I have to apologize -- I thought I had posted the winner of the Mindtracks giveaway, but for some reason Blogger decided it was a draft instead of an entry, which is why it never showed up on the blog. We actually did get out the magic hat earlier this week, and the winner is:
Heather
Heather, when you have a chance, e-mail your musicwish and ship-to information to LynnViehl@aol.com so I can get your winnings out to you, and thanks to everyone for sharing your musical inspirations.
Last week I was rearranging the filing cabinets when I came across the final manuscript for Blade Dancer, my first SF novel published in hardcover. Finding an old manuscript can be like thumbing through an old photo album; you sit down and fondly reminisce about the good old days. I felt a little startled by the date; five years ago I sent off this massive pile of paper to become a book.
Like the StarDoc novels, Blade Dancer sold well, and eventually came out in a mass market edition, which is still in print. Unfortunately, it was published just as Ace took over the Roc imprint, and most of my SF landed on the backburner. BD became a casualty of the move. The seven other novels I had planned to write about Jory and crew went into the Someday File and I moved on to other things.
Not much has happened with BD on the publishing front over the last five years, but behind the scenes, the book slowly gathered a following among high school and college students. These kids began writing to me, and oddly enough there were few demands for more BD novels. They had plenty of questions about the characters, however, as well as the HouseClans, Tarek Varena, journey philosophy, and the fighting arts involved in the story. Gamers, RPGers and graphic novel readers also seemed to like the novel a lot. So did fans of the Highlander television series. Many went on to read my StarDoc novels because of BD.
The continuing popularity did puzzle me for a while, until I realized that Blade Dancer's longevity is due to the willingness of booksellers to keep SF in stock for many months or even years. I see copies of this five-year-old book in stores that don't stock my books in other genres that were published only five months ago.
I can't really say if I will ever publish in print another short story, novella or novel about Jory and the crew. I know what happens to them far beyond the timeline of the novel, of course; I did outline seven more books about them. I wouldn't mind jumping back into their part of the StarDoc universe, either, and it's something to think about as a future project, possibly after I finish up StarDoc. But for now, Blade Dancer will go on as it has for the last five years; one of my quiet, out-of-sight successes.
I will celebrate BD's five year anniversary by drawing five names at random from everyone who responds to this post in comments today by midnight EST, and send the winners a signed mass market edition of Blade Dancer. You can ask me a question as always on Friday, or just throw your name in the hat. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet even if you've won something here in the past, etc.
So what's up with you guys?
Showing posts with label Blade Dancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blade Dancer. Show all posts
Friday, June 08, 2007
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Amazon Strikes Twice
A couple of folks have written to tell me about this book on eBay, which is also for sale under my name on Amazon.com.
I love moms, and I do write books under names that I can't publicize, but please be advised that I did not write this book. One of the authors is listed as Sheila M. Kelly, which is one letter off my own name, Sheila L. Kelly. Amazon.com likely screwed it up first, and the eBay seller, like so many, probably cut 'n paste the listing from the Amazon.com listing.
As for the e-mail about the Amazon.com reviewer who gave my novel Blade Dancer four stars without actually reading the book, I found it hilarious. Kid, you've got a very bright future in reviewing.
I love moms, and I do write books under names that I can't publicize, but please be advised that I did not write this book. One of the authors is listed as Sheila M. Kelly, which is one letter off my own name, Sheila L. Kelly. Amazon.com likely screwed it up first, and the eBay seller, like so many, probably cut 'n paste the listing from the Amazon.com listing.
