a fixed contest

The contest turned out to be a scam. They declared a winner the day before they said they would, when J2M was ahead.

Oh well, what can I say? It was a gimmick to begin with, and it was fixed in the end.

It's sad, but not terribly surprising.

Thank you all for your support.

a book cover contest

I entered Journey to Mythaca in a contest for best cover. The contest, called the Covey Awards, is more about how big your network of friends than how good your cover is, but I'm still pleased to see Kris's artwork honored.

Voting is open until Tuesday on the website. Go ahead. Do me a favor and cast a vote for Ivan and Magellan flying through the sky.

On signings and Google

1)
The signing at The Novel Experience went very well, as signings go. I've done some where almost no one comes and I only sell copies of the book to the store. This was much better.

It was a lovely day and the streets were crowded with tourists. Jim gave me the little alcove outside the store, and I brought all my characters and I set them up on the table and chairs.

At first no one stopped at all, even though I think the display was attractive with all the little people and Magellan himself. But people walked right by without a sideways glance. I guess they were all on their way somewhere else?

Half an hour in, the friends I'd invited and some others who happened by arrived. Pretty soon the little table was surrounded. People on the street were suddenly interested. Lots of people took the book club brochure, and I sold and signed several copies.

When the crowd finally thinned, I started approaching families with kids the right age asking, "Would you like to meet the characters from my new book?" That worked very well. More books went.

All in all, it was good, very good. Next time I'm going to wear more comfortable shoes though. What on earth made me think my feet should look good for a book-signing?

2)
On the very same day that Google called Tom to order many thousands of little chocolate coins with the Google logo imprinted on them, Journey to Mythaca turned up on Google Books.

the rhythm of all the worlds

Because the print review of Journey to Mythaca was due to come out this week, I arranged a signing at our local independent bookstore. The Novel Experience is little shop on of the busiest blocks in San Luis's lively downtown. Signings are done in the alcove outside the front door, a prime spot on a Saturday afternoon, especially on July 4th weekend.

But when I stopped by to check my stock there this morning, I realized that the clocks were not all chiming in harmony. No publicity had been done - not that publicity really does that much for an event like this. It's really about visibility on the street, but all the same...

I rushed home and spent the rest of the morning making the poster you see here. It took several hours to get it more or less right, but then it only cost 89¢ a copy to reproduce it in poster size at Kinko's. So, not bad.

Then I sent invitations to every local friend I've got.

And another friend is doing a press release this evening. Late, I know. Very late.

All the same, I'm looking forward to the signing. But, in light of the reality that signings in general are a wash unless you are J.K. Rowling, I'm taking all the characters from this book and the next to keep me company.

Whoo hoo!

This morning I woke up to two exciting email messages. One is a link to the first print review of Journey to Mythaca. It came out locally in a monthly, and in the Marinscope papers.

The other piece of news is that the cover of the book is up for the July Covey Award, an art award for book covers. The award is based on readers' votes, so you can vote for it on the site if you like it.

The mysterious thing about the cover to J2M is that since the book came out, I haven't been able to reach Kristopher Doe, the artist who did the beautiful image of Magellan on it. It's as if he just materialized long to paint that wonderful picture and then disappeared into the ether.

Kris, if you are out there, I 'd like to thank you!