Jeannine Hall Gailey's Blog, page 65
February 14, 2015
Happy Valentine’s Day, Two New Robot Scientist’s Daughter Reviews and a Love Poem
Happy Valentine’s Day! Time to solve all your problems with flowers, chocolate, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.” At least, that’s our plan for the day (okay, maybe it’s only a temporary fix, but still!) Here are some Valentine’s flowers to make your day bright. And a picture of the window of our new “Macaron Salon” in Kirkland, Lady Yum. I’m sending you a virtual Valentine!
Two New Early Reviews of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter!
Speaking of kind gifts…
Thanks to Lori Alden Holuta for her kind review here: http://www.ceejaywriter.com/?p=2455
And thanks to Karen J. Weyant for her thoughtful words on the book (one of her Winter Poetry Picks) here:
And I’m very happy to say one of my favorite poems, “Tinkering,” from The Robot Scientist’s Daughter is up on issue 67 of The Collagist, one of my fave online literary journals from the folks from Dzanc Books.
And the innovative journal Linebreak took “The Last Love Poem” from my series of apocalypse poems, which is really a very romantic poem. I’ll put a link up when it’s there. See? I write romantic (albeit apocalyptic) poems sometimes!
Here’s your love poem for today, thanks to The Rumpus: “Introduction to the Limits of Metaphor (A Love Poem):” http://therumpus.net/2014/04/national-poetry-month-day-8-introduction-to-the-limits-of-metaphor-a-love-poem-by-jeannine-hall-gailey/
Speaking of Valentines, I was thinking of showing appreciation to the people who make our lives happier, not just the traditional spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend type, but friends, family members, everyone who makes your world a little brighter. I often forget that without the rituals of kindness and love, the world can feel dark, especially in February. So call your mom, your sister, your best friend, say thank you. Give someone a hug. Share those endorphins that chocolate is so famous for inducing.
February 12, 2015
Advice for a Friend Whose 1st Book MS Has Been Sent Out for Years – and Surviving Unpleasant Appointments
A friend of mine suggested I post an e-mail I sent to them encouraging them in a fairly common situation – discouragement from sending out their first book for years and not finding a publisher. This person admitted that they were so discouraged they had only sent out their book a couple of times in the last year.
To me, this is exactly the opposite strategy you should take with a book that’s been around a while. You should either shake it up – send it to new places, pay someone to put a new set of eyes on it and re-edit, re-title, and re-organize the manuscript, and do some research to see if there are some publishers you may have overlooked in the past that might now be good fits for your book. (Publishers change direction, editors, and readers all the time!) Here’s the remainder of my e-mail:
I think at this point I feel like you would be happy just having the book out there in the world, with an ISBN, so you can get past it and say “I have my first book!” and move on to other things. Am I wrong? If this is the case, you need to really go for it. I sent my first book out 65 times a year. That’s a lot of fees, but it was taken within a year and a half.
I wouldn’t talk to you about this if I hadn’t been watching you worry about this for several years. Don’t worry, just send it out. If you’re worried it’s not what it could be yet, get a trusted friend to take a look at it, or hire a stranger to give you a manuscript edit (I did! I hired Poet X to look at my first book—and Poet Y to look at this last book, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter—after those books didn’t get taken within six months. Both of them gave me valuable insights—and I paid them, and I felt they would be honest with me about what was working and what wasn’t. It was worth it!) And then put those suggestions into account, and mess around with your MS. If you think it’s as good as it’s going to get, then be fearless about putting it out into the world.”
In other news about discouragement, this week has sort of been an exercise in discouragement—appointments with two potential dentists that ended in disappointment and not fixing the problem, one of which took place with a woman weeping in the waiting room the whole time we waited, and a neurology appt. with good news—one of my problems was fixable with proper weird nerve protection (using a puffy thing over my elbow nerve) and bad news—that some of my ongoing neurological problems were caused by permanent spine nerve damage and would not be getting better. I try to keep a good attitude, but yesterday, even music, venting to a friend and my mom, and looking at cute animal pictures could not keep me from curling up in a fetal position on a bed and just feeling plain old miserable. Hey, a person can only go through so much, even a tough person! So I’m taking today as a “happiness” day—listening to upbeat music, going for a walk in the sun, maybe even doing some therapeutic shopping at the consignment store where I’m dropping off two boxes of things (hello, second-hand Tod’s handbag hanging in the window…). Glenn bought me some early Valentine’s flowers to cheer me up as well. All this dental and medical appointment takes a toll in time, energy, and money, that I’m not super excited about right now when I want to be putting energy into friends, my new book, new skill sets, and healthy practices like exercise and trying to add new foods to my now three-year-long elimination diet. (Next up: olives and pineapple—but not together!) Everyone has things that block them from doing what they want sometimes—it’s really a matter of not letting those things make you give up.