As for the e-mail about the Amazon.com reviewer who gave my novel Blade Dancer four stars without actually reading the book, I found it hilarious. Kid, you've got a very bright future in reviewing.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
My Numbers
So no one thinks I'm exempting myself from this project, here's one of my statements that came in today (warning, potentially offensive real financial disclosure follows):
Blade Dancer
Author Name/Publisher: S.L. Viehl, Roc
Mass Market Paperback, U.S., $6.99 cover price
Distribution: National
Publication Date: 07/01/04
Advance: $0 (this is a reprint from the hardcover; I get no up-front money for it)
Royalties: 6%
Current Released to date: 32,048
Reserved against returns: 3,000
Current returns: 6,221
Sell-through: 82.5%
Author earnings: $4,386.99
This is a five-month statement; the figures reflect sales from 7/01/04 through 12/31/04. SF has a much longer shelf life than most genres, so I've probably got another six months to a year to collect more sales.
Why has this book done well for me? I have some theories: it was my first not-StarDoc SF novel, and my first SF hardcover. A lot of my readers liked the novel and recommended it to friends. SFBC featured it as an alternative selection. The mass market edition hit the SF bestseller list. Timing was excellent, too; July has always been a good month for me.
Could it have done better? If I'd done some sort of promotion for it, probably. The personal timing unfortunately sucked; BD came out in the middle of a very bad career year. I had lost two editors and was so frustrated with the industry that I nearly quit writing. It took me another year to find my balance. By the time I came back out of the lair to see what was going on, the reprint had already hit the shelves.
Blade Dancer
Author Name/Publisher: S.L. Viehl, Roc
Mass Market Paperback, U.S., $6.99 cover price
Distribution: National
Publication Date: 07/01/04
Advance: $0 (this is a reprint from the hardcover; I get no up-front money for it)
Royalties: 6%
Current Released to date: 32,048
Reserved against returns: 3,000
Current returns: 6,221
Sell-through: 82.5%
Author earnings: $4,386.99
This is a five-month statement; the figures reflect sales from 7/01/04 through 12/31/04. SF has a much longer shelf life than most genres, so I've probably got another six months to a year to collect more sales.
Why has this book done well for me? I have some theories: it was my first not-StarDoc SF novel, and my first SF hardcover. A lot of my readers liked the novel and recommended it to friends. SFBC featured it as an alternative selection. The mass market edition hit the SF bestseller list. Timing was excellent, too; July has always been a good month for me.
Could it have done better? If I'd done some sort of promotion for it, probably. The personal timing unfortunately sucked; BD came out in the middle of a very bad career year. I had lost two editors and was so frustrated with the industry that I nearly quit writing. It took me another year to find my balance. By the time I came back out of the lair to see what was going on, the reprint had already hit the shelves.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Correction
Although the hardcover edition of Bio Rescue did nicely over the summer, it collided with the paperback release of Blade Dancer. The Blade reprint hit the SF pb bestseller list, which definitely impacted my hardcover sales. This, and no mention of anything from the publisher, had me telling people that, far as I knew, Bio would probably not be coming out in paperback.
A reader promptly wrote back this morning to inform me that, in fact, the mass market edition is already on sale.*
I don't know why people ask me about the books. I mean, I only write them. Obviously that means I should be the last person to know.
All I can say is, sorry. Again. Thank God for my readers, or I'd never find out anything.
*With a release date that collides head-on with the hardcover release of Afterburn. Why am I not surprised?
A reader promptly wrote back this morning to inform me that, in fact, the mass market edition is already on sale.*
I don't know why people ask me about the books. I mean, I only write them. Obviously that means I should be the last person to know.
All I can say is, sorry. Again. Thank God for my readers, or I'd never find out anything.
*With a release date that collides head-on with the hardcover release of Afterburn. Why am I not surprised?
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Clean Up
Probably my largest author headache has been defective books. I've been lucky in that I've only had two -- Paradise Island, the galleys of which were published minus the ending of the novel, and Blade Dancer, the hardcover edition of which has a page repeat problem.*** And not having a whole book can really ruin the experience for a reader.
It's not my responsibility to deal with the publisher's screw ups, but it's my name on the book. I care, they don't. That's why I've (quietly) been using my author copies to replace defective editions of Blade Dancer since the problem was brought to my attention.
