Todd Keisling

An update on the Amazon/BookSurge/POD publisher situation:

Monday, March 31, 2008, 5:10 PM: Angela Hoy tried to reach Bob Young at Lulu this morning. His secretary said he would call at 4:00 PM. She called Angela after 4:00, and said he wasn’t available, but agreed to put me through to Gale Jordan, Lulu’s Director of Public Relations. Gale Jordan said she would try to have the Vice President contact me. She called back a few minutes later to say he was not available (that he was on a plane). She then basically said they wouldn’t be able to give us a statement before our deadline. I asked if anyone could talk to me tomorrow morning. She said no, that they were all out of town at a remote location. I asked if they really couldn’t talk to me or if Lulu just didn’t want to comment. She said, “A little of both. We’re just not going to comment.”

Angela left a message on John Feldcamp’s (Xlibris) voicemail today. He has not returned her call.

Angela left a message on Kevin Weiss’s (AuthorHouse/iUniverse) assistant’s voicemail today. He has not yet returned her call.

An AuthorHouse author contacted Angela today and said he was told by his AuthorHouse representative that AuthorHouse was in “intensive negotations with Amazon.” I can’t, of course, confirm that is true, but the silence from these big three POD publishers speaks volumes.

Damn.

TK

Work continues on this new story, The Idea Salesman.  I’m not sure if it’s going to be worth anything, or if it will ever see the light of day, but for now it’s a carrot in front of my face and I absolutely cannot stop.

My host is doing a server migration, starting around midnight tonight, so if the site is down, this is why.  They say it could take up to 48 hours which is retarded.  My service with them ends on the 22nd.  I’ll have service with BlueHost before then.  And all of you folks out there probably won’t even notice the changeover.

Unfortunately this means I won’t be able to do a damn thing to the site over the weekend, so for all two of you who actually wanted to read something in the stories section, you’ll just have to wait.

In the meantime I’m going to go type up what I wrote by hand today.  With any luck, I’ll pick up speed and crank out the whole thing.  Maybe I’ll type so fast my keyboard starts to melt, like this:

(via BoingBoing)

I’ll see you folks on the other side,

TK

So Friday I said I’d do a bunch of things to the site over the weekend.  Well, best laid plans and whatnot.  I did get around to uploading some new files and deleting old ones.  What does this mean?  It means that the links on the Stories page are currently broken.  That’s because I meant to revamp the Stories page with sections for Short Fiction, Flash Fiction, Novellas, Novels and (gasp!) poetry, but I didn’t.  Why?  I’m lazy.  Sorry.  Hate to break it to you folks like this but, well, I just can’t hide it anymore.  Or maybe I’m just too lazy to try?

In any case, I will get around to doing that this week.  The files are on the server.  It’s just a matter of making it look pretty and accessible (and writing the copy to go along with it – ugh).

Since I’m short on actual content today, I’ll update with some writer things for you:

» Read the rest of this entry «

Good Friday snuck up on me.  I’m not complaining, though.  It’s a three-day weekend, which means I’ve got a day to play catch-up on things since I’ve been slacking these last few days.  Time to slog through Google Reader and pick out some flagged points of interest.

I’ll also be doing various little things around the website this weekend as well.  New things will be added and I hope to (finally) get the Store section up and running.

I meant to write about this earlier but I simply didn’t know what to say.  I was also rather tired this week and went to bed rather early most nights when I would normally blog.  Anyway, in case you’ve been living under a rock, acclaimed scientist and sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke passed away this week at the age of 90.  I admit I’ve never read any of his work, nor did I particularly enjoy the film for 2001: A Space Odyssey (and before any of you film geeks start flaming me over it, allow me to specify that I do agree it is an amazing film, but the story itself is just too slow for my taste), as I’m not really much of a reader of science fiction.  Still, I do recognize his importance to the genre and the scientific community, and he will be missed.  Rest in peace.

Following up on my blog about the implications of Borders’ new face out policy comes two new reports on Galleycat about possible reasoning behind it.  Not only did Borders receive a 42.5 million dollar “stimulus” (that’s a popular word here in America these days, isn’t it?) to boost its waning performance (which deeply saddens me), there is also murmurings in the corporate industry of a potential buyout or merger with Barnes & Noble.  So much for all those Mom & Pop stores.  This, too, saddens me.  When I read the Galleycat article, I felt a bit like this.

