Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: EUOL on July 26, 2005, 02:42:29 PM
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Deseret Book has decided to stock ELANTRIS. This took quite a bit of finagling on my part (I had to get the right number of the right buyer and get a copy into her hands) so I'm quite happy about the event.
For those who don't know, Deseret Book is an LDS themed bookstore chain in the west.
Of course, now that the book is in DB, I'm left wondering how to make the best use of the event. If there is just going to be one copy per store, buried back in the stacks, I don't know that this will be all that helpful.
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From my experience, it's a bit hard to do book signings with DB, adn get them to promote your book, although you've probably got a leg up on me since I'm publishing through DB's direct competitor. Apparently they just came out with a new policy that states only four of their stores will host authors. You can't sign any other books in any other stores. This has just recently changed. On week I was signing copies in DB, just on the side, and the next, the employees wouldn't let me.
Anyway, hope you have better luck with them than I have. The entire chain of DBs has sold about as many copies of my book as one or two Seagull books have sold. It's literally 150 books to several thousand sold by SB&T.
Anyway, I'll be interested to see how it goes for you. Good luck.
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That's really, really odd that they don't allow signings. That's one major way of getting books sold.
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Have you gotten into Meridian or any local newspapers yet? I'd imagine that would help...
It would seem very strange if you can't even sign the books that are there on the shelves. Signing books and doing a signing are not the same thing...maybe there's some communication breakdown?
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How big is Meridian? Is it worth the effort?
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I just got a review in Meridian, but I'm not sure how big its readership is. HOM might know better if there are benefits to getting in the magazine.
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Meridian's pretty big. Tons of people around here read it, at least. And they all are impressed by it.
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Meridian is the #1 best place to get an LDS book reviewed -- not that there are many. Meridian claims the biggest readership of any LDS internet magazine, and they have a fairly heavy focus on book reviews -- I think they have at least four reviewers -- two for LDS fiction, one for children's books, and one for general fiction.
If you want, I'll get you in contact with the reviewers I know. They have reviewed some of Card's non-LDS books.
I'm not sure what you can expect. I know specifically that the main reviewer is biased against sci-fi (I'm not sure about fantasy).
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From my experience, it's a bit hard to do book signings with DB.
My mom says if you come to Valencia in California she'll set up a booksigning at our local Church Bookstore, which is not DB or Seagull because it is owned and operated by a local LDS family and carries both publishers' books. A youth speaker stayed at our house and did a booksigning there, and we know the owners really well, so my mom wants to set it up. She was really excited when I told her DB is stocking your book, and now wants you to come down even more. ;) And, knowing my mom, she'd get the whole stake there to buy your book.
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Our local bookstore (Family Tree Books) functions similarly. If you want to hold a signing in Reno, I could look into it.
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d'oh, yeah, I should have told you how to get to "This is the Place" up by the temple so you could ply your wares there.
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Forget by the temple, just take a box of books right onto temple square... Nobody will bug you, as long as you have a black tag...
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Hey, for what it's worth... When I do a search for my book, the top return is this site. http://ldsfiles.com/ They did a review on my book a while ago. The next return is the BYU Book store followed by this site. Then there are a few bookstores that sell the book, and toward the bottom is the AML link (Association of Mormon Letters).
Anyway, to make a long story short. If you can snag a review from lds files it might be worth it, and I will let you know when Google finds the Meridian review. If it appears before ldsfiles then it likely has better traffic than the other sites.
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The DC temple doesn't *have* a temple square. There is a nearby "This is the Place" book store though.
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Well, sell it right there on the grounds then. There is pleny of room. Just line up by the money changers. :)
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HoM:
Okay, sounds good. I'm not sure how soon I could get meridian a review copy, but why don't you either mention me to your contacts there or send me their info. Now that the book is in DB, I've got some momentum in the LDS community.
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I have sent an email off to her. I'll let you know what I hear.
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I sent an email, and got a reply. The only reviewer that doesn't focus on LDS books reviews kids books -- hence, none of the staff is available to review your book. However, Meridian is always eager for submissions, so if anyone wants to write a review, there's a good chance Meridian will take it. (Obviously, it would need to be a honest, accurate review -- not a blatant marketing ploy.)
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If you read Elantris, all your wildest dreams will come true.
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I might try writing a review. I've been thinking about doing book reviews, since I read so much and love to discuss what I have read. After I summarized Elantris (aka my boyfriend's book :)) for some dinner guests last night, my mom complemented me for doing a good job. And for one of my creative writing classes we had to review a bunch of books we read, and the teacher said I did a good job and should consider trying to do a book review for a magazine. Anyways, what I am saying is that I have been thinking of trying to do a book review for a while, but I didn't really know the market. So maybe I will do this. And then I could have EUOL look at it to see if it meets his standards before I sent it off.
