It's a funny old business, launching a book in the middle of a pandemic. Feels sort of disconnected. The Shattered Skies drops tomorrow, and I have to admit I thought it was next week. Once upon a time that wouldn't have been possible. Once upon a time we used to have book launches, and book tours, and rounds of media interviews and appearances all of them locked in months in advance.
Between the pandemic and the slow motion collapse of the publishing industry—or maybe it's just the slow motion transformation into something very different from what it was—either way, between all of those things it is possible to forget that I've got a book coming out this week.
Tomorrow, in fact.
I’d normally have spent this week going around bookstores signing advance copies, and I guess I could have done that. If Pulp Fiction got their copies early yesterday, that means lots of other bookstores did too. It's always nice to be able to go in and sign a few copies, especially for regular readers who are also regular customers at a given shop. It means you can do personal inscriptions and stuff like that.
Not this year, though. I’ll be out of the house for a short time tomorrow, but that will be to see my dermatologist for a six monthly check-up. Really hoping for no melanomas this time. After that I reckon I'll be heading straight back home. Brad Hazzard is right. We're all going to catch Covid eventually. I’d just rather not catch it tomorrow. I'm busy.
Instead, everything will be online. Increasingly, that's how it's been going with the industry anyway. And I'm pretty comfortable and familiar with doing my own pimping after five or six years of indie publishing.
I will do a mail out from here, probably next Monday. So that’ll look a bit weird to anybody who is a regular reader or lurker at this site, because I’ll be using the burger in its Other Form as a newsletter for the day. I’ll probably do something from ASB as well. It has enough subscribers now to be worth re-purposing, if only for a week.
I’ll do a couple of things around here, too, but not so much for publicity. Just for people who want to talk about the book.
I went into my bookshop yesterday & looked on the big New Releases shelf and couldn't see TSS. Heart sank- oh no they've sold out already! But then, like a sensible person, I looked in the SciFi shelves. If you had seen my little victory dance you would've been pleased with yourself.
I am a completely unashamed fanboi of this series. I reckon it's your best work to date. The world building is fucking great. Already ploughing through it, only work keeps getting in the way, much like the fucking Sturm.
I've got it on the kindle, but will be picking up the hardcopy tonight. You're one of the few authors I still get hardcopies for. One of the downsides of being an eternal renter is the need to move every few years, and unfortunately, books are one of those things that you get tired of hurting your back moving.
Oh No. I just checked the Beast and TSS doesn't release over here until the 11th. What fresh hell is this!? Living in disease central and now to be denied my hardcovers?
I need to get out of the house and peruse the local B&N to see if I can get a couple of copies in the wild. Of course, I could cheat and score copies on Amazon. Good point, though, on how it's possible to miss a book launch in these deeply strange times.
Woke up this morning to an email from Amazon - Order Confirmation. Thought it was a well crafted phishing email, then noticed it was for an order I placed 26 August 2020. It's been a long wait. I'll have to reread The Cruel Stars before I dive in to it though ....
I went into my bookshop yesterday & looked on the big New Releases shelf and couldn't see TSS. Heart sank- oh no they've sold out already! But then, like a sensible person, I looked in the SciFi shelves. If you had seen my little victory dance you would've been pleased with yourself.
This image amuses and pleases me in about equal measure
I am a completely unashamed fanboi of this series. I reckon it's your best work to date. The world building is fucking great. Already ploughing through it, only work keeps getting in the way, much like the fucking Sturm.
I've got it on the kindle, but will be picking up the hardcopy tonight. You're one of the few authors I still get hardcopies for. One of the downsides of being an eternal renter is the need to move every few years, and unfortunately, books are one of those things that you get tired of hurting your back moving.
Oh No. I just checked the Beast and TSS doesn't release over here until the 11th. What fresh hell is this!? Living in disease central and now to be denied my hardcovers?
I need to get out of the house and peruse the local B&N to see if I can get a couple of copies in the wild. Of course, I could cheat and score copies on Amazon. Good point, though, on how it's possible to miss a book launch in these deeply strange times.
Shattered and Cruel arriving next week. Ordered at my local bookshop so it might take longer but the people will be a lot nicer than Amazon.
The Beast of Bezos promises mine will arrive tomorrow.
I got my copy, wooooooohoooooo!!!!!
Woke up this morning to an email from Amazon - Order Confirmation. Thought it was a well crafted phishing email, then noticed it was for an order I placed 26 August 2020. It's been a long wait. I'll have to reread The Cruel Stars before I dive in to it though ....
Apple just dropped the sample, so that will have to tide me over until the 11th.