Originally posted HERE
I am going through so many stressful things right now, I honestly have a fear that I’ll have a panic attack. I lost $27,000 last month on lucky number nine. Just kidding.... about the "lucky number nine" part (I've never gambled before), not the losing $27 G's. So this month didn't start out too great. My baby who had heart surgery will be on a separate insurance policy next month, which will end up costing more than my house payment. But enough about money issues (I'll be okay financially... especially if people keep buying Paraworld Zero.).
My biggest stress right now is the fact that bookstores are telling me that they're having a hard time ordering my book from the distributors (i.e. Ingram, Baker & Taylor, etc.) because their computer systems (i.e. Books in Print) is showing Paraworld Zero as "unavailable" or "not yet published." Aaaah! Paraworld Zero has been published! I repeat... IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED! There's a mistake in the computer systems somewhere. So right now, the only option is for bookstores to back order, pre-order or order directly from Windstorm Creative. I know of at least 3 bookstores who have ordered about 75 copies each from my publisher, but that's only because they were willing to go the extra mile to carry my book. What about all the other stores? I'm getting an ulcer just writing this. Hopefully this will get fixed pronto.
My publicist emailed me today to say that she's already scheduled 17 radio interviews next week and some of them are national. A 48-ft billboard is going up on Jan 12th in Utah and tons of ads will commence after that. One of them will be in The New York Times (4 million readers). Thank heavens for online stores like Amazon.com and BN.com. At least people can order Paraworld Zero online. It was ranked #542 at bn.com and #9 in the "Magic and Wizards" category of Amazon.com the first day it came out. Not a bad start.
Boy, wouldn't it be nice if a large publisher came in right now and bought the hard back rights for my book? They could piggyback on all of the promotions that are going on for the Trade Paperback edition. Perhaps I’ll see if I could solicit that somehow. They’d have to act awfully fast. I hear foreign publishers are much more responsive than U.S. publishers. Oh, woe-is-me! Everything will turn out okay. I just need to have faith that it will all turn out okay. I'm clicking my heels right now and saying "there's no place like home... there's no place like home..."
Showing posts with label publication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publication. Show all posts
Friday, January 04, 2008
Saturday, October 06, 2007
My first official published short story!
Originally posted HERE
Well, I got an unexpected email yesterday from http://www.teen-age-magazine.com (online magazine for teens). They want to publish one of my short stories called Yearning to Jump. I've never submitted to this site before, so I was surprised at how quickly they got back to me.
Yearning to Jump is actually one of the few non-speculative stories I've written. It's one of those stories that mixes my true high school life with a dash of fiction. So if you want to get a feel for what I was like as a kid, read the story when it comes out in http://www.teen-age-magazine.com.
A quick synopsis would be: A man looks back at his colorful high school life and the apparent suicide of his best friend.
For the record, my best friend did not commit suicide. However, he kind of fell off the face of the Earth in the past few years. I've spoken to his wife and his mom much more than I've spoken with him, so I don't know what the deal is. Anyway, I'm excited that somebody liked it.
Well, I got an unexpected email yesterday from http://www.teen-age-magazine.com (online magazine for teens). They want to publish one of my short stories called Yearning to Jump. I've never submitted to this site before, so I was surprised at how quickly they got back to me.
Yearning to Jump is actually one of the few non-speculative stories I've written. It's one of those stories that mixes my true high school life with a dash of fiction. So if you want to get a feel for what I was like as a kid, read the story when it comes out in http://www.teen-age-magazine.com.
A quick synopsis would be: A man looks back at his colorful high school life and the apparent suicide of his best friend.
For the record, my best friend did not commit suicide. However, he kind of fell off the face of the Earth in the past few years. I've spoken to his wife and his mom much more than I've spoken with him, so I don't know what the deal is. Anyway, I'm excited that somebody liked it.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Paraworld Zero is now a high priority - Print run doubled!
