Filed under: Amazon, Art, Book Conservation, Connections, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Religion, Science Fiction, tech | Tags: Alzheimer's, Amazon, art, blogging, book conservation, bookbinding, care-giving, Communion of Dreams, free, jim downey, John Bourke, Kindle, promotion, Science Fiction, technology
Remember that 700+ year old bible I posted about the beginning of June? This one:
Well, this weekend I got started working on the book. And I thought I’d share a couple of images of what I found inside, and what I’ve done to it so far.
Here’s the spine of the text block, once it had been freed from the cover seen above:
That’s after I’ve removed the gross chunks of paper liners which were applied between the cords. I’ve since removed all the rest of the liners, first using a jeweler’s tweezers and then a scalpel. Anyway, I want to note the very evident lines of sewing stations (holes punched through the folios) from the original binding. That shows that the book has been rebound at least once.
Here’s another image:
That’s an image of the interior of the cover. Which shows a couple of interesting things. First, you can see how the vellum of the cover molded itself to the spine of the text block over time. That sort of thing happens over *centuries*.
Second, how the supporting cords are laced into the cover. The sewing was done in a way that it wrapped around the cords, which helps to support the overall structure. The cords are then laced into a channel, looped over the board material, and then come back on the inside and are pasted down. This is VERY common of medieval and Renaissance bindings.
And lastly — note that the cover material is an early variety of bookboard. It’s NOT wood. This is a clue to the age of the binding. It means that it is after the introduction of papermaking to Europe. Which is to say, this book was probably rebound sometime in the 14th or 15th century. (Papermaking technology was introduced to Southern Europe late in the 13th century, but it took a little while to disseminate across the continent.)
So, I removed a couple of layers of more modern papers on the inside, and pulled the old ends of the cords out of the bookboard. Then I dampened the board on the inside, put it between moisture barrier sheets, and put it into a press to flatten overnight. Then once the spine of the text block was fairly clean I applied a layer of conservation adhesive (a blend of methyl-cellulose and poly-vinyl-acetate) and some fairly heavy Kozo-fiber paper, which I stippled onto the spine so that it would conform to the existing structure and hold everything in place. Like this:
You’ll note that it extends past the text block on the left-hand side of the spine. I can trim that excess off with a scalpel once everything is dried. I should finish up the rest of the work tomorrow.
Oh, and speaking of tomorrow … remember, the week-long give-away of my books starts then!
Jim Downey
Filed under: BoingBoing, Connections, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Science, Science Fiction, tech, YouTube | Tags: blogging, Boing Boing, Communion of Dreams, free, Her Final Year, jim downey, Kindle, levitation, magnets, Möbius strip, physics, promotion, Royal Institution, science, Science Fiction, superconductor, technology, video, www youtube
Via BB, fun with physics:
I think it’s particularly clever that they made the track a Möbius strip, in order to demonstrate how the gravitational field can be used to both float and suspend the superconducting magnet. Reminds me of this bit from chapter 5 of Communion of Dreams:
The man was a bit of a lunatic. But he was a brilliant engineer who had an almost intuitive understanding of the Apparent Gravity phenomenon, and was the first to propose that it could be adapted for use as a propulsion system. He figured out a way to trick an AG field into thinking that it was in a stable inertial reference by projecting it in front of a ship, and thereby essentially have the ship – and generator – continuously ‘fall’ into the field. The Hawking was the first ship equipped with the new reactionless drive system.
Remember, both Communion of Dreams and Her Final Year will be free all next week …
Jim Downey
Filed under: Alzheimer's, Amazon, Connections, Feedback, Fireworks, Health, Hobbits, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Synesthesia, tech | Tags: 301, 55, Alzheimer's, Amazon, birthday, blogging, care-giving, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, health, Hobbits, hospice, humor, jim downey, John Bourke, July 4th, Kindle, memoir, promotion, Science Fiction
As I’ve noted previously, July 4th is my birthday (secondary thought – damn, this blog is six years old!). And in something of a “Hobbit’s Birthday” spirit, again this year I’m going to run a promotion in celebration. But because I’m turning 55, it’s going to be a bit different than last year. Instead, the Kindle edition of Communion of Dreams will be free for 5 days – yup, July 1st through July 5th.
