Richard Due's Blog: Delusions of Grandeur?, page 8
May 23, 2013
A rep from Barnes & Noble's headquarters in New York called me yesterday. They've ordered books for their brick and mortar stores! Aie!!!
The Mothership has Placed an Order for Books!
She said she could see The Moon Coin in Baker & Taylor’s catalog, and that she was ordering copies for Barnes and Noble’s brick and mortar bookstores!!! She also said that their book buyer is currently reviewing The Dragondain (which I sent them just last week).
May 21, 2013
Gaithersburg Book Festival
Not the best weather, but we stayed dry, gained new fans, and met some really wonderful book people.
Somehow, I failed to get my camera bag in the car. Maybe it was the 5am wake-up time. Snapped this one from my mobile.
April 13, 2013
Good news for Moon Realm fans! Baker & Taylor has picked up Gibbering Gnome Press as a vendor.
Which means . . . after I slay a thousand forms, hire TRON to break into B&N's catalog system, kill the witch, and bring back the broom to Oz . . . after all that . . . The Moon Coin is headed for Barnes & Noble!
Here's how it happened: back in the fall, Barnes and Noble sent me a letter saying they wanted to carry The Moon Coin in their brick and mortar bookstores. The problem is that B&N doesn't acquire books from publishers and authors, they get them from distributors and wholesalers.
Well, this week I heard back from Baker & Taylor. I'VE GOT THE BROOM AND I'M HEADING BACK TO OZ! My book is going to be available to B&N, (among many other bookstores), and a 95% of all libraries!
I have no idea how long it's going to take me to get back to Oz, though. A couple months maybe? There's just never a roving band of blood-thirsty flying monkeys around when you need one. Have you ever noticed that? But when I do get back, and into the Barnes & Noble catalog, B&Ns everywhere will be able to stock the series!
I've already heard from one B&N children's dept manager who says she already has a special display in mind. She also plans to put up posters! Yikes!
One B&N store down, 722 to go.
In other news, I'm back up on Google Plus:
https://plus.google.com/1163465661647...
Here's how it happened: back in the fall, Barnes and Noble sent me a letter saying they wanted to carry The Moon Coin in their brick and mortar bookstores. The problem is that B&N doesn't acquire books from publishers and authors, they get them from distributors and wholesalers.
Well, this week I heard back from Baker & Taylor. I'VE GOT THE BROOM AND I'M HEADING BACK TO OZ! My book is going to be available to B&N, (among many other bookstores), and a 95% of all libraries!
I have no idea how long it's going to take me to get back to Oz, though. A couple months maybe? There's just never a roving band of blood-thirsty flying monkeys around when you need one. Have you ever noticed that? But when I do get back, and into the Barnes & Noble catalog, B&Ns everywhere will be able to stock the series!
I've already heard from one B&N children's dept manager who says she already has a special display in mind. She also plans to put up posters! Yikes!
One B&N store down, 722 to go.
In other news, I'm back up on Google Plus:
https://plus.google.com/1163465661647...
March 17, 2013
THE MOON COIN hit 2,500 bookshelves today on GoodReads!!!
THE MOON COIN hit 2,500 bookshelves today on GoodReads!!!
February 16, 2013
February 9, 2013
The Moon Coin gains 10 reviews on iTunes, nine 5-stars and one 4-star.
I put a plea out last week to reviewers of THE MOON COIN. It's been very successful. Thanks everybody. If you loved THE MOON COIN, and you want to help it succeed, please copy your review over to iTunes.
I'm reprinting the plea here:
The unthinkable has happened! One of the big three ebook sellers, iTunes, is promoting self-published books, even devoting a section to them!
Here's the thing: I have the smallest presence on iTunes of the big three.
If you have rated either of my books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, please, please, please—I'm begging you on hands and knees—copy your review into the iTunes iBookstore and give me a rating.
If a book is chosen to be in new self-published iTunes section, it will remain there for two weeks. Apple is currently choosing books with average ratings between 4 and 5 stars.
The link below will take you to the web version of my iTunes page. From there, I think you have to click the "view in iTunes" button to get into iTunes. It might actually be faster to just search "The Moon Coin" in the iTunes store.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ric...
Thanks in advance,
Rich
"Apple has launched a new U.S. iTunes Store section dedicated to highlighting exclusive, self-published works from emerging talents. Sometimes, one has to expose oneself to books that cannot be found on The New York Times bestseller list. This section is aimed at surfacing cherry-picked content you’d otherwise have a hard time discovering. The move mirrors Amazon’s self-published Kindle books and Apple says new titles will be added “as they begin taking off”…"
I'm reprinting the plea here:
The unthinkable has happened! One of the big three ebook sellers, iTunes, is promoting self-published books, even devoting a section to them!