I've now just about run out of author copies of Blade Dancer, so I'll have to think of something else.
***Edited to clarify: This is not a problem with every copy of the hardcover; most editions of Blade Dancer are just fine. Judging by reader reports, about 5-10% of the first print run books are the defective editions.
It's not my responsibility to deal with the publisher's screw ups, but it's my name on the book. I care, they don't. That's why I've (quietly) been using my author copies to replace defective editions of Blade Dancer since the problem was brought to my attention.
I've now just about run out of author copies of Blade Dancer, so I'll have to think of something else.
***Edited to clarify: This is not a problem with every copy of the hardcover; most editions of Blade Dancer are just fine. Judging by reader reports, about 5-10% of the first print run books are the defective editions.
Bumped
I spent a good part of the day and night wrestling with one of the four protagonists in the current WIP. Not since Reever showed up have I had this much trouble with a character, particularly one who has been living in my head for the better part of two years.
As usual, I want to give the character the tools to make repairs, but this guy is not interested in an easy retrofit. He doesn't even want a moderately difficult one. Somewhere during the actual writing of the book he went beyond the fix-it stage.
Tonight we're somewhere entirely different, and there is a lot here that can't be repaired or ignored or glossed over or saved for the next book in the series. All that is something I didn't see happening back when we were in the plot-the-book stage. Now he's tossing it in my face.
Things like this are the bumps you hit as you drive down the novel road. They are not convenient, and they mess up the alignment of your plot threads, and I don't know about you but that makes me cranky. Yet no plan is perfect, and no writer should become complacent. Bumps won't let you.
Squilyp from Beyond Varallan was a bump, as was Danea from Blade Dancer. Both of them wrecked their respective outlines -- Squilyp actually changed a thread that affected the entire StarDoc series plan -- and both of them drove me nuts. They're also two of my favorite characters.
When I hit one of these bumps, I tend to go with the character rather than the plan. Yes, it's easier to force the character to stick to the plan so you don't have to make a lot of changes, but I think that's lazy writing. Something made you hit the bump and it might do the same to your reader. You owe it to them not to take the easy way around it.
As usual, I want to give the character the tools to make repairs, but this guy is not interested in an easy retrofit. He doesn't even want a moderately difficult one. Somewhere during the actual writing of the book he went beyond the fix-it stage.
Tonight we're somewhere entirely different, and there is a lot here that can't be repaired or ignored or glossed over or saved for the next book in the series. All that is something I didn't see happening back when we were in the plot-the-book stage. Now he's tossing it in my face.
Things like this are the bumps you hit as you drive down the novel road. They are not convenient, and they mess up the alignment of your plot threads, and I don't know about you but that makes me cranky. Yet no plan is perfect, and no writer should become complacent. Bumps won't let you.
Squilyp from Beyond Varallan was a bump, as was Danea from Blade Dancer. Both of them wrecked their respective outlines -- Squilyp actually changed a thread that affected the entire StarDoc series plan -- and both of them drove me nuts. They're also two of my favorite characters.
When I hit one of these bumps, I tend to go with the character rather than the plan. Yes, it's easier to force the character to stick to the plan so you don't have to make a lot of changes, but I think that's lazy writing. Something made you hit the bump and it might do the same to your reader. You owe it to them not to take the easy way around it.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
In the Works
I'm about done writing SF series book six (or book nine, if you count the three hardcover standalones) in the StarDoc universe, Rebel Ice. No scheduled pub date yet, but I'm hoping it'll follow up Afterburn in August or September. Then I'll write book seven/ten, ClanSon and that will the book when I decide whether to wrap up Cherijo's story, keep going, or shift into a Blade Dancer spin-off series.
My romance alter-ego, Jessica Hall, is taking a short hiatus while my Lynn Viehl vampire series debuts with If Angels Burn in April. The last two JH books have done so well I'll probably try to work a new one in the 2005 schedule, but it really depends on sales and what the publisher wants.
