Last day of the giveaway! Remember that you can comment five times (one per giveaway post) in order to be entered five times in the jewelry giveaway. Here’s another shot of that jewelry, just because it’s so pretty. 🙂Near + Far jewelry, based on interior art by Mark W. Tripp.
The book launch has been going well. If you’re one of the people who’ve finished the book already, Amazon reviews are most welcome if you feel so inclined. (Yeah, I know that’s shameless, but I’d really like this book to do well because I love it so much.) Lots of people have signed up for the Goodreads give-away and 165 people have added it on there.
Some of the interviews, reviews, and guest blog posts:
So here’s the last five of our images, left to right.
Image #1 accompanies the story “Angry Rose’s Lament.” It’s another of the images that remind me of a submarine, if you had one carved by Aztecs.
Image #2 was chosen to go with the story, “Long Enough and Just So Long.” I like this image to the point where I’m considering another tattoo, featuring this. I don’t know why it appeals to me so much.
Image #3 was chosen for its swordlike aspect to illustrate the superhero story, “Ms. Liberty Gets A Haircut.”
Image #4 is set with the story “Seeking Nothing.” This one’s half submarine, half brass musical instrument.
Image #5 illustrates the story “Surrogates,” because it often looks to me like a laughing jester’s face, of the sort that perfectly illustrates that story.
One reminds me a bit of a dragon, too. Maybe because my toddler pointed to the submarine in the Willamette River outside of OMSI and called it a dragon not long ago.
You don’t have to go far to travel to strange places. They are at your fingers times.
I’ve read many of Cat’s stories. They tend to be lead by a character whom she manages to bring to life, even in short story whole worlds abound. There are touches of humor, heart and sometimes sorrow. Her stories have a sense of intelligence without being cerebral. But the two most important things that seem to connect much of the work are the joy and the wonder of the world.
These stories are something that will always be near your heart.
I see a lion swallowing a fish, and a whole world swimming through words. Beautiful stuff, Cat. I’m so super impressed and so happy it’s doing so well.
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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
~K. Richardson
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Adventures in E-publishing: The Rationale Behind It
One of the things I’ve decided to do over the next six months is release a number of my stories in small mini-collections in electronic form. Each of these will consist of 2-3 already published stories, with 1-2 ones original to the collection. The first is Halloween Quartet, which contains “Whose Face This Is I Do Not Know” (appeared originally in Clarkesworld), “Niobe in the Rain” (appeared originally in Serpentarius), “So Glad We Had This Time Together” (appeared originally in Apex Digest), and “Pumpkin Knight,” which is original to the collection.
The next one will be Desert Quartet, which will contain “Aquila’s Ring,” (originally appeared in Light and Shadow II), “Karaluvian Fale” (appeared originally in Giganotasaurus), “Her Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight” (the title story from my second collection), and “Mirabai the Twice-Lived,” which is original to that collection. It’ll also contain an essay about the world in which all of those stories are set, that of Armageddon MUD, and my experience working with it.
Other e-projects in the works: a mini-collection of flash, a mini-collection of superhero stories, and something collecting blog musings about fiction.
Why do this? Because I do think electronic publishing is clearly the way the industry is going. I’m curious about the power to sell one’s work that it promises the author and I’d like to get in on what seems to be at least the first or second, if not ground, floor of the movement.
I’m lucky in that I have a little bit of a name, acquired through publishing short stories. I don’t know that this would work for someone with no already established platform. And I don’t expect to make a vast sum of money from them. But I do expect there to be a slow trickle. At least – that’s my hope.
How will I spread the word of them? I’ve learned a little from publicizing Near + Far, but I’m not sure how relentless I want to be about pushing these. I’ll certainly talk about the experience of putting them together on here, and will be mentioning them on social networks as well as on my mailing list. Suggestions are welcome, as always 😉
If you want to sign up for that mailing list, by the way, which will come no more than once a month and mention new publications and classes, fill it out here:
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Hydra House cover for Near by Cat Rambo. Art by Stephen Counley; cover deisgn by Tod McCoy.Today’s the official day that Near + Far is launched upon the world. Huzzah! If you’re wondering how to buy or spread the word about the book, here’s some details.
Some of you have received the mail I sent out talking about what you could do to spread word of the book. Here’s some of the pertinent details from that for those as wants such.As you know, publishing is changing and increasingly authors are part of the promotion process. I’m asking — if you should feel so inclined — for your help if getting the buzz out.
So what can you do?
Well, sure, buy the book is top of the list. But we don’t all have the budget. Here’s some other ways that you can assist in getting the word out about Near + Far:
1. Request it through your library. Most will even let you do this online.
2. Request it at your local bookstore. It’s available through Ingram, a major book distributor, so they should be able to get it.
3. Write an Amazon review or tag the book on Amazon. Amazon reviews are great! But if you don’t have the time to write one up, you can still help. One way that often gets overlooked is tagging. Scroll to the bottom of the Amazon page for the book until you see “Tags Customers Associate with This Product.” Add tags that you think might help someone find the book, if you notice anything missing, or just go through and check the boxes next to the tags you think are relevant (which is hopefully all of them.)
4. Review it or add it to your to-read list on book sites. Reviews on Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com/work/13024203/book/89765198), and Shelfari are great!
5. Blog about the book. Any mention of the book, particularly one that explains why you liked it, is awesome. There’s actually some cool little things about the book:
The tête-bêche format, also known as the Ace Double. Flip the Near side of the book over, and you’ll find Far on the other side.
The interior artwork is by long-time friend Mark W. Tripp.
If you’re one of the people who’s already received a necklace, take a picture of it with yourself to send me for the Near + Far page. Or alternately, the necklace with someone/something/draped across a rotting log/in a bookstore/whatever?
Stories range from very early to very recent, spanning markets from Asimov’s and Lightspeed to small and somewhat obscure anthologies. I’ve included some of my favorite stories, such as “The Mermaids Singing Each to Each,” “Surrogates,” and “Bus Ride to Mars.”
6. Share news of it on social networks. Sharing links on Facebook and other social networks is great. I’ll be posting links to blog entries about the book on the main networks I use: Facebook, Google +, and Twitter. Just favoriting, plusing or liking posts helps give them a little Google juice. Even going to the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nearplusfar and clicking “Like” helps.
7. Share news of it on mailing lists and other groups. Pass the news along to your fellows on writing or SF-related discussion boards, BBSes, mailing lists, and other forums.
8. Share links on bookmarking sites. If you use bookmarking sites like Delicious, Reddit, or Stumbleupon, please think about bookmarking pages about the book. Here’s some pages that might be worth bookmarking:
10 Responses
One reminds me a bit of a dragon, too. Maybe because my toddler pointed to the submarine in the Willamette River outside of OMSI and called it a dragon not long ago.
I want a charm.
Something new for my to-read list!
Very Pretty! I’ve only read two of the stories so far. . .
They’re quite lovely, Cat. Evocative and strangely visceral.
They’re stunning!
These pieces are amazing! I can’t wait to read the book ^_^
You don’t have to go far to travel to strange places. They are at your fingers times.
I’ve read many of Cat’s stories. They tend to be lead by a character whom she manages to bring to life, even in short story whole worlds abound. There are touches of humor, heart and sometimes sorrow. Her stories have a sense of intelligence without being cerebral. But the two most important things that seem to connect much of the work are the joy and the wonder of the world.
These stories are something that will always be near your heart.
I see a lion swallowing a fish, and a whole world swimming through words. Beautiful stuff, Cat. I’m so super impressed and so happy it’s doing so well.
I can’t. Wait to read the book. If my cousin says its a good read then I def listen to her….