Scribtotum Archive
Three Free Copies of Chris Anderson’s New Book
Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, author of “The Long Tail”
They arrived today. One, I get to keep. I’ll be reviewing it in depth here on this site.
I’ve been charged with giving the other three to three people who will read the book and, as Chris says, “speak their minds in… innovative and impressive ways” once they’ve read it.
So. Who among you is best suited for that? I mean, I can think of three people right off the bat, but those folks are so similar to me in mindset and attitudes that the result might be a little too similar to my own eventual review.
In other words, all of my good friends in the podcast-novelist game should sit this one out. I’ve got that covered.
I’m looking for three people to surprise me. Maybe you don’t know anything about the Free model of doing business and promotion. Maybe you think it’s ridiculous, the bane of society and a detriment to economic evolution. Maybe you’ve always thought this was a good idea, but wanted to understand it more before you jumped in and tried it yourself. Maybe you’re using it already, but in a way I’m not familiar with or would never have guessed.
Are you out there? E-mail me before July 7, 2009 and tell me a little bit about who you are and why you want to read “Free.” Tell me how you’ll talk about it once you’ve read it — on your blog, in an article, in a newspaper or on the radio or television, or some other way.
I’ll mail a hardcover copy of “Free” to each of you via UPS before July 9, 2009. Be sure to let me know when you receive it, and once you’ve read it, let me know where I (and Chris) can see what you’ve said about it.
That’s it! I’m looking forward to sharing “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” with you.
Library Rush Contest!
Recently, following a Google rabbit-hole search on “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” I discovered that the book was part of the Denver, Colorado public library system. I tweeted about it, and twitter pal @ClaudiaC went and asked her own local library to order it… and they did!
That’s when my wheels started turning, my friends.
Let’s try something together that will help boost sales and raise awareness of the book. I’d like each of you to visit your local public library and ask if they have “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” in their inventory.
If they do, awesome — check it out and take a picture of yourself at the library with the book and send the picture to me.
If they don’t, ask them if they’ll order it for the library and hold it for you once it arrives… then check it out and take a picture of yourself at the library with the book, as above, and send the picture to me.
The goal, of course, is to get “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” on the shelves of every library in America and the world (school libraries count!), and to check it out so that it has a history of being read at that library, since they will “discard” books that don’t have circulation. Think you can help with that?
Here’s what I’ll do to make it fun:
- For every ten pictures I receive proving that a library has stocked “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” I will randomly select one person to receive a free one-year subscription to my serial fiction webzine, “Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights.”
- For every fifty pictures received, I’ll randomly select one person to get a free one-year subscription to “Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights” and an autographed copy of “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era.”
Some Rules
Because the goal is to get the book in as many library systems as possible, you can do this more than once… but keep in mind we’re not counting individual library branches but library systems. For example, the Denver Public Library system services many different library branches.
Also note that your picture must show proof that the book is part of the library system and that you checked it out… no fair just taking your own copy of “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” into the library and taking a picture, you scamp.
This campaign will run at least until I receive ten pictures… if there’s lots of success, we’ll keep it up! Please spread the word about this campaign, any way you can.
Get to it! Go visit your local library and get “Brave Men Run,” or get ‘em to get it for you!
Book Signing and Reading In July
Announcing one of my rare public appearances! Okay, it’s not like I’m a hermit or anything, and I’ve never turned down an invitation to lunch, dinner, coffee or a beer… but I don’t do too many book signings, so this is a pretty special occasion!
Here’s the where and when:
- Eclectic Books
39520 Murrieta Hot Springs Road
Murrieta, CA 92563
+1 (951) 445-4320
Map - Saturday, July 11, 2009
- 2:00 PM Pacific Time
- Facebook Event Page
This is a new independent bookstore selling both new and used books plus items from local creators. There’s lots of seating and they even have free wifi! They’re making a leap of faith with little ol’ me, so if you plan to attend, please give them a call at 1-951-445-4320 and let them know, the sooner the better!
What I’ll Be Doing
I’ll be reading selections from “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” “Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights,” and my latest short story, a Sovereign Era tale called “The World Revolves Around You” that will debut at this event.
I’ll also talk about how authors and other creative types can build world-wide audiences to promote and sell their creative endeavors, taking questions from the audience and of course signing books!
Spread the Word!
If you’re in the Southern California area or know someone who is and who might be interested, download the flyer, print it up and pass it around! I appreciate it!
After the Signing
There will absolutely be an “after-something.” I’ll find out from the proprietors what’s around there, and anyone who wants to is welcome to join me for some food and whatnot. How often do I get to see you guys? Let’s make a day of it and have some fun.
See you there!
What The Hell Is Going On With James Melzer?
James Melzer is a buddy and a steadfast supporter of my creative endeavors. He’s also a very popular indie author in his own right — his podcast novel “The Zombie Chronicles: Escape” has gained a huge following and will be published by Permuted Press in the near future.
He made this video for me… at first I thought, hey, that’s cool, James went to the trouble to record a little congratulations message about the launch of my new serial fiction webzine, “Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights.”
But… I think that was just an excuse. Something’s up with James Melzer, and frankly, I’m concerned.
I’ll let the video speak for itself. I guess we’ll learn more on June 17, 2009, but between you and me, I hope it’s nothing serious.
Sonitotum Bonus: J.C. Hutchins’ “Personal Effects: Dark Art”
Today’s a day to celebrate, my friends — Tuesday, June 9, 2009 is the day J.C. Hutchins’ “Personal Effects: Dark Art” officially appears on the front tables and end-caps of bookstores all over North America.
Me, I’m celebrating for a few reasons.
