Filed under: Connections, Feedback, Gene Roddenberry, Science Fiction, Space, Star Trek, Writing stuff | Tags: blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, feedback, jim downey, Kickstarter, Science Fiction, space, St. Cybi's Well, Star Trek, Tholian Web, writing
…to see the sorts of things which come to mind for people as they read Communion of Dreams. Got the following note via email this morning:
“About I’m 80% through the book, and some niggle I’ve had in my head for a few days finally broke through.
Are you paying homage to the old Star Trek episode, the Tholian Web?”
Heh.
Hehehehehe.
Jim Downey
Just 11 days left – support the Kickstarter!
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Music, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Society, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, music, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
On the first day of Kickstarter
my true fan sent to me:
A dollar for Saint Cybi.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to run through all 12 stanzas.
But we haven’t had much action this week on the Kickstarter, and the countdown has relentlessly continued with just 12 days remaining. Meaning that we’re 47% funded, but with 60% of the time over. That’s not a good trend.
I’d like this to be successful. It would allow me to concentrate on getting the book done and out sooner rather than later. So far 35 kind and generous souls have pledged, and I very much appreciate their support. But that’s a very small number.
If you’ve enjoyed my writing here or elsewhere, particularly if you’ve enjoyed Communion of Dreams, please take a moment and go check out the Kickstarter. There are some really great ‘rewards’ there — I’m not asking for a donation, just some advance sales of St. Cybi’s Well. A fair exchange, from $5 on up. And should St. Cybi’s Well prove to be popular, who knows, the limited edition hand-bound copies I’m offering may become valuable collector’s items.
And if you would share news of this Kickstarter effort with others, particularly those who have read Communion of Dreams, I would be very thankful.
Cheers!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Failure, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, humor, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
This is what it said on the ‘$1 Reward’ for my Kickstarter:
Amnesty: Did you download “Communion of Dreams” for free? Assuage your guilty conscience and/or show your appreciation for a great book by pledging just one dollar. And if you haven’t gotten a download of “Communion of Dreams” yet, do so!
That, friends, is why I usually leave the comedy writing to the other Jim Downey, the one who has a more mainstream sense of humor. I was trying to have a little fun with the standard $1 Reward you find on most Kickstarters, where it says some nice but fairly generic thing about “thanking you for your support.” I should know better. The joke fell flat.
Since you can’t change an offered Reward once someone has claimed it (which is only fair), I’ve just closed that Reward and added a more typical one at the same contribution level:
A digital thank-you for your support, as well as notification when “St. Cybi’s Well” is available to the public!
So, lesson learned. Again. You’d think I’d know by now to leave the humor to the other guy.
Thanks to those who *did* make a contribution to the Kickstarter yesterday! That amounted to $365 towards the goal — very much appreciated! And there were another 167 downloads of Communion of Dreams through the day, as well!
Onward & upward.
Jim Downey*
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Society, Writing stuff | Tags: 50 Cent, advertising, Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, design, direct publishing, editing, free, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, layout, literature, promotion, publishing, reviews, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, thanks, writing
Wait, what? How can something free be priced for $1.00 ?
Easy: today Communion of Dreams, which normally sells for $4.95, is completely free for anyone to download. Please – go get it, if you haven’t already. In fact, if you have already gotten it, delete that one and go get it again anyway. Why? Well, it’ll help my rankings if you do.
But I’m doing this today to help promote the Kickstarter for my next book: St. Cybi’s Well.
Currently the Kickstarter is just a bit under halfway over. It is also just a bit under halfway to the funding goal. So far, so good.
The thing is, though, that only 28 people have backed the project so far. Now, I love the level of support from those backers, and greatly appreciate the contributions. But so far this year over 20,000 people have downloaded Communion of Dreams for free. And the previous version of the novel had been downloaded over 35,000 times.
If each and every person who got the book for free just this year would kick in $0.50 — fifty cents — no, not him — we’d surpass the Kickstarter goal and I could concentrate on getting St. Cybi’s Well finished and published.
But that is unlikely to happen. So I’m asking for those who see this to do two small things:
- Go over, kick in a buck on my Kickstarter. Just $1.
