Week five of twenty
These “Twenty Weeks of Buzz” make for an interesting exploration of the Brave New World of Internet outreach. In some ways it feels as if I’m running my own corporation here: producing the product (ie, a book) then packaging and promoting it.
In part, this sensation of do-it-yourself is because publishing houses run in seasons and the calendar has only just turned for the summer season at Random House. So although I’ve been going full bore since December, getting contests, web stuff, and three complete sets of blog posts under way (twenty comments about the various books; twenty letters for Russell’s blog; and four about the God of the Hive rewrite) in order to start my new book before the deadline is staring me in the face—and Team Laurie has been zooming along with me—that throaty and growing roar in the background is the noise of Random House getting its enormous engines into gear.
It’s a heartening noise, that growing rumble from the other side of the country. The last couple of years have been a scary time in the publishing world, between the economic bottom following out of the hardback market and the growing threat of e-pirates (Tess Gerritson posted about this—with a good discussion in her comments.) and although yes we have far to go to regain where we were a few years ago, having Publicity already committed to a week of touring (with libraries!) is enormously reassuring.
This is week five of our Twenty Weeks of Bees, and it’s going to be a good one. A new excerpt of The God of the Hive goes up the 27th, and two days after that my comments on the rewrite (do any of you read the scans of the raw first draft? CAN any of you read it?) The site is getting a gorgeous new upgrade, on the 27th, with a color scheme that echoes the new cover. Plus, the January newsletter goes out the 27th—are we sensing a theme here?—with news about events and giveaways and three art contests and…
AND, a name will be drawn from among those who open the newsletter in the first two days (I don’t think I want to know how the computer can tell who’s opened it!) to be our second winner of:
An Advanced Reader Copy of The God of the Hive
Here’s where you can sign up for the newsletter and make a try for the ARC.
That’s so exciting!! I can’t wait for everything that’s happening on 27th!
I’m falling behind with ’20 weeks’ due to two weeks of no PC access recently. Note to self – try harder to play catch up! Meanwhile – already vexing – do I wait till a planned San Francisco trip in May to by GOTH, or do I pre-order an import and hope it arrives in time for the flight? Hmmm….
🙂
Chris
That is quite a dilemma, Chris, but the trip to San Francisco sounds like the safer and cheaper way to go, no shipping cost.
I’m raising my hand to the question if anyone reads the drafts. I enjoy seeing your process, Laurie. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Awesome Laurie!
Chris, didn’t you win one of the Russellism contests? If so, I’ll be shipping you a copy. Or giving it to you in SF in May, whichever you prefer.
I second Alice on reading the drafts and Rachael on looking forward to the 27th.
I cheat — I buy a copy as soon as it hits the stores and I can lay my hands on one, then donate it to my library as soon as I’m done reading. Everyone benefits, especially the library; our projected budget for next year is minuscule, if not actually zero. This is the only way to guarantee we actually get a copy of the latest.
And as most of you know, some of us buy multiple copies of the book in all formats, including print. One just can’t have enough Russell!
*THREE* art contests?!?!? MUST SHARPEN PENCILS! 😀
I absolutely love reading the drafts! I thought it was fascinating last year to see the first to final process with The Language of Bees, and it’s just as interesting this year. Thanks for sharing!
My 27th birthday is on the 27th! I’m hoping that will bring me good luck, because an advanced copy of GOTH would be an amazing present.
Heck yes – I did! WOW! Thank you, Laurie, for that reminder.
🙂 🙂
Chris