Kim Harrison's Blog, page 48

Other pains of being a writer

No one really liked Gerry. He just showed up at the meetings, pretending he had wings.

I know I had something lined up to talk about this morning, and it wasn’t my dragon, (which is coming along really well considering it’s summer and it’s competing with the garden for my time.) But I did want to say thank you to every one who reminded me yesterday of how much they appreciate the time I spend trying to be accessible as well as the “pain” of signing all those books.

It always surprises me when readers who have been standing in line all night are worried about me and my wrist. Seriously it’s my voice that goes first, not the wrist. (grin) Besides, you guys are the ones doing all the work, especially when they start taking those chairs away! Truly, signing books is NOT a pain, and I wish I had worded my comment yesterday to Martin about it not being a good day a bit differently.  Signing books is part of the job, and I’ve plenty of time to space out the B&N signing extravaganza going on right now on my kitchen table so it won’t be a physical problem. I love doing this for the readers, and to complain about it might give the impression that I’m a prima donna when anyone in their right mind would be salivating for the chance to make so many books that much more special. (And yes, I did salivate when offered the chance. I’m a little PR vampire.)

When I told Martin it was not a good day, I was referring to an industry trouble. It’s bothering me greatly, and the last time I brought it up, it was turned into a them vs us issue, which not only left me bewildered, but enlarged another worry. So I’ve got two, maybe three industry things gnawing at me, and it’s making it very hard to sit down and, you know, do my job and create stuff, which is what I basically live for. (Despite what I just said about being a PR vampire.)

Today doesn’t look much better, but as I sit at my kitchen table and sign books, I’m counting my blessings with each one. Writers will always write, and readers will always read. I just need to concentrate on my part of things and try to be adaptable.

 

Pre-order a signed The Witch With No Name

Ever wonder how the big box stores handle signed copies? No, they are not copies of a signature, they are true signatures, each one done by hand. The easiest way is to ship the author “tip-in” sheets. These are already printed with the title page info, the author signs them, and off they go to the printer to be bound into the first-edition copies like normal.

I did this last year for The Undead Pool for B&N, but the copies went so well they asked me to do double the amount for The Witch With No Name. So . . . double it is. :-) This is what double looks like on my kitchen table. Three boxes of double. Phew! That’s a lot of signatures, which begs the question of how many signatures can you make with a new sharpie before it runs out of ink? I’ll let you know. The small stack to the right with the numbers on them? Those aren’t actually for B&N, but the ARCs. (Can you say limited? Wow!)

That’s not the only way to do signed books, of course. I always leave signed stock at the stores I visit on tour, and at Nicola’s in Ann Arbor, (my home store) I have pre-arranged to stop in when they get their copies and personalize The Witch With No Name with a short note the preorders they have taken. Nicola’s will ship international, but email them for a shipping quote at nicolasbooks@tds.net before placing your order. Interested? You can pre order it now, but you have to tell them who you want it signed to in the notes section when you order.

Click to order signed copy

Click to order signed copy

Ever wonder how the big box stores handle signed copies? ...

Ever wonder how the big box stores handle signed copies? No, they are not copies of a signature, they are true signatures, each one done by hand. The easiest way is to ship the author “tip-in” sheets. These are already printed with the title page info, the author signs them, and off they go to the printer to be bound into the first-edition copies like normal.

I did this last year for The Undead Pool for B&N, but the copies went so well they asked me to do double the amount for The Witch With No Name. So . . . double it is. :-) This is what double looks like on my kitchen table. Three boxes of double. Phew! That’s a lot of signatures, which begs the question of how many signatures can you make with a new sharpie before it runs out of ink? I’ll let you know. The small stack to the right with the numbers on them? Those aren’t actually for B&N, but the ARCs. (Can you say limited? Wow!)

That’s not the only way to do signed books, of course. I always leave signed stock at the stores I visit on tour, and at Nicola’s in Ann Arbor, (my home store) I have pre-arranged to stop in when they get their copies and personalize The Witch With No Name with a short note the preorders they have taken. Nicola’s will ship international, but email them for a shipping quote at nicolasbooks@tds.net before placing your order. Interested? You can pre order it now, but you have to tell them who you want it signed to in the notes section when you order.

Click to order signed copy

Click to order signed copy

One last time tomatoes

Yep. I’m going to try again. Guy says if I can’t get them to look decent this year, no more tomatoes for me! (But if I put a tomato cell into the cart next spring, it will come home. Guy can’t resist the sad-Kim eyes.)

But the threat was well taken, prompting me to cave and get the raised bed forms and new soil that I’d been wanting for a while. The side yard garden has been evolving for a while, and we’re still tweaking it, having added the arborvitae in their new stone bed the first year, a pergola and deck the second year, and the patio pavers just last fall. It used to be a long drive, and indeed, half of it still is. I had tried to loosen up the dirt once the asphalt was taken up, and we did bring in about five, ten yards of soil to put on top so grass would grow with a little encouragement, but it perks too fast and gets too hot. So we’re trying again with raised beds. Which in hindsight is probably what we should have done anyway. Who wants to eat asphalt-tainted tomatoes?

This year:

Last Year. As you can see, something clearly had to be done.

Mason Bees. I’ve got ‘em

I heard about Mason bees about twenty years ago, the native bee to the America’s. I remember we had put in a new deck with an overhead support, and I stenciled a happy bee on one of the crossbeams and then drilled holes on the outline to attract them. I think the holes were too small, and we moved shortly after, so I’ll never know if any bees ever found it.

