by john | Oct 5, 2012 | Appearances, Real Life, Travel
I’m here. I know, I start a lot of posts that way, don’t I? I haven’t been on here in a while because I’ve been swamped in my new obsession, Magic:The Gathering. And I’ve been using that to distract me from some other issues, namely dismal book sales numbers for the past six weeks. Things have been bad since the middle of August and I’m hoping they pick up, otherwise I’m looking for a McJob to fill the gap come the first of the year. That wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing in the world, but it wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun, either.
But on the bright side, the Omnibus is out, in print and on Kindle. It will be hitting the Nook and all other ebook formats soon, just waiting for it to get processed. You can order it from Amazon here, or if you’re going to be in the Big Apple next weekend, come by Booth #2167 at the Javits Center and say hi. I’ll be up there with my friend Tamsin for NY Comic Con. This is my first time hitting that show, and I’m very excited. And a little terrified.
I’ve been teaching workshops each weekend on writing and publishing, and that’s been a lot of fun. My classes are getting larger and larger enrollment, and that’s good, since I get paid on a tuition split :). The classes have been getting favorable reviews, too, so if you’re in the Charlotte area, come on out and spend a Saturday morning with me! Tomorrow I’m teaching marketing and self-promotion for writers. And now I’ve got to get back to writing the outline for that class, so I gotta boogie.
by john | Jun 25, 2012 | Appearances, Travel
Last weekend I was at HeroesCon 2012 in Charlotte with my good friends Tamsin Silver and Stuart Jaffe. We sold some books, bought some art, and pretty much broke even except for the buttrape of Sunday parking because they were charging $25 at my preferred lot thanks to the Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney concert that night at the stadium. Bastards.
But I had an awesome painting commissioned by the amazing John Hairston, Jr.
Then this weekend I’ll be in Louisville returning to the scene of the crime at Fandom Fest 2012! Last year we dubbed this con Sweat-Fest because the AC died on one of the hottest weekends of the year. I drove eight hours knowing pretty much NO ONE at the con, and over the course of the weekend and more than a few drinks created some awesome friendships with people I’d met briefly before, and some folks I met that weekend, including my publisher, who is awesome. This year the con has upgraded to the super-awesome Galt House in downtown Louisville, so there’s no worries about the air conditioning, and Stephen Zimmer has put together an incredible slate of panels. I’m committed to right around 12 hours of programming, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Here’s where to find me –
Friday – 5:30 PM – Taylor Room – Self-Publishing Panel – I might know a little about this.
Friday – 8:30 PM – McCreary Room – Shrewsbury Night Live! – Me, Steven Shrewsbury, James R. Tuck and Brady Allen – The Steel Curtain of Fantasy Fiction in a free-form free-for-all. There will be beers drank and poetry recited.
Saturday – 10AM – McCreary Room – Publishing Paths – Making smart choices regarding your career and watching me try not to piss off my publisher who will be sitting right next to me on the panel 🙂
Saturday – 1PM – Beckham – Humor in Fantasy Fiction – I’m technically not on this panel, but I’ve warned everyone that I’m crashing, so if you see a big dude wearing a luchador mask sitting behind the table, it’s probably me.
Saturday – 5:30PM – Morrow – Best YA Characters – Because if you don’t have good characters, nobody gives a shit.
Saturday – 7PM – Collins Room – Book Tasting/Literate Liquors Live! Jackie Gamber and I will pair books with different teas and liquors, then we’ll tag-team some books and pair them with each. There will be shots for the audience. I will be drunk by the end of the panel. Someone should video this. For realz.
Sunday – 10AM – Beckham Room – Ebooks and Hangover remedies – the hangover remedy part is unofficial, but it’s a con on Sunday morning, so we’ll all need them.
Sunday – 11:30AM – McCreary Room – Writing a Series – how not to suck at it. I suggest lots of beer. For you, and your readers.
I’ll also have a table in the Dealer’s Room where you can probably find my long-lost brother James Tuck hanging out, as well as the always beautiful and charming Kalayna Price (I have no idea why she hangs out with me, but I’m glad she does!). We’ll be there from Friday afternoon on.
I’ll be in the bar every night, and I hope to tape several episodes of Literate Liquors while I’m there. By the way -tomorrow afternoon – Faith Hunter on Literate Liquors!
by john | Mar 31, 2012 | Appearances, Real Life, Travel
Well, for a week or two the jury was kinda out. But here’s a brief recap of what’s been going on since I’ve been out gallivanting around and doing a piss-poor job of telling anyone where I am or if I’m alive.
I went to the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Chattanooga for the 19th consecutive year. It was pretty apropos that I essentially ended my career with Barbizon at this conference, since it was at this conference in Norfolk, Virginia in 1995 where I first heard of Barbizon and met anyone from there. A year later in Louisville, KY I was working in the Barbizon booth!
Some of my best friends in the world were there, and my buddy T-Bone bought what amounted to a bottle of Patron to do a round of shots on Friday night. If you ever stay in Chattanooga for anything, I highly recommend the Chattanoogan. The rooms are lovely, and Alan the cocktail server was amazing. Which reminds me, I need to send him a book for taking such good care of us all weekend. We ended up with twenty people outside by the fire pit on Friday night because it was a lovely night and the band sucked. That marked another first for me – we helped get the house band fired because they were absolutely dreadful. The above pic if just a few folks that were part of the toast, but I wanted to commemorate them here. Thanks to Jeremy K for the pic.
