"There are three reasons for becoming a writer: the first is that you need the money; the second that you have something to say that you think the world should know; the third is that you can't think what to do with the long winter evenings."---Quentin Crisp
I have a book coming out tomorrow. It's called Fifty Grand. You may be able to get it in bookstores but you may not. Shelf space is at a premium in most chain bookstores and managers will usually only stock authors who are proven unit shifters. You can however get 50G on Amazon or Powells or B&N.com and if you have a local mystery or indy bookstore they might have it. I worked very hard on this book and put a lot into it and although I'm not the best person to judge I think its a pretty tight read. If you do happen to get it I would certainly appreciate a review on Amazon or B&N or Good Reads.
Go raibh céad maith agat.
Adrian
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61 comments:
I know one general indie bookstore where you will be able to get it, though. But I think the release date here is Tuesday. For some reason, most of them are.
I think you've given away copies to a large proportion of the people who read this blog, Adrian. So spread the word outward, people. There have got to be a few people in the world who don't read here or on the blogs of the usual suspects...
Thanks Seana I really appreciate that.
And yes this time I am more than ever dependant on the kindness of strangers because I'm not doing any readings and I wont be able to do my usual door knocking on the bookstores in Denver and Boulder. It feels a little like being dead and watching it all from heaven unable to assist the process; I'm quite curious to see how the book does without my physical presence.
Liked the little gag in the title of your post. Good luck with the new book. I thought DIWMB was one of the most underrated crime novels of the last decade. Incredible that it was largely ignored by the dinosaurs in the mainstream media. Hope it doesnt happen to you this time. Anyway good luck.
Ian
Little being the operative word.
Hey dont write off the MSM...yet. I need those guys on my team. But thanks for the luck, I WILL need that in this commercial climate.
Yes, I can see how it would all feel a bit disembodied. Well, I think the word of mouth from readers of this site will be good, anyway. How many people are shelling out for hardbacks right now is the question.
maybe I should point out that there may not BE a paperback.
If the MSM discovers you then you wont be a "cult author" anymore and we culties wont feel so special having been smart enough to find you.
Anon
I dont know who you are but I guarantee you are not my agent or my bank manager.
I'm not looking to crack the NYT bestseller list or become rich, getting the book inside the Amazon 1000 would be a "success" in my terms and would probably mean that I could convince myself to stick at this for another couple of years yet.
I think we are in the realm of 'may not be's these days. May not be a paperback, may not be a bookstore, may not be mainstream media before all that long. But it's probably best not to dwell on it for the nonce.
According to the most recent New Yorker, Katherine Anne Porter did wonders with a cult following and mainstream lack of appreciation. But I'd call that making the best of a bad situation. And I'm not wishing the same on you.
Here's to filthy lucre and a lot of it.
Seana
I wonder if this is the future?
Tomorrow is Fitty G day? Cool! I'll be sure to rerun my review on CSNI.
Best of luck with it.
gb
I second seanag's call for filthy lucre for ye.
Your books should be on a best selling list of your choice. It's not easy to get someone like me to hang on the narrator's every word of one of your audible Dead series, and to get my partner to do the same. I like drama flicks. She likes car chases. She spent valuable time listening to my copy of the Dead series while in bed, giggling. When we first met, as a test to see whether or not we were compatible, I made her watch South Park movie. She laughed all the way through it. But tends not to like losing control like that, as she is French and is a theatre director. I'm sure that must be a valid explanation somehow.
We have a couple of performances to do in the upcoming week for children and science, and we should have been rehearsing our arses off. But no, the Montreal trained theatre director wasted it away thanks to you! I told her 50 Grand was coming out, and well, that will be the reward for surviving our shows after next week.
I'll have a little blog for you tomorrow. You may want to book that plane ticket now...
Read it, loved it, reviewed it on GoodReads. I'll post a review on Amazon, too, when the time is right.
BTW, have you read this? http://www.genreality.net/the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller
Quite an eye-opener.
Ger
Thanks man I appreciate it. Luck is what I need I think. Luck and, er, maybe a good book?
Sheiler
Wait a minute isnt there a song in there called Blame Canada? Of course a Quebecois is going to like South Park BLU.
Incidentally for a brief period of time I taught in the Denver suburb of South Park, but actually the show is more of an amalgam of Colorado Springs, Boulder and Golden, CO.
Anyway SP is no test. You should rent The Barbarian Invasions or whatever the French title is - loved that movie.
And thanks for the support I do need it.
Miss Witch
I fear thee ancient mariner.
No I wont come to your house and kick bum over a bad review from your own fair hand, however, lets just say that your tick troubles may not be as over as you suspect.
Duh duh Duhhhh....
