West of Mars -- the Meet and Greet

My new bud, Beaded Tail, tagged me for that seven things meme. The last time I did it, Trevor took over. (Read it here.) Okay, he does a lot of my memes for me. He did this one, too.

Given that the Sunday Scribblings prompt this week is all about bragging, it seems natural to let Trevor do this one, too. No one loves to brag like Trevor Fucking Wolff.

But... I like being as unpredictable as my Trevor. And I got lots to brag about.

So I'm stuffing Trevor back into the tour bus and taking a rare spin at this blogging about myself stuff. (Although I suspect I do it more than I'm willing to admit! Do I?)

Know why?

Because I'm about to give you guys something many of you have asked for. Nope, not the novel you've been longing for. Not quite yet.

I've been playing with this idea for a year and a half now. I was advised to hold off doing it by a literary agent who offered representation ... and then disappeared.

Sometimes, things happen for the best. 'Cause there's not a person involved in the big business of books who'd tell you that what I'm doing has ANY commercial value. Let's prove them wrong.

What I've done is taken ALL the ShapeShifter fiction (minus anything Chelle wrote) from my blog's first year. I've organized it into chronological order, like you've asked for. I've edited each piece, more than once.

And I've uploaded it to Lulu.com.

Nope, you can't buy it YET. Know why?

The first copy I made had some odd layout issues. And the font was too small. And it needed another edit.

The second copy I made had two Tables of Contents.

And you know what? I have a whole new, healthy appreciation for people who do this stuff for a living. Sheesh, we've learned a lot, the Tour Manager and me.

It'll be soon, though. As soon as I let the Tour Manager have the laptop back so he can finish whatever tech stuff it is he's got to do. Believe me, I'll let you know.


Now, because I'm doing this myself, that means I don't get any free copies that'll show up on my doorstep for people to promo and review, like most authors get. And while most of you groupies deserve your own free copy, you might change your mind when I spring this fact on you:

Most of my expenses after profits will go to various charities, hopefully a different one every three months.

I say "most" simply so I have some wiggle room. If I say "I'm giving ALL my profits to charity," I won't feel right about holding back money for expenses I know are upcoming. I'm not doing this to make a profit. I'm doing this for these reasons:

1. I have something you guys have said you want.

2. No one else seems overly willing to help me get it to you ("No one else" meaning any of the people in publishing I've approached over the years, except for the one agent who went poof.)

3. I can.

4. I've always wanted to be a great philanthropist. Growing up in the shadow of Andrew Carnegie will do that to you, I suppose. Or all those lessons from the rabbis about the importance of tzedakah -- charity -- sunk in. You pick.

5. I'm curious to know how many copies of this little book I'll sell.

6. It's not always easy to search a blog's archives. This way, you'll have at least a third (or so) of the ShapeShifter fiction that'll be easier to refer back to.

7. I have lots more outtakes we can do this with... Year 2 wrapped up last April, and we're in the middle of year 3 now.

So... there you go. Much better than listening to me rave about how actor Shemar Moore was featured in this month's Bicycling Magazine, right?

(btw, this is only the beginning... look for some fun stuff to wear and a few other surprises in the next few months, given the speed at which the Tour Manager and I move lately. If you have an idea for a t-shirt, give a holler! I'm sure we can work something out...)

Labels: Beaded Tail, meme, publishing, Sunday Scribblings