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shalannaAh, well. Me skrew up again. But don't take it all too seriously. I can fix it!
It has come to my attention that back in 2003, I upset author H. J. Ralles with my comment on someone else's weblog. We met at a book signing in Plano, and she was kind enough to talk to me at length about how she had expanded her sales by speaking at all the middle schools, and offered to forward to me a list of the people she spoke to in order to get the gigs (which would be grand promotion). Somehow I got the impression that her books are print-on-demand, but I must have misunderstood, as she says that she's with a small press that's not POD. I was given to understand that she had sold to a New York publishing house, but that seems not to be the case. She's still putting out books with Top Publishing. I don't know where I went wrong, but apparently I got mixed up.
Anyhow. She fired back on that weblog with a nasty comment (that I didn't even know about or see until today, because I never thought to go back to that particular weblog thread until someone pointed me to it while searching out references to "Shalanna"), but I couldn't really tell what it was, as the weblog owners took out all the vowels, which is their custom with posts that they feel are inflammatory or insulting. (Note that they did not take the vowels out of my original post, so that implies to me they didn't see it as tacky.) I was taken aback, because I'd been using her as a positive example in my post, having thought that she promoted her books so well that she managed to sell them to New York (again, not the case.) I needed to cite writers who've had their work picked up by New York houses after POD publishing. I know there are several. 'S'truth.
Unfortunate outcome time. It seems to have upset her terribly that I accused her of being with a POD house (even though print-on-demand technology is certainly not exclusive to vanity presses and scam houses, and is probably going to become more common now that the costs of shipping books out and taking them as returns are going way up along with the price of gasoline) and implied that she knows how to do promotion (I would do the same kind of promotion, except I'm way too lazy and I figure the kids would make fun of me.) Since I'm doing all the apologies this week anyhow, I thought I'd add this to the list.
While we're talking about this, the beautiful James D. Macdonald wrote about POD technology and allied matters that same year. Scroll down to the 30 July 2003 entry to read his thoughts on this issue.
In the spirit of "better late than never," I thought I would throw you a teaser from Ralles' latest novel and give you a link to the first page and to buying it on Amazon. Rest assured that I'm keeping the quotation under 200 words so that it is covered by fair use. I try to avoid tripping on a log when I'm climbing out of a bog (in other words, I don't want to do another disservice while trying to right one.)
I might be forgiven for not liking her books' covers all that well (in fact, I wonder whether the covers might not have been one reason I got the idea they were POD--I know we were talking about trying to get a book picked up by a New York house and looking at the cover of one of the books), but that doesn't have anything to do with whether or not they're actually POD. So . . . they're not. Peace? King's X. Kamerad. White flag!
In other news, my cousin who Googled up "Shalanna" (thereby discovering my wicked, wicked ways and digging up that post) found the following other Shalannas mentioned on the Web (none of whom has had a POD novel picked up by New York yet, so far as I know):
Shalanna Wilhelmsen (shalannawilhelmsen.tripod.com)
Shalanna Rain (http://shalannarain.bebo.com)
Shalanna Herbert, a New York high school student
Shalanna Nichols, Clinton, WI
Shalanna Pirtle--President of the Indiana U chapter of Delta Sigma Theta
Shalanna Begay
Shalanna Turley, Field Service Director. Illinois Federation of Teachers
Shalanna Pearson
Shalanna Ann Corbin, Desk Clerk, Circulation Services, Grove City Library
Wow. Who knew? That's pretty cool, actually, to see all those namesakes. (GRIN) At any rate, they're people who like the name. Maybe I could blame that post on one of the others. Yeah, that's the ticket. It was really Shalanna . . . someone else! Not me! The sun was in my eyes! He pushed me! Waaaah!
That OTHER, mythical Shalanna who did that naughty old post with MISINFORMATION did get off a good one at the end of that message, though, when speaking of the non-shamefulness of POD, web publishing, podcasting, webcasting, writing on bathroom walls, hiring light planes to pull banners, and other ways to get one's text out there in front of the public when you haven't yet cracked traditional publishing. The post ends with:
"Perhaps there are those of us with a natural talent for writing, an interesting prose style, a developed voice, but who still can't sell a novel, for various reasons, to a commercially viable line. Should we kill ourselves, quit writing, post it on telephone poles, read it aloud to the cat every evening, what? 'Keep striving' . . . that sounds fine, but it gets old out here on this side of the screen. We believe we're talented, but we start to doubt ourselves when everyone else says we're not. It's like being the oldest toothless whore who doesn't get any business any more, despite having the most experience. (Isn't it odd that virgins are the most in demand, when they actually have no experience at all? Sorry to go vulgar on you there, but I've been corrupted by modern society and the media.)"
. . . I've ALWAYS wondered that about virgins. And another thing--why is it (I've always wondered) that if oral sex on guys is nothing to be uh-shamed of, a lot of fun for the guys (they tell me), and not even sex according to some Presidents, then WHY is "that sucks" still such a pejorative?
I've gotta stay away from pizza. It seems to bring out the Really Deep Questions.
It has come to my attention that back in 2003, I upset author H. J. Ralles with my comment on someone else's weblog. We met at a book signing in Plano, and she was kind enough to talk to me at length about how she had expanded her sales by speaking at all the middle schools, and offered to forward to me a list of the people she spoke to in order to get the gigs (which would be grand promotion). Somehow I got the impression that her books are print-on-demand, but I must have misunderstood, as she says that she's with a small press that's not POD. I was given to understand that she had sold to a New York publishing house, but that seems not to be the case. She's still putting out books with Top Publishing. I don't know where I went wrong, but apparently I got mixed up.
