Raymond K Rugg's Blog, page 6

Conan! A recent addition to my spec-fic library @conanthemovie @conanthegame #frazetta

I had some time off over the holidays, and spent much of it cruising the used bookstores.  I was looking for a few specific titles in order to fill some gaps in my collections, and had some luck there.  But some of my purchases were the kind of serendipitous finds that make the day really worthwhile.

Here's one of them: Conan #1, 1967, from Ace Books.  It comprises five shorts published in various pulp magazines between 1933 and 1967, even though Conan creator, Robert E. Howard, himself died in 1936.  Also included in this paperback edition is an intro by Conan contributor L. Sprague de Camp, as well as a letter from Howard and biographical background from Conan scholars P. Schuyler Miller and Dr. John D. Clark.  All of the content is reprint material, but it makes for a nice little introduction and summary of everyone's favorite barbarian.

The cover is a Frank Frazetta piece that he did for the Conan story "Rogues in the House" and has the distinction of being one of the few Conan art pieces, apparently, that Frazetta actually based on the story itself.

Ahhh.    Good times.

The Big Money Impact of Science Fiction @comic_con @rejects

Yes, here I am again, singing the same old song, the one about how speculative fiction is a HUGE economic force that is only recently beginning to get recognition as such by the general public.

The economics of spec-fic don't have to be 'boom' in your face; they can be subtle, as in the premise of The Handbook, where I show how an enthusiasm for fantasy and science fiction can help to drive and increase sales in any mainstream, non-genre field.

But sometimes it's nice to say 'phooey' on subtlety and look at some hard facts.  To put the numbers down in black and white.  That's what Neil Miller over at FilmSchoolRejects.com did.  Except he went one better, and put the numbers down in bright colors in a super-cool infographic about the money impact of San Diego's Comic-Con.  See Miller's comments and his infographic at the Film School Rejects site.

(As a total aside, I find the following to be fascinating:  Miller also notes that  "Comic-Con generates more than half the economic impact of a Super Bowl..."  And the reason why I find this so interesting is that Miller happened to choose the Super Bowl to compare the Comic-Con to, and both the Comic-Con and the NFL are non-profit organizations.  Really.  Check it out atESPN.  The National Football League is a 501(c)(6)...)

James Gunn and the other James Gunn... You guess which is which.

In a previous post about the upcoming movie Guardians of the Galaxy, I mentioned James Gunn. This James Gunn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1970 and is the writer/director of the GotG movie, and his previous experience includSes having written the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies, the film Dawn of the Dead, and the video game Lollipop Chainsaw, among others.

So, um.  Yeah.  So there's that.

The James Gunn that I more often mention in my blog, and in my book, is the James Gunn who was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1923, and is the writer/editor of somewhere in the neighborhood of some 100 science fiction stories over the past six decades, has served as the president of the Science Fiction Writers of America and of the Science Fiction Research Association, was named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master, and is the director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction.

And so.  There's that.

I've got nothing against James Gunn the younger.  Having grown up on the original, I wasn't a fan of the Scooby-Doo movies, but he's worked his way up to translating a comic book to the silver screen, and I say more power to him.  I just wish he'd kind of gone with the name Jim or decided to use his middle initial in his name, or something like that.  Because in the field of speculative fiction, I'm afraid there will really only be one James Gunn for me, and that's the one who is the Grand Master.

Guardians of the Galaxy, sans talking rodents #GotG @Marvel @JamesGunn

Maybe I'm missing something, but I just can't figure out which one is supposed to be the raccoon...

'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' turns off and goes dark #spider-man #Broadway

The big Spider-Man Broadway musical shut down just a few days ago, after a three-year run. 

Most of the articles about Spidey's closing seem to use the word troubled a lot-- but the show's official website (ha, see what I did there?) indicates that it is coming out to Las Vegas soon, so it's got that going for it.

But the fact is, Spider-Man is hardly the first Broadway musical with a speculative-fiction plotline. 

 In fact, the Great White Way is rife with Spec Fic. 

Here's a few that I can list just off the top of my head... I like 'em all, but what do you think?
You can read about the show closing at The Los Angeles Times or The New York Daily News.

Or read about it coming to Sin City on the show's official website.

Scott Lynch. Scott Lynch? Scott Lynch! @scottlynch78 @geeksgalaxy

In case you missed it... Scott Lynch. 

The author of the Gentleman Bastards sequence (The Lies of Locke Lamorra, Red Seas Under Red Skies, and most recently, The Republic of Thieves) has gone and built hisself a Facebook page.  And there was much rejoicing.

Lynch's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/scottlynch78) now joins his Tumblr page (http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/) and his Twitter account (@scottlynch78), and he says "Please give it a like if you’re interested in following my wacky shenanigans across the social media interwebz tubes. Arise, my Facebook army, and we will click our way to victory. Or something like it."

And yes, before you even ask, there is a Sales and SF lesson drawn from the work of Scott Lynch...  but, it's not one of the 42 lessons from Rugg's Handbook of Sales and Science Fiction.  The Lies of Locke Lamora provides the source material for the first lesson in the sequel to Sales and Science Fiction, Rugg's Handbook of Sales and Swords & Sorcery.  The lesson was included in the first printing of Sales and Sci-Fi, as a teaser for the sequel (at that time dubbed Sales and Fantasy).  And since it's not my birthday, nor is it Scott Lynch's birthday (as far as I know), I'm not including the lesson here in the blog today.  Fer gosh sakes, go out and buy the book, already!