- Tell others about it. Word-of-mouth is excellent promotion — it’s how some 60,000 people have heard of Communion of Dreams. Now, let’s convert some of that into support for my Kickstarter.
Self-publishing is incredibly powerful. But it is also damned tough. There’s no ‘advance’ from a publishing house to allow me to concentrate on writing the next book. There’s no budget for advertising and promotion. There’s no design department handling the cover and book layout. There aren’t editors to go through the text. There aren’t copy editors to pore through the proofs. All of that has to be handled by me, one way or another.
Communion of Dreams has gotten praise from people around the world. And not just for the story. Also for the professional quality of the text. That takes a lot of hard work and attention to detail.
I don’t mind that. I take pride in the finished product. But I could use your help. If you got Communion of Dreams for free and enjoyed it, please help me out today. It’ll help get St. Cybi’s Well out that much sooner.
Thanks!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Art, Astronomy, Bad Astronomy, Ballistics, Connections, Failure, Feedback, General Musings, Humor, Light pollution, Predictions, Promotion, Science, Science Fiction, Space, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: art, blogging, Communion of Dreams, humor, jim downey, literature, Moon, Paint the Moon, predictions, Randall Munroe, science, Science Fiction, space, technology, Wikipedia, xkcd
Didn’t I just say that Randall Monroe is brilliant? Of course I did. That was writing about his artwork. And this morning he proved (once again) that his science is solid, as well:
Er, let me explain…
Monroe does the popular webcomic xkcd. If you don’t read it regularly, you should. Anyway, this summer he added in another feature called “What If?” which he explains with this subtitle: “Answering your hypothetical questions with physics, every Tuesday.”
And for whatever reason, today’s entry is in response to this question: “If every person on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the Moon at the same time, would it change color?”
Gee … where have I heard that question before? Hmm … perhaps in Chapter 9 of Communion of Dreams?
“You know, I could design a program that would enhance the image. Everyone who looked up at that would see our Moon,instead. Wouldn’t take much. I could even paint it red.”
“Paint it red? You mean the Moon?
“Yeah, old joke. There was this artist back at the turn of the century who had this project called ‘Paint the Moon’. He wanted to get everyone in the Western Hemisphere to focus these popular little hand-held laser pointers on the Moon all at once, with the idea that enough of the laser light would cause a red spot to appear. Had it all figured: what phase of the Moon was best to do it, how people could aim their lasers, the whole bit.”
“Crazy,” said Jon. Then, after a pause, “It didn’t work, did it?”
“Nah. But that wasn’t the point. He always described the project as a ‘shared lyrical fantasy’, designed to bring people together for a single moment, all doing the same thing. The first attempt got quite a lot of attention world-wide from the media. Millions heard about it, and maybe tens of thousands participated. It is still considered a seminal art event – we studied it in school.”
“But . . . what’s the point?”
“Oh, I just always liked that grandiose sense of whimsy. There were a number of crazy things like that back then, before everything went to hell.”
Unsurprisingly, Monroe concludes that the laser pointers wouldn’t accomplish the task. But then he uses that as a jumping-off point to explore what it *would* take to accomplish the task. And then some. It’s a fun piece, and likely the image of his I posted above has just become another instant classic, not unlike this one (which is the not-xkcd-approved Official T-shirt of BBTI).
Jim Downey
PS: Thanks to the people who sent me a link to the xkcd What If? entry this morning — very much appreciated. Now, if anyone would like to pop by the xkcd forums and mention this connection, I’d greatly appreciate it. Cheers!
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Book Conservation, Connections, Feedback, Guns, Kindle, Marketing, Music, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, art, BBTI, blogging, Bob Dylan, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, firearms, free, guns, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, Legacy Bookbindery, literature, music, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, video
Well, well, well. Some things to share.