So, just like I said to my friend, I’m saying to myself, too: sometimes we have to redouble our efforts, do the extra work and give ourselves a push towards what we want from the universe.
February 9, 2015
First Review of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter! And a Poetry on Buses Poem…
Thanks to Allyson Whipple for the first (early) review of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter! So excited! Here it is: http://allysonmwhipple.com/2015/02/09/review-the-robot-scientists-daughter-by-jeannine-hall-gailey/
An excerpt: “The Robot Scientist’s Daughter brings us a beautiful, magical place with a horror story lying beneath. It will break your heart, and it will make you think.”
I am always grateful when thoughtful, intelligent reviewers give my books a little of their time and attention. It’s hard work to write a good review!
I was also happy to discover (a day or so late) my poem up on the Seattle Poetry on Buses web site. This poem was inspired by Redmond:
http://poetryonbuses.org/poems/jeannine-gailey/
Spring is coming, I feel, even though it is still early February. Yesterday I heard a frog singing in the woods, and the birds have been way more active than usual. My daffodils are pushing up. I also saw a mockingbird, which are fairly uncommon here (though very common where I grew up in Tennessee, so I always recognize them right away.) I think we could use a little spring.
February 5, 2015
One Month Before Book Launch
So, it’s been a whirlwind time – launching a revamped web site (new code, new host, new graphics), looking at houses (we’re thinking of selling our two-story townhouse and buying a one story house), meeting with dentists (been rejected by most – no one wants to work on a girl with a novocaine allergy apparently), finishing projects, starting new projects (eep!) and counting down til the book launch on March 1! How is it February already??
At one month out, this is what I’m doing for the book:
–starting to send out book postcards to people on my mailing list (mostly people who’ve bought my books before, friends, and family.)
–still contacting people about readings (readings probably will fill my calender for a whole six months to a year after a book comes out)
–Contacting book sellers, trying to find people interested in teaching my book (any of you ecopoetics professors want a copy, just let me know!) and contacting book bloggers. (This year, I did not use Netgalley, a useful but expensive service that kind of helps you promote your book to book bloggers, librarians, book sellers, and reviewers. I did have it last year, and I think it helped get reviews…)
–I put an announcement about my book in the Horror Writers Association newsletter, and bought a small ad with them as well. (I love speculative writers!)
–Started taking pre-orders for the book.
–Set up the Goodreads giveaway.
So that’s what I’m doing at one month to book launch! If you have any other suggestions for what I should be doing, leave them in the comments!
Oh, and check this out if you’re interested in learning how to “read” submittable statuses: Kelly Davio’s Five Tips on Reading Submittable from an Editor’s Point of View on the Gailey and Davio Writers’ Services site…It’s a really helpful post!
February 1, 2015
Goodreads Giveaway of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter Starts Today (and new web site preview)
It’s February 1 – yes, an epic Seattle Superbowl is happening today, which is exciting (Go Hawks! on the menu? Deconstructed seven-layer dip, gluten-free baked chicken fingers with cranberry barbeque sauce, cheese quesadillas with homemade corn tortillas, and blue potato salad for the Hawks colors), but it’s also the first day of this Goodreads Giveaway of my newest book, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, out March 1. Go sign up to win!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Robot Scientist’s Daughter
by Jeannine Hall Gailey
Giveaway ends March 01, 2015.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
And, once again, my husband Glenn, my little brother Mike, and I have endeavored to go in and mess around with the web site. We’ve changed hosts, updated all the WordPress widgets (and, well, after two years, they were almost all broken) and updated with new graphics (thanks to my sister-in-law Jen Gailey and my book’s cover artist Masaaki Sasamoto.) Here’s a screen shot of the new look. Let me know what you think!
January 30, 2015
Fascinating Discussion of Poetry Book Sales and My Own Tips for Selling Poetry Books
Just read this very practical and interesting discussion of the realities of poetry publishing up at Real Pants. The comment thread is just as interesting, so read that too.
So, the question is, what can the average poet with a book coming out do to make sure they sell a decent number of copies? People on the comments thread (including me) had different ideas of what made for a successful poetry book. I’m interested in helping other poets succeed in hitting closer to the 800-book mark than the 30-book mark.
The first thing is, don’t despair. I’m here to say it’s possible to sell 1,000 copies of your poetry book (or even 10,000 – it happens – see my post here about how that is possible.)
