There are a lot of things I want to talk about, but Norway is just too big right now. It overshadows all sorts of other discussions I might want to have.
My sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones, especially their children.
Last Day of the Charity Auction for a Circle of Enemies ARC
StandardIf you want to read Circle of Enemies before everyone else (and would like to help a worthwhile charity, the Ballard Food Bank), there’s only one day left in the benefit auction of a CoE ARC.
Win the auction and I’ll pay shipping to send you the book by priority mail, plus all proceeds (after PayPal fees) go directly to the Ballard Food Bank.
One day left, and thank you to everyone who’s already bid!
“A cowboy in a world without guns…”
StandardThat looks crazy-awesome.
Spend money at Borders?
StandardI’m downtown today so I can work at the central library (my local branch is closed on Fridays) and of course I dropped in to the liquidation sale at Borders.
Borders was good to me, if you know what I mean. They ordered my books and stocked them, and judging by what I could see on the shelves, they took more than B&N. So I’m grateful that they stocked my books.
But I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything from them now. Once they’re in liquidation, you KNOW that nothing spent in that store will be going to the publishers or authors. Every penny is going to secured creditors and executive bonuses, and if I’m going to live with the guilt of that, I’m going to need 50% off, at least.
Anyway, in fun human games, today I witnessed a woman astonished to discover that she would have to buy something in the cafe if she wanted to site down in there and use their wireless internet. Shocking, I know.
Finally, I need to get off the web. For some reason I can’t connect to the library wifi, and I’m forced to log on with one of the library’s computers. And! since creepy motherfuckers use these computers to look at pron videos all the time, I feel like washing my hands.
Have a great weekend you guys. If you’re at SDCC, have a greatest weekend.
Stay hydrated!
Barnes & Noble catches up.
StandardThe promo price for Child of Fire finally reaches the B&N website (for all you Amazon.com haters).
Why make a book trailer?
StandardAs promised, here’s a quick note about why I made the trailer, (Vimeo | YouTube) then I’ll let it lie for a bit. But first!
A big “thank you” to everyone who helped spread the word about the 99 cent promo price for Child of Fire. Yesterday was pretty great, and the book climbed to #159 on the Paid Kindle list, was #16 in Fantasy overall and made it to #3 in Contemporary Fantasy. In fact, it’s still #3 as I write this even as the main Kindle List sales ranking has slipped back. Now it’s up to word of mouth and momentum.
Anyway, I’m tremendously grateful, to the point that I’m a little befuddled by it all. It’s always difficult for me to ask favors, and now I find myself full of gratitude, and… that’s difficult. I don’t want to gush. I don’t want to be standoffish or brusque. Maybe if I’d been more in the habit of asking favors I’d have worked this out by now.
Trailer! Here’s the thing: Trailers are terrible for promoting books. Seriously, I have never bought a book because of a trailer, and I’ll bet you haven’t either. So why make one? Most importantly, why spend just shy of five grand on it?
Well, it’s not for the promotion, clearly.
But what if you knew someone who was an amazing painter, and you wanted to hang their work in your home? What if your friends were accomplished musicians and you wanted to commission a song? Wouldn’t it be cool to let them run with it?
Well, my friends are filmmakers–good ones, too. Everyone who’s seen LOVECRAFT, FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN knows that. So when I got a little unexpected money (French and German foreign sales) I thought Why buy a car? This will last longer and won’t make me fat(ter).
At first I considered asking them to make a short film–pick a scene from one of the books, dramatize it, the whole deal. But when I sat down to think about it, I was paralyzed with options. Which scene would be doable? How would we deal with stunts? How do we handle exposition?
I could have done the opening to Child of Fire, but there was some stuff there that wouldn’t translate well to film. So I decided to ask them for a book trailer.
And of course I’m treating it as though it’s a book promotion; that makes it tax deductible. Still, to me, it’s about hiring my friends to make something cool for me, about them showcasing what they can do (and maybe get some work out of it), about seeing Ray and Annalise onscreen, and sharing that with all of you guys.
Because you know what? A lot about this industry is changing, and people who think they know everything about it or think they can predict what is the right /wrong move to make are kidding themselves. It seems to me that the best thing to do is whatever seems cool. That’s what I take away from the way others have found success: they had their interests and obsessions, and they didn’t “promote” so much as create stuff they thought was cool.
Okay, I think I’m done talking about the teaser trailer for a while. Back to the usual natter later.
Forgot to mention:
StandardAs I write this, the charity benefit auction of the Circle of Enemies ARC is already at nearly $150. Thanks to everyone helping out with this.
