Nicola Griffith's Blog, page 97

Hild sales graph

This pleases me very much.


This is a graph from my Bookscan sales numbers for Hild. You can see where pre-orders kickstart the whole thing when the book debuts on 11.12.13. Then a natural dip as everyone catches their breath. Then sales start picking up again with word of mouth. After the NYTBR ad they zoom.

I haven't included actual numbers for two reasons. One, Bookscan doesn't cover the whole market--some Big Box stores and some big independents don't report--so I don't have access to what's going on, ah, off the page. And, two, it's about money, and while I'll happily share money details with friends and family I've become American enough to understand that talking about it in public is Not Done. Also, I literally have no clue what kind of sales the audiobook is enjoying. And I mean none, no window at all. (Mainly because I forgot to ask...) So a more mature assessment will come later. 

But: Woo hoo! This is absolutely thrilling for a writer: the more people read, the more they tell their friends. It's like a dream. It won't last, of course (more's the pity!) but meanwhile I'm enjoying every minute.

Photon torpedoes for Christmas...

I love Christmas. I love explosions. Is there anything better than combining the two? There is not! So here you go. (It's becoming an annual tradition...)



For those who wished Hild had dragons, I made this one for you. Have a wonderful day. I intend to.

Hild comps: winners!

A while back I said I do the final tally for our Hild comps competion around Thanksgiving. I must have been on crack; reviews are still coming in. But the holidays are upon us, it's time to call it a wrap.

If I count only public reviews from either well-known authors or well-respected journals (listed in one of the eight Hild roundups), then in addition to the previously listed Hilary Mantel, Sigrid Undset, T.H. White, George R.R. Martin, Ellis Peters, Rosemary Sutcliff, J.R.R. Tolkien, whoever wrote Beowulf, the person to whom we attribute the Arthur legends, Seamus Heaney, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Roger Deakin, Robert Macfarlane, Rudyard Kipling, Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Alison Weir, and Umberto Eco we can add Dorothy Dunnett and Mary Renault.

That makes the count, by number and gender (male pseudonyms count as men, female as women):

      20 total: 2 undeclared, 8 women, 10 men

The respective gender percentages work out at:

     10% undeclared, 40% women, 50% men

Possibly because I did such a poor job of laying out the rules, possibly because many of you don't seem to like to play by what rules I did lay down, there was no clear winner. Even after work with pencil and paper (hey, it's that time of year; it seemed more appropriate than a calculator app) it was difficult. Add to that the fact that I'm not at all sure I always remembered to count comparisons (you try calming counting when you want to beam and chortle and caper and you're telling all and sundry, Now this reviewer is very, very smart! Their genius shines from them! I bet their eyes are lovely, too! And their taste in clothes!) and, well, there's really no point in being rigid about it.

So I took the names of those who coloured even vaguely inside the lines and put them in a hat--okay, a tupperware container--and asked Kelley to pick one. She was in the middle of pondering a new baking experiment (involving oatmeal and raisins, drool) so to make the interruption seem worth her while I said, What the hell, pick two!
And the two winners are:
     Lilian Shen
     Cheryl74

Congratulations! Drop me email (asknicola2 at nicolagriffith dot com) which includes the the address you want the book sent to and who you'd like it signed for. I'll get them in the mail before the end of the year.

As for the gender spread itself if I had included private correspondence then the tilt towards men would be even more pronounced. This might merit its own post down the line. For now, though, those oatmeal cookies are calling...

Hild roundup #8

This will be the last links roundup, I think. Hild's been out six weeks and the pace of reviews and interviews is slowing. There are one or two to come but I'll just link to them as and when they appear.
Previous roundups are here. At some point (when need some avoidance behaviour) I'll create a roundup über page for those fanatics who wish to wallow in all things Hild.
REVIEWS
The Sunday GuardianLeft of Cool: Griffith's historical novel is fun, fearless and feminist, Aishwarya Subramanian"Perhaps Griffith's greatest achievement here is in not giving Hild a modern mind. […] Hild is immersive and feminist, and believable. Whether this is historical fiction or fantasy (and Griffith suggests that perhaps there needn't be a distinction between the two) it's complex and intelligent."
Val's Random CommentsHild: Nicola Griffith(Neither random nor by someone called Val, but long and discursive and interesting.)"Hild is a fascinating piece of literature. […]  It is also one of the most rewarding reads I've come across this year. I can't wait for the continuation of Hild's story. When that book is published it will no doubt jump right to the top of my to read list."
The Next 50Book Review: Hild, Nicola Griffith"If you have any interest at all in historical fiction, the Middle Ages in Britain, the change from pagan religions to Christianity, the early church in Britain, the role of women in medieval times, etc., READ THIS BOOK. […] I understand from the afterword that there is a second book in the works.  I can hardly wait.  This one will be going to the nursing home with me (if I still have all my marbles) because it is a gorgeous read and I look forward to re-reading it repeatedly in the future."
Journey of FaithStories
(Fascinating stuff, from the perspective of faith.)"Like all great novels, Hild transcends the world it describes. […] Karen Armstrong writes in A Short History of Myth, that mythology (like good fiction) is fundamentally about our experience. 'A myth was an event which, in some sense, had happened once, but which also happened all the time. Because of our strictly chronological view of history, we have no word for such an occurrence, but mythology is an art form that points beyond history to what is timeless in human existence.' But 'myth is not a story told for its own sake. It shows us how we should behave.' […] Perhaps it's time to let this image of being 'the light of the world' change me more completely.  Perhaps it's time to see how far my light can shine."
The AudioBookaneers
Release week: Nicola Griffith's Hild
"Curious, I stayed up past midnight Monday night to jump aboard, and am well, well pleased with Hewitt’s narration, though far from finished as the audiobook runs well into a 24th hour. It’s a book I’ve been eagerly waiting all year."