But for “regular” poets who aren’t superstars with small indie presses without dedicated PR folks or a big budget, how can you make it work, or at least not put your publisher in too much debt? There’s no one magic recipe, but…
Getting the word out about your book is tough if you’re a poet with a small press, but not impossible. With my first book, Garrison Keillor read a couple of poems on Writer’s Almanac (Click here to hear one of them) and it made a huge difference – and all that took was an effort by my publisher (sending a copy to NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac) and a little luck. If you get a starred review on Publisher’s Weekly, or a review on Shelf Awareness, or you get picked up by The Rumpus Book Club, or you get your book mentioned in Oprah or Elle or some major magazine – those things can make a big difference to your book. You can’t make any of those things happen, but they could happen. Make sure you and your publisher work together to target a few of the major media outlets, even if they are long shots.
The weirdest thing today is that, even with all the social media (and I blog, use Facebook, and Twitter) my friends (and even some close family members) will still say: “Oh, you have a book coming out?” I feel like I’ve been saying it over and over, but people may or may not be paying attention. You don’t want to over-saturate your audience of friends and family with notices, but on the other hand, a postcard and an e-mail announcement and something on Facebook and twitter is NOT overkill. Because chances are, most people will overlook three of those four notices. And those are the people that already like you.
Some combination of the following: set up readings (especially if you’re a good performer – and it’s not everyone’s bag), try to get your book taught if you can (and sometimes that depends heavily on subject matter and who you are), get people to talk about your book – reviews, interviews, blog book tours, local radio, word-of-mouth, whatever. It helps if you’re a superstar but most of us aren’t superstars; having a great personality helps, too (graciousness and kindness go a long way…) Try to show up at AWP (if you can afford it – for those unaffiliated with a university the trip usually runs about $1500.)
I think the most important thing is not to 1. expect the book to sell itself or 2. expect the publisher to do all the work. If you go into it with realistic expectations, knowing you will need to put a certain amount of time and effort, I don’t think you’ll go from that wild “I’m going to publish a book” ecstasy to the depths of “I’ve published a book, but no one cared” depression.
January 28, 2015
Come out to the TEXTure show at Method Gallery Talk, Reading, and Reception Tomorrow
The TEXTure show reading, talk and reception
Tomorrow night, January 29, starting at 6 PM at the Seattle Central Library in the Microsoft Auditorium, three poets and four artists get together to read poetry, talk about artist collaborations, and generally celebrate a show that brings together art and poetry. Sherman Alexie with Lia Hall and Cedar Mannan of Noble Neon, Daemond Arrindell with Maura Donegan, Carol Milne with Jeannine Hall Gailey. Talk hosted by curator Mary Coss.
And afterward, a reception at Method Gallery where you can check out the art and poetry exhibit in person! That will be immediately following the talk/reading.
I’ll be reading from my upcoming book, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy hearing from Sherman Alexie and Daemond Arrindell. Should be fun!
January 23, 2015
Sample Poem from The Robot Scientist’s Daughter and the pre-order page is up for signed copies!
A sneak peek poem from my upcoming book, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter. This one has references to tropes of scientist’s daughters in sci-fi films, including Bladerunner and Killer Shrews. Hope you enjoy!
The Robot Scientist’s Daughter (in Films)Is always beautiful in films, in a neat blonde updo
and fifties-style dress. She helps the hero escape,
she leads him off the island or planet, she gives him the code
to shut down all the robots before they take over the world.
The robot scientist’s daughter carefully holds on to secrets
about her father at the dinner table. She’s demure but knows
her way around a gun rack or a test tube. She sneaks out
to rescue prisoners after her father has a drink. The robot
scientist’s daughter must be there to humanize
the robot scientist; he is both a protagonist we identify with
and a villain we know must fall. If he had no daughter,
the camera would have no way to enter his laboratory
with a sympathetic eye. Sometimes the robot scientist’s daughter
pretends to be a robot herself, handing out food efficiently
without smudging her makeup. Sometimes she turns out to be a robot
all along implanted with heartwarming but false memories.
Sometimes she has a telepathic link to genetically-engineered dinosaurs. When she was a child, she had only robots to play
games with, mostly hide-and-seek and chess. This helped
and hurt her socialization. The robot scientist might be named Morbius, while his daughter is named Susan. She will be
the downfall, the island crumbling, scientist buried beneath rubble, killer shrews loosed on the world.
And now, for the first time ever, you can pre-order your signed copy of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter! If you do, you may get it before the release date AND get the added bonus of special swag!
