Hugh Howey's Blog, page 70

Another Full House!

Great event in Kansas City at Rainy Day Books. What a wonderful crowd and fantastic staff. And Dick, my guide since I landed, was a pleasure to spend the day with. Thanks to all who came out. If their reaction was any guide, you should try and make it to one of my next stops. These things have been a blast.

Another picture after the break…

Kansas City and BBQ!

Tonight’s book event is at Rainy Day Books in Kansas City. The event is at 7:00. I’m going to grab some BBQ at Oklahoma Joe’s at 5:30 before the event if anyone wants to meet up there.

Also: Today is my anniversary AMA on Reddit. One year to the day since the last one. Not that there’s much to report.

My Upcoming Schedule

Kansas City – 13th – Rainy Day Books

Chicago – 14th – The Book Cellar

Denver – 15th – The Tattered Cover

LA – 17th – Vroman’s

LA – 18th – Mysterious Galaxy (Redondo)

San Fransisco – 19th – Books Inc

Seattle – 20th – Eliot Bay Book Co.

Virginia – 22-24th (@the Festival of the Book)

Charleston, SC – 25th – West Ashley B&N

Miami – 26th – Books & Books Flagship Store

Barnes & Noble Update

I’ve seen a lot of comments and have received a ton of emails about your local B&N not having WOOL in stock. It turns out that they were a little slow on the uptake. Orders are heading their way right now, I’ve been informed. Hopefully they’ll have stock by the end of the week.

Maybe it was everyone calling in and asking where in the heck this New York Times bestseller was. Maybe they finally caught the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post. Whatever the reason, it seems indie bookshops, Books a Million, and discounters like Target knew what was up. I’m just glad B&N heard your phone calls, realized the demand, and got onboard. It would’ve been sad for them to miss out on stocking a book written by a former employee. Much thanks to any and all who put in a call. It seems the little people still have some power after all.

Houston’s Murder by the Book

Tonight, I’m at Murder by the Book, a fantastic indie bookshop here in Houston, Texas. Come and see me! The event is slated for 6:30 – 8:30, but I hope to get there a little early.

Ready Player Three (or Four)

SXSW brought tens of thousands of people into a small pocket of downtown Austin, wrecking traffic and filling the sidewalks to overflowing. It made it nearly impossible to find people, even with the help of cell phones. It was a good thing the ride I was waiting for was hard to miss.

“Is that a DeLorean?” someone in the crowd asked.

They had spotted my ride for me.

A stainless steel spaceship of a car with a roaring hotrod engine came to a stop by the curb. I pulled the latch on the gull-wing passenger door, and my grin bumped into my ears. I was about to climb into an icon. My favorite new author was sitting at the wheel.

“Wassap, Ernie?”

There’s nothing like shaking hands with someone who pounded out the best book I’ve read in maybe forever. Behind the wheel sat a complete stranger, but climbing into the low seat felt like settling in beside an old friend. Not only did we have a childhood in common, but also this new life of seeing our words reach a vaster audience than either of us thought possible. By the time we got to lunch, we were talking about book tours and film deals and Star Wars and Back to the Future and of course, the DeLorean.

There’s a DVD player in the dash. Ernie fires up the film that transformed the DeLorean from loser to legend while the GPS greets us in K.I.T.T.’s voice. It even says Ernie’s name via a .wav file he hacked into the unit. My overpowering jealousy of Patrick Rothfuss, who has claimed Ernie for his best friend, is hard to suppress. Like me, when Patrick (author of Name of the Wind) read Ready Player One, he was smitten. He felt like this book had been written especially for him. Emailing Ernie, he informed him that they were now best friends. I cursed myself for not thinking of this first.

Ernie and I had lunch and later went to a SXSW screening of MILIAS, a biography of the legendary director of Conan. Dinner and a movie, but neither of us made a move. Ernie was a perfect gentleman, damnit.

And then last night, Ernie showed up for the first book event of my launch tour, which was like Orson Scott Card coming by to see my 3rd grade science fair project. I made sure everyone at BookPeople knew there was a rockstar in the house. People went off in search of his book, only to discover most were already signed.