No, I'm not partial. Not partial at all. ;)
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Problem is, you have an obvious bias. Not exactly trustworthy reviewer material. Not that it isn't still a good book. If I read a review by Shannon Hale's husband, I'd be thinking, "Yeah, but he's her husband, he has to like it." (By the way, did you see her new book has been out about a month now? I need to pick it up. She and I have been chatting by email about various things and she told me Kirkus gave it a starred review.)
Not revealing your bias as a reviewer puts you at a disadvantage later if someone does discover that, if you're thinking of continuing in that vein. I'd actually suggest submitting children's book reviews to them instead. Though, honestly, their book reviews are not the standard by which I'd measure book reviews. Look at Kirkus and Horn Book and School Library Journal and especially VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates). But Meridian is a start, and Mormons listen to them for recommendations, high quality journalism or not.
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I would say any of the regulars here have an obvious bias.
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Yep. (Which is why I didn't offer to review it, not to mention time constraints.) You should get some staff member from TLE to submit a review to Meridian or something.
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About the least biased would be the non-utah folks.
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If I read a review by Shannon Hale's husband, I'd be thinking, "Yeah, but he's her husband, he has to like it."
Actually, that is a logical fallacy. There are a lot of assumptions being made about the marital relationship in that statement. Logicallly, the spouse still has a choice to write a bad review. And it is possible that the writer could be entirely accepting of that.
But yes, most people would make the same assumptions, wether fair or not.
Course, a lot of critics are good friends with the writers they review. Writers are not stupid, they are going to do more than just write good material to get good reviews. Not to mention that the both writers and book critics tend to hang out in a lot of the same circles.
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it's not as bad as you make it out. Most people ARE predisposed to say nice things about their spouse's works. They may not "truly" like it, but because of how they feel about their spouse (and the way they at least subconsciously recognize that other person's respect for their taste, since they DID get married, after all), they are far more likely to put a positive spin on it or exaggerate it. Or are you arguing that personal relationships are not a real source of bias?
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Me, or 42? I'm saying they are. But the closer the relationship, the more perceived bias. So even if it isn't actually biased (which I'm assuming Chimera wouldn't be), there's a perceived bias if the audience finds out.
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my comment was in response to 42. It may not ALWAYS be fair, but the public perception of bias is not without basis in a real problem.
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I'm not so much making an argument as an observation. Yes I know that there some basis for the bias among the public. However, the bias fails to account for many factors that remain unknown.
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my position is that by trying to make the bias sound negligble that way you're not being accurate. It's not just "some basis" it's a pretty solid basis, and it's more of then the case than not.
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OSC has written for the Meridian Magazine before, and he wrote a review for Elantris. Why not ask him if he will send his review and have it posted in Meridian?
That will carry more weight than you can imagine. Quite frankly, since I had never heard of Elantris or EUOL before HOM showed me this site, that is what made me want to buy the book. I trust OSC's judgement (sometimes), and if he likes the book, then I will probably like the book.
Seriously, I'd give half my royalties to have OSC review my book...
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That's a good idea.
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I would think that if you explain to Card that DB is carrying it, and you would like to get a review in Meridian, but nobody else is more qualified to review this kind of a book than he is, and he already has it written up... He would go for it.
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Shoot. Shafted by Orson Scott Card.
Oh well. I can see what stacer is saying about an audience-perceived bias, and I wouldn't want to risk making bad press for EUOL.
I could try doing YA book reviews. I'm not familiar with the magazine, so I'll have to look it up. Do they only do LDS influenced books, like either with an LDS character or written by an LDS author? Or do they do just good books in general. Also, I think someone mentioned that they had a staff member who does children's. But maybe she doesn't do much YA. I'll have to check it out--it could be a good place to get a first publishing credential.
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Or, y'know, you could start submitting reviews here. I always intended to do more but never really had the time to do more than a few, and now my life seems busier than ever, so not many children's or YA books get reviewed here except the standard classics. The children's person at Meridian covers mostly picture books and early readers, from what I have noticed (I pop over there from time to time but don't pay it a lot of attention).
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Also submitting book reviews with us does look good on a resume.
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You actually asked Card? That definitely wouldn't have been my suggestion... >_>;;;;;
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wow. I personally would have waited until the possible book signing with EUOL and Card.
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You actually asked Card? That definitely wouldn't have been my suggestion... >_>;;;;;
I don't think he did, did he?
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I don't believe he did, either. I think it was a suggestion from Firemeboy to use the review that OSC already wrote and submit it to Meridian. Would you have to get OSC's permission to do that?
I think I will do book reviews for TWG. EUOL suggested it to me before vacation, and I said, "Oh, they wouldn't want my reviews." But now that I have been officially asked by stacer, I think I will. Oh, and Fell also asked me to do the review for D&D for Dummies. I'm the perfect candidate because I've roleplayed but not D&D and I'm dumb. ;)
For all the YA books I read, I just need to sit down and write up some reviews--once I get Word back on my laptop (I had a temp version with my new computer, and it expired). I'm going to buy it at BYU bookstore and--get a student discount--as soon as I am back in town.