Anyhow. She fired back on that weblog with a nasty comment (that I didn't even know about or see until today, because I never thought to go back to that particular weblog thread until someone pointed me to it while searching out references to "Shalanna"), but I couldn't really tell what it was, as the weblog owners took out all the vowels, which is their custom with posts that they feel are inflammatory or insulting. (Note that they did not take the vowels out of my original post, so that implies to me they didn't see it as tacky.) I was taken aback, because I'd been using her as a positive example in my post, having thought that she promoted her books so well that she managed to sell them to New York (again, not the case.) I needed to cite writers who've had their work picked up by New York houses after POD publishing. I know there are several. 'S'truth.
Unfortunate outcome time. It seems to have upset her terribly that I accused her of being with a POD house (even though print-on-demand technology is certainly not exclusive to vanity presses and scam houses, and is probably going to become more common now that the costs of shipping books out and taking them as returns are going way up along with the price of gasoline) and implied that she knows how to do promotion (I would do the same kind of promotion, except I'm way too lazy and I figure the kids would make fun of me.) Since I'm doing all the apologies this week anyhow, I thought I'd add this to the list.
While we're talking about this, the beautiful James D. Macdonald wrote about POD technology and allied matters that same year. Scroll down to the 30 July 2003 entry to read his thoughts on this issue.
In the spirit of "better late than never," I thought I would throw you a teaser from Ralles' latest novel and give you a link to the first page and to buying it on Amazon. Rest assured that I'm keeping the quotation under 200 words so that it is covered by fair use. I try to avoid tripping on a log when I'm climbing out of a bog (in other words, I don't want to do another disservice while trying to right one.)
"Gee, what the heck. . . ?" Hank protested.
His tired eyes focused on several test tubes suspended in a frame on the far wall. They clinked together as the vibrations continued. The greeen contents slopped up the sides of the glass, spilling onto the metal work surface below.
"No . . . the SH33!" Hank shouted, edging his way across the room. "These moonquakes are becoming more and more frequent. Months of research, and I could lose the lot in a matter of minutes!"
I might be forgiven for not liking her books' covers all that well (in fact, I wonder whether the covers might not have been one reason I got the idea they were POD--I know we were talking about trying to get a book picked up by a New York house and looking at the cover of one of the books), but that doesn't have anything to do with whether or not they're actually POD. So . . . they're not. Peace? King's X. Kamerad. White flag!
In other news, my cousin who Googled up "Shalanna" (thereby discovering my wicked, wicked ways and digging up that post) found the following other Shalannas mentioned on the Web (none of whom has had a POD novel picked up by New York yet, so far as I know):
Shalanna Wilhelmsen (shalannawilhelmsen.tripod.com)
Shalanna Rain (http://shalannarain.bebo.com)
Shalanna Herbert, a New York high school student
Shalanna Nichols, Clinton, WI
Shalanna Pirtle--President of the Indiana U chapter of Delta Sigma Theta
Shalanna Begay
Shalanna Turley, Field Service Director. Illinois Federation of Teachers
Shalanna Pearson
Shalanna Ann Corbin, Desk Clerk, Circulation Services, Grove City Library
Wow. Who knew? That's pretty cool, actually, to see all those namesakes. (GRIN) At any rate, they're people who like the name. Maybe I could blame that post on one of the others. Yeah, that's the ticket. It was really Shalanna . . . someone else! Not me! The sun was in my eyes! He pushed me! Waaaah!
That OTHER, mythical Shalanna who did that naughty old post with MISINFORMATION did get off a good one at the end of that message, though, when speaking of the non-shamefulness of POD, web publishing, podcasting, webcasting, writing on bathroom walls, hiring light planes to pull banners, and other ways to get one's text out there in front of the public when you haven't yet cracked traditional publishing. The post ends with:
"Perhaps there are those of us with a natural talent for writing, an interesting prose style, a developed voice, but who still can't sell a novel, for various reasons, to a commercially viable line. Should we kill ourselves, quit writing, post it on telephone poles, read it aloud to the cat every evening, what? 'Keep striving' . . . that sounds fine, but it gets old out here on this side of the screen. We believe we're talented, but we start to doubt ourselves when everyone else says we're not. It's like being the oldest toothless whore who doesn't get any business any more, despite having the most experience. (Isn't it odd that virgins are the most in demand, when they actually have no experience at all? Sorry to go vulgar on you there, but I've been corrupted by modern society and the media.)"
. . . I've ALWAYS wondered that about virgins. And another thing--why is it (I've always wondered) that if oral sex on guys is nothing to be uh-shamed of, a lot of fun for the guys (they tell me), and not even sex according to some Presidents, then WHY is "that sucks" still such a pejorative?
I've gotta stay away from pizza. It seems to bring out the Really Deep Questions.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-15 05:34 pm (UTC)His tired eyes focused on several test tubes suspended in a frame on the far wall. They clinked together as the vibrations continued. The greeen contents slopped up the sides of the glass, spilling onto the metal work surface below.
"No . . . the SH33!" Hank shouted, edging his way across the room. "These moonquakes are becoming more and more frequent. Months of research, and I could lose the lot in a matter of minutes!"
If that's typical of the quality of the prose of the rest of the novel, I think perhaps you're not to blame for assuming that the book hadn't been sold to a traditional publisher.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-15 06:42 pm (UTC)P.