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Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: EUOL on March 07, 2005, 05:52:58 PM

Title: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: EUOL on March 07, 2005, 05:52:58 PM
They just bought ELANTRIS for 4,000 euros.

Interestingly this, with the sale to Germany for 5k euros and to Russia for 1.5k US, means that I've now officially earned more for ELANTRIS overseas than I did from Tor.  

(Which is a good sign.  It could mean that the book is going to sell more over here than Tor expects, and that is very good for a new author.)
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: n8sumsion on March 07, 2005, 06:22:07 PM
Congratulations! That's very cool. As someone who lived in France for 2 years, I have many reasons not to hate the French. I'm glad at least one other American has a reason also.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Skar on March 07, 2005, 06:43:11 PM
Oh pish.  There are plenty of reasons not to hate the French.  How about the revolutionary war?  Cheese?   I worked brefly with some French intel guys near Spin Boldak in Afghanistan and they were as pissed off about the whole France/US contention over Iraq as we were.  

Politics is no reason to hate anyone but politicians.

I know EUOL was speaking with his tongue in his cheek but I've started to notice that the whole anti-french fad is not going away as fast as it should and wanted to speak on it.  

There in our camp again now, did you know?  Bush said he'd have Chirac as a hand on his ranch any day.

And remember the state department motto..."Nations don't have friends, they have interests."
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Tage on March 07, 2005, 07:04:47 PM
Oh Skar, I hated the French LONG before Bush was even in office.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Skar on March 07, 2005, 07:25:41 PM
Well... that's a bird of a different color then.  Long-standing hatreds are in a totally different category than faddish hatreds.  Witness my own hatred of Canadians.  A whole string of canadian companions on my mission kindled my ire against that nation by persistently attempting to explain to me that Americans are percieved as boors because they don't care what people from other countries think of them.  

I finally explained clearly to each of them that I didn't care if they thought Americans were boors or not and therefore they should stop wasting their breath.  Eventually they each took my point.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: EUOL on March 07, 2005, 07:41:02 PM
Heh.  Didn't mean to spark that kind of debate.  Actually, I have a fondness for the French--my father served his mission there, and I visited Paris for a week in high school.  

But, well, the country affectionately teasable, in my opinion.  I consider the 'we hate the French' thing to be a big inside joke--it's not true, but we perpetuate it because it's funny at times.

Either way, I'm excited to see ELANTRIS in French.  
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Fellfrosch on March 07, 2005, 07:42:15 PM
Congratulations, EUOL!
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Entsuropi on March 07, 2005, 08:35:28 PM
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Either way, I'm excited to see ELANTRIS in French.


The real question is, are the french?
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on March 07, 2005, 08:54:15 PM
Yeah, I've often said that I couldn't wait for the war to end so I could go back to hating the French for my old reasons.

Anyway, Brandon, signed copies in both French and English would really rock my face off. If you're getting copies of them, that is.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: MoreDew on March 07, 2005, 09:00:22 PM
are there going to be any copies in spanish?
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: stacer on March 07, 2005, 09:59:00 PM
Congrats, EUOL. I'm glad things are going so well for you.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on March 08, 2005, 12:37:27 AM
Fantastic! Woohoo!

(Hmm...there's been a helicopter flying around shining lights at my apartment building (among other surrounding buildings) for the last 10 minutes...)

I really hope it does super-well. Need enough Brandon books eventually to compete with my Cherryh books...

And props to Joshua! He rocks!
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: EUOL on March 08, 2005, 03:29:53 AM
Entropy:

We're still working on Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and World English (British).

It's actually odd for an author--especially a new author--to sell any foreign rights before the book comes out.  People like to wait and see how something sells over here before they pick it up.

In fact, most new authors don't sell foreign rights at all.  So, I've been extremely lucky.  Apparently, when Tor picks up a new author, people take notice.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on March 08, 2005, 09:20:28 AM
well, have you looked into the possibility of garnering us copies in foreign languages? Or will we have to go to international Amazon? Seems like you'd want copies of at least your first book in all the languages it will be published in.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Mistress of Darkness on March 09, 2005, 01:37:26 AM
I would like a German copy. That would rock. I guess everyone has their own favorite foreign language.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Spriggan on March 09, 2005, 05:35:53 AM
Looks like some people have been pre-ordering Elantris too.  Today your ranking at Amazon is 59,951, you where at 62 a while ago and when you first got listed were like 200,000 or something.  3 of which were made via your site!  yea I made a buck fidy!  At this rate you'd need to sell about 300 via our amazon like for me to be able to afford my history book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521223520/ref=pd_sim_books_2/104-5703944-7882320?v=glance&s=books).
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Jade Knight on July 26, 2005, 06:46:31 PM
EUOL:  Will it be possible for us to get foreign copies of Elantris through you?  (You didn't answer on this thread)  I'd sure enjoy the French version…