And that ain’t all. Nope. At the same time, from July 1st through July 5th, the Kindle edition of Her Final Year will also be completely free.
And that still ain’t all. Nope. When the promotional period is over, the Kindle edition price for each book will drop to just $3.01. Why $3.01? Well, because of Amazon’s policies, it’s best to keep the price over $2.99. And I like the ‘shape’ of 301, mild synesthete that I am. And the number has some interesting properties. So, $3.01 it is.
And remember, you don’t even need an actual Kindle to enjoy either book, because there is a free Kindle emulator/app for just about every computer/tablet/mobile device out there. Earlier this year I installed the app on my Android phone, and I’ve been happily using it in lieu of my Kindle since.
So, starting Monday: five free days of Communion of Dreams. And five free days of Her Final Year. 5 + 5 for my 55th birthday. Help make it a good one, and spread the word. Thanks.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Art, John Scalzi, Promotion, Publishing, Society, Writing stuff | Tags: art, blogging, direct publishing, exploitation, free, jim downey, John Scalzi, Nate Thayer, predictions, promotion, publishing, The Atlantic
Nine years ago, as I was in the process of closing down my gallery of fine art, I wrote the following in response to a query from a local restaurant owner who was looking to offer our artists the “exposure” of hanging their art on her walls:
Having free art to hang on your walls in order to entice people is a great idea. It would be the same thing as getting local musicians to come perform during all your hours of operation for no pay, with the excuse that they’re getting “exposure” and can put out a tip jar or maybe schedule paying gigs – and you won’t even ask for a percentage of the cut! Such a deal! Or to get it out of the realm of the arts, what would you call an employer who “allowed” workers to slave away for no compensation other than the chance to sell their services to some other potential employer when they were noticed for how well and hard they worked? And what do you think that would do for the level of wages in the community?
Folks, this is exploitation, nothing more. It’s using artists for your own personal gain.
I suppose I should have had the prescience to see the coming storm of internships, but back then I wasn’t as cynical as I am now.
Because the truth of the matter is that this sort of thing has almost become routine. Companies hold “competitions” for new logos and other graphic design needs, with the hook that winning such a competition will give the designer “exposure” and a chance to *maybe* do some other actual paid work for the company later. The Huffington Post was built on a model of not paying for content from most of their writers, but rather providing them an outlet for “exposure.” It’s become such a routine practice for online publications to ask for free content that best-selling author John Scalzi posted a bit of a rant back in December about the requests he gets.
Well, two days ago veteran journalist and multiple-award winner Nate Thayer got a query from the Atlantic Magazine to re-purpose a longer article he had published elsewhere. Thayer was open to the query, right up to the point where the Global Editor said that they wouldn’t pay for the piece, but rather it would be good for Thayer because of the “exposure”. Thayer blogged about it, including his email correspondence back and forth with the editor so that the entire horror show unfolds before your eyes. Thayer’s basic reaction is best summed up by this passage:
I am a professional journalist who has made my living by writing for 25 years and am not in the habit of giving my services for free to for profit media outlets so they can make money by using my work and efforts by removing my ability to pay my bills and feed my children. I know several people who write for the Atlantic who of course get paid. I appreciate your interest, but, while I respect the Atlantic, and have several friends who write for it, I have bills to pay and cannot expect to do so by giving my work away for free to a for profit company so they can make money off of my efforts.
The whole thing has gotten a fair amount of attention online, and generated a lot of fairly predictable discussion. Including taking Thayer to task for publishing the emails as well as his audacity at taking umbrage at being asked to provide his work for free.
My reaction to this is best summed up in Scalzi’s two final points in his rant:
9. If this is your cue to complain about how this makes me an asshole, ask me if I care. Go on, ask!
10. But now that you mention it, saying “fuck you, pay me,” to you does not make me (or anyone else from whom you are hoping to extract actual work from without pay) the asshole in this scenario. It makes me the guy responding to the asshole, in a manner befitting the moment.