Mike
Thats a very interesting story. Still its an entire division above where I'm at at the moment, its certainly not the gigantic payday I would have thought - however I've got to say a royalty check of 250000 would be pretty sweet. No?
Thanks for the Good Reads review. I havent checked it yet, so this is a naive trusting thanks....
Wait I meant 25000 which is what he got. 250 000 would be enough I think for me to say to hell with the lot of youse, I'm off to Tasmania to make quality butter (with the aid of some cows obviously).
Read the review, thanks man, brought my average up to a healthy 4. Nice.
I wonder what the exact ratio would be? Sell enough books to keep you out of the poor house but not enough to make you mega rich and jack it all and deprive us of the books...
Cherry
Make me mega rich and I'll write a book a year just for you. Deal? Please tell me you're Bill Gates using a pseudonym....
Adrian, my first reaction on reading that article was 'What the hell?' But that's because I missed the crucial word 'book' in the first sentence and thought that books were now going to be printed on espresso machines, which in my opinion would be taking the whole book/coffee connection one step too far.
But now that I've got it right, I would say it is definitely what the future will look like--that is, if people bother with downloading books to printed form at all. Either way, I can not imagine what the point of physical bookstores will be, although for awhile I would guess that anything with photographic prints in it would not come out of an espresso machine at the desired quality level. Especially with all those coffee stains on it.
Also after reading the article Michael cited, I'm reminded of the store meeting when our boss broke down the actual costs of doing business vs. the profits we actually make on books. True, this was preparatory to the announcement of some belt-tightening measures, but the figures, to the best of my knowledge, weren't cooked.And they weren't what you would call cause for optimism.
In any other era, I'd say it would be wiser for us all to give it up and go into real estate or something. But somehow I don't think this is exactly the time for that either.
Good Luck.
Hope it's a big success.
Tis tight indeed! A ripper read. Thanks Ado for your hard work.
cheers,
Katherine.
Adrian,
I don't know if this is kosher from your perspective (just ignore if it is)but I just finished reading Fifty Grand for review and loved it. My editor at NewMysteryReader.com wants me to ask if you'd be interested in an email interview to be posted on the site.
I don't like to ask in an open forum like this, but I don't have any other contact information for you. If interested, please drop a line to dana.king1 (at) gmail.com.
If this is inappropriate, please feel free to delete this comment.
Seana
Now I'm waiting for the coffee machine authors too. Just cut out the middle man. Have robots write, edit and print the book.
Marco
Thanks bro. We'll just see what happens.
Katherine
Thank you Kate, if indeed I can call you kate. If not well thanks anyway.
Dana
Its not only kosher its parve for Passover.
Adrian:
Don't worry too much about the reviews.
I already paid for copy of 50G, on advance order, and I did not need a review to tell me it's going to be great.
I share your dim view of the marketplace, but there are still readers out there, and word of mouth still sells books.
And besides, did you expect riches and glory?
Here's a little brand new poem, aimed right at the heart of this critical matter, entitled "To the Critic, or Little Known Fact":
If all the book reviews
ever printed
by the New York Times
were laid out end-to-end
they would stretch
all the way
to
Uranus.
PKL
And to Seana:
Book Shop Santa Cruz is a real treasure, right up there with Santa Cruz's other great institution, the greatest music venue west of the Mississippi, the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. You are lucky to live in that town. Wish I still did.
Patrick
Yeah you're right. I mean you can never predict how anyone is going to react to what you do. And I honestly dont mind what people say as long as they actually are honest enough to read the book. Everyone's opinion is unique and valuable... well everyone except those nutters over on Audible.com who gave DIWMB 1 star because it had too much swearing and violence. I mean what did you think you were getting into reading a book called DIWMB with a half naked guy and a hand gun on the cover? Come on.
Blood pressure rising, must stop now...
nice poem BTW, though I cannot condemn or condone your sentiment.
Adrian,
Congrats, man. You should be real proud of 50G, real proud of everything you've done so far. I hope 50G sells like crazy. It's a great read.
Brian
Maybe its because of my bleak, rainy, dour, Old Testament Ulster upbringing but the sin of pride rarely enters my breast. Except when my kids do something cool.
Do you have a preferred online vendor, Adrian? I'm ready to order but would like some clams to end up in your pocket if possible, not in some reseller's somewhere, assuming you get at least a wee chunk of royalties. I could order it locally, but our bookstores are chains, so I'd just as soon order online.
HB
Doesnt matter at all. If its someone who reports their sales so much the better, but honestly it doesnt matter, whereever you can get it cheapest is probably best... and thank you so much. All joking aside 16 bucks (the amazon price) is a lot of money in any time. Cheers mate.
And hey if you like it tell a friend. And if you dont like it feel free to complain your head off.