Here's the thing: I have the smallest presence on iTunes of the big three.
If you have rated either of my books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, please, please, please—I'm begging you on hands and knees—copy your review into the iTunes iBookstore and give me a rating.
If a book is chosen to be in new self-published iTunes section, it will remain there for two weeks. Apple is currently choosing books with average ratings between 4 and 5 stars.
The link below will take you to the web version of my iTunes page. From there, I think you have to click the "view in iTunes" button to get into iTunes. It might actually be faster to just search "The Moon Coin" in the iTunes store.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ric...
Thanks in advance,
Rich
"Apple has launched a new U.S. iTunes Store section dedicated to highlighting exclusive, self-published works from emerging talents. Sometimes, one has to expose oneself to books that cannot be found on The New York Times bestseller list. This section is aimed at surfacing cherry-picked content you’d otherwise have a hard time discovering. The move mirrors Amazon’s self-published Kindle books and Apple says new titles will be added “as they begin taking off”…"
February 8, 2013
First book in the award-winning Moon Realm Series on sale for 99 cents! (Kindle/Nook/iPad)
Available for Kindles, Nooks, iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches, Android smart phones, PCs and Macs.
Apple's iPads: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/richard-due/id462821815?mt=11
Amazon's Kindles: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JFMKB8
Barnes & Noble's Nooks: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-moon-coin-richard-due/1112894467
TheMoonRealm.com Twitter facebook GoodReads tumblr
Apple's iPads: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/richard-due/id462821815?mt=11
Amazon's Kindles: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JFMKB8
Barnes & Noble's Nooks: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-moon-coin-richard-due/1112894467
TheMoonRealm.com Twitter facebook GoodReads tumblr
January 27, 2013
Taking a Pencil Sketch to Finished Art, A Conversation with Illustrator Carolyn Arcabascio
From Sketch to Chapter Art, an Illustrator at Work
For me, getting to work with Carolyn Arcabascio was a dream come true. We worked from a master list of scene options, with Carolyn picking out scenes she liked and making sketches. For the prologue, Carolyn drafted three options. All three were great, but two in particular were spectacular. I first went with option 3 (one of my scene suggestions). I think we spent more time on this sketch and subsequent color drawing than on any other piece. But it never seemed right. At the eleventh hour, I asked Carolyn how hard she’d hit me if I suggested scrapping the thing and instead going with the pinky promise scene you see below (one of her scene suggestions). Carolyn responded: "There would be no hitting involved!" and told me it wouldn't be a problem. You sure can't ask for better than that.
From the Prologue: Bedtime Tales.
Click to enlarge.
Richard: Did you make all these sketches in the same location, Carolyn?
Carolyn: Yes, I do all of my work at a drafting table that's situated in a little nook of my apartment in Acton, Massachusetts. There's a bookshelf to my right and a wall of "inspiration" to my left, where I hang prints of other artists' and illustrators' work. On either side of my drafting table are drawers of supplies, and stacks of sketchbooks and old paintings. The drafting table faces a window overlooking a quiet street and the woods beyond it.
From Chapter Two: A Coin of the Realm.
Click to enlarge.
Richard: Do you use models when you're sketching?
Carolyn: I use a combination of models and photo references. If I need to work out the nuances of a character's posture and really understand the perspective of it, I'll ask whatever friend or family member is handy to pose for a sketch. Often, I'll get into the position myself or mimic the facial expression I want to portray in order to get the feel of it. And sometimes, if there's a character being portrayed multiple times across scenes, I'll make a rough model of their head out of clay so I'll have it to refer to.
From Chapter Four: To Barreth.
Click to enlarge.
Richard: When drawing fantastical creatures, do you use bits and pieces of real animals for inspiration, or have you actually seen a wirtle and you're just not telling us? ;)
Carolyn: No wirtles native to Massachusetts, fortunately! When figuring out the look of fantastical creatures, I use photo references of different animals to understand the way the anatomy might work, and then combine features as I see fit and as the story calls for. To understand the wirtle's legs and paws, for example, I referred to a series of photographs of show dogs leaping over hurdles. The severely arched, scruffy back was influenced by photos of hyenas on the prowl. The bone-structure of the face ended up being something of a cross between a cow and a warthog, and I wanted the snout to be bare—kind of gross and raw-looking. Add it all up and, voila! We have a wirtle.
Preview: The Moon Coin. Six chapters formatted for ePub, Mobi, or PDF.
Please share these files with your friends. Enjoy.
