Happiest News

The softcovers of The Happiest Days of Our Lives have just shipped, according to my printer, so I should be able to start taking orders next week. The limited edition hardcovers are taking much longer, and won't be here until the week of October 8, but I think it's close enough that I can start taking pre-orders for both versions next week.

I'm talking with David Lawrence about doing an audio version. We're hoping to record the first week of October, so it's ready to go at the same time as the printed versions.

Since I'm doing this book entirely on my own, I'm going to be drawing heavily on community support to help promote it, starting right now: if you got The Happiest Days of Our Lives this summer from one of my convention appearances, would you let me know what you thought, so I can make sure my marketing efforts reflect what readers are getting from the book?

From the people I've talked to already, I'm starting to get the sense that it inspires nostalgic memories of their own, which leads to discussing a lot of the shared experiences we who grew up in the 70s and came of age in the 80s share: Star Wars figures, video games, RPGS, things like that. I also hear that even if you've read these stories online, it's an entirely different experience to read them in print.

Andrew and I are working on a media kit like the one we did for Dancing Barefoot, and Roughy and I are busy building all the appropriate ordering and product pages at Monolith Press.

Questions? Comments? You know what to do.

Comments

[Christine]

How much are the books going to cost?
Thanks

[LoudMusic]

"From the people I've talked to already, I'm starting to get the sense that it inspires nostalgic memories of their own..."

I'll take that as a personal reference ;)

It's a really good book - my wife received an autographed copy from Wil at PAX and we took turns reading from it to each other on the drive home to Arkansas. I strongly suggest anyone who buys this book to enjoy it with someone else.

[Wil]

I haven't decided yet, Christine, but I think the unsigned paperbacks will be between $15-$20, and the signed, numbered, limited edition hardback will probably be priced similar to what you see at Subterranean Press, which is between $40-$50 for a book of this size.

I'm working very hard to find the perfect balance between earning enough with these books to make the entire thing worth my while, and not pricing them out of the reach of too many readers. It's not as easy as I thought it would be.

[FEJ]

"I'm starting to get the sense that it inspires nostalgic memories of their own..."

f it is anything like Just a Geek, your blogs, RFB, or your keynote, then I am sure it does.

Thanks in advance, and I can hardly wait to get a copy.

[SandieK]

*happydance* Finally! Really looking forward to it. Best of luck with the promotional efforts.

[jadeddo]

Yay! I can't wait to order... any chance you'll be doing any sort of book signing tour? Like to Portland or Seattle?

[opak]

Tho I would hazard to say that most of us have seen some or most of the material. We most likely have not seen ALL the material. I recently read Kevin Smith's Silent Bob Speaks which was a similar item. I enjoyed reading the items I had already read and the material I had not as well.

[drumgoddess]

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.
Having come from the paper 'zine era of Trek, and finally moving on to my own lit press, I know how nerve wracking it is to put out a quality product that you can be proud of without losing your shirt.
Are you going to Tour it? I know that usually the publishers pay for that kind of thing, but . . . /shrug/
I don't know, it'd be nice to get to other poker tournies around the country, right?
double bonus?

[Wil]

jadeddo: yes, both cities are on my short list of places I'd like to go to promote this. I think this time I can even get into the "big" Powells.

I'll be using Eventful to coordinate all of this, once I have the books in hand.

[FEJ]

BTW, what happened with the signed "Just a Geek" books that were ordered through Brookline Booksmith last year? I figure the schedule got pretty hectic and maybe the demand was too high. I ended up finally getting mine through Amazon because I didnt want to wait any longer :)

[paige]

*whoopee!*

[Wil]

FEJ: I signed them all and shipped them back to Booksmith several months ago.

It was my fault they took so long, though.

[FEJ]

Thats cool. I may bring my copy to the Huntington Beach tour stop if allowed (and if I don't have to work).

[Chuck]

Looking forward to placing my order...this will be my early birthday present to myself, since my big day is the 21st.

[Coyote Seven]

Like sands through the hourglass...

I totally intend to get this book. The 70's and 80's were my first two decades. And I love reading memories like this.

[brazos605]

If you're trying to determine how many of the hard back version to produce, I'll chime in here: I'll definitely order one.

[Christine]

Sounds reasonable. Thanks for responding.

[solace]

I picked up a copy at PAX and read/finished it first thing the next morning before I got out of bed. Yes, it did bring back a ton of memories from my childhood (Why did the boys always have cooler toys!!). I had read some of the stories on your blog but they still were fun to read again. I even shed a couple tears over the story about your cat, Felix. I'm not a big crier at all, yet it got to me. My dog was snuggled in beside me and he was showered with extra love and affection after I finished reading.
I thought it was a good choice of stories and it flowed really well. The only slightly negative thing I would have to say is that I found it a little short...it left me wanting more. Well, that could be a good thing I guess. More blog readers!!! ;)

[Sion]

I met you briefly at PAX but being a fanboy I was kinda nervous and, although I noticed the small stack of HDoL to your left, I totally forgot to ask for a signed copy. I note from your response to Jaddedo that you'll be coming north on a book signing so I'll definitely be wanting to buy a hardcopy (or two) from you then.

[Insane_in_Huron]

Will you be accepting orders from Canada?

[starshine_diva]

I can't wait to get my copy! I haven't decided if I'll spring for the limited hardcover, or go for the softcover and hope you come back to Montreal ;)

[ak_hepcat]

suh-weet.

I'll be putting down for a hardcover special edition.

Wish I could have got down to PAX, but work and theatre conspire so...

[mal]

Yes! Just let me know where to click on Eventful to get you back up to Seattle for a book signing.

[GeekessDaisy]

I would also love to know if it's going to be avaible to us Canadians. And also with our dollar being so close to yours please please please don't put a Canadian price on it that is a lot higher.

[veralynn]

Or, instead, you could just have a robotic version of your book, that you could continually edit at will. Yeah, you heard me: http://engineeringtv.com/blogs/etv/archive/2007/02/20/episode-14-magnetic-robotics
-overview.aspx