Bingo.
It’s one thing to be asked to contribute work to some charity. Or to participate in writing for a blog or website which (intentionally) isn’t generating income for the owners. It’s another matter altogether to be asked to give away your work (creative or non) to benefit a for-profit business. That’s called exploitation.
And calling it exploitation doesn’t make you the bad guy.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Brave New World, Connections, Feedback, Humor, Isaac Asimov, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, feedback, free, humor, Isaac Asimov, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, literature, promotion, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, writing
A couple weeks ago, when I was setting up the price change and promotional stuff for the one-year anniversary of Communion of Dreams, I was again confronted with something I had pondered and then ignored previously: was this book part of a “series”?
See, when you’re going through the interface to publish a book with Amazon, that’s one of the questions you need to answer. The helpful little dialog box explains the idea this way:
A series is a connected set of books. If this book is part of a series, identify where the book exists in the sequence with a volume number. We only accept volume numbers in numerical format (“1”, “2”, or “3”). Magazines and journals are also often grouped as a series. Identifying the series helps customers find other books in the series.
It makes me jealous.
Well, OK, it doesn’t really. But it does make me wonder. What would I call the series for the slightly-altered-universe in which Communion of Dreams exists?
When I first published Communion of Dreams, I thought that I would eventually like to write several other related books, but I didn’t know for sure whether I would ever get around to doing so. I mean, we make plans, and have hopes & dreams and all that, but it seemed both a little presumptuous as well as potentially risky (in the “tempting fate” sort of way) to claim that I was going to write a series of books before seeing what the response to the first one was.
And then there’s the complicating fact that at least for the time being I consider Communion of Dreams to be the end of any such series. St. Cybi’s Well is a prequel — the start of the so-called series, in fact. And I have some rough ideas for other books which would be related to the overall story arc, about one per decade of the time between now and the setting of Communion (2052). But those are just approximations. How can I number the books in the series when I have little confidence in how many there will be? And wouldn’t it be confusing to number the books in the order they are written, since they jump around in chronological sequence?
Anyway, this is all by way of saying that I could use some help and suggestions with this. If you’ve read Communion of Dreams, you have some sense of the overall arc of the series, at least as the history is outlined in that book. And I’ve chatted a fair amount about St. Cybi’s Well. Knowing those things, what do *you* think would be a good ‘series name’ for these books?
I’m serious — I’d like suggestions. Post it here in a comment, drop me an email, say something over on the FB page. If I use your suggestion, I’ll credit you with it and send you a hand-bound copy of either Communion of Dreams or St. Cybi’s Well depending on your preference (and if you’ve already got those coming as part of the Kickstarter rewards or something, we’ll work out an equitable substitute).
Thanks!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Failure, Feedback, General Musings, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, jim downey, Kickstarter, Kindle, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction
Well, we had a grand total of 340 downloads/sales of Communion of Dreams this week. Not impressive. Part of me is tempted to say that I can’t even *give* the book away.
But that’s not true, and to be honest I can’t say that I am terribly upset that we didn’t break the 25,000 mark. Yeah, sure, it would have been neat, but in the end it was just an arbitrary ‘big round number’, and I am still very happy with the overall performance of the book this past year.
So — thanks, everyone! For your support. For your reviews. For your kind words and comments. For telling your friends about the book. For helping to back my Kickstarter. For everything. It’s been a good year.
I’m going to leave the $2.00 discount code for my CreateSpace store in place for a while, perhaps indefinitely. I can’t really drop the overall price for the paperback sold through Amazon by very much, since the actual costs of printing and selling the book are high enough that I would lose money on each sale. But there’s more room on the pricing in my CreateSpace store, so I can offer the discount there: 99K4TNJZ
And I’ve dropped the retail price of the Kindle edition to $3.95. Such a bargain!
