Filed under: Book Conservation, Connections, Feedback, NYT, Predictions, Preparedness, Science Fiction, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: 1470, blogging, book conservation, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, jim downey, Science Fiction, Silas House, technology, writing
There is truth in this:
The No. 1 question I get at readings is: “How many hours a day do you write?” I used to stumble on this question. I don’t write every day, but when I first started going on book tours I was afraid I’d be revealed as a true fraud if I admitted that. Sometimes I write for 20 minutes. Other times I don’t stop writing for six hours, falling over at the end like an emotional, wrung-out mess, simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated. Sometimes I go months without putting a word on the page.
One night, however, I was asked that question and the right answer just popped out, unknown to me before it found solidity on the air: “I write every waking minute,” I said. I meant, of course, that I am always writing in my head.
I’m lucky.
OK, actually I’m very lucky, because I am lucky in many ways. But what I am thinking of right now is that my chosen profession allows me time to think — to write in my head, as it were.
To write in my head as I preserve the words of others. The written words. Specifically, the *printed* words.
Like this:
Joined sheets.
That’s the next step from my last report on the 1470 text. I got all the individual sheets attached, creating “sections” of the book. Or, I should say, re-creating the sections which once were.
Sections “punched” to create sewing stations – where the sewing thread will join them one to the other. And the start of that sewing process.
Then moving on, linking not just words, not just pages, but whole passages, whole section, one to the other:
Linking, one to the next.
What you see there is called a “chain stitch”. A curious term, implying not just links, but connections, even slavery.
Can words be enslaved?
Clean edges. Clean definitions.
And this shows — proves — that my technique works. All the sections line up properly. Almost perfectly.
And so the pages are transformed, from individual pages, into a book.
Like writing.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Book Conservation, Connections, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, predictions, promotion, Science Fiction
First and foremost, allow me to extend best wishes to one and all for a great Thanksgiving (if you’re here in the US. Otherwise, have a great Thursday just ’cause.)
For long-time readers, you know the many twists & turns in my life over the last 5+ years, particularly those related to the ostensible reason this blog was started: to document and explore the process of getting Communion of Dreams published. And I want to tell you, and all the others who have joined us along this trek: thank-you for sticking with me. Communion of Dreams was downloaded something like 35,000 times in the earlier .pdf incarnation, and has been downloaded or purchased in paperback about 20,000 times this year in the current version. And I am grateful to everyone who contributed to make that a reality.
Last week I documented the latest amusing bit of the saga, how we wound up with printed sheets for a “backwards” book, which should have been the sheets for the limited edition handbound hardcover version.
Well, yesterday we got the corrected sheets. Here’s a shot:
Yay!
From initial checking, everything looks good to do the limited edition. And I want to mention that the printer did everything I could reasonably ask or expect to make right the initial mistake — which shouldn’t be unusual, but is all too often these days. So, thanks to the folks at PrintLynx for not only correcting the error, but doing so quickly and with zero hassle. I’ve used them for a decade or longer, and have every reason to continue to use them for the foreseeable future.
I have another big conservation job to focus on in the short term, but soon I hope to have some initial samples of what the handbound hardcover edition of Communion of Dreams will look like. And as for being ‘tempted‘, well, let’s just say that soon I also hope to have an interesting announcement to make. When life gives you lemons …
But for now, I want to again wish you and yours a great Thanksgiving. And to say that I am thankful for all my friends and fans, who have conspired to make this a wonderful year.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Artificial Intelligence, Connections, Expert systems, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, jim downey, Kindle, literature, predictions, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction, Scrivener, St. Cybi's Well, technology, writing
Just a few quick notes to share…
First is a new review up on Amazon. Here’s an excerpt:
The author deftly crafts a tale of a group of humans who endeavor to understand more about this artifact and in the process make some profound discoveries. The characters, both real and virtual, are well crafted and the story is well written with very few (I think I noted one) flaw in the text.
It is a mind-boggling tale with some tie-backs to present time.
As always, I’d ask anyone who has read Communion of Dreams to please consider doing a review, or at least rating/liking the book on Amazon, Good Reads, or elsewhere — honest reviews really do help.
A quick follow-up to Friday’s post: in case you didn’t see the additional note, the printer realized that they’d made an error with the job, and are going to do a complete reprint. It means a bit of a delay, but nothing serious — and I really respect that they’re going to make things right. So many businesses might try to weasel their way out of that responsibility.