First and foremost: J.C. Hutchins is a friend — and I don’t mean just an Internet-friend / see ya on Twitter and Facebook kind of friend, I mean my life is better for his being part of it — and I love to see my friends succeed.
Second: “Personal Effects: Dark Art” is a damn fine book. No, I’m not just saying that because “Hutch” is a buddy. I’d be doing my friend a disservice if I misrepresented my opinion of his work — I’m not his mother; I don’t put everything he does up on the refrigerator door with a gold star. Plus, what good would my own word be if I gave you anything other than my honest opinion? ‘Nuff said.
My Review
I had the privilege of reading a pre-release electronic version of “Personal Effects: Dark Art.” The tale could be shelved in the Mystery / Thriller section, but it gradually turns into… something else. J.C. Hutchins wrote the book, the concept and setting is co-designed by alternate marketing and gaming guru Jordan Weisman… the guy who brought you the “I Believe in Harvey Dent” campaign to promote “The Dark Knight” movie.
“Personal Effects: Dark Art” features art therapist Zach Taylor — he’s a young guy, probably not too long out of whatever schooling one must endure to become an art therapist, and Hutchins depicts Taylor’s relative inexperience and youth with a delicate and sympathetic touch. I got the feeling Zach Taylor wasn’t too far removed from being the one in the shrink’s couch.
Taylor works in a facility that’s not unlike an underground version of Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum minus the green-haired clown: Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital, otherwise known as the Brink. This is an institute of mental health built into the side of an abandoned quarry — most of the place is actually underground. I’ve visited people in real-world psychiatric hospitals, folks. These places are not fun under the most sunny of circumstances. To build one with no windows takes a creative approach to healing that could only be found in fiction. Thankfully.
After a breakthrough with a patient gets Taylor some publicity, he’s given a new challenge: a blind serial killer. How do you use art to break through someone’s psychosis when the patient can’t even see the canvas? With the pressure on from antagonists in his personal and professional life, Taylor’s got to figure it out.
Naturally, there’s more to the plot of “Personal Effects: Dark Art,” but the idea of an art therapist trying to treat a blind killer several floors below the surface of the earth should be enough to get you going. I mean, seriously… you have to want to know more with a premise like that!
Characters That Live On and Off the Page
The mystery is compelling and thrilling and ultimately disturbing… but none of that stuff works unless you have characters you can care about. Zach Taylor is interesting enough, but Hutchins has taken care to surround him with supporting characters each deserving of their own books. His girlfriend is a hipster computer geek and video game columnist. His brother is a reckless emo-hippie who uses the cityscape as his own personal monkeybars like a skateboarder sans skateboard. Even minor characters like old family friends are defined with selective details that make reading “Personal Effects: Dark Art” an immersive experience I enjoyed a great deal.
An Alternate Reality Experience
Speaking of immersion… the novel is only part of the “Personal Effects: Dark Art” experience. While the text of the book stands on its own, Hutchins and Weisman have created a world that extends beyond the pages and tickles at the edges of our own. The book includes physical documents — “personal effects,” get it? — belonging to the characters. You can hold hospital admission papers, funeral cards, notes and other documents in your hands for a tactile element almost unique in fiction.
It goes beyond that. The book give you opportunities to explore. If a phone number is in the book, try calling it and see what happens. Visit the web sites the characters talk about. Dig around. There’s actually an entire secondary story happening in and around the events of “Personal Effects: Dark Art.” Let youself go far enough down the rabbit hole, and you may end up knowing more than the characters themselves.
Since I read a .pdf edition of the book, I haven’t had a chance to play with the “extra-literary” elements of “Personal Effects: Dark Art.” I’m looking forward to the book showing up in my post office box this week and really going to town.
I want to stress, though: you don’t need to do anything more than read the novel to enjoy “Personal Effects: Dark Art.” The extra stuff is just that — extra. “Personal Effects: Dark Art” is well worth the read, all on its own, and you should go buy it right now.
Video Testimonials
Like me, J.C. Hutchins’ roots are in the world of podcasting… specifically the subset of podcasters who have released their novels and short stories in podcast form. To help promote “Personal Effects: Dark Art,” Hutch recruited many of the “stars” of podcast fiction to record a little video testimonial — a “vlurb” — and I was honored and pleased to be part of that!
Check it out:
Featured in the video are the following authors in order of appearance:
- Philippa Ballantine — Chasing the Bard, Digital Magic, Weather Child
- Scott Sigler — New York Times bestselling author of: Infected, Contagious, Ancestor
- Seth Harwood — Author of: Jack Wakes Up, Jack Palms 2 & 3, Young Junius
- Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff — Author of: Number One with a Bullet, Shadow Falls, Diary of a Madman
- Christiana Ellis — Author of: Nina Kimberly the Merciless, Space Casey
- Matt Wallace — Parsec Award-winning author of The Next Fix, The Failed Cities Monologues
- James Melzer — Author of: The Zombie Chronicles - Escape
- Stephen Eley — Editor of Escape Pod, and publisher of the horror fiction podcast Pseudopod
- Mark Jeffrey — Author of: The Pocket and the Pendant, The Two Travelers
- Mur Lafferty — Author of: Playing for Keeps, the Heaven series, co-founder of Pseudopod
- Phil Rossi — Author of: Crescent, Tales from the Vault, Eden
- Matthew Wayne Selznick — Author of: Brave Men Run, Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights
Check out all of their work — they’re all incredible talents (even that last guy…) If you want to see more on-screen testimonial from some big-name authors, actors and horror luminaries, you can see a lot more vlurbs on J.C. Hutchins’ website.
Go get “Personal Effects: Dark Art” by J.C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman!
