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After wrestling with Revver, Ustream, YouTube, and several different video conversion applications, I remembered that the excellent WordPress plugin PodPress supports Flash video. So the complete video record of July 13, 2008 — Sovereign Summer Sunday — is now available right here. Enjoy!
There are still plans to release of the short stories I read that day as a podcast fiction anthology on Podiobooks.com… eventually. There are some tentative plans in the works that have delayed that release for the moment. I can’t say much more about it now, except that I believe (if everything works out as it might) you won’t be disappointed and thanks for your patience!
So… a week after Sovereign Summer Sunday, what does it all mean? What kind of impact does reaching the edge of the top fifty on Amazon.com really have?
Well, for one thing, we have to remember that the book reached that height — thanks to your amazing support — on one Sunday in July. Twenty four hours later, it dropped out of the top 100, and as I write this, it’s floating around the 18,000 mark. I hasten to add, that’s nothing to sneeze at — it’s currently higher than all other traditionally published novels from podcast novelists, all but four Permuted Press titles, and literally millions above anything else published by Swarm Press (though I’m looking forward to that changing when “Playing For Keeps” is released on August 25th.)
I’m still not sure how many actual copies were sold on July 13 — valuable information for any other podcast novelist who might attempt a run in the future. The real question is: did the publishing industry notice? Did agents notice? Movers and shakers in other media? Time will tell… and I’ll share with all of you just as soon as I know.
I still call Sovereign Summer Sunday a huge success — make no mistake! Although it was less than a week ago, it’s already starting to feel like it was much longer ago than that. That’s Internet time for you, I reckon. Plus, the attention of the podosphere is already moving on to the next big events in podcast novels: Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris August 8 “Double Trouble” event, and Mur Lafferty’s own Amazon.com rush for “Playing for Keeps” on August 25, 2008.
Which means it’s time to start saving our money to support those folks… and it leaves me with some time and energy to spend a little more on writing, and a little less on promotion. Of course, I’m still open to interviews, appearances, signings, and all that fun stuff… gotta keep it going!
Thanks to Stormy for grabbing that image — by that point in the day (somewhere between seven and eight PM Pacific Time) I didn’t have the presence of mind, I’m afraid. I noticed it, I tweeted it… but I didn’t screenshot it. So hurrah for the quick thinking of Stormy!
Yes, my friends, you did it. 1,027 of you attended the eight hour streaming video web-a-thon on Sovereign Summer Sunday. An average of a hundred of you were in the chat room per hour. Some of you were there nearly the entire day. Some, like James Melzer, took the day off of work to be there for the whole thing! You chatted, caroused, and tried to break Ustream’s filter to the best of your ability. You Digged, tweeted, blogged, and cajoled people to come and join you.
Together, you pushed the Swarm Press edition of “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” deep into the top 100 at Amazon.com and three places away from the top fifty. I couldn’t be more honored, touched, and pleased at your efforts on my behalf.
A video archive of the event will be available soon — I’m working with Revver to put them up, and some are already available here. Once everything is up and ready, I’ll post them on the blog.
Meanwhile, we have a near-complete chat archive of the webathon, thanks to Kevin Crosby! It’s on Eastern Time, and starts about an hour and a half into the event. It’s an 89 page .pdf, and I’m looking forward to reading it, since for much of the day I was reading stories and not looking at the chat!
As for the podcast anthology of the stories you heard on that day… stay tuned. I may have even more exciting news about that in the near future. In the mean time, I’ll get those videos up as soon as possible.
I’ll be writing up a detailed overview of how Sovereign Summer Sunday went, the pros, cons, etc. very soon. I’ll also include links so folks can re-live the entire thing just as soon as that’s all set up.
Meanwhile, I want to say thank you to the 1,027 people who took part in the webathon — including an average of 100 people in the chat room every single hour, some who were there for the entire thing. That’s dedication.
Well, folks, soon I’ll be turning in to bed on the eve of the big Sovereign Summer Sunday Webathon celebrating the paperback release of “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” from Swarm Press. Since the beginning of June, I’ve done ten podcast interviews, been featured on two others, did two blog profiles, and been BoingBoing’ed twice.
I’m tired, but I don’t know how well I’ll sleep tonight… because I’m nervous and excited, too! Somewhere along the line, I’ve found myself at the center of a new media Event. Not unintentional, of course, but these things have a life of their own. How much life? I’ll tell you on Monday.
For now… I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and it’s time to go to sleep.
It’s been said that every independent artist needs 1,000 true fans to make a living from their art.
That’s what I’m talking about! James Melzer just brought it, people. Oh yes he did!
Who’s next?
(Update:No, I’m not discounting all the amazing support I’ve received from so many people over the years… but dang, no one’s ever made me a video before! I got a little excited…)
titles, and literally millions above anything else published by 
