Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: no show

SHELF LIFE: The Book Jitters

I have the jitters.  Book jitters to be exact.  I always get them with an impending release.  NO SHOW is done.  My editors and I have whittled away at it over the last six months and it’s as good as it’s going to be.  And it’s going to be good, if my editors are to be believed.  My main editor thinks it’s the best book of mine she’s worked on so far.  One of my copyeditors thought it was “breathtaking.”  Another thought the Greek tragedy element and nontraditional happy ending were refreshing.  All these comments should fill me with confidence, but they don’t.  They’ve made me more nervous than normal.  The problem is you—the readers, the public and other sentient beings.  You guys all have minds of your own.  And that’s troubling to me.

The problem is stories are subjective.  No two people see the same thing.  We all bring our own baggage to the party when reading a book.  It doesn’t matter how tightly I construct a story, there’s a chance you’ll miss some of themes I’ve woven into the piece or you’ll read into the story some subtext I never intended (but if it makes me look good I will take credit for it).  So even if we have a meeting of minds, we won’t all connect on the same level.  Even if we all like it.

I learned quite a while ago that readers don’t see things the way I do.  When my first short story collection, DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS, came out, I was convinced which story would be the reader’s favorite—which would coincide with my favorite story.  Unfortunately, it didn’t play out that way.  People’s favorite stories ran from top to bottom with now clear leader.  You’d think all you people are individuals or something.

Since then I’ve come to learn that I lose ownership of my books the second they hit the bookshelves.  I have to let go and leave it out there to sink or swim.

Despite that Zen outlook, it doesn’t make me feel any easier, because this is the limbo time.  With ten weeks to go before NO SHOW is released, I fret over whether the book is a good one or a horrible mistake.  It’s very Schrödinger’s Cat.  At this stage of the game the book exists in two states—a work of genius and a total piece of crap—and until someone cracks the binding; I don’t know which I’ve created.  Yes, I should be more confident, but I can’t.  Hand on heart, the response to every one of my books has surprised me, regardless of whether of the criticism is good or bad.  I always think, wow, you thought that?

All I can say I’ve put my heart and soul into the book and I hope that shines through to you, the reader.  I’ll know in ten weeks.

Yours in literary purgatory, your humble author,

Simon

 

Categories: shelf life

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SHELF LIFE: See Simon Run

The publishing world is changing.  I know that sounds like a “duh” comment, but I’m not talking about eBooks, Amazon, bookstore closings or publisher consolidation.  I’m talking about book tours.  I have to start planning my travel plans for my NO SHOW book tour, but as much as I would like to travel the lengths of the country, I have to be a realistic.  These days, I can reach more people from the comfort of my own home than I can do traveling the country.  Social networking has put me in arm’s reach of a lot people that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago.  That’s somewhat of a shame as I like meeting new people and old friends while visiting different places.  However, book tours aren’t what they were a few years ago.  Bookstores are disappearing.  Where I used to hit two or three bookstores in each city, I’m down to one option in some cases.  The problem is doubled by book signing attendance drop off due to changing reading habits.  I have more readers than I did five years ago, but they don’t come to signings. People read digitally, so there’s no need to come to the signings.  The book collectors have all but disappeared, which is a real shame.  These guys tutored me on the book industry workings when I started out.  Things aren’t helped by the rising cost of air travel.  The days of $50 Southwest flights are long gone.  And at the end of the day, tours are time consuming and one of my publishers said to me recently, they’d prefer me writing than traveling.  It’s a complicated situation.  I’m not complaining.  It’s just the realities I’m facing.

While I could lament all this, it doesn’t do me any favors.  Times are changing so I have to change with them.

Despite the changes in the book world, essentially, my end game is the same—I want to meet readers and make them happy and enhance their reading experience.  So I have a few questions for you.

Readers: I’ve been given the opportunity to do a video chat that can support dozens of people are once. Would you come to a video book signing, as it were?

Book clubs, writers groups and bookstores: Would you be interested in a video/Skype book signings/book chat?

Readers: Are signed books important to you?

Please be honest with your answers.  Don’t say yes if it doesn’t really work for you.

Technology has changed books, but it’s time technology worked for books.  The most important thing to me is making readers happy, so help me do that.  Tell me what you want.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Categories: shelf life

Read more

SHELF LIFE: See Simon Run

The publishing world is changing.  I know that sounds like a “duh” comment, but I’m not talking about eBooks, Amazon, bookstore closings or publisher consolidation.  I’m talking about book tours.  I have to start planning my travel plans for my NO SHOW book tour, but as much as I would like to travel the lengths of the country, I have to be a realistic.  These days, I can reach more people from the comfort of my own home than I can do traveling the country.  Social networking has put me in arm’s reach of a lot people that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago.  That’s somewhat of a shame as I like meeting new people and old friends while visiting different places.  However, book tours aren’t what they were a few years ago.  Bookstores are disappearing.  Where I used to hit two or three bookstores in each city, I’m down to one option in some cases.  The problem is doubled by book signing attendance drop off due to changing reading habits.  I have more readers than I did five years ago, but they don’t come to signings. People read digitally, so there’s no need to come to the signings.  The book collectors have all but disappeared, which is a real shame.  These guys tutored me on the book industry workings when I started out.  Things aren’t helped by the rising cost of air travel.  The days of $50 Southwest flights are long gone.  And at the end of the day, tours are time consuming and one of my publishers said to me recently, they’d prefer me writing than traveling.  It’s a complicated situation.  I’m not complaining.  It’s just the realities I’m facing.

While I could lament all this, it doesn’t do me any favors.  Times are changing so I have to change with them.

Despite the changes in the book world, essentially, my end game is the same—I want to meet readers and make them happy and enhance their reading experience.  So I have a few questions for you.

Readers: I’ve been given the opportunity to do a video chat that can support dozens of people are once. Would you come to a video book signing, as it were?

Book clubs, writers groups and bookstores: Would you be interested in a video/Skype book signings/book chat?

Readers: Are signed books important to you?

Please be honest with your answers.  Don’t say yes if it doesn’t really work for you.

Technology has changed books, but it’s time technology worked for books.  The most important thing to me is making readers happy, so help me do that.  Tell me what you want.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Categories: shelf life

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