl. |
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