Mason bees are solitary in that one female tends her own brood, but they like to congregate together, and you can buy bundles of tubes to try and attract them. I’d been seeing what I thought were Mason bees in the early spring at my pansies (I put them in as soon as the ground can be worked.) So I put a nest up right away. That was about three years ago, and it’s only been this year that they have finally found it. Or it might be that the fruit trees that they prefer are only now big enough to support them. And just when I was ready to give up and move the house to a new place.

Now if only I can get the robins to use the nest platform.

Frog pond has frogs

Yep, my frog pond has frogs this year in addition to fish. Three of them. They croak occasionally at night, and they jump around in the day, especially when I walk by and startle them, but they’ve grown accustomed to me and the dogs, and there is one I can almost touch before he jumps away.

The pond has been there for a while now, and it shelters a fair bit of life outside of algae. So much different from the barren spot of earth it was when I started. I think I’ll keep it.

The makers and holders of the dream

Unless it’s been out for a while, I don’t want my shiny new book-to-read to cost less than a candy bar. I don’t want this new idea, new world, new character that someone has worked on for a year of their life–to cost less than a burger and fries at Micky D’s.

I make no claims of understanding everything in the publication process, but one thing I do know well is how hard it is to create a world, bring a character to life, find a new idea, sacrifice (sometimes) family and health to see it to reality–and setting value on this endeavor according to how much it costs to print it (vs e-books)  just doesn’t seem right to my Kindergarden rule book. Printing is easy. It’s the stuff that goes before it that’s hard.

I love e-books. I think independent authors are among the bravest people I know. This isn’t about that. It’s about how we value the makers and holders of the dreams, no matter how they craft their vision.

Edit:

Because I’m often obtuse in my posts, I’m going to flat out say that I’m complaining about Amazon trying to force books that are created within the scope of a publishing house to adhere to the same price points as those created by independent authors who are not all paying for marketing, placement, cover artists, proofing, and the building to house these people, not just for their book, but all the books within the publishing house. Independent authors can afford to charge a lower price because they do not have these things. Indeed, they should be allowed to charge a lower price to garner the attention that they miss by not being associated with a big six publisher. But forcing those who _are_ paying for marketing, cover artists, proofing, ect, not just for their book, but others in the publishing house, is an unfair practice, and seems to me to be a sneaky way to try to say we are all alike, with the same needs, skills, and assets, when we are not.

 

 

Hummingbirds are back!

They’ve been back in my yard for little over a week now, and I’ve gotten a few pictures when I look up for a breather and spot them. We only have Ruby Throated Hummingbirds in this area, and usually the males show up a few weeks before the females. This year, they must be in a hurry or I never noticed them, because they seemed to appear the same day. And they are HUNGRY! Right now I’ve got at least two females, which makes me feel good. I never have a huge crop of hummers, so even a slight increase is cause for celebration.

Thank you, RT

Thank you, RT, for the fabulous five days of readers and writers being able to connect. I relish the chance.

Thank you, RT, for me being recognized in the elevator–every single time. That never happens, and it made me feel like I was a success.

Thank you, RT, for the chance for my publisher to drop a ton of money and resources into five or six large rooms so I and my readers had a chance to play, to make me accessible and a real person–not just this year, but for many years in the past.

Thank you to the hotel staff who helped Guy track down the cab who drove off with my bag and made up a non-menu plate of cheese and fruit because it sounded like a good idea to them.

Thank you, Anderson Books, who ran the mass author signing. I’m sorry you were overwhelmed. RT is a monster, growing and changing, evolving every year to address new formats and tracks.

Thank you, RT, for allowing Independent Authors into the mass author signing this year, giving them their own forum so the big dogs among them were not lost amid the chaos, but allowed to shine as an example of what other Independent Authors can strive for.

Thank you, RT, for the organization behind the entire week so my freebies didn’t get lost and I could give them away.

Thank you, RT, for the career achievement award. You have no idea. Well . . . maybe you do. You validate authors’s careers every single month.

 

Romantic Times 2014

 

The Romantic Times Magazine conference was as awesome as always, maybe especially since I had the chance to be creative right off the bat and make a hat with a lot of readers, I wore it the entire conference. Okay, not the entire conference. I did take it off for the awards ceremony. Thank you again, RT, for the beautiful award. I can never convey how much it means to me to be recognized for having contributed so greatly to a genre that I love. 

Avon (at William and Morrow) took me under their wing since Harper doesn’t have a presence at RT, and they let me tag along during their big bookgive-away after the awards ceremony. I had the chance to sit next to Jeaniene Frost, always a treat! And there were cupcakes! I didn’t get one, but they looked delish!

The panels through the week were fab, but I think what the readers wait for the most is the mass author signing that takes place on Saturday. 400 authors in rows, just waiting for you to sign your books! This time, thanks to the alphabet, I was sitting next to Charlaine Harris. Yay! Again, a wonderful treat.

 

It was great to run into familiar faces.

But this photo is the one that means the most to me, and Guy took it just a few hours before I left on Saturday, when everything was done, and the glow of a great conference was burning. Me and Faith Hunter (Gwen Hunter) who has been with me since before I found publication. Damn! We look good! (laugh)