First of all, thought I’d go ahead and post here the promotional video we made for the Kickstarter project. For those who might be curious about what I look/sound like, and who have yet to be tempted to go to the Kickstarter page:
A brief word about the Kickstarter’s progress so far, one week since launch: things are going well. We’re over $2,000 on pledges so far, from 20 backers. People have been contributing at levels from $5 to $500 — much appreciated! I’m a bit surprised that no one has just contributed at the $1.00 level so far, since that’s usually something which gets attention on Kickstarter projects where people just want to say “thanks” for some previous efforts or lend a bit of encouragement for a favorite author or artist. But that’s OK, if people want to pledge at higher levels, I’m not going to complain.
Somewhat related to this, there’s a special drawing which may be of interest to those who are ‘into’ firearms — all the details are over on my BBTI blog.
I also want to give a head-up: Next Sunday (Sept 30) will be another promotional day for Communion of Dreams, when anyone will be able to download the Kindle edition of that book for free. You don’t even need a Kindle – they have emulators for just about every mobile device, reader, or computer system. Tell your friends! Spread the word!
Jim Downey
*With apologies to Mr. Zimmerman.
Filed under: Amazon, Book Conservation, Connections, Feedback, Italy, Kindle, Marketing, Music, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Society, YouTube | Tags: Amazon, appreciation, art, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, Grateful Dead, Italy, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, music, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, video, www youtube
An interesting launch.
First, we had 2,215 downloads of Communion of Dreams yesterday (and even one from Italy!) Yay!
Thanks to all who helped to spread the word, and to everyone who downloaded a copy of the book. I didn’t stay up until the end of the promotion, but the last time I checked the stats CoD was ranked #6 in the Science Fiction category of the Kindle store, and was #142 overall.
Over on the Kickstarter for St. Cybi’s Well, it was also quite a good day, with a total of $1,260 pledged. And already a couple of people have claimed this reward:
Pledge $500 or more
2 Backers Limited (3 of 5 left)Mmm, Leather! Double Set: Get a personally handbound leather hardcover copy of *BOTH* “St. Cybi’s Well” and “Communion of Dreams”. The books will be numbered, also signed & inscribed to the recipient. Binding will be in full premium calf with a nice embossed label spine. Your choice of leather color and endpapers. Also includes download copy of both books. (For international shipping, please add $20.)
Est. delivery: Dec 2013
Which is very cool, and very much appreciated. I will enjoy doing all the hand-binding work on these and the other premium rewards.
But while it is important for the funding goal to succeed, running a Kickstarter isn’t just about generating money. It’s also about building community and raising awareness of a project. So *all* contributions are important to me, and in some ways a person who just “pre-orders” the novel for $5, or who enjoyed Communion of Dreams and shows their appreciation with a $1 contribution but then goes on to share news of the Kickstarter with others is more important than someone who happens to be in a financial position to invest in a custom binding.
Seriously, think about it — if each and every person who has downloaded Communion of Dreams during a promotion this year kicked in a buck, we’d already be past the first ‘stretch goal’. And each time someone shares the Kickstarter page, or tells people about my writing, or puts up a review, they help to generate more interest and eventually more financial support which allows me to do more writing.
So, thanks to *everyone* who took the time to pass along the news at any stage of this process. Even though I’m more than a bit of a curmudgeon and an introvert, you — everyone in this little community — are extremely important to me.
And if you haven’t yet checked out the Kickstarter, or told others about it, please take a moment and do so. It helps — it *really* helps.
Jim Downey
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Well.
The Kickstarter has launched:
St. Cybi’s Well – a prequel to Communion of Dreams by Jim Downey
Prequel to the popular novel Communion of Dreams. Get an early release download or a hand-bound copy in your choice of cover material.
I was surprised a bit yesterday when one of my friends — an artist, even — asked what “Kickstarter” is. I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in paying attention to it for the last year or so that I had just assumed that it was something commonly understood. But if you’re not sure, here’s the basic description from Kickstarter:
What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects.
We believe that:
• A good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide.
• A large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement.
Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.