Also, the 99 cent promotion for the ebook of Child of Fire has pushed it to sales rank 254 on the Paid Kindle Store at Amazon.com. Yes, I’m obsessing about it. A little
Something funny about that teaser trailer
StandardYou know the old truism that, in film, a writer’s work always gets changed? Well, it’s true. Even in the teaser trailer I just released yesterday, the fact is that what ended up on the screen was not at all like what was on the page.
First, for those who missed it yesterday, the teaser trailer: It’s now on Youtube in High Def and in not High Def. (what’s the term for “not High Def”? Regular?)
Okay? Did you watch it (either yesterday or today)?
Right then, here’s how it breaks down: there was one shot in the script saying Ray cut through a padlock with the ghost knife, but for the rest of it, this is what the script said:
INT. OFFICE – DAY
A MAN kneels on the floor, weeping.
MAN
Oh God, I’m so sorry!Ray knocks him down, yanks his jacket over his head and puts the barrel of a gun against his skull.
That’s it. That’s all it said. From those words, the guys at Wyrd created that trailer.
Maybe some other writer would be upset about that, esp if they were writing the check[1], as it were. Not me; I knew the guys would have to change and adapt things to make this work, and I made sure they knew I was cool with that when we started. What I didn’t expect was that they’d take the ball and run with it as far as they have.
Tomorrow I want to clarify a bit why I did this. (It’s not for promotional purposes. Really.) Today I have to take my son to the gym and teach him swimming.
[1] In this context, “writing the check” is a laughable claim to authority, since the guys at Wyrd are putting in way WAY more work than I could have ever paid them for.
Some people hate to wait.
StandardAnd I don’t blame them. People have been bugging me about the release of Circle of Enemies for nearly a year now. Should they have to wait another month for it? Longer?
Possibly not!
Here’s the deal: I have an Advanced Readers Copy of Circle of Enemies sitting on my shelf, and I’m going to auction it off on eBay to benefit a local charity. Here’s the link. Go! Bid! Spread the word!
Truthfully, I wish I could have found my charity listed in the eBay system but they’re not there. Instead I’ll have to cut a check after the money clears–which is fine, but creates a “Sounds like a scam!” response in some people. Maybe I’ll provide pictorial evidence.
Anyway, the proceeds will go to The Ballard Food Bank, which really helped my family when things were difficult a few years back. Since then, the recession has hit and food banks everywhere are straining to help those who need it. We don’t need them anymore, but now that I have an opportunity to pay them back a little, I’m doing it. (When I told my wife about my plans she said: “Yes. Oh yes absolutely, thank you.”) I’ll be paying for shipping and I’ll be donating 100% of what I get after PayPal/eBay takes their cut.
Again, I’d be grateful if everyone could help spread the word a bit. The food bank folks are good people and deserve whatever help they can get.
Didn’t I promise a teaser trailer today?
StandardWell, I have it right here and ready for you. What’s more, I promised that there would be a cool announcement to go with it, didn’t I?
First, here’s the teaser trailer:
Twenty Palaces Teaser Trailer (not HD) from Harry Connolly on Vimeo.
That one isn’t HD, but if your connection can handle it and you want to go full screen, there’s a High Def version as well.
Honest to Pikachu, I love this teaser trailer. It’s gorgeous and gory, just as my editor said. What’s more, from what I’ve seen of the full trailer, it’s going to be even more incredible. The guys at Wyrd are doing a fantastic job. (The sound effects make my hair stand on end!)
What about that announcement? Well, now that my editor has dropped the announcement over at Suvudu, I feel fine posting it here: As a short-term promotion for my upcoming Circle of Enemies, Del Rey has dropped the price for the Kindle edition of Child of Fire to only 99 cents!
That’s right. For a limited time (don’t ask me how limited because I’m not at all certain) Child of Fire will be available for just one dollar. What’s more, Game of Cages has had two dollars knocked off the ebook price.
As I write this, prices in Apple’s iBookstore and Sony eReader have been changed, but I can’t link to them. Google Bookstore is more accomodating. Child of Fire | Game of Cages. Unfortunately, as I write this, Barnes & Noble hadn’t implemented the price change yet. B&N, why do you have to be so hard on me?
Two more things to say: First of all, this isn’t the last cool thing happening today. See next rock.
Second of all, I’m tremendously happy that Del Rey (and everyone at Random House, too) chose my books for this promotion. Really, they could have given this push to any number of authors, and it shows their confidence in the Twenty Palaces books that it’s happening to me.
So, if you wouldn’t mind maybe spreading the word a little bit? It’s only a short time offer, but poor Ray Lilly could use a couple extra readers before book three comes out.
Added later: It seems that only the U.S. version of Amazon.com that have lowered the prices. Readers outside the U.S. should check that Google link, though. It might be what you’re looking for.