Originally posted Here
I got a phone call today from Windstorm Creative. They checked over my marketing plan and are going to run with it, full-force. This is very exciting. My wife keeps reminding me that all my lofty plans might not come to fruition without the support of my publisher. Looks like that will not be a problem. In fact, they're doubling (well, 2.5'ing) the print run. My book will also be their first 6x9 trade paperback as well. They will be supporting my book in ways that they’ve never done with their previous books. That means a lot to me.
The price of the book raised some concerns, but I think they'll find that with a larger print run, the costs per book should go down. I read from at least two publishers' websites, DAW and BAEN, that they do 10,000 print runs because at that price point, the costs go down significantly per book. One other good point about this is that I will now be eligible to enter some of the contests and organizations out there (some of them like the Campbell Award require a 10,000 or more print run). The main reason, for the increase, of course, is to coincide with the huge marketing budget that Windstorm and I have. We expect a lot of sales.
Also, January 2008 is the tentative production date. So now I have extra motivation to make this happen. I have lots of stress, but it will all turn out okay. I have a sneaking feeling that I’ll be contacted for subsidy rights from all the ads I’m placing. I just placed my first one yesterday, which will help with school and library sales. And, hey, a nice coincidence is that Windstorm is hiring a sales agent who will deal with subsidy rights. They start January, the month my book comes out. The moons are aligning perfectly for my book.
I mentioned earlier that I sometimes have the golden touch. That apparent good fortune that I have isn’t really luck. Much of it comes from faith and prayer, but the rest comes from hard work and perseverance. I make things happen. I was the number one salesman one month for a nationwide MLM. Who in the world ever makes any significant money from an MLM? I was one of the “lucky” few. A significant part of my income when I went to BYU came from an online affiliate program called AllAdvantage (I probably was in the top 5% of people who made money from that). The first month I started my new business (a year ago) I made three times as much money than from my previous job (and it went up from there). I just have a knack for making things happen. I don’t know if my book will be a success, because there are so many variables, but everything seems to be falling into place for me. “Luck” is on my side.
I got a phone call today from Windstorm Creative. They checked over my marketing plan and are going to run with it, full-force. This is very exciting. My wife keeps reminding me that all my lofty plans might not come to fruition without the support of my publisher. Looks like that will not be a problem. In fact, they're doubling (well, 2.5'ing) the print run. My book will also be their first 6x9 trade paperback as well. They will be supporting my book in ways that they’ve never done with their previous books. That means a lot to me.
The price of the book raised some concerns, but I think they'll find that with a larger print run, the costs per book should go down. I read from at least two publishers' websites, DAW and BAEN, that they do 10,000 print runs because at that price point, the costs go down significantly per book. One other good point about this is that I will now be eligible to enter some of the contests and organizations out there (some of them like the Campbell Award require a 10,000 or more print run). The main reason, for the increase, of course, is to coincide with the huge marketing budget that Windstorm and I have. We expect a lot of sales.
Also, January 2008 is the tentative production date. So now I have extra motivation to make this happen. I have lots of stress, but it will all turn out okay. I have a sneaking feeling that I’ll be contacted for subsidy rights from all the ads I’m placing. I just placed my first one yesterday, which will help with school and library sales. And, hey, a nice coincidence is that Windstorm is hiring a sales agent who will deal with subsidy rights. They start January, the month my book comes out. The moons are aligning perfectly for my book.
I mentioned earlier that I sometimes have the golden touch. That apparent good fortune that I have isn’t really luck. Much of it comes from faith and prayer, but the rest comes from hard work and perseverance. I make things happen. I was the number one salesman one month for a nationwide MLM. Who in the world ever makes any significant money from an MLM? I was one of the “lucky” few. A significant part of my income when I went to BYU came from an online affiliate program called AllAdvantage (I probably was in the top 5% of people who made money from that). The first month I started my new business (a year ago) I made three times as much money than from my previous job (and it went up from there). I just have a knack for making things happen. I don’t know if my book will be a success, because there are so many variables, but everything seems to be falling into place for me. “Luck” is on my side.
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