I'm also curious to know how your finances as a writer work - do you pay your agent separately, or does he get a cut of these contracts?  When you sold the rights to Tor, which rights did you sell?  Perpetual US publication rights?  I know that with short stories it's common to sell first North America publication rights, but I don't know much about selling novels.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Chimera on July 26, 2005, 06:56:56 PM
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I'm also curious to know how your finances as a writer work - do you pay your agent separately, or does he get a cut of these contracts?  When you sold the rights to Tor, which rights did you sell?  Perpetual US publication rights?

I can't answer all of these, but they teach you in creative writing courses that it is the industry average for an agent to get 15% of whatever you get. Any agent who is asking for you to pay them is probably a scam. They only get paid if you do--however, agents are much more adept at getting deals and also getting foreign rights, so it kind of balances out. But because agents only want to support someone who is going to sell it is just as hard to get an agent as it is to get a publisher. Brandon was lucky in that his agent was considering his work when his editor decided to buy his book, so Brandon contacted Joshua his agent and Joshua took him on and got a better deal for Brandon than he would have been able to himself.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on July 27, 2005, 09:13:46 AM
Yes, I would like foreign copies in any languages I can read (spanish, french, Greek, English) Well, probably not Greek, since it's not modern Greek I read.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: EUOL on July 27, 2005, 02:13:20 PM
The answer to the first question (whether you can get foreign copies or not) is: I don't know.  

Now, I'm probably going to get a few copies in each language.  (Or, at least, I THINK I will.)  However, there will be only a couple of those.  I guess the question is how do you buy any books in foreign languages?  There's probably a way, but I'm not sure about it yet.  It will be a while, I think, before any of the foreign ones come out.  

Chimera has the right of it regarding agent cuts.  They only get paid if you do.  When I got my first offer from Tor, they wanted all rights.  Joshua talked them down to only North American English (which includes the Philippines for some reason.)  They wanted World English (England/Australia) but we decided to hold onto it.  

So, that's another reason to have an agent.  He knows how to argue for all of the things that you want to keep.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Jade Knight on July 27, 2005, 02:47:32 PM
Probably based on a tradition of a hundred years ago (when the Phillipines were ours).  That's all very interesting.  Keep us posted on foreign copies when you find out more, eh?
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Spriggan on July 27, 2005, 09:22:52 PM
you can always by foreign copies via amazon.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: CtrlZed on July 28, 2005, 01:46:29 AM
We ship North American copies to the Philippines . . . that's why they're part of North American rights.  (No one in their right mind translantes any kind of fiction into Tagalog, anyway.  Now I'm going to prove that I'm not in my right mind by translating the last line of the Elantris Prologue. "Natapos ang buhay na walang hanggan noong sampung taon."  It flows better in English.  The Filipinos realize this and buy the English copies whether they understand them or not.)
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Chimera on July 28, 2005, 02:04:29 AM
Psst...Isaac (aka CtrlZed)...have you introduced yourself yet? The thread is under Site News.

Thanks for the Tagalog. It was very...enlightening. And you wondered if you would ever use that language again!  ::)

P.S. I like the Avatar. Where's it from? Did you draw it? When are you going to draw me one?  ;)
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: EUOL on July 28, 2005, 04:10:36 AM
I like your avatar, Chimera.  It fits quite well, I think.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Spriggan on July 28, 2005, 04:57:24 AM
Quote
I like your avatar, Chimera.  It fits quite well, I think.


You're just now telling her this?  You're not doing very well on the Boyfriend front, you're supposed to tell her that every day.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on July 28, 2005, 09:47:51 AM
finally, CtrlZed posts. WHen you first registered, I pointed out to some people that this was the coolest nick I'd seen in a while.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Chimera on July 28, 2005, 05:59:42 PM
Quote
You're just now telling her this?  You're not doing very well on the Boyfriend front, you're supposed to tell her that every day.