Moving on to a bit more uplifting matters is an interview with Neil Nyren, the Editor in Chief of Putman, over at Murderati about the state of the shrinking book market and the investment in upcoming authors.  It’s really worth a read.

I uploaded the first volume of NIN’s Ghosts to the media player on your left.  You can listen to all nine tracks and, if you like what you hear, I strongly encourage you to go buy the whole thing.  Five bucks gets you all 36 tracks in digital form.  Ten bucks gets you the CD.  It’s worth every penny.

In ALT-related news, I’m hoping to make the book available on Amazon as a Kindle-ready download.  Also on my list is something I’ve been meaning to do for ages now, and that’s upload a couple of pieces of fan art I received (I’ll probably include that awesome piece of fan mail too).  And now that I’m thinking about it, I just realized I forgot to post something months ago.  I received an email from a former co-worker back in October (I know, I know, I’m terrible), and now that I’ve remembered, I’m going to share it with you:

Your book was great and a thoroughly enjoyed it! I guess you don’t ever really know anything about the people you work with day to day…you think you do but you have no idea! From the first chapter to the end I was pulled into the Monochrome world!Makes you realize that every once in a while that you have to change things up and make your life less of the usual and make it a little unusual.  Anyway, congratulations on the book and your engagement! Thank you for getting me to read again.  I ride the train everyday and usually would take a nap or stare blankly at the window…now I am inspired to read again (if only for 20 minutes) and be taken far away.

“Thank you for getting me to read again.” This, folks, is one of the reasons I do what I do, and I think that’s a great place to end this entry.  Have a wonderful weekend and, for some, a great holiday as well.  I’ll write when the updates are made. 

Best,

TK

It’s during a conversation with a co-worker yesterday that I learned about Border’s announcement of their new face-out policy – meaning you’ll no longer have to turn your head to read the titles on the spines.  Spines?  Who needs spines when you’ve got full cover real estate to play with, right?

Then I read this on Galleycat today.

When I was younger and a little more stupid than at present, I wondered why most bookstores seemingly hid the awesome covers of some equally awesome books.  Those better books should’ve been facing outward so others could see them, right?  So they would know how great the book is too, right?  Sometimes, as a kid and well into my teens, if I saw a book I loved hidden among a dozen others, I would pluck it from its hiding place and turn it face-out so others would notice.  I’m sure this pissed off the clerks at the bookstore (as it did me when I finally got a job at a bookstore), but hey, my heart was in the right place.  After all, supporting the artist is a win-win situation, as it allows the artist to continue to produce more great work.  Right?  Right.

Then I got that job at Books-A-Million several years ago and my perception changed.  Aside from special promotional tables, end-caps (those little displays on the ends of aisles),  and the Best-Sellers rack, all of the books were turned spine-out.  Why?  Because there are a lot of books and not enough space.  Sometimes we had to jam books into their proper shelves so tightly that customers would need a crowbar to pull them out.  Yeah.  Space was limited.

Reading about Borders’ change of procedure made me wonder.  Sure, there’s speculation in that Galleycat article about the good it will do for small publishers (I’m going to go out on a limb and say little to none, if not even less – but hey, I’m a cynic), and I understand why my corporate bookstore of choice would make such a change as the economy is currently going tits-up and everyone has to do what they can to make ends meet, but the one thing that stood out in my mind was a simple, single, two-word sentence:  Less books.

I love Amazon.  They also happen to own Borders, but that’s besides the point.  Amazon is a godsend sometimes, and their free shipping for orders over $25 is a brilliant up-sell technique that works every time.  But is this a sign that they’ve won whatever kind of economic power struggle between brick-and-mortar stores and the online empire?  For as much as I love Amazon and its convenience, I also love going to a bookstore and getting lost in the aisles of books.  The thought of walking into my local Borders and finding fewer books kind of makes my heart hurt a bit.

Sign of the times, maybe?  What are your thoughts?

TK

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=HTtQjPQ_ETg]

I caught a radio interview that Lewis Black did for 93.3 WMMR back in 2006 where he was asked about what it’s like to write a book.  I don’t have an exact quote, but I’ll do my best to paraphrase: “Here’s what it’s like writing a book.  Take your hand – could be either one – and place it on a flat surface.  Then, with your other hand, take a pen.  Jab it through your other hand, and then continue to do so.  That’s what it’s like to write a book.”