Then I came home and turned up with bronchitis. This happens to me once a year or so ever since I caught pneumonia a few years back. My lungs are a little sensitive, and if I try to go too long without reasonable rest (like doing StellarCon then working a week and doing SETC right behind it), I get sick. This was a doozy, too. I ended up flat on my back for a solid week, and barely recovered for the following week. I was sick enough that it was Wednesday of MidSouth Con before I was 100% sure I was going to Memphis. I watched a lot of Supernatural, broke down and went to the doctor, got some antibiotics that kinda worked, got some hydrocodone-laced cough syrup that certainly made me feel better, then went to see John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in concert.
Or at least most of John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in concert. I’d paid a lot of money for those tickets, and there was no way I was staying home, but I only lasted about 2/3 of the show before it got too warm in the theatre and my cough came back with a vengeance. But they were still amazing, and I highly recommend their acoustic set to anyone, especially if you can see them in a converted church that still has the antique Tiffany stained glass windows. But I might be a little spoiled seeing as many shows at Spirit Square as I have. For those of you that have read Back in Black, yes, Spirit Square is a real place, and it’s one of my favorite concert venues ever. If you’re in Charlotte for anything, I highly recommend seeing a show there.
Then I went back to bed for most of a week. Then I tried to get moving again, because I still had a couple days’ worth of my notice to work out, an office to clean, and another con to attend. But more on that later. Now I’m up, I’m healthy (ish) and it’s time to get some writing done!
by john | Mar 5, 2012 | Promos/Giveaways, Travel
Rafflecopter makes running blog giveaways ridiculously easy by integrating a random number generator into the plugin, allowing me to pick the winners super quickly and easily. So that’s what I’ve done – I’ve picked the winners, easily.
First Prize – Alex Aguilar
Second Prize – Sam Kamens
Third Prize – Sandee Barry
Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone who entered! Don’t forget to enter the March is for Monsters giveaway where you can win a Kindle Fire!
I’ll have a StellarCon report coming before too long, then I’m off to Chattanooga for SETC for the rest of the week.
by john | Jan 18, 2012 | Appearances, Business of publishing, Real Life, Travel
I got my schedule for Chattacon this weekend – I’m on two panels and have a table in the dealer’s room. So if you’re in Chattanooga come on by the ChooChoo and say hello!
Saturday at noon I’m on a panel called “Out of the Closet and Onto the Page:Self Publishing” with Alan Gilbreath from Kerlak Publishing. As two of the most out-of-the-closet and out-of-bounds panelists in the building all weekend, it oughta be fun. Alan is a good panelist, he has opinions on everything, has experience in the publishing biz, is witty and articulate. And he’s fun to drink with. So I expect us to have fun there.
Saturday at 2PM I’m on “Technology – Help or Hindrance for Writers?” with Mark Van Name and Stephen D. Rogers. Mark is a best-seller for Baen Books, and Stephen has a bunch of books out and teaches workshops on writing and publishing, so that should be fun. I’ve never met either of these guys before, but that’s pretty common for panels.
I’m still looking for a Con Assistant – and I’m willing to take on multiples for different cons. My friend Melissa has already volunteered to minion for me at ConCarolinas and DragonCon because I hang with the other authors she minions for, so adding one more kitten to herd isn’t that tough. Suzy will be my minion at MidSouth Con and Fandom Fest, and I’m sharing a table with folks at Heroes Con, so I really only need a minion at a couple of events. I can’t offer money, but I’ll cover your con costs and most if not all of your food for the weekend. You’re probably going to have to ride with me to the con to keep costs down, but if you already live where I’m coming for a con, then it’ll be easy!
Here’s where I’ll be and when –
March 2-4 – High Point, NC – StellarCon
July 20-22 – Chattanooga – LibertyCon (unconfirmed)
August 3-5 – Columbia, SC – RoundCon (unconfirmed)
Hmm, looks like I need less minioning than I thought – excellent! I knew I got married for something other than love and laundry.
Sales are going awesome so far this month – the Bubba the Monster Hunter Collection Monsters Beware is doing very well. I think it might have dipped into the individual short story sales a little, but since I make more on one collection than I make on all four short stories put together, I’m pretty happy with that.
Doesn’t make sense? Here’s the math – I sell the collection for $2.99, which qualifies for Amazon’s 70% royalty, so I get $2.04 per copy sold. Each individual short story sells for $.99, which qualifies for Amazon’s 35% royalty rate. So I get $.35 for each short story sold. There are four shorts, so $1.40 for each set of four short stories. $2.04 is better than $1.40, so I’m better off selling the collections. Of course, my hope it that someone buys (or freebies) the first one, then buys the collection, so I double-dip for an extra $.35. I know, thirty-five cents is less than a pack of gum, but in multiples of a hundred it adds up. I’m still not making Konrath money, but I’m making decent cash, enough so that I can still plan on quitting my day job in March.
Livin’ the dream, baby. Livin’ the dream. See you out on the road!
by john | Jan 14, 2012 | Travel
There will almost certainly be a blog post that comes out of this one, and it is highly likely that it will be called “Drinking Jolly Ranchers with Space Jesus.” My weekend started off with getting to my room too late at night on Day 1 of the con to pick up my badge, noticing that the door to the room across from mine was open, and realizing that meant I was NOT getting to sleep early. That’s something to understand about cons – if a door’s just standing open to a room, it means there’s a party going on in there. And that means it’s pretty fair game to just wander in. Especially if your room is directly across the hall. So that’s just what I did – I wandered in and found myself in Davey Beauchamp’s whirlwind of fun and Jolly Rancher-infused vodka for the next three hours. I love con folk.
