Mike Schneider's Blog, page 81

This Is a New Video of Me Saying Thanks While Looking Tired

TBDNE in Amazon store - which is also where you can review it, if you have a burning desire to do so.

-Mikey

808s & Heartbreak

808s & Heartbreak:

Not sure that TBDNE would, well, exist if Kanye hadn't made this album. 

Inspired by a post on the Project Domino blog about why their...

Inspired by a post on the Project Domino blog about why their books wouldn't have text on the cover, I asked my brother Tim if he might not mind redoing the cover for TBDNE.

Project Domino makes a great point about Amazon listing the title and the author's name already … why be redundant and also put it on the cover of the book?

I also felt that the text-less cover is more in-line with the spirit of my novel. After all, if the book doesn't really exist, then why should I bother labeling it?

Finally, Happy Valentine's Day. And if you haven't seen Blue Valentine, I highly recommend it. I think Derek Cianfrance, the movie's co-writer / director, would find something to like about TBDNE. 

Hope everyone is well, including you, Naomi.

-Mike

P.S. In case you're interested, TBDNE is still in the Amazon store, of course, for $2.99 on Kindle. Get it here. 

A recent trip to the Akron Art Museum motivated me to post this....

A recent trip to the Akron Art Museum motivated me to post this. The museum has an Untitled Mark Rothko painting on display, from 1949. Not this specific painting but from the same period.

When Mike walks through the Door, I always imagined it would be a little like walking into a Rothko painting and becoming entirely consumed by it. 

Please use the above image to fuel your own imagination.

See ya later,

Mikey

Zadie Smith's Piece On "The Social Network"

Zadie Smith's Piece On "The Social Network":

Plenty to think about here. Plenty to think about in relation to the themes in TBDNE, as well.

Mikey

My brother found the Door. Thanks to @tfs3000 on...

My brother found the Door. 

Thanks to @tfs3000 on Twitter.

Thanks to @geppettow on Twitter.

Thanks to This Book Does Not Exist on Amazon. 

Just came across this book - The Gulf War Did Not Take Place by...

Just came across this book - The Gulf War Did Not Take Place by Jean Baudrillard -  which was an inspiration for the title of This Book Does Not Exist.

The content had an impact, as well. In the book, Baudrillard argues that the technology-driven, television-transmitted nature of the Gulf War limited the tangible effects of the conflict on the soldiers and on the public. If the war was observed on TV screens and fought largely in the air with video game-like missiles and bombings then it did not really take place. At least that was Baudrillard's high-minded theory. 

Of course, the Gulf War really did take place. People were killed. Soldiers were deeply affected. But I think Baudrillard hit on something critical about the era that was just beginning when his book was published in 1991. That is, technology is changing the fabric of interpersonal relationships. 

If you've read TBDNE, then you know that theme plays a big role in the narrative. 

I read The Gulf War Did Not Take Place in college. I guess some things never get away from you. 

Mike

This Book Does Not Exist  in the Amazon store

This is a photo of St. Theodosius church - aka The Deer...

This is a photo of St. Theodosius church - aka The Deer Hunter church - which plays a big role towards the end of This Book Does Not Exist. 

St. Theodosius is in the Tremont neighborhood in Cleveland. I hastily snapped this pic with my BlackBerry about a year ago, while I was in town for a friend's wedding, with the plan of embedding the file in the text - which I still might do one day.

Mike

People Have Returned My Book!

Since I'm in control of all of the publishing data for This Book Does Not Exist, I can track the number of copies sold rather easily. 

I can also see how many people have returned the book. 

As of yesterday, three people had sent the novel back to Amazon. 

I find this very amusing. 

I'm not even sure what returning a digital copy of a novel entails. I guess Amazon rips it off of your Kindle / BlackBerry / iPhone / iPad / PC / Mac and prevents you from having any further access to it. What's the time frame for doing this? Can you buy a book, keep it for a week, or a day, finish it, and then return it?

I realize I could probably look this up, but I'd rather pontificate on it.

Anyway, what surprises / makes me laugh about this is the fact that someone would be so offended, disgusted, or bored by the novel - which only costs $2.99 remember - that they would send it back. If you have any ideas on what could have caused this, or if you yourself have bought and then returned the book, let me know on Twitter or EMAIL (mikejudes@gmail). Curiosity reigns supreme. 

I've been busy outlining movies with my brother. Hope everyone is chilly chill. 

Mike

Funny story about whether my book really does exist or not.

Funny story about whether my book really does exist or not.