I’ve decided that I like the Scrivener software, so am going to be using it for the bulk of the initial writing of St. Cybi’s Well. I’ll probably post further thoughts on it as I get deeper into the actual writing, but I really like that I can use it for collecting research as well as jotting notes/scenes in a way which is fairly intuitive and seamless to use. Not exactly like having my own Seth around to help me, but …
Have a good Monday!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Augmented Reality, Bipolar, Brave New World, Connections, Feedback, Predictions, Psychic abilities, Science, Science Fiction, Society, tech, Wired, Writing stuff | Tags: bipolar, blogging, jim downey, Kevin Dutton, literature, predictions, science, Science Fiction, Scrivener, St. Cybi's Well, technology, writing
As I’ve noted before, writing a long work of fiction is a strange thing, at least for me. I spend a lot of time intensely chewing over ideas, doing research, starting to conceptualize a narrative theory for the book, outlining various relationships between images and characters, sorting out what it is I really want to say more than the actual words to use.
Betwixt & between all of this, some honest to goodness writing gets done, then reorganized and shuffled, with plans and outlines changing. More research, more thinking, more feeling my way through the darkness with the only illumination occasional flashes of lightning.
This morning, after a lot of consideration, I downloaded Scrivener. Over the next week or so I’ll play around with it a bit, see whether it will be a useful tool.
And over lunch, some research & reading. It might be interesting, or even telling, what it was that I found. Here’s an excerpt:
The effects aren’t entirely dissimilar. An easy, airy confidence. A transcendental loosening of inhibition. The inchoate stirrings of a subjective moral swagger: the encroaching, and somehow strangely spiritual, realization that hell, who gives a s—, anyway?
There is, however, one notable exception. One glaring, unmistakable difference between this and the effects of alcohol. That’s the lack of attendant sluggishness. The enhancement of attentional acuity and sharpness. An insuperable feeling of heightened, polished awareness. Sure, my conscience certainly feels like it’s on ice, and my anxieties drowned with a half-dozen shots of transcranial magnetic Jack Daniel’s. But, at the same time, my whole way of being feels as if it’s been sumptuously spring-cleaned with light. My soul, or whatever you want to call it, immersed in a spiritual dishwasher.
So this, I think to myself, is how it feels to be a psychopath. To cruise through life knowing that no matter what you say or do, guilt, remorse, shame, pity, fear—all those familiar, everyday warning signals that might normally light up on your psychological dashboard—no longer trouble you.
Interesting, indeed.
And not unlike the high which comes with creating. Or entering a manic phase in my mild bipolar cycle.
Yes, interesting. Quite.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Connections, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, book art, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, feedback, free, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, predictions, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
So, yesterday’s promotion was a moderate success. Nothing stunning, but certainly not disappointing. We had a total of right at 700 downloads, all told, including 49 from Britain and one each in France & Germany. I’m still waiting for the first download in Japan …
Anyway. Those downloads pushed Communion of Dreams to #3 in the “High Tech SF” subcategory, to #13 in overall Science Fiction, and to #327 on the entire free Kindle store rankings. It may have even done a bit better, since there were another 100 downloads after I crashed last night.
Not bad. Not bad, at all. Thanks everyone!
Last month also saw a decent uptick in overall visits to the Communion of Dreams site, to some 1,200. That’s about a 30% increase over what is typical.
This afternoon I’m mailing off the bulk of the signed paperback copies of CoD from the Kickstarter rewards, and we’re waiting to hear back from the printer about the final tally on the Limited Edition copies. I haven’t made too big a deal out of that special edition here yet, because right now we’ve just got generic examples of my book arts work on the page — but once we have the actual pages, I’ll make up some examples of what the finished book will look like, so people will have a better idea of what they’ll be getting. However, it is not too early if you want to reserve your copy — there are at present only 44 copies remaining available.
And yes, I am now shifting the bulk of my creative energy over to thinking about St. Cybi’s Well, to exactly how I want to lay out the plot and all the characters/scenes/themes. As I noted last week, this is all really exciting.
Cheers!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Heinlein, Kindle, Kurt Vonnegut, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, jim downey, Kindle, literature, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction
As I write this at mid-day, Communion of Dreams sits at #5 in the ‘High Tech’ subcategory of Science Fiction, at #33 overall in Science Fiction, and at #919 in the Kindle rankings (all for “free Kindle store”). Yeah, today’s Trick or Treat promotion is going well. And if you haven’t gotten a copy of the book downloaded yet, you should be sure to do so.
But don’t take my word for it — there’s also a new review been posted this morning:
When I picked up this book, I had no idea what a treat I was in for. From the early chapters I was hooked, like when I was younger and first discovered Heinlein or Vonnegut. Futuristic high-tech gadgets combine with elements of mysticism and other worldly wonder in a sci-fi book that matches up with the best of them. Highly recommended!
Always nice to be favorably compared to some of my favorite authors.
So, don’t delay — go now, and get your copy!