PS.  One of the most recent posts by Lynch announces that he's looking for a part-time author's personal assistant.  If you're in Wisconsin and think it might be cool to work in a job that includes the description of dusting out Lynch's Scrooge McDuck money bin twice a week, check out his posts for application info.

And PPS.  Lynch writes adult stuff for adults, and his posts can be salty.  You've been warned.

Photo by Ellen Datlow for Geeks Guide to the Galaxy (@geeksgalaxy)

Sales and Sci-Fi? How 'bout Sales and Salons? @clipperguy @gitomer #sales

Almost everyone knows that Jeffrey Gitomer is one of my very favorite writers about sales.  One of the best managers I ever had once gave me a copy of Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling, and I've been hooked ever since.  Gitomer's stuff is great for sales reps, but his advice transcends the field of sales and is worthwhile for everyone to read, and to apply to all areas of life.

Speaking of which, I just ran across a post from Ivan Zoot, salon industry educator, motivational speaker, author, inventor and creator of the Zoot! Hair care product line.  Zoot is a leader in his field, and so it's not surprising to me to find that he listens to what Gitomer has to say.  In fact, Zoot recently posted an entry in which he shares five of the laws of selling presented by Gitomer in his book 21.5 Unbreakable Rules of Selling, and says that the book " is sure to be the next big thing in sales training and coaching for 2014."

Read the full post on SalonToday.com, learn more about Zoot at his Facebook page, about his books at Squidoo, and meet Jeffrey Gitomer at his website. 

Photo courtesy Jeffrey Gitomer, www.gitomer.com .

Whelan Art. Free. For You! 'Nuff Said! #Michaelwhelan @BrandSanderson

Many of you who know me also know that I'm a frustrated artist.  Despite getting kicked out of art class in high school (shout out to Mission High School!), I've had some illustrations published, I've had some paintings in some shows, and over the years, there are times when my paycheck came from graphic design for print and web.  Sos I flatter myself that I have an eye for good art.  And even if I don't, well, just go with me on this.

And one of my all-time favorites in spec-fic art is Michael Whelan.  I rank his ERB Barsoom covers as some of the best of the best.  In Lesson 20 of The Handbook, I talk about how first impressions count in the sales world, because a person who is about to spend their hard-earned money does judge a book by its cover, and I talk about how Whelan's art on a cover helps a prospective book buyer understand the quality of the story within.

Well, one of my go-to blogs,tor.com, has a post about Michael Whelan's art for the endsheets of Brandon Sanderson's upcoming Words of Radiance, a sequel to his bestselling Way of Kings.  Not only does Tor
have a post about the creative process that Whelan went through, there's also links to wallpapers of the endsheet art, in 12 different sizes to fit whatever screen you happen to have in your hot little hands.

Visit Tor.com for the download post  or the creative process post , or for information on Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series.

And because I tend to be as subtle as a sledgehammer, I'll also note that I have not read Sanderson's Way of Kings yet... but it's now at the top of my list.

Newsflash: Asimov made some spot-on predictions about the future. Thanks for telling us something we didn't know. @isaacasimov @huffingtonpost #future

Today on America Online, there is an article with the headline, "Isaac Asimov's Predictions For 2014 From 50 Years Ago Are Eerily Accurate"

Well, duh.  I mean, this is news?

You can read the article at Huffington Post.

Isaac Asimov provides the material for four lessons in The Handbook.  But that's probably not news to you either, right. :)

The Motley Fool on Comics, Movies and Money @themotleyfool @ComicBook_Movie

When I get on my soapbox, at that happens a lot, one of the things I like to carry on about is the status of Spec-Fic in the mainstream consciousness.  Historically, the masses have pigeon-holed fantasy in the same mental category as bedtime fairytales for children, and have looked askance at science fiction as an escapist literature for the emotionally immature. 

I will admit that things have gotten a lot better over the past few decades.  Fantasy and sci-fi have become much more mainstream, and the fan cultures are much more accepted by the general public.  So much so, in fact, that
I felt the time was right to publish Rugg's Handbook of Sales and Science Fiction; I think that there are a lot of reps out there who are also spec-fic enthusiasts, and would be comfortable blending those two aspects of their lives.

But I still often consider the historical segregation of speculative fiction from mainstream life, particularly when I look at the film industry.  I look at the list of big, block-buster, record-breaking films and tally up how many of them can be classified as Science Fiction or Fantasy, and it's a large percentage.  And I wonder how many of the people paying big bucks to go to these movies realize that they are paying for and promoting fan culture by their choice of films; how many of these people would normally look down on adults reading comic books, or how many have disparaged the geeks or nerds who were more interested in science fiction than in, say, professional sports.

Yes, to be fair, many of the people going to these movies are fans, or at least, fan friendly.  But when Matthew Luke, writing for Motley Fool, reports that comic book-based movies brought in over $3.3 BILLION in 2013, you know that it isn't just the fangirls and fanboys flooding the movie theaters.  Some of these people going to the comic-book movies have never read a comic book in their lives, and some of them have been less-than-kind to the science-fiction geeks.  But they are spending a LOT of their money on Speculative Fiction.

You can call it poetic justice.  I call it Revenge of the Nerds.
Matthew Luke's post about the earning power of comic-book movies in 2013 and a preview of the lineup for 2014 can be found on the Motley Fool site.  Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, Va., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community.