Incidentally, that is why stacer and Fellfrosch don't have the comments on their books, even though I have them both done now. I can't access them! Grr.
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Yeah, EUOL told me he recommended you do so. I told him I was going to email you about it, but I'm a lazy sack of crap (it's a requirement to edit around here) so I haven't done that. So, submit. SUBMIT!
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Shoot. Shafted by Orson Scott Card.
umm, well you did[i\] make it sound like you already asked him [Card].
As for TWG reviews she's going to be getting a copy of D&D for dummies soon to see if that book actually works.
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Chimera
...once I get Word back on my laptop (I had a temp version with my new computer, and it expired). I'm going to buy it at BYU bookstore and--get a student discount--as soon as I am back in town.
If you want to save a few bucks, there is an open source version of Word. I don't mean a pirated version, I mean a word processor that was developed by folks who just give it away for free...
Recently we are seeing a lot of this kind of open source software, and the amazing thing is the quality. I downloaded the open office suite and haven't used word/excel since. Not because I'm a Microsoft basher, but because it really is a slick program. It opens Word and Excel documents, it saves them as Word and Excel documents (you simply do a 'save as' and choose your version).
Anyway, I've got open source office, a photoshop program (GIMP), some mind mapping software, audio software (I used that to 'podcasted' the first chapter of my book on my blog, you can hear it here (http://chickenarmpits.blogspot.com/2005/06/chapter-1.html)). Open software is really becoming a nice alternative. If nothing else you can use open office until you get word. But, if you like it and it saves you $100, that is always a good thing.
Anyway, enough of my soap box. Here is the link. (http://www.openoffice.org/)
I wouldn't mess with the 'stable' version, go for the beta version (1.9+). It is the one I use, and I don't have any problems.
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GIMP has a lot of problems with it. I've not found a decent open source graphics editing package. Though, for non professionals, WavePad turns out to be a really nice freeware audio editing package.
I use Word because of hte track changes feature, which I haven't seen supported well in any freeware package. If you don't need that, I love using KeyNote for everything else.
btw, you're using the wrong terminology in some of those places. "Open source" means that anyone is allowed to edit the code any way they want. "Freeware" means the software is distributed at no charge. Most open source lisences are also freeware.
also, Word (with a capital 'W') refers specifically to Microsoft's office program. you mean a word processor. "Photoshop" is the same with adobe. It's a graphics editing program, but Photoshop is specifically the Adobe program.
</nit picking>
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I'm sure he's talking about Open Office, I'm kinda disappointed that Word isn't bundled with Windows anymore but its one of those programs you don't have to upgrade very often. I'm still using my copy of Office 2000, though I'm very tempted to upgrade to the new office (2006?) that saves all the files as XML and allows you to make PDFs with Word.
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btw, you're using the wrong terminology in some of those places. "Open source" means that anyone is allowed to edit the code any way they want. "Freeware" means the software is distributed at no charge. Most open source lisences are also freeware.
Right. I used the phrase 'open source version of Word', just because Word has almost become like Jell-O and geletin. People who may not know what a 'word processer is', know what Word is. I'm not saying I didn't think Chimera knew that, but when I'm explaining it, it's easier to say Word.
And I use the term open source instead of freeware because freeware carries a lot of baggage for those that have been around for a while. Often freeware is used synonomously with shareware, and 5-10 years ago all of that was pretty much 'crap', IMHO. Many of the open source software programs are very good. I use Firefox with Grease Monkey and it allows me to do a lot of really fun stuff...
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*shrug*
I disagree. I think most net savvy people know what a word processor is. Around the office? that could be something different.
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You may be right. Maybe people just call it 'word' because they don't want to expend the extra energy to say/type 'processor'. It is three syllables, after all...
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I can't waste my time writing or saying three syllables! I'm too busy ranting about stuff!
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umm, well you did make it sound like you already asked him [Card].
Yeah...what else prompted "shafted by Card"?
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I've decided that trying to figure out what Chimera means isn't worth it, she's crazy. First of all she's a girl that LIKES my Brother, if that don't say Loony I don't know what does.
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It seemed fairly obvious to me - she was commenting that the idea of using her review got vetoed in favour of asking Card.
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That's how I read it...
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See, the smart people understand me. ;)
And I am crazy. I admit it with pride. But I'm the kind of crazy that you like to have around, to add a little spice to life. It's endearing, or so MsFish tells me.
If you can't handle the Chimera, you ain't crazy enuff! 8)
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If you can't handle the Chimera, you ain't crazy enuff! 8)
Minus 100 points.
I recommend Ginger Rogers, circa 1936 as an appropriate rolemodel.
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Ginger Rogers, circa 1936
/me swoons
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Has anyone in Utah gone into a DB and requested Elantris? I need to do that, to see if they are really carrying it.
And what was the last we heard about EUOL doing a booksigning with them? Someone must know someone who has an in.
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I stopped in, and they said it had been ordered, but wasn't into the store yet.
And I sure would be curious to know if anyone has an 'in' with marketing so I can do signing.