I'm contracted to write three more Christian series and biblical historical novels through 2005, and my agent and I are kicking around a neat idea I have for a new Christian historical series, possibly YA.
My first fantasy novel is at the midway mark and will take another couple months to finish. Then I'll have to obsess over it some more and decide where I want to go with it. It's so good I may sit on it for another year, but more than likely it will make the rounds in summer or fall 2005.
I also have a straight -- well, for me -- mystery series brewing. I know, with my schedule, I'm insane to even think about it. But this little town I moved to is such a perfect setting: endless little corners and niches, an eventful history, and all these colorful character types just walking around. I think it's all the old architecture, twisty oaks and Spanish moss infecting me, too.
Writing has become this constantly busy, sometimes snarled, occasionally conflicting, pulling-me-in-all-directions daily carnival, but I run the show now. And I love it. I'm having fun, and that's all that really counts.
My romance alter-ego, Jessica Hall, is taking a short hiatus while my Lynn Viehl vampire series debuts with If Angels Burn in April. The last two JH books have done so well I'll probably try to work a new one in the 2005 schedule, but it really depends on sales and what the publisher wants.
I'm contracted to write three more Christian series and biblical historical novels through 2005, and my agent and I are kicking around a neat idea I have for a new Christian historical series, possibly YA.
My first fantasy novel is at the midway mark and will take another couple months to finish. Then I'll have to obsess over it some more and decide where I want to go with it. It's so good I may sit on it for another year, but more than likely it will make the rounds in summer or fall 2005.
I also have a straight -- well, for me -- mystery series brewing. I know, with my schedule, I'm insane to even think about it. But this little town I moved to is such a perfect setting: endless little corners and niches, an eventful history, and all these colorful character types just walking around. I think it's all the old architecture, twisty oaks and Spanish moss infecting me, too.
Writing has become this constantly busy, sometimes snarled, occasionally conflicting, pulling-me-in-all-directions daily carnival, but I run the show now. And I love it. I'm having fun, and that's all that really counts.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
SF Bestseller
The paperback reprint of my novel Blade Dancer debuted at #4 on the SF paperback bestseller list. At least, I'm assuming fourth place by counting down from #1; whoever typed it up has me and China Mieville starred versus numbered.
I can't account for my excellent showing, other than knowing that the hardcover did very well last year. Even then, Blade Dancer was not given any special promotion that I know of. The publisher bought an ad in Locus and sent out the standard amount of reviewer copies, but I think that was it. Except for an excerpt on my web site, I didn't do any promotion for the hardcover or the paperback in July. I don't make public appearances, don't do readings, booksignings, or go to conventions. I've abandoned all self-promotion except for my web site, and I haven't touched that in a year.
I'm not posting this to smirk at all the writers who do self-promote. I'm just as stumped as everyone else is as to why my SF sells so well when I do nothing but write the books. I'd like to think I'm writing what people want to read, but that can change from one book to the next, and you should never make that assumption. When you're too confident of your readers, you get lazy and self-indulgent. In this industry, every book is a fight for numbers and readers.
I can't account for my excellent showing, other than knowing that the hardcover did very well last year. Even then, Blade Dancer was not given any special promotion that I know of. The publisher bought an ad in Locus and sent out the standard amount of reviewer copies, but I think that was it. Except for an excerpt on my web site, I didn't do any promotion for the hardcover or the paperback in July. I don't make public appearances, don't do readings, booksignings, or go to conventions. I've abandoned all self-promotion except for my web site, and I haven't touched that in a year.
I'm not posting this to smirk at all the writers who do self-promote. I'm just as stumped as everyone else is as to why my SF sells so well when I do nothing but write the books. I'd like to think I'm writing what people want to read, but that can change from one book to the next, and you should never make that assumption. When you're too confident of your readers, you get lazy and self-indulgent. In this industry, every book is a fight for numbers and readers.
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