There’s a lot more there on the site. But basically, it is a way to crowd-fund a creative project. In my case, I’m trying to use it as a substitute for a traditional “advance” from a conventional publisher by generating advance sales of my next novel. But since I also have a fairly unusual set of skills as a bookbinder, I’m also able to offer something fairly unique: a limited edition of hand-bound books. This edition will be printed differently, in a manner which will allow for me to fold and then sew actual signatures rather than relying on machine ‘perfect binding’ as you typically find in paperbacks. These book will also be in hardcover, with a variety of different selection of covering material and design. The full information is there on the Kickstarter page.
This is a big deal for me. I’ve been thinking about doing this since early this year, as I watched the response to Communion of Dreams. It was clear that many people enjoyed that book, and one of the most common things which showed up in reviews and discussions was when/whether my next book would be available.
There are many challenges for me here. One is just seeing what the actual level of support for my writing is, which to some extent is expressed by how successful the Kickstarter is. Another is pushing me to actually concentrate on completing St. Cybi’s Well, and proving to myself and the world that Communion of Dreams wasn’t some kind of fluke. Doing the bookbinding won’t be a problem, but it still needs to be attended to. And there are the ongoing promotional matters which require time, energy, and the willingness to engage as something of a public person — no small feat for someone who is as much an introvert as I am.
Yesterday I said thanks for helping me get to this point. And I mean that, most sincerely. Any further help you can give by sharing news of the Kickstarter would be greatly appreciated. And likewise, anyone who wants to kick in some money on the Kickstarter will earn my personal gratitude above and beyond whatever ‘rewards’ they choose.
Now we’ll see how the game plays out.
Jim Downey
*Full explanation here. I choose this version rather than the more common one precisely because in this instance it isn’t a matter of a single roll of the dice being cast, but rather of the game being started.
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So, our Kickstarter project for St. Cybi’s Well has been approved by the Powers That Be. Which means that we can launch it whenever we’re ready; think of this as a scheduled break in the count-down and we’ve now been given clearance for starting the final count.
But like the early space launches, *everything* has to be just right before we can actually launch. The Kickstarter itself is about 95% perfect — but I want to squeeze out a couple more % before I am ready to resume the count-down.
I also want to get a couple of other things ready to coincide with the launch. Like scheduling a Kindle promotional day for Communion of Dreams.
I should be able to announce the actual launch start sometime tomorrow. It might be Sunday. It might be a day or two later.
But it’s coming soon. Be ready. I think some folks are going to really love the possible rewards.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Failure, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Preparedness, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, hutzpah, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, predictions, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
I was chatting with another friend who is a writer, doing a bit of commiseration about the common panic that hits most writers at some point or another.
Panic?
Yeah, that nothing you say is worth saying. That you’re asking readers to spend a part of their time, perhaps part of their money, reading what you write … and the terror that they will not find the trade worthwhile. Just about every writer I have ever known has gone through some version of this. Because face it, it takes a lot of hutzpah to think that you have something worthwhile to say, in a world where it seems like everything of value has already been said better by someone else.
And as I told my friend, I have discovered a whole new level of terror related to this as I have been working to set up the Kickstarter project for St. Cybi’s Well: asking people to actually hand over money before the book has even been written. That takes nerve. And a facade of self-confidence which far exceeds almost anything I’ve ever accomplished previously.
It’s not that I don’t actually think that I can write this book. I know I can. And I know that I can do it in the time-frame I’ve outlined. Combine the experience of writing and then revising Communion of Dreams and Her Final Year, and I know about the pacing of getting a book ready for publication. I know I can also produce the necessary volume of material by the deadlines I’ve set — I’ve done it in the same time frame previously (and recently) in doing freelance articles. So the actual writing is not the problem, though of course there will be challenges as I go through it.
No, it’s the matter of thinking that the book is worth it. Worth asking people to hand over money for it in advance. Because that’s essentially what this Kickstarter will be: asking for advance sales of a book which doesn’t even entirely exist in my head yet. In this way it’s crowd-funding a traditional writer’s advance from a publisher. Except that taking an advance from a publisher meant only potentially disappointing the publisher (and their Board of Directors and share-holders, I suppose). In this instance it means potentially disappointing friends and fans … a *lot* of them. (Hopefully a lot of them, anyway.)
Yeah, that’s a whole new level of terror. And a whole new level of hutzpah for this kid.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 