Hugh Howey's Blog, page 77

The last guaranteed batch of Holiday books!

I took a huge load of signed books to the post office today. The ladies there told me that this was the last day for international books to be guaranteed arrival before Christmas. It’s also the last day for media mail to be sure to get to you before the holidays.

I was able to get everything ordered through Sunday in the mail. I’ll get the rest out this week. And I’ve got a huge announcement coming soon that will greatly impact all of this. Stay tuned!

Excuse me, ma’am—?

The lady behind the information kiosk at the Barnes and Noble here in Charleston lifted an eyebrow. Just one.

“Need help finding something?” she asked.

“Do you have a book called Wool?”

(They didn’t. I’d already checked. I was just being that author who wants to see if it’s something they stock.)

“Hugh Howey,” she said. Immediately. With no hint of recognition, or I would have said: “Hey” in response. “Are you looking for the Omnibus?” she asked.

She said this like she’d had this exchange a few times. There was some eye-rolling going on. “Yes,” I said. “That would be nice.”

Clickety-clack on the keyboard, even though I knew the book wasn’t in stock. She was  seeing about ordering it.

“I can order you a copy,” she said.

“Eh . . . no thanks. But I appreciate you looking it up.”

And so ended an exchange that went much differently than such exchanges in the past have gone. I’ve done this in a few stores, just to see if they can get my book in, and this was the first time someone knew of the book. And this is a Barnes and Noble, where they rarely stock books based on customer demand (they’ll tell a customer they’re better off ordering it from Amazon. I’ve had this response a few times).

Anyway, it was a pretty cool moment for me. It means customers are asking about the book. It also means these stores are missing out on sales!

A step in the right direction. Maybe more soon?

Thank you, voters!

WOOL placed second in the GoodReads Choice Awards yesterday thanks to your efforts. It was amazing to be included with the other finalists. I can’t believe WOOL garnered enough votes to stand tall with the masters of the genre, men and women that I look up to. So thank you for taking the time to vote and for spreading the word. And congratulations to all the winners in every category!

This is not happening…

It can’t be. I wrote a piece today for one of my publishers on what it has been like to go from a bookseller to a bestseller. One year ago, I was shelving books, arranging displays, dusting a bookstore, and writing in the mornings and on my lunch breaks. WOOL 5 hadn’t been written yet. I was just wrapping up the rough draft of WOOL 4. Cut to a year later.

Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian option the film rights. 20 foreign countries pick up WOOL. Random House in the UK and Australia. #1 on Amazon. #11 on the New York Times list. It just doesn’t make any sense. And then this, which I think may be the most surreal event in a long line of surreal events. This was just Tweeted by an Australian bookseller:

What? Really? I have to somehow process this? Because it doesn’t compute.

Me and my Nemesis*

George R.R. Martin and I were at the same signing table at WorldCon in Chicago this year. His line snaked toward Iowa. Mine had one person in it, and she was looking for directions to the bathroom. George sat for hours and hours and signed a boatload of books. During a pause, I chatted him up. I didn’t have one of his books on me, but seeing that many people get signatures, I felt one helluvan itch. So I grabbed one of my sad, nobody-wanted books and introduced myself.

“You don’t know me,” I told George, “but we kinda circle each other on Amazon.”

George scrunched up his face. Scratched his beard. I could tell that he not only had never heard of me, he doubtless hadn’t been on Amazon to check the rankings of any of his works in over a decade.

“You’re like, one through five on science fiction,” I told him. “I’m number six.”

“Oh.” I think George realized that I was a wannabe writer, not just someone out for an autograph.

“Can I get your autograph?” I asked.

Now he could see that I was a bit of both.

“You want me to autograph your book?”

He indicated the copy of Wool in my hands. I shrugged. I had nothing else. “Maybe you could make it out to #6 or something,” I told him.

George signed the book: “To #6. Keep trying!” And then he graced the inside of Wool with a gorgeous and florid signature full of curls and swoops and confidence.

It sits on my bookshelf right now.

And George? I’m trying.

*(Full disclosure: George is one awesome and gracious dude and far better a writer than I ever hope to become. His status as my nemesis is both lighthearted on my part and somewhat dampened on his part by the fact that he still, to this day, has no idea who I am).

Name Solo’s Companion!

An impromptu contest to celebrate the end of NaNoWriMo and the upcoming release of THIRD SHIFT. You get to name Solo’s companion! I won’t tell you what kind of animal it is. Could be a parrot, a mouse, a dog, or a fish. Could be a cockroach. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

But none of the names I’ve come up with yet feels just right. So toss out some ideas with one of two themes in mind:

1) An odd name like “Companion” or “Beast.”

2) A generic name like “Charlie” or “Frank.”

Okay, as I write this, the perfect name comes to mind, but I still want to hear what you all think. If someone posits the name I’m thinking of right now, it’ll freak me out. If I go with your suggestion, you’ll get a copy of the book once it’s out.

Second Shift!

Before you go and get excited…

Yes, the progress meter over there to the left is on fire. I’m at 87% on THIRD SHIFT. Does that mean it’ll be out next week?

Nope. It means it’ll hopefully be out by the end of January. What I’m getting down is the roughest of drafts. Spurred on by NaNoWriMo, I’m aiming to have 50,000 words compiled by the end of November. Most of the story will be there when I’m done. But it will be an unreadable mess. There’s a lot of rearranging to do, key scenes to re-write, and probably tens of thousands of words to scrap altogether. I’ll be working hard straight through December and into the first of the year to get a final draft together, and then a few weeks of rewrites and beta feedback before anyone should be allowed to see it.

At that point, all three SHIFT books will go to Random House for their editorial suggestions. While I’m working on the third and final act, I’ll also be doing edits on the SHIFT series. Next year is going to be hella crazy. I have five trips planned right now, which means lots of airplane rides and hotel stays. I’ll be writing and editing with every spare moment. You’ll be able to keep up with the progress via the blue bars to the side, but keep in mind that they are for rough drafts. Which you would be horrified to see.

Join me on ShinDig!

Come join me Monday Night on ShinDig. I’m hosting a free video Q&A at 8pm ET for 500 fans. We hang out for an hour, and you get to hammer me with questions! The more the merrier! RSVP now!!

http://www.shindig.com/event/hugh-howey

Das Book!