Adrian:
Absolutely. I can afford to bite the hand that feeds you.
PKL
You can bet I'll tell people about it. I am constantly picking up copies of DIWMB and giving them away to friends, wherever I can find them. Used stores, ebay, amazon. I have three to give away right now, in fact.
Thanks. I will order 50G right now. Can't freaking wait!
Patrick
The last time someone bit my hand literally it was a big South African guy in a rugby match. The odd part - he was on my team and thought he was biting someone's else hand, as if that makes it any better.
HB
I'm tired emailing Scribner asking them to either get DIWMB back into print or revert the rights back to me. I dont know what to do. If it stays out of print for another 12 months I get the reversion automatically, but on the other hand I'd like people to be able to get it...
Patrick,
Yes, Bookshop and Kuumbwa are both Northern California institutions. It's good to be reminded every once in awhile of the advantages and opportunities we have, as here, like everywhere else, the daily grind can sometimes wear a bit thin. I in the process of looking for housing here once, not particularly happy about any of my options, when I sat down on the bus next to someone who had just been off living in Seattle or somewhere for a year or two. And he was just so happy to be back that he said everyone should try a year or so away.
That kind of stuck with me, although the truth is, I've always been a little ambivalent about my Santa Cruz experience. Doubtless that would be the same anywhere I was and some places much more so. It's odd, though, to live somewhere for as long as I have, and still feel somewhat transient. And part of that is that the community itself feels transient. People move away after college, sure, but they also move away after retirement because they can't afford to retire here. There kids usually can't afford to live here either--not in the sense of marrying and raising children here. So there is an odd, unsettled feeling all the time, even if your own circumstances seem even on the stagnant side.
It is a great small town as small towns go, though. There really is no denying that.
Adrian, twelve months is not so long, though, in the grand scheme of things, and people will be able to get it one way or another until then.
I've ordered my copy and Amazon says it's on its way to me. As soon as it's in my head I'll write a review. Although, like several others, I did not need a review to tell me that it's going to be amazing. Can't wait to read it and I will definitely tell folks about it!
I know people that have read "There Is An Urgency" that have turned around and read "Dead I Well May Be". I will continue pushing your books as long as you keep pumping them out! Thanks brother.
Maybe Greg can re-release DIWMB on his little label. That would be cool.
Congratulations on your latest release, Adrian! Hope it does the business for you.
Hardbarned - I could do with a copy of DIWMB! ; )
Greg
Thanks man. I hope you like it. But you never know. Go in with low expectations and it'll all be fine....
HB
Excellent idea! Published under Gred's imprint. In fact, I suspect post Oprah Greg's empire will grow to such an extent that he will buy Simon and Schuster and operate it as a subdivision.
Miss Witch
Well its being re-released in the UK in July by Serpents Tail as part of the trilogy edition. I'm going to buy some copies myself as I have no pbks at all left now.
Seana
I agree. I loved SC. The missus was at UCSC for one term (after transferring from AI Chicago (then she went to Reed, U New Mexico and finally Marylhurst in Portland but thats another story) so we drove down from SF one time. It was great. I loved UCSC BTW (except that it does seem to be a sex predators paradise). After SC we drove down to the Peninsula which also was pretty. Be a nice place to live except that it looks like the nearest children's hospital is all the way back in SF which is a bit worrying.
Stuart
Thanks for that. BTW just ordered GOB from Amazon with my own money!
I'm glad you both know the area. Hope you're feeling upbeat about the book. It's certainly getting a lot of stir on all our favorite blogs. Small portion of the blogosphere, but I like to think a 'select' one.
I'm off to a very common Santa Cruz pastime--looking for a new place to live. We all trade housing here from time to time, under the sad delusion that we are going to find something better for the price. Wish me luck.
If I make it to Oprah, I'm all over buying Simon and Schuster.
Seana
Good luck with that. Its already bloody miserable in my experience.
Greg
That will be a sweet day. They have a big set of corner offices overlooking the studio where they make Fox and Friends...
All except for the Star Trek books people who are all stuck in a basement somewhere.
Yeah, fantastic read...will leave some more thoughts when I'm more coherent. I'll just say, it's well worth the wait and I'll help spread the word. I'd twitter about it if I knew how to do that.
Also hoping for the re-release of DIWMB.
And Adrian, if you really liked the Barbarian Invasions, you must check out Arcand's earlier flick, The Decline of the American Empire. Same characters, 17 years before The Barbarian Invasions.
Sucks about that dingo, though.
Matt
That sounds like fun, though I wouldnt want to see the hyper cute heroin addict 17 years younger. She'd be about five.
US book tour?
Adam
Dont think so this year, but I am planning to come to Bouchercon 2010.
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