Happy Hallowe’en!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Connections, Feedback, Kindle, Science Fiction, SETI, Space, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, feedback, jim downey, Kindle, literature, Science Fiction, space, writing
Got a nice note from someone on a forum where I’m a member. They had picked up Communion of Dreams recently, and just finished it. Here’s an excerpt from the note [spoiler warning if you haven’t read CoD]:
While I was reading, I started to think about the bubble as more of a womb. I was imagining some advanced civilization or group of civilizations who had sealed us off because we were not yet ready to interact with the rest of the universe.
Did I have that right? If so, why were we only able to access the healing energy through our own manipulation? Was no one watching us?
My response to that bit:
I *really* like your explanation of the ‘bubble’ as akin to a womb — an analogy I hadn’t seen anyone else mention yet, but one that gets to the essence of the idea very well. To extend your analogy a bit, you might consider that it takes children a while after birth to learn to walk & talk — there are lots of things a child is born with the innate potential to do, but which won’t manifest until later, and so aren’t looked for during pregnancy.
Just thought I’d share that.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Book Conservation, Connections, Feedback, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, jim downey, Kickstarter, literature, Paypal, predictions, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
OK, the site updates are now live — you can now order a limited edition copy of Communion of Dreams, and place your advance order to reserve a limited edition copy of St. Cybi’s Well.
I’d like to make several notes about these pages …
First is that currently the images of the different bindings are just representative, to give you some idea of what the types of cover materials look like. We’ll soon be ordering the special print run of Communion of Dreams, and once those pages are done and back to me, I’ll make up some actual copies of the books to show what the finished products will actually look like.
Second is that these edition numbers are “hard”: once all the books are claimed, that’s it — there will be no more. The edition for Communion of Dreams is just 53 copies (plus two Author’s/Artist’s Proof copies). 8 of the copies have already been reserved. The edition for St. Cybi’s Well is just 101 copies (plus two Author’s/Artist’s Proof copies). 11 of those copies have already been reserved.
Lastly, because of logistics using Paypal, there are some limitations in how we set up payments. Downpayments can be taken directly through Paypal for each selection, but you can also just email me to arrange different amounts or payments on account. If you want to send a personal check to order a copy of either limited edition (or both of them), that’s perfectly fine. For help with any of this, just contact me via email: jim@communionofdreams.com
As I’ve noted before, I’m really jazzed about writing St. Cybi’s Well. But even beyond that, I’m excited about combining two of my creative skills: my writing and my bookbinding. Being an accomplished craftsman and artist doesn’t usually blend with also being a writer. This is probably the single best thing to come out of the Kickstarter project for me: thinking in these terms.
Thanks, everyone!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Failure, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, humor, jim downey, Kindle, literature, reviews, Science Fiction, writing
New review up on Amazon:
Awful Cover, AMAZING Book
Okay, I’m guilty.
I nearly judged this book by its cover, but the premise of an alien artifact being discovered convinced me to give it a try. Imagine my delight when it also unexpectedly began taking accurate and well-described metaphysical twists I hadn’t known it contained! I love stumbling across “sleeper” hits!
This book was an amazing read with pieces of everything I love, (including the things I can’t tell you without spoiling the story!) beautifully blended and well written– I could not put it down. It felt like I was watching a long, epic movie.
I highly recommend this one!
Well, I appreciate the positive review, but can’t say I agree with the guy’s aesthetic sense…
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Connections, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, predictions, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
I’ve mentioned it in passing, but I just wanted to drop a brief note and make it explicit: I’m really jazzed about St. Cybi’s Well.
With the unexpected success of the Kickstarter, it took me most of last week to recover from the shock and start to work through all the details of what happened. I’m mostly past that stuff, and have been in contact with all the people who had claimed as a reward one of the hand-bound books in order to allow them to choose their edition # (and if you were one such backer, please check your messages on Kickstarter and get back to me soon). In the next day or two we’ll be ready to open up advance orders to the general public.
But while it is important to deal with all that administrative stuff, what is really cool is that soon I’ll be able to concentrate on getting the book written, edited, and published. Something which I have been thinking about, working through, and giving deep consideration for years. And frankly, that is really exciting!
Now, it will mean that I won’t be posting quite as much here. And I’ll apologize now for that. But concentrating on writing a full-length novel takes a huge amount of creative energy and focus. I’m not going to disappear completely, however, and I will try and keep a schedule of posting a couple of times a week — to let you know how the writing is going, if nothing else. If you’re not already subscribed to this blog, you might want to do so, to get notice of new posts when they’re up.
Thanks again, everyone. For your support of the Kickstarter. For your purchases and downloads of my books. For your feedback and reviews. For just reading this blog over the last five years. It all makes a difference, and I value each and every bit of it.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 