publishing

Three more random things

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First of all, thank you, everyone, for the kind words on yesterday’s post. I couldn’t be more thrilled about making Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2009 list. And thank you also to everyone who posted and tweeted about it to spread the word.

I sent an email to KUOW, our local NPR station, to let them know that two Seattle locals were on the list for sf/f books, but I’m sure nothing will come of that. Later, I’ll email a couple of reviewers to let them know, too, in case they want to include that in the interviews/reviews/whatever.

Then I’m going to stop thinking about it. No, really, I am. Man Bites World needs my attention, and I’m working on a tricky bit at the moment.

Second thing: Del Rey has posted the first chapter of Child of Fire on Scribd. This is nicer version than the one on my website, since it includes the cover art and the pages look just the way they do in the physical book. All that book design-y goodness.

Finally, a question (my Google Fu is weak): There’s a certain type of belt I need to write about, but I can’t find the name of it online. I can find pictures, but not the actual name (and I’m pretty sure the answer isn’t “bomber belt.” Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In which I have a happy moment

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I just stopped by my local Borders and saw they had new stock to sign. Eight new copies of Child of Fire. This is the third time I’ve dropped by in the month since the book came out, and they’ve had new books on the shelf every time.

Also, the Amazon.com sales ranking is now lower (higher? How about “closer to 1”) than it’s been for three weeks. In fact, it was hovering around 25K yesterday, and has been in the teen-thousands (I made a word!) all morning.

Thank you, everyone, who has given the book a read and helped spread the good word. I’m tremendously grateful.

Also, ethelmay sources the “apartmently” story from a previous post. Thank you, too!

E-Book Stuff

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I missed this when it first blew up last week (thanks a lot, missing LJ-feeds!), but apparently there was an online dustup about the fact that Kindle owners can have more than one Kindle (or iPhone) on a single account. There’s no requirement that the machines all belong to the same person, or that they all live at the same address, either. This lets people who download a book onto their Kindle share it with friends.

Apparently, this came up in a NYTimes article, and some authors went on a name-and-shame campaign against the reader named in the article because the article made it seem that she was bending the rules. Dear Author covers the situation pretty well, and makes some good points about e-books and book-sharing.

Me, I think it’s great that Kindle readers can share. That brings me closer (but not to) the point that I’d be willing to get one. People: Share my books with your friends and I will be happy!

Oh, and writers shouldn’t call readers “thieves.” Duh.

On that note, John Scalzi points out that Amazon.com has a new patent that would track e-book piracy by altering the text of the book in unique ways–essentially substituting synonyms for words in the book.

Scalzi, quite sensibly, calls bullshit on that. Jane at Dear Author likes the idea better, although she seems to be promoting an idea similar to but not identical to what Scalzi’s talking about.

For me, I hate it. I have zero faith in a computer’s ability to substitute synonyms sensibly. In fact, readers would probably be astute enough to spot the switches.

And it reminds me of certain horror stories, such as the English author who who discovered that the editors who published their book in the U.S. were concerned enough that American readers would be confused by British terminology (“They went back to his flat.”) that they did wholesale search-and-replace. At which point one of the characters delivered a line of dialog “apartmently.” Ungood.

I’m with Scalzi on this one (and I hope that “apartmently” story is apocryphal).

Randomness for 10/28

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1) Michael A. Stackpole on Cory Doctorow’s book promo experiment. via Jay Lake

2) The Game of White! MightyGodKing on board games.

3) Coyotes attack, kill adult human in Nova Scotia. What a horror. via James Nicoll.

4) “I just get naked. It’s what I do.” This ought to make Sarah Palin’s book release extra-special. Best part: His handler is named “Tank Jones.” lol

5) People trust experts who seem tentative in their conclusions, and amateurs who express certitude.

6) New form of bioenergy powering Swedish heating plant: Dead rabbits.

Randomness for 10/26

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LiveJournal isn’t feeding feeds, so this will be a short one:

1) A reader likes Child of Fire.

2) I could totally do all this stuff, too. I just don’t want to.

3) Robin Hobb-quoting amnesiac identified.

4) How to get people to take the stairs. I love this one. via madrobins

Randomness for 10/15

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1) Fifteen things to know about L.A.

2) Can you tell the difference between Dustin Diamond’s tell-all memoir of his time on SAVED BY THE BELL and Papa Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls? Take the quiz!

3) What, exactly, is a chachbag? Only a special, select few will know.

4) Posted by everyone, but what the hell: Vampires are popular because women want to have sex with gay men. Honestly, this strikes me as deeply ass-headed, but I’m too busy and tired to unpack it.

5) Miss Manners to “moderately successful novelist”: Do not put a DONATE button on your website.

Randomness for 10/14

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1) E.E. Knight explains “modeling” and bookshelf presence. There’s always something knew to learn about writing and selling books.

2) Honda unveils Segway-like unicycle. Tremendously awesome and tremendously uncool at the same time. via Genreville

3) Buy your own secluded Bond-villain hideaway! If this had been built in the woods instead of the desert, I’d be showing it to my wife. via seawasp.

4) The art and science of boiling perfect eggs. via Ezra Klein

5) Will climate change mean the near-extinction of basic food crops?

6) Here’s your word of the day: Procrasturbation: to waste time by pleasuring oneself. via Savage Love. Also discussed in that linked article is the ethics of sex with zombies.

Genreville Book Club

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The folks at Genreville are planning a Book Club discussion for next month, and there’s a poll to select which book it will be. Child of Fire is one of the options, so if you think you’d like to take part in the discussion, go on over and vote for it.

However, if you don’t want to join in the book club talk, please don’t vote. I’d hate for my book to win only to have absolutely no one show up to chat about it. It’d be a wasted opportunity.

Or you could vote for a different book. I guess. I mean, that option is there for you. If you want it.

Note to self:

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Create a literary will.

Thoughts on a copy edit

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Responding to a copy editor’s queries is a whole different kind of thinking than revising my own work.