Back from Grand Rapids
As of today, I'm officially done with all of the signings I had set up for Goblin War [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]. As much as I enjoy these events, I admit to feeling a little relieved. The past few months have been non-stop. I'm now done with booksignings for a while, and I also finished up the rewrite of my CatsCurious tale yesterday, so I should have a little more time and energy for everything else. Starting with the jumbled mess that is the Mermaid rewrite.
The signing was a blast, as usual. My brother lives in Grand Rapids, and some of his clan have grown rather fond of Jig the goblin. I also got to see![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
dr_phil_physics again, and was able to meet brainstormfront, who was kind enough to give me a copy of his novel Blackstaff [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]. I haven't read a Forgotten Realms books in ages, and I'm looking forward to reading this one.
The store had only ordered a few copies of Quest and Hero, all of which were snatched up before the event even started. That got me thinking about signings and series. I've always kind of assumed that the stores would order all three of the goblin books, but eventually that could get a little silly. What if I wrote a ten-book series. Should a bookstore stock all ten volumes for an event?
My guess is that the best thing to do is stock up on the latest book. Then get a bunch of the very first book. And maybe pick up a few copies of the middle books. That way, anyone who wanders in off the street can start the series at book one. Loyal fans who have read the earlier books can pick up the latest. And those wonderful people who want to buy the entire series for Christmas or birthday gifts to their friends (Thanks for that, by the way!!!) can do so. But I'm not a bookseller, and I've only got three books out, so it's very possible I don't know what I'm talking about.
I'm also curious what's going to happen next year. The Stepsister Scheme is the start of a new series. Will bookstores stock up on the goblin books when I come to do a signing for Stepsister? There's also the issue of shelf space. Usually, I sign some leftover stock at the end of the signing, but there's only so much shelf space. The more books they order, the more likely some will have to be stripped and returned. But I'd rather have them order too many and have to return some than not enough and miss out on potential sales.
In conclusion, I think about this stuff way too much.
Thanks again to everyone who showed up last night, old friends and new faces both. I hope you enjoyed the preview of Stepsister. Hopefully I'll see most of you again in January!
The signing was a blast, as usual. My brother lives in Grand Rapids, and some of his clan have grown rather fond of Jig the goblin. I also got to see
dr_phil_physics again, and was able to meet brainstormfront, who was kind enough to give me a copy of his novel Blackstaff [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]. I haven't read a Forgotten Realms books in ages, and I'm looking forward to reading this one.The store had only ordered a few copies of Quest and Hero, all of which were snatched up before the event even started. That got me thinking about signings and series. I've always kind of assumed that the stores would order all three of the goblin books, but eventually that could get a little silly. What if I wrote a ten-book series. Should a bookstore stock all ten volumes for an event?
My guess is that the best thing to do is stock up on the latest book. Then get a bunch of the very first book. And maybe pick up a few copies of the middle books. That way, anyone who wanders in off the street can start the series at book one. Loyal fans who have read the earlier books can pick up the latest. And those wonderful people who want to buy the entire series for Christmas or birthday gifts to their friends (Thanks for that, by the way!!!) can do so. But I'm not a bookseller, and I've only got three books out, so it's very possible I don't know what I'm talking about.
I'm also curious what's going to happen next year. The Stepsister Scheme is the start of a new series. Will bookstores stock up on the goblin books when I come to do a signing for Stepsister? There's also the issue of shelf space. Usually, I sign some leftover stock at the end of the signing, but there's only so much shelf space. The more books they order, the more likely some will have to be stripped and returned. But I'd rather have them order too many and have to return some than not enough and miss out on potential sales.
In conclusion, I think about this stuff way too much.
Thanks again to everyone who showed up last night, old friends and new faces both. I hope you enjoyed the preview of Stepsister. Hopefully I'll see most of you again in January!
Again, loads of fun last night; glad we finally met.
Steven
Hm. I might have to find a sneaky way to plant that idea in my editor's brain :-)
Dr. Phil
Anyway, I noticed that if a new paperback fantasy novel of a series came out, we usually got in one or two extra copies of book one and oodles of the latest one... so you're not far off the mark.
The caveat to this is the books need to be listed in the computer system as a series for it to work. For most things this wasn't a problem, but for tangled series (like Pratchett) sometimes this fell by the wayside. I imagine that the goblins will be fine, as you've only the one series so far. (If anything, after an event you'll just have a definite shortage of book 2. ;)
Yes, definitely ask if there's a boxed set possibilty, *especially* by Christmas. Borders starts stocking for Christmas Oct 1, so the sooner the better! Another idea is to ask the local bookstore if they could add the boxed set to any DnD/gaming 'endcap' displays - they might not be clued in that your goblins nicely fit the 'theme'.
The computer listing worries me. Half the databases can't even seem to decide if I'm Jim Hines or Jim C. Hines, let alone figure out the series. Goblin War has a series title on Amazon, but not the first two books. I haven't snooped Borders' computers enough to know how they've got me listed...
I must also report other events:
The good news is that your books are so beloved in the SF/F department at RT that everyone is fighting over who gets to review the Stepsister Scheme.
The bad news is it doesn't look to be me - my boss is pulling rank! :)
It's nice to hear people are fighting over the next book, but I'm sorry you'll probably lose out. Any chance of swiping the book once your boss finishes reading? (And I *really* hope it lives up to expectations!)
The Stepsister reading was brilliant. The whole Pack was annoyed that you read us such a great part and we couldn't go buy it and read it.
We'll have him in that dress for sure!
I think I just need to plan a little better, maybe take an hour or two off of work so I can get out there earlier and actually socialize before these events.
I'm glad y'all enjoyed Stepsister. I'm really hoping for good things with this series ... assuming I can ever get the second book sorted out.
Boxed sets are great. Unless of course you already own the books separately. :)
Damn, you've unmasked my Sekret Plan in public!
Speaking seriously, for a change, I reckon they should be forced by LAW to have copies of the first book. Otherwise you're pretty much guaranteeing the series can never pick up any new readers.
Books 2-9 less important, but lots of the current book.