harvest of fire

Wrapping up for the day

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The Valentines contest winner has been chosen. Macmillan books are back on Amazon.com’s shelves (I can’t figure out whether the two companies reached a deal or Hatchet’s announcement that they were going to an agency model took the wind out of their sails).

And tomorrow, February 6th, is going to be the two year anniversary of the day my agent and I accepted Del Rey’s offer for Child of Fire. I’ll be celebrating a couple of different ways. For instance, I won’t be bringing my lap top to the coffee shop in the morning, just my galleys. I don’t know what I’ll do later, maybe (gasp!) watch a movie! Shocking, I know.

Valentine’s Day Contest

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The finalists for the Dating Hell contest have been chosen. To vote on a winner, you have to drop by my LiveJournal entry.

Oh, go on. The stories are fun.

More Amazon.comFail

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Jeff Vandermeer posted about the sense of entitlement many ebook readers show in the comment sections of the Macmillan/Amazon.com threads that have popped up since last week. Take a look; it’s an interesting piece.

One thing I think he’s missing is the anger and resentment of self-proclaimed indie authors, who seize on any opportunity to lambaste large NY publishers and their many, many rejection letters. The common indie author shouts of “Last century’s business model!” and “Useless middlemen!” and “Getting between authors and readers!” have been rhetorical weapons the 9.99 Boycotters have snatched up and brandished with gusto.

In the meantime, I’ve disabled the Amazon.com links in the sidebar of my blog. I’ll reinstate them when Boneshaker (and other Tor titles) are restored. It won’t mean much to the Big River Flowing Through All Those Tubes, but it’s what I can do at the moment.

Last, there are four entries in the Valentine’s contest (although not all of them are on the correct post). I’ll be listing my top three tonight sometime after dinner. Last chance to enter!

Contest reminder

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The contest for winning a copy of Child of Fire has ten comments on it but only one actual entry. Enter before tomorrow (Thurs) evening if you want a free book.

Welcome to February, the month with the most wonderful holiday of all

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Now that the Macmillan/Amazon.com fight is over (supposedly, since none of the Tor novels I look at on their site are available) we can focus on the greatest, most hated holiday of all.

Valentine’s Day.

It’s only two weeks away, and it’s justifiably hated by single people. People in love can spend a couple of bucks (or even better, some time and thought) to come up with something nice for their loved ones–which they ought to be doing year round anyway, but never mind. For people who are single but don’t want to be, it can be the loneliest day of the year. Believe me. I remember.

For you singletons, happy or un-, I have a gift. Actually, I have a contest! Here’s how it will work: Post a story, either in the main blog or on LiveJournal (sorry, Facebook people, but you have to go to the blog to enter), of the worst, most pathetic true tale of dating hell you can come up with. Rape, murder and pedophilia are off limits–those stories are hard for me to bear. Everything else will be fair game. You an enter as many times as you like.

On, let’s say, Thursday, I’ll link to all the stories and choose my favorite three (assuming I get that many) and let you readers choose the winner.

The prize will be a copy of Child of Fire, of course. Single folks will be able to shut out the tawdry pink hearts and chocolates with the nasty cherries inside and read a romance-free book about shadowy killers, a disintegrating community, and cleansing rage. Yeah, you heard right. Cleansing, cleansing rage.

Of course, you don’t have to be single or lonely to enter. Everyone is welcome, although if you win the book and you already have someone in your life who will be treating you special on that day, maybe you can give it to someone else who might enjoy it (and I’ll leave it up to your judgement whether you tell them why or not.

Let the stories begin!

Five things make a post, again

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This isn’t a randomness post because it’s mostly about me.

First: This is an interview with me over at Sci-Fi Bookshelf, a new book review site. Check it out.

Second: You know that trick where people add absurd sub-titles to the scene of Hitler having a tantrum in DOWNFALL? The first person who did it had a brilliant idea. Subsequent versions were mildly funny and a good way to mock other people’s sense of entitlement. Now, though, it’s played out. Let’s stop, okay?

Third: Amazon.com is pulling some major bullshit once again, this time in their dispute with Macmillan over ebook prices.. No, I don’t want to have a discussion about what price points are “fair” for ebooks. I’m not even all that interested in hearing what you’d be willing to pay. However, Amazon.com is using the 9.99 price to push their $400 Kindles, and if they achieve the market dominance they are aiming for in the ereader device market, they will be able to set the price as high as they like, and dictate revenue splits to the publishers. This isn’t about holding down costs for readers; it’s about being the one who sets the price.

Amazon.com is looking at long-term benefits, which is why I’m looking more and more at Indiebound.org. You order the book and have it shipped to you at home–or if you want to avoid shipping costs, you can pick the book up at your local independent bookstore.