Thanks again.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, art, blogging, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, feedback, free, humor, jim downey, Kindle, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction
So, earlier this week I mailed off the first ‘backwards’ books, and have now heard from four of the recipients. Here are a couple of excerpts in their responses:
“The koob arrived safely – thanks! Looking forward (er, backward?) to re-reading it ;)”
“words. fail. me. the exceptional feeling of awe at this exquisite, hand-made work of art, serendipitously brought about can hardly be conveyed. it’s beautiful.”
Damn, I wish *I* had thought to call the thing the “koob”! See? My readers are clearly more intelligent & witty than I am. Pat yourself on the back — you deserve it.
Anyway, so that’s that.
Speaking of reviews, there’s another new one up on Amazon, this time breaking the 1-star streak I was afraid we were falling into. Here’s a bit of it:
I read this and thoroughly enjoyed it. It definitely has an ‘early sci-fi’ feel to it. People have compared the writing style to Clarke. I’m more into the military sci-fi but this was a refreshing and enjoyable change.
Today’s the last day of the big promotion. So far this week things have been really slow, and we haven’t made hardly any progress since Wednesday. Meaning that there’s still something like 1,400 to go to break the 25,000 mark. Obviously, it’s not a big deal if we don’t make it. But if you haven’t yet picked up a copy of the Kindle edition, or know someone who might like it, you might as well get it for free today. And if you prefer paper over electronic format, then use the $2.00 discount code in my CreateSpace store: 99K4TNJZ
Have a great Friday!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Arthur C. Clarke, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, Arthur C. Clarke, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, Facebook, feedback, free, jim downey, Kindle, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction, writing
Hey, another one-star review is up over at Amazon! That makes two in a row! Here’s an excerpt:
If you read this review, please know that I stopped reading after a chapter or so.
Why? Well, it’s hard to not see the similarities to Arthur C. Clarke, even if the story eventually takes a different turn. But that would have been OK if the writing had been better. Instead the author really whips through the logistics of assembling a team and arranging transportation to investigate the phenomenon. There’s no depth, little thought and weak writing.
But other than that, he thought my post-apocalyptic world was “somewhat interesting.” That was good to hear. 😉
I noted that this review was up last night over on the Facebook page, and a couple of people pointed out the simple truth that no matter what there are always going to be some people who just don’t like some things. That is something I have said many times myself, going all the way back to the very early days of this blog.
So why mention it? Well, I’m just trying to be honest. With myself, and with you. I like to tout the good things which have happened, the positive reviews and other forms of feedback. So I figure I should also be forthright about the more critical things people say. But I haven’t lost sight of the fact that positive reviews outnumber negative ones by more than 10 – 1.
Anyway, so there’s that. Remember, there’s still a promotion going on, and we haven’t improved much on yesterday’s numbers. Maybe it’s a bit silly, but it’d be fun to break 25,000 copies in the first year — and we still have about 1,400 to go to do that.
Cheers!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, humor, jim downey, Kindle, promotion, Science Fiction
So, the promo is off and running, and we’ve already seen about 200 downloads/sales. Meaning that we have about 1,500 to go to break 25,000. Since the goal was to do this before Friday, I’m pretty confident that we can achieve it — there have been several cases where one day promotions have done that well or better. The last promotional day was right at 700 downloads, and I think the best ever was something like 6,000 back when the book was new. So, 1,500 before the end of the day Friday? No problem.
With your help, that is. Even feverishly downloading and then deleting the book from my Amazon account, I’d never be able to make it to 1,500.
Oops. I probably shouldn’t have said that, should I?
Ah, well.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, art, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, humor, jim downey, Kindle, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction
So, just shipped off the first batch of ‘backwards’ books.
Including one to a major Science Fiction author & internet personality. Who shall remain nameless, since I promised said person that I would not use their wanting the book for any kind of promotional benefit. But obviously, this is someone of considerable taste and good aesthetic sensibility. 🙂 If they say anything about the book publicly later, I’ll let you know.
But still, it’s kinda a kick in the head to know that *my* book will be on their bookshelf.
Yeah, very cool.
Remember, today’s the first day of the promotional push to break 25,000 copies of Communion of Dreams disseminated in the first year. Help me out if you can and share the word.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 