News, events, and general discussion

[Radthorne]

Denmark, you say? Well, that must be Nicba - he picked up an early copy of Kotaishi (don't ask me how he got it to Denmark!) and has said some very kind things about the book.

Thank you for having a go at it - I hope (as with Hereford Eye) that the read is worth the trouble in acquiring it! I did learn a couple of days ago that Ingram seems to have Sabakushi finally in their system. I don't know how long it will take the feed to reach the stores, though (several stores use a third party software package that has its own database, updated via a direct feed from the various distributors like Ingram and Baker and Taylor. Don't ask me how I know this - I've learned far more about bookstore supply chain operations lately than I really wanted to learn... ) And even though Ingram has a listing, they don't yet have inventory. So Windstorm is still the better bet for the moment.

There's a nifty automated phone number you can call of Ingram's that will give you, by ISBN, their current inventory and sales records of any book. Quite handy for keeping track of your titles (and, perhaps, your competitors...) I don't think I can post the phone number here, but you can find it on the Midwest Book Review site.

 

[Radthorne]

I posted this same info in the General Discussion forum thread on conventions, but just in case anybody is looking here and not there, here is my schedule for CascadiaCon over Labor Day weekend here in Seattle:

Thur 9/1 5:00 PM: Revision, Getting Things Right the Second or Third Time
Fri 9/2 10:00 AM: The Art of the Storyteller
Fri 9/2 12:00 PM: Getting That Novel Finished
Fri 9/2 3:00 PM: Reading from The Sands of Sabakushi
Sat 9/3 10:00 AM: Morality in Youth Oriented Fantasy (Robin Hobb is moderating that one).
Sat 9/3 2:00 PM: Autograph table
Sun 9/4 5:00 PM: Characters are People Too

I'd love to see any SFFWorlders there, if you'll be coming to the con!

 

[Radthorne]

I've been invited to do a reading at Third Place Books, in Lake Forest Part, WA on Dec 12th, at 7:00 PM. Third Place is a large bookstore that is part of a "commons" area, adjoining a food court that includes a stage for events and a cooking demonstration area (as well as one of those giant wooden chess boards...). The readings are not on the stage, alas; but where they do take place is within visual and auditory range of nearly the whole establishment, so it should be a nice place to do a reading.

Anyone who is in the Seattle area at the time, do stop by!

 

[KatG]

Kevin -- I was, as you know, going to order direct from your publisher, but then Amazon for my area had your works listed, so I'm experimenting and ordered from them. I'll let you know when I've got Part 1.

 

[Radthorne]

Kevin -- I was, as you know, going to order direct from your publisher, but then Amazon for my area had your works listed, so I'm experimenting and ordered from them. I'll let you know when I've got Part 1.

Many thanks! I look forward to hearing both how quickly the book shows up, and what you think of it when it does!

 

[Radthorne]

Also, I received my schedule for Foolscap, a rather smaller convention at the end of September in Seattle. Here's the panels I'll be on for that one:

Fri 9/23 4:00 PM: Writers Who Draw, Artists Who Write (a very appropropriate panel for me!)
Sat 9/24 11:00 AM: Writing Dialogue Workshop

If anyone will be around, do stop by...

 

[JRMurdock]

I had a vacation in Minnesota last week. I had a chance to finish Part II. I'll post a review of Part I and Part II both here and at Amazon later this week.

To say the least, you surpassed all my expectations. I can't wait to use your bit for the podcast, which I also hope to have produced by the end of the week.

 

[Radthorne]

I had a vacation in Minnesota last week. I had a chance to finish Part II. I'll post a review of Part I and Part II both here and at Amazon later this week.

To say the least, you surpassed all my expectations. I can't wait to use your bit for the podcast, which I also hope to have produced by the end of the week.

See, I knew you were a really nice chap...

 

[Radthorne]

CascadiaCon update:

Just completed day three of the five day con. Instead of schmoozing at the parties (where all the real networking takes place) I've come home with Lise to recuperate, until jumping into the fray again tomorrow.

I've done most of my panels and things (I have one more tomorrow), and response has been fair. I had a panel this morning on Morality in YA Fantasy that included Robin Hobb and her U.K. editor Jane Johnson. Robin is a very kind and generous person; before the panel began she made all sorts of nice comments about my books and their covers, which of course those already in the room overheard. She's quite supportive of those of us on the "lower rungs" as we struggle our way upwards.