MISCELLANEOUS
Three writers at Ambling Along the Aqueduct put Hild on their end-of-year list:
Nisi Shawl:"It is, simply, the best book I read this year—and there were others that came damn close. But Hild wields more beauty, strength, passion, wit, sex, fear, glory, grue, delicacy, and magnificence than any book has a right to. Griffith, as Eileen Gunn put it, “writes like a commando”—she takes you away to wherever she wants and you can’t refuse to go. I went. I’ll go back again willingly for any sequels she cares to manifest."
Cheryl Morgan:"The new Nicola Griffith novel, Hild, contains only homeopathic quantities of fantasy. And yet, much like a work of Magic Realism, it is set in a world where everyone believes in magic, and consequently for them magic does exist. That world is 7th Century Britain... Griffith does a magnificent job of creating this world, and because her central character is female it is a world we see very much through women’s eyes."
Nancy Jane Moore:"Nicola Griffith’s Hild is also one of my favorite books of the year. Like Fowler, Griffith does not confine herself to any one genre, though also like Fowler, I think her books will interest sf/f readers regardless of whether she is writing sf, thrillers, or – as with this one – historical fiction. This book pulled me into 7th Century Britain, making the dirt and menace of the times very real and yet allowing me to live fully in another world – one of the real pleasures I get out of fine sf/f. I can hardly wait for the sequel, because – in time-honored fashion – I want to know what happened next."
Last week started with a bang. On Sunday there was, of course, this:

On Tuesday the audiobook came out.

And on Wednesday I posted two video clips:


And now Hild will take a bit of a rest. I know she's going on a least one roadtrip...

Winter wonderland

We woke this morning to a winter wonderland. It won't last—for which, frankly, I'm grateful. (We live at the bottom of a hill. Snow and ice = housebound.) But for now it makes everything look serene and snug.

Flowers and sunshine

A wonderful way to start the day. I think it's going to be a good one. I hope yours is, too.

Video of Hild reading and Q&A

The Hild audiobook came out yesterday. In celebration, here are two short videos taken from the Hugo House gig in Seattle last month. 

First, the longest: 31 minutes of the real me, complete with, ah, language. I'm answering readers' questions about all kinds of stuff: research, writing process, knowing the ending before you begin, publicity for aspiring writers, and so on.


Second, one of the readings--from the very beginning of the book--which is much shorter, about 8 minutes long:


There's more; we got the whole evening on tape. If you like these clips I'll post the whole enormous video (intro of me, my intro to the evening, two readings, whole Q and A). It's long, absolutely, but if that kind of thing floats your boat...

All camera work by the amazing Kurt Lorenz.

Hild audiobook is out!

Hild: my very first audiobook! Nearly 24 hours of luscious narration by Pearl Hewitt. Available today from:


Macmillan AudioAudibleAmazon
And a zillion other fine retailers that I forgot to hunt down but will do very soon.

Note for readers of Hild: Extras!

In Hild, both digital and print, there is a map. And pronunciation guide. And glossary. And note about Hild-the-real-person. And family tree. ALL RIGHT THERE IN THE FINISHED BOOK (though not the galleys). You just have to look for them.

For those who are reading on Nook or Kindle or Kobo or other app, and don't like popping in and out of the narrative to look at the extras (I've tried it; it's a bit of a chore) I recommend downloading PDFs of said extras (available here) and keeping handy on another device or--gasp--as print-outs.

Obviously if you have a hardcover you don't need to do any of that, because you can just flip to the map and family tree (at the front) or the biographical note, glossary, and pronunciation guide (at the back). Thumbs + print = radically efficient technology. Though digital is cheaper and much, much lighter...

But whether you're reading print or digital, you might also want to check out the 140+ character list, or Dramatis Personae, which I put together last week.

Enjoy. And, seriously people, I do not want to hear, ever again, that "There should be a map!" or "a glossary might be a good idea" or "the author should at least have indicated how to pronounce all those names..."  I have, I did. Go look.

Look at this!

Today's New York Times Book Review. Now that's what I call placement...