“If you find one that isn’t, it’s worth a lot of money,” Ernie quipped.

Later, a young reader came up and asked to have his book personalized.

 

That’s goddamn adorable.

Oddly enough, having a bestselling author and someone I admire in the audience didn’t make the talk more difficult. It made it easier. Ernie sported a disarming and calming grin throughout. I could see him nodding as I described what it’s been like to go from a bookstore employee to a successful writer. Standing behind a podium just like the one I used to drag out and set up for other authors back and my old job, some kind of surreal transformation took place. For a moment or two, it felt natural to be up there. I had the time of my life.

My experience in Austin at SXSW and my first book event at BookPeople couldn’t have kicked off this tour any better. I woke up this morning — the day of WOOL’s bookstore release — feeling refreshed and invigorated. And my time with Ernie gave me a new appreciation for what fans of WOOL must feel like in getting to hang out, come to meet-ups, have lunch, and shoot the shit. Wearing a shy and nervous grin around him was good for me. It was also nice to chat with someone who has gone through an augmented version of what I’m experiencing. To think that the dude is a fan of my work as well is simply humbling beyond belief, but I try not to think about that.

And you know, I’ve decided to be gracious about the Patrick Rothfuss thing. I’m happy for Pat, who claimed Ernie for his best friend before I could get a chance. I don’t mind being Player 3 or Player 4. I could be Questor to their Thor and Merlin. I could be Raphael with those no-reach sais to their Donatello and Leonardo. Just give me a pocket full of quarters.

And besides, Ernie and I will always have Austin. And we’ll always have this:

1 . . .

Final Countdown!

Got the song stuck in your head? Me too. Well, tomorrow is the day. By now, most bookstores will probably have already shelved the thing, which means WOOL is now out there for a gaggle of new readers to discover. In a lot of ways, this week is the most important of the book’s life. Think of a baby with a soft crown or a chick that needs to imprint on its caretaker. It’s make or break time.

If WOOL has any chance of showing up on a bestseller list, this week is its best chance. Now, most of you have supported me with far more generosity than I deserve, and so I don’t want you spending another penny on a book you’ve already read. But if you know someone who would enjoy this book, this is the week to urge them to go buy a copy. For several reasons.

First: I know what the print runs were on this book, and they’re gonna want a first printing. Trust me. All the cool kids have them. They won’t be around for long.

Second: How many copies bookstores stock and where they shelve them is entirely dependent on this initial rush. Even if you already own a copy, just calling your local store to see if they have it (and commenting below to let me know how that goes) will raise awareness. Sending in your luddite friends and family members to finally get on this bandwagon does the same thing.

Third: I will probably never earn out my advance for this print edition; none of this impacts me financially; but I want the book to do well for even better reasons. I don’t want this unusual publishing deal to go badly and undo the progress I feel like we’ve made for other indies. I hope Simon & Schuster make back all their money and then some. The rest of the publishing industry is watching how this plays out. Successful indies are turning down contracts that don’t make sense. Let’s show them a contract that makes sense for everyone. (I have a surprise coming up that will demonstrate how seriously I take this).

Austin Events!

Today is the day that my book tour officially kicks off. I’ll be at BookPeople in Austin tonight at 7:00. Before this, however, I’ll be grabbing a bite to eat and hanging out with a few readers at The Snack Bar, which is at 1224 South Congress. We’re meeting at 4:00 PM. If you’re coming into town a bit early (or live here) please come join us. It should be a small and comfortable gathering.

A Shout-Out to My Goodreads Peeps

The reason I’m on this thrill-ride is because of you, the reader. And the Goodreads community has been an awesome part of that. There have been some epic review threads (right Cass?) and an absolute mountain of ratings. Over 33,000 individual people have weighed in. Most didn’t hate my stories.

On the eve of publication, I just wanted to pause and thank one of the great sites and groups that helped make this happen. I appreciate the support this past year. Happy reading.

2 . . .

Two days until release. Speaking of number two…

In all seriousness, I absolutely adore George. There is no rivalry between us. Because, really, the dude still has no idea who I am.

Oh, one more pic after the break.

Come and get it, Georgie!