Sometimes, on some days, I couldn’t agree more.  And that goes beyond just writing books.  That extends to any kind of writing.  I’ve got three solid story ideas floating around in my head, but damned if I can get them started.  Maybe they’re not ready yet.  Maybe I’m not ready yet.  In any case, they’re not being written.  In two weeks, just a few days shy of my 25th birthday, I will begin rewriting a novel that I’ve spent the last two years running from.  Oddly enough, I’m looking forward to it, even if I am the slightest bit hesitant.

Lewis Black is right.  You have to be a masochist to some degree.  Sure, he didn’t say it like that, but that’s what is implied.  Why would you do something like this to yourself?  Homework every day?

Maybe I just enjoy stabbing myself with a pen every day.

And this concludes my random thoughts on a Sunday evening.  I hope everyone had a great weekend.

TK

I’ll be playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl off and on every evening this week, if anyone wants a match.  My friend code is 5026-4082-8665.

I did something today that I haven’t done in a very long time.  As I mentioned in prior entries, I’ve been dealing with the cable company lately, and one of the good things to come of it was a free year of On Demand service, as well as a year of Starz and HBO.  I’ve no idea how we managed to get this insane freebie, but we did, and with the arrival of our new digital cable box this week, we finally got a chance to put it to real use.

As a writer who works a full time job, I barely have enough time to write anything, much less watch TV or play video games.  In fact, I’d say I spend too much time playing video games as it is.  But TV?  I gave that up years ago in college when I barely had enough for it.  Hell, I spent half my junior year without a TV.  Even now we only have very basic cable service because it magically reduces the cost of our internet service.  Erica watches it more than I do, and even that’s not much.  But this On Demand thing, where we get to watch all these free movies?  It’s beginning to spoil us and we’ve had it less than a week.  My attention has dropped to zero.

» Read the rest of this entry «

Quick update – I mentioned about a month ago that I’d written a couple of flash fiction pieces for a contest sponsored by 365tomorrows.  Well, the results are in, and it looks like my story “Down the Tubes” made the cut.  Actually both stories made the cut, but the weaker of the two – a little story called “Tin Foil Hat” – came in as a runner-up.  No complaints here.

There were some great entries to the contest.  I recommend you check them out every day this week.

I’ll update the “stories” section tomorrow.  For now you can read about the future Bandwidth Crisis and its neural solution right here.

TK

P.S. Be sure and Digg this, too, if you don’t mind!

Apologies all around for my lack of posting consistency.  I’d originally planned on posting on Saturday, but things got sidetracked (as they so often do).  In fact, the events of Saturday could be blamed for the ensuing chaos that consumed my weekend and Monday as well.

If you clicked here expecting something relating to Kurt Vonnegut or his amazing novel, then I’m afraid you may be disappointed.  I tried thinking of a less misleading title but after recuperating, my brain is still a little slow, so please bear with me.

Right.  Cats.  In a nutshell:  my neighbor’s cat broke into my apartment and pissed all over my futon.  There.  That’s the short version.  You can stop here if you want, or you can keep reading and get all the hilariously not-funny details of my weekend.

» Read the rest of this entry «

Well, after a rather long day of dealing with cable companies, internet connections, modems large enough to crack your skull and VoIP, I do believe I’ve got somewhat of a stable connection again, so please accept my apologies for this entry being a bit later than usual.  Seeing as how it’s still Thursday, I guess I’m still supposed to rant about something since I did it last week, too.

Unfortunately it’s not so much a rant as a leaping-off point for discussion, so if you’re looking for anything witty or sharp-tongued, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed this time around.

So, let’s get down to it.  The short story.  Is it still kicking?  Or is it in dire need of resuscitation?  Consider this article from GalleyCat:

Last week’s video clip with Story Prize director Larry Dark apparently touched a nerve with one or more frustrated writers—it’s hard to tell just how many because all the bitter, bitter emails came through the anonymous tipline. Anyway, all the messages ran roughly the same, culminating in this assertion:

“Maybe artistically, it’s still ok, but commerically the short story is DEAD. That’s D-E-A-D. Who ever heard of a short story writer as a valid career? Sorry, not in THIS time period.”

Quick, somebody tell Alice Munro she doesn’t have a valid career. She’s up in Canada; you can swing by George Saunders‘s house on the way and break the news to him as well. I’ll stay here in New York and let Amy Hempel and Deborah Eisenberg know it’s time for them to move on.

» Read the rest of this entry «