Tell me that he likes my avatar everyday? If we are discussing the Boyfriend Front, then I have to say that I hope that his "terms of sweet endearment" would extend beyond that. To at least compliment my hair, or something.  ;)

EUOL actually has told me he likes my avatar. And I'll probably keep it. I just think CtrlZed's drawings are cool, especially the stuff he did for Mistborn--he may get to illustrate some stuff in the book, like chapter headings. I hope he does!
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: CtrlZed on July 28, 2005, 06:38:53 PM
Chimera: Yup, that little drawing is something I did a few years ago for a children's meteor math game I worked on at my old job.  I loved doing the explosions when the ships blew up.  I agree with EUOL--your avatar is pretty cool, but if you want another, I wouldn't mind whipping something up.

e: Glad you like the nickname!  It's my favorite keyboard combo.  I'm thinking about basing a magic-system on it. Ctrl-z is the bad magic, and "up, up, down, down, A, B, A, B, start" is the good magic.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Chimera on July 29, 2005, 03:35:14 AM
Geesh. That's a more creative magic system than I can come up with, and I have been thinking about it in the back and front of my mind this entire vacation.

I give up. I will probably always be one of those fantasy writers where magic just kind of happens, rather than being based on complex and cool rules.

But I'll keep trying. Maybe I'll surprise myself one day.  ;D
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on July 29, 2005, 09:09:06 AM
"Motorcycle cop is a sweet nothing?"
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: stacer on July 29, 2005, 11:50:51 AM
Quote
I give up. I will probably always be one of those fantasy writers where magic just kind of happens, rather than being based on complex and cool rules.


I'm kind of halfway in between. And this is much more acceptable in children's, what with its ties to fairy tales, so I'm okay with that.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Chimera on July 29, 2005, 12:44:12 PM
Yeah. It's just that I read Mistborn and get jealous and think, "How come I can't come up with a cool magic system like that?"

But I agree about the fairytale feel of children's/YA. And it isn't bad--it creates a different ambience. I guess I'm just starting to want to get away from cliches and write something "different" and an obvious way to do that would be to come up with a unique magic system.

Like I said, I'll keep trying. I'm still a fairly new writer, so it's okay if my stuff is a little cliche from time to time--I'm still learning.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on July 29, 2005, 03:40:24 PM
CtrlZed could you actually post your NAME in the introduction thread like most other people have so we actually know who you are?
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: CtrlZed on July 29, 2005, 08:06:57 PM
Chimera: I didn't have a problem with the magic system in your Aive story . . . I just wanted to see more of it!  Oh, by the way, I just got back from Island Park--we were picking huckleberries.  Didn't see any HB Rangers, though. :(

Ookla: Oops, I kinda left off my name.   Thanks for pointing that out.  I've updated that post.
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on July 30, 2005, 12:46:46 AM
:D
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: Chimera on July 30, 2005, 12:55:47 AM
I'd like to meet a Huckleberry Ranger from out of your Santa Spy story. They sounded so manly and tough.

EUOL and his family and I (all except for Spriggan, who doesn't count--at least today, because he called me crazy  :)) got Huckleberry Milkshakes when we were in Idaho and I commented to EUOL that perhaps the HB Rangers had picked them. He hadn't read enough of your story to find that as funny as I did.

But I will never be able to eat Huckleberries again without thinking of the hard-working, self-sacrificing, bear-wrestling HB Rangers. (A moment of silence, please.)
Title: Re: One reason NOT to hate the French
Post by: stu11926 on March 02, 2009, 03:34:03 AM
I fully realize that this thread is nearly four years old, and I apologize for bringing it back to the top after so long...especially for my first post.  I stumbled across this thread while searching the forum for something.  I couldn't help but reply regarding one more reason to absolutely not hate the French.

Her name is Alizee and she is a Goddess!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceSxEjwXHcM

Edit:  Dirty Wastrel is right.  I'm having a "DOH!" moment as I'm getting around to the FAQ and realizing that with my first post on this forum I've broken one of the biggies!  My sincerest apologies.  I'll do better in the future!

Jonathan


Quote
THIRD ITEM: Â Don't resurrect old threads.
Newcomers will often scroll through the pages and pages of threads looking for ones that are interesting to them, then post a reply to each one. Â The result is that dozens of old topics--ones that the forum community is tired of discussing--suddenly pop back to the top of the thread-order. Â This annoys the established members. Â I would suggest that rather than looking through old threads, you pay attention to threads that have already been posted on today, and respond to them in an intelligent way. Â (Note--your post doesn't have to be brilliant to be worthy of posting. Â If it's your genuine opinion, it has value. Â Posting an 'intelligent way' means posting in a polite, on-topic manner.)