Available on E-Readers for a limited time at 99 cents.
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes iBookstore
The Moon Coin / A Moon Realm Novel.
Available in paperback: Amazon and Second Looks Books
Paperback Version Regularly $12.99
On Sale at Amazon
20% Off
Click HERE
Copyright © 2011 by Richard Due. All rights reserved. Gibbering Gnome Press,
A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink™ The Moon Realm™
January 26, 2013
My editor has been asking me to rewrite my bio. She thinks a bio should satisfy a reader's curiosity about an author's journey and skillz.
My editor has been asking me to rewrite my bio. She thinks a bio should satisfy a reader's curiosity about an author's journey and skillz. She also sees it as an opportunity to let a prospective employer—in this case, one of the goliath publishing corporations—know that I'm not a complete dolt.
This is what I emailed her today. Any feedback would be welcome—just post your comments at the bottom. Thanks!
Author Bio:
Richard Due (pronounced “Dewey”) first imagined the Moon Realm while telling bedtime tales to his children. He makes his home in Southern Maryland, where he and his wife have owned and operated Second Looks Books since 1991. The Moon Coin is the first novel in his award-winning Moon Realm series.
Author Note:
I started writing stories in the 3rd grade and moved on to novels in my teens and twenties, only to give that all up in my mid-thirties.
In my working life, however, I've been into making squiggly marks (or dots, lots of dots) on paper since the 1980s. First, I worked as a laser scanner operator, making halftones. (Halftones are a reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots). Or, put more simply, I turned black and white photographs into a whole mess-o-dots, extra pretty-like, making them perfect for running on printing presses.
Later, I worked as a DS camera operator, making halftones and text negatives on orthographic film. Or, put more simply, I turned photographs into a whole mess-o-dots, on film, and did the same with text, only without all the dots, making them perfect for running on printing presses. I made several hundred BFOPs this way. (BFOPs, pronounced BEEfops, stands for Books For Other People. And they aren't always fun to make, but they're great for paying for things like books, car insurance, rent, more books, food, and drink.)
Eventually, though, computers took all those jobs away from me and gave them to something called a digital typesetter. So I taught myself how to be one of those, and made more books (some cool, most not so much) and computer software manuals (can you say: kill me now).
In 1991, I put the typesetting business on freelance, and entered into the exciting and glamorous world of book selling. My wife and I are still at it, selling books at our independent (mostly-) used bookstore in Prince Frederick, Maryland.
In 2010, however, something very strange happened. . . . On a complete lark, during the night of a full moon, I put all my skills together in a paper bag, and waved them over my head while clucking like a chicken, then opened the bag, and out spilled the Moon Realm Series in all its ebook and print goodness. I have been very happy ever since.
This is what I emailed her today. Any feedback would be welcome—just post your comments at the bottom. Thanks!
Author Bio:
Richard Due (pronounced “Dewey”) first imagined the Moon Realm while telling bedtime tales to his children. He makes his home in Southern Maryland, where he and his wife have owned and operated Second Looks Books since 1991. The Moon Coin is the first novel in his award-winning Moon Realm series.
Author Note:
I started writing stories in the 3rd grade and moved on to novels in my teens and twenties, only to give that all up in my mid-thirties.
In my working life, however, I've been into making squiggly marks (or dots, lots of dots) on paper since the 1980s. First, I worked as a laser scanner operator, making halftones. (Halftones are a reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots). Or, put more simply, I turned black and white photographs into a whole mess-o-dots, extra pretty-like, making them perfect for running on printing presses.
Later, I worked as a DS camera operator, making halftones and text negatives on orthographic film. Or, put more simply, I turned photographs into a whole mess-o-dots, on film, and did the same with text, only without all the dots, making them perfect for running on printing presses. I made several hundred BFOPs this way. (BFOPs, pronounced BEEfops, stands for Books For Other People. And they aren't always fun to make, but they're great for paying for things like books, car insurance, rent, more books, food, and drink.)
Eventually, though, computers took all those jobs away from me and gave them to something called a digital typesetter. So I taught myself how to be one of those, and made more books (some cool, most not so much) and computer software manuals (can you say: kill me now).
In 1991, I put the typesetting business on freelance, and entered into the exciting and glamorous world of book selling. My wife and I are still at it, selling books at our independent (mostly-) used bookstore in Prince Frederick, Maryland.
In 2010, however, something very strange happened. . . . On a complete lark, during the night of a full moon, I put all my skills together in a paper bag, and waved them over my head while clucking like a chicken, then opened the bag, and out spilled the Moon Realm Series in all its ebook and print goodness. I have been very happy ever since.