The other panels have not been too bad; the usual hodge-podge of some good, some fair. I had a reading and an autograph signing, at which attendance was the predicatable zip-po, but that's pretty much par for the course. Windstorm Creative was there last night, launching the anthology they published in conjunction with the con; they also had a healthy crew of their authors on hand. I sold a set of Sabakushi and a Part 2 of Kotaishi at the party, and Lady Jane's Bookseller's in the Dealer Room sold another set of Sabakushi.

These cons are quite draining, as you've always got the "networking face" running overtime. But having been going to them now for about five years, I'm always a bit surprised by how many people I've actually come to know. As I travel from one end of the con to the other (a common activity, trolling the hallways) I usually bump into at least one familiar face along the way.

More info as the con winds down...

 

[Radthorne]

Finished the rest of the con. I had one more good panel, with Louise Marley and Jane Johnson. We had a lively discussion with the audience on "Characters Are People Too!" on how to develop memorable characters in one's writing.

Next con up is Foolscap, near the end of this month!

 

[Rocket Sheep]

I noticed that my site was getting a few hits via Sffnet and I thought, "that's strange, I'm way too cheap to join sffnet". Then I traced the hits back to your author site.

Thank you, Kevin!

 

[Radthorne]

I noticed that my site was getting a few hits via Sffnet and I thought, "that's strange, I'm way too cheap to join sffnet". Then I traced the hits back to your author site.

Thank you, Kevin!

You're quite welcome. Guess that means there's somebody out there actually looking at my site, too!

 

[Rocket Sheep]

You mean you don't have a tracker to see who's looking at you? That's half the fun.

I used to get hits from people looking for Bren guns but not so much anymore. Marrianne DP has sent a few people my way too.

 

[Radthorne]

You mean you don't have a tracker to see who's looking at you? That's half the fun.

I had a hit counter initially (courtesy of SFFNet), but it seemed to just be showing me all the various robot hits from crawlers and the like. It was just a simple count, so it didn't tell me much. If you have something a little more sophisticated that you can recommend, then I'd love to take a look.

 

[Rocket Sheep]

I'm trialling a Prostats thingy: www.prostats.co.uk

I don't know if it is available commercially or if they need more trialists. I've had it for a year and it's only been upgraded once but it seems to work great... apart from not telling me who that person from Sydney is who logs onto my site every few days without fail... I must have a good link to somewhere because I'm not that interesting.

 

[Radthorne]

I'm trialling a Prostats thingy: www.prostats.co.uk

Thanks - I'll check 'em out.

I must have a good link to somewhere because I'm not that interesting.

Silly sheep - your legion of wooly-headed admirers would dispute that contention...

 

[Rocket Sheep]

What? Both of them? That's asking a bit much.

 

[KatG]

So, tell us all about the sff convention.

 

[Radthorne]

So, tell us all about the sff convention.

Actually I've been very remiss - I haven't been putting much "news" here in the news thread. I'm one convention behind...

So, here's first my update from the Foolscap convention in September:
While the panels were perhaps only so-so, the interesting news for me was doing the art show. The impetus for this was that one of the panels was called "Writers Who Draw and Artists Who Write." This seemed appropriate for me because of my book covers, but I also thought that if I was ever going to exhibit any of my other 3D digital renderings then this would be the time to do it. I displayed nine works, and I actually sold one! It was one of only two pieces sold during the entire weekend from the art display. Not a bad showing for a first-time art exhibitor. So I'll probably continue to display at future conventions. If nothing else, it's fairly inexpensive advertising for Radthorne-the-writer as well.

 

[Radthorne]

And, from World Fantasy Con:

The con itself was mildly productive, as these things generally are. For all the expense, it's tough to point to any concrete results. Mostly it's general face time and exposure, hoping that over time something will come your way. I didn't have any panels but I did have a reading, which went well enough if sparesly attended (at least I didn't sneeze from the dreadful cold I had during the trip). I had run a color ad in the program book, and had hoped that might draw a few more people, but my other reason for doing it was just to get some more exposure in front of people's eyeballs.

I spoke with one editor but didn't get much result from my later follow-up with him (only deals with agented writers). I did have a good dinner with the buyer for the UW bookstore, who I already knew. He's turning into quite a good contact to have.

It was also good to see some of my author friends and meet new ones, like Scott Bakker. Also my thanks to Borderlands Books of San Francisco for carrying my books during the con; they have since said that they are going to stock the titles in their store as well.

Coming up quickly is the Borders reading event in Redmond, which should be interesting, as it is being billed as a Microsoft appreciation event. I understand that all Microsoft Redmond employees will be getting emails about it. That should drum up some business! I went to the store today to drop off bookmarks and postcards for display at the registers, and they've printed up big posters with my name and book covers on them to hang in the store windows! Not that is cool...