Timewaster's Guide Archive

First of all, in response to Dan, my name has been changed from "Not Bookstore Guy Anymore" to "Used to be Important".

Release Party Comparison:

This one was WAY more busy than MB2, and much larger than MB1 (though the gap wasnt as large).  However, the thing that made this line longer than it seemed was the fact that people were bringing multiple copies of every book for Brandon to sign.  The MB1 signing only had 2 books for him to potentially sign, where yesterday's had 6 plus paperback incarnations of several of them (4).  So in reality, the line was even longer than the several hundred people that were in it.

I must have had the look of "Someone Who Used to be Important (that's for you Dan)", because random people kept asking for recommendations and directions.  An employee asked if I knew how things were going and where his boss was.  It was odd.

Overall, i thought the signing went well.  I think the store could have done a few things differently to speed up the process, and a few more things to sell more books, but it went well.

Brandon: I expect a bookscan report.

glad to see you get what we are saying

i'll try and get this done tonight.

ok then.

I will start a thread there that is the product of this discussion.  i will lay down some ground rules in it.  i will then put a list of books that i think fit the criteria and let the conversation flow from there.  In addition, i may include some WoT stuff in there since that is all the rage now days.

Once that is posted (i'll get to it tonight i hope), we should get a stick thread in THIS forum stating "Book recommendations/discussions for those who like Brandon's novels" or something like that.  locked topic with a brief lowdown on what to expect by clicking on the link.  this way, both of our ideas are accomplished - people see that there are indeed Brandon specific fan recommendations somewhere here (like i think is essential), and they see more of the forums and hopefully get more involved (like you think is essential).

yeah? yeah?

once again...

...we are BRILLIANT!!

economics always play a important roll in Brandon's novels.  when we discussed this, we talked heavily about the evolution of plastic and glass markets as counter measures to metal burning.  in addition, a synthetic way to determine whether a person was "burning" was also brought up.  We also discussed how it would be extremely interesting to bring the who terrorism aspect into it all.  Mistborn are natural terrorists.  The ideas for the SF area of it were mind-boggling.

so it's not ok to to have a resource for fans?  it's not ok to have people clicking on the link from Brandon's webpage directly to his specific forum and see a list of his recommended books and similar books listed?  i'm sorry, but a link to the book thread in the other forum doesnt accomplish anything -  it's TOO GENERAL.  what i proposed was a closed list that could be maintained and updated as new stuff comes out.  no comments, just a list with the "why" on it.  but it seems people would rather keep trying to say why Im wrong than address my idea. 

I can come up with examples too:

I am interested in people's opinions. Should I trade in my Honda Element for a hybrid? What are the pros and cons? Please, I only want to hear from people that are intersted in Brandon Sanderson like I am.

As someone who frequents too many forums to count, I can understand the need to stick with forum guidelines. It's bad enough when someone like me derails threads at will, its another when moderators allow off-topic threads from the get go.

Since Brandon is in the book business, and not in the car business your example is off-base.  A person asking Brandon Sanderson readers, on a Brandon Sanderson Channel, about books that they can read that are similar to his is perfectly reasonable.  The posters in the General Books forum review and discuss all books - doesnt matter the genre, author, or similarities. 

Now, if you go back and read my posts, you will see that I have said that posts of those themes belong in the General Books area.  I have posted there.  The things I say there are very different from what I hope gets started in Brandon's specific Forum, because there its general.  Here, it is specific.  Does that make sense?

Let me put 2 examples out there:

1) When I set up Brandon's MAJOR signing, it was for Mistborn 1.  His table was set up in the front of the store.  When we brought in groups of people to have their books signed and numbered (we had over 200 reserved copies, all of which sold and more besides), we filtered them through a certain area of the store by which we had set up tables upon which were stacked books that were "similar" in style and taste as Brandon's.  People didn't have to leave the line or the area to browse an entire store for something very specific.  Guess what?  People liked that we had done that.  They requested that things like that be done again.  They asked me if there was a mailing list they could sign up for - an electronic version of what I had set up.  We sold a TON of extra books that day because it was geared and marketed to a SPECIFIC FOCUS GROUP.

2) When you go to a bookstore, and you ask for a specific book, does the bookseller tell you to go to another part of the mall before he answers your question?  Does he tell you that for "specific questions" you should go to a different bookstore?  No.  While this example is a bit extreme, it is still relevant.  If people have specific questions about books that could be considered similar to Brandon Sanderson's books, then they should be looking on a specific Brandon Sanderson Thread.  If they cannot do this, then, from my point of view, that specific area of the forum has failed.

I am not telling people to post "I r reading neat stuff" topics here.  That is for the other GENERAL forum.  I am telling people that this is an entirely appropriate place for people to ask questions regarding books that could be considered liked by readers who enjoy Brandon's work.  There is a HUGE difference there.  Skar's example was spot-on.  It's like when authors give other authors cover-quotes.  You don't see Robin Hobb saying, "If you like Brandon, you'll like Patrick Rothfuss!" and then putting that cover quote on Stephen King's books.  This is the same thing.

So pardon me if I think you are all incorrect.

Perhaps something more organized should be started in this specific channel of the forums.  Thread where the original posting is continually modified to reflect  books that could be similar to those that Brandon writes, or even books that Brandon himself likes.  If people was to send me books they have read with reasons why they are similar, I can make and maintain a post that will give people this info.

This type of thread BELONGS HERE.  Anything else is piss-poor marketing.  As the previous poster stated, there is a lot more traffic here than before, and it is directed at this channel in the forum, not the other ones.  The better info in this one of a specific nature, the more likely people will branch out to other threads (good comment mrod271).