Monthly Archives: August 2012

Odds & Ends.

August 30, 2012 in Blog

There are a number of things “in the works” at the moment. I wanted to post last Friday night following the Google+ broadcast, but I was so distracted by everything else (not to mention completely drained) that it completely slipped my mind. This week hasn’t offered much reprieve either, but I’ve got a long weekend off from work, so I now have some time to collect my thoughts.

Right.

Coming up:

  • I’ll be hosting an interview with author Kristen Tsetsi in support of her novel Pretty Much True. Date to be determined because I haven’t finished the book yet (but I’m 50% of the way through it).
  • I’ll also be hosting a stop on Anthony Rapino’s blog tour in support of his novel Soundtrack to the End of the World. Look for that on October 1st.
  • After almost two years, the Precipice Books website will launch this Saturday. This is what’s taken up most of my free time over the last couple of weeks.
  • Alongside the Precipice launch, I’ll also begin taking pre-orders for the TLM Gift Set I’ve mentioned over the last several weeks.
  • A Zazzle shop is in the works for various TLM-related merch, including that skateboard. Look for that to launch around the same time as the book’s release.

This weekend Erica is finalizing the cover spreads for both print editions. I’m still waiting on a couple more blurbs, but I hope to receive them by Saturday. Regardless, the print files will be uploaded to LSI’s system by the middle of next week, and I should receive the proofs sometime in the middle of September. Once the proofs come back and (provided no tweaks have to be made), the book will be 100% complete.

So far, everything is going according to schedule. My fingers are crossed.

Today I received a test print of the TLM shirts:

And the oversized postcards for the TLM Gift Set:

The Google+ hangout went well. I’d like to thank Eric Wiebe, a longtime fan and supporter, for showing up and suffering through my diatribes for two hours. A lot of you sent me messages to report errors when you tried to connect with the chat. I apologize for that. I wanted to try something that would be free of ads, and Google+ seemed to be the best choice, but I didn’t think about the various hoops one must jump through in order to join a Hangout. Next time I’ll try something like Justin.tv.

There is a video of the broadcast, though. You can find it here.

I didn’t realize that Eric’s screen would be maximized throughout most of the recording (something which you can witness, with hilarious results). The result is accidental fame on Eric’s part. I hope he doesn’t mind.

I think that’s it for now. I’ll post again this weekend once the Precipice website is live.

Until then,

TK

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What happened on Friday night.

August 18, 2012 in Blog

So it’s Friday night. I’m camped out in front of the TV, chatting with my buddy Dave over Xbox Live, when my phone makes the knock-knock notification. I have mail, it seems. When I open it up, I’m first greeted with this:

I won’t argue with her assessment. A second email had something even better, though. Something I’ve been waiting a long time to see. Something that, when I saw it, I immediately excused myself from the conversation, ran into my office, and loaded onto my Kindle:

Soon after, I receive an alert on Facebook from my good friend Aimee. She’s working on screen printing the TLM shirts, and . . .

Normally, when I get updates on things like this, they tend to trickle in one at a time. Everything in its own time, you see. But a confluence of updates like this? Unheard of, especially for a Friday night.

That’s really it. I just wanted to share these things with you. I now have the finished Kindle version of TLM, and it’s beautiful. (Many thanks to Moriah Jovan & B10 Mediaworx!)

Since I have the Kindle version, I may consider doing a giveaway during next Friday night’s Google+ broadcast–which you can learn all about by checking out the new Events page I set up

Okay, I think that’s it for now. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

TK

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TLM gift set correction:

August 12, 2012 in Blog

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the limited gift sets I’m putting together, and I mentioned there would be an 18 x 24 poster print included. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to exclude that from the set due to time constraints, lack of ideas, and shipping logistics (it would require separate shipping).

In its place, I’m going to include special postcard-sized prints that can double as book plates. I’ll sign these if you want me to.

For now, I need your input. I have three designs. Ideally, I’d like to only have one printed, but I’m open to the suggestion of all three if there’s enough demand:

Leave a comment and let me know which one(s) you prefer.

More soon,

TK

P.S. Last night someone requested a custom TLM-themed skateboard. The crazy thing is, he was completely serious; even crazier, it may actually happen.

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One last hurrah.

August 9, 2012 in Blog

I started experimenting with Amazon’s KDP Select program back in February, making use of its free promotional days as a way of boosting ALT’s visibility. I get five “free” days every three months, and August 24th will mark the last day of this particular period.

Following that day, I will not be offering ALT as a free promotion for a couple of months (for reasons that are probably obvious, but which I’ll reveal at a later date).

So . . . I’d like to do something to mark the occasion. April was my most successful month, and I think it had something to do with the live broadcast I scheduled on the night of my birthday to coincide with the free promotion.

Since the 24th will be the last free day for a while, I think I’ll do another live broadcast. Instead of using Ustream this time, I’m going to make use of the “Hangout” feature on Google+. This way there won’t be annoying ads interrupting my feed every 15 minutes.

Like last time, this event is going to be focused on TLM. I will read from the novel–and not the same bit as last time. I will talk about characters and plot while keeping things as spoiler-free as possible. I will answer your questions.

One reason I want to give the Hangout feature a try is because we’ll be able to interact more directly. That is, I’ll see you on camera as well (provided you have a camera, or even want to be on camera). The downside is that only 10 people will be able to “participate” in the hangout, but I’ll also be checking Twitter & FB regularly to take any questions you might pose there.

The Hangout will go live at 8 PM on Friday, August 24th, and last as long as it has to. I’ll post a link once it’s live. Oh, and I believe you’ll need to be on Google+ to actively participate. You should still be able to watch the broadcast, though.

I look forward to reading to you. I hope you can join me!

Best,

TK

P.S. This is my Google+ profile, if you want to add me to your circles.

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