Fourth, via Laura Ann Gilman: Google founders plan a stock sale that will surrender their controlling interest in the company. Whether they have lived up their company motto of “Don’t be evil” or not (and with the Author’s Guild book settlement, I say most emphatically not), they’ll have to change the motto to “The shareholders have certain expectations of short-term profitability.” Even if you think Google can be trusted with the IP they’re confiscating now, can you trust the shareholder-led company they’ll shortly become?

Fifth: After three days of waking early (and starting my writing early) due to morning nightmares, I was finally tired enough today to fall back to sleep after a bad dream at 4:30. Damn. And I’d been so productive, too.

Five things make a post

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1) The changes my agent has asked me to do have turned out to be surprisingly simple. Not easy by any means, and certainly not quick, but not terribly complicated, either. What she’s asked me to pare away, unify and change are pretty self-contained as far as the overall plot goes. Except the ending. I’m still thinking about the change to the ending.

2) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking was a revelation. Rupert Everett’s performance in the lead was startling and affecting. The murder plot–wealthy young girls kidnapped from their homes and strangled–wasn’t terrifically original, but the performances were wonderful.

3) Some weeks ago, I posted links on my main blog/website to let people pre-order Game of Cages if they wanted. I went to every site I’d listed for Child of Fire and dug up a link for all of them… except for Barnes & Noble, because the book wasn’t listed yet. It’s still not listed.

Sure, the publication date is seven months away, but it ought to be listed by now, yeah? If, that is, B&N plans to stock the book at all.

4) I really do not need to be distracted by the idea that B&N might not be carrying my book, along with everything that implies. Not when I have a novel to finish.

5) Isn’t “pre-order” kind of a ridiculous term? Some friends pointed this out to me a while ago, but the “pre-order” happens when I’m planning a purchase. Even if the product isn’t available yet, I’m still ordering it, right?

I think I’m going to spend my time thinking about #5 and #1 instead of #4

Child of Fire reviews part 10 (plus health care)

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Today, I have four copies of Child of Fire wrapped up and addressed for mailing. Two are addressed to my senators, one to my congressional representative, and one is addressed to the president. Included with each book is a nearly-identical letter stating, in essence: This is my work. This is what I do. If we had decent health care reform, I could give my day job to someone else who needs it and write books full time. Pass health care reform, please.

I expect none of them will see the book or the letter, but it’s something I needed to do.

And now, the reviews: Continue reading

Nice place you have here. Buy my book.

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I’d planned to drop a link to this article into a “Randomness” entry for later posting, but actually I want to talk about it.

Click through and check it out, please: Stephen Elliott did an unusual sort of book tour to promote The Adderall Diaries: A Memoir of Moods, Masochism, and Murder: he did readings in people’s homes. They were all complete strangers to him, but they agreed to pick him up at the airport and host a party for 20 people, minimun, in which he’d read from and talk about his book. At the end of the party, he slept on their couch.

It sounds like it worked out very well for him, mostly–so well, in fact, that he got himself an article in the New York Times (which I imagine will sell more books than the tour did). Personally, I think it’s a great idea for a non-fiction writer. I don’t think it would work for me.

For one thing, I don’t really like to talk about my book, especially with people who haven’t read it. For another, I’m uncomfortable visiting my friends at their homes. Traveling from one stranger’s house to another, unable to leave, sleeping on their couch… ::shudders:: It would be misery.

His lending library idea is simpler and more doable for me, but less interesting, too.

The reason I bring this up is that my wife attended a slightly unusual book tour event last night: She went to a “Words & Wine” event for Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. For $25, she got a copy of the book (signed, ‘natch), a little wine and hors d’oeuvres, a front row seat while the author was interviewed, and a chance to talk to him later. Annoyingly, the interviewer seemed to think the book was about finding yourself or finding happiness, when the author and the audience kept turning it back to its actual subject: education reform.

Still, she had a great time. She also spoke with the woman who ran it, who told her they don’t do sf/f. They tried it once, but the crowd didn’t match the elegant/affluent tone. And that’s fine by me; my wife loves me and liked to promote my work to the people she meets, but she’s a socializer. I’m not. I find the idea of mingling in a hotel reception room with a bunch of strangers much less uncomfortable than doing in a home, but I’d still rather kick back at home with a book.

Me, I’m still doing email interviews. Just yesterday I had a request for another one. ::shrugs:: It’s not exactly revolutionary, but I’m not exactly brimming over with new ideas for meeting new people.

Perspective

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For a while today, this book had a much better Amazon.com sales ranking than mine.

Now I’m going to bed.