Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Snowpocalypse Now

Seriously, I should be teaching, but mother nature has dumped a massive (like from New Mexico to Michigan) sized storm of the U.S.

Speaking of teaching, one of the skills I've learned as a teacher is how to transition between topics. Try this:

Snowpocalypse Now is a cheeky reference to the movie Apocalypse Now which is based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness which is the template for my book, Loathsome, Dark, and Deep.

Whew.

Well check out this nice review of Loathsome, Dark, and Deep at Hellnotes:

It’s a cleverly thought out survival novel that turns into a “search for a man who can answer our questions” novel, with Henry taken prisoner by a fellow named Curt who can explain the presence of the zombie-like “Ruined Men.”

Now that's nice. Click above to read the rest (should you want to, of course). Daniel Powell, author of An Autumn Harvest, had some nice things to say, too. Thanks for reading.

This transition isn't as smooth.

I've come to the end of my first "month of experimentation" with Kindle publishing, and, well, have (drum roll please) seven sales! Yes, seven copies of The Bottom Feeders sold in January, and, I'm surprisingly excited about it. Why? Because everybody I know already bought copies before January (I think)--that means seven "strangers" gave it a go. So my "profit" total for 2011...

7 books x $.35 a book = $2.45!

Now, I know I said I was going to donate 10% to a charity each month...I am. At least. 25 cents doesn't seem like much of a donation, does it? So each month I make less than $10 (could be the whole year, folks), I'm going to donate at least $5.

So who should the $5 go to this month? I'm taking suggestions and then will hold a poll.

I'll announce the winner of the review contest tomorrow...stay tuned. We're likely snowed in for a few days...

12 comments:

Cate Gardner said...

Nice segway. Ha!

I totally get you with the seven sales is amazing and that they're probably strangers etc etc. We must be mad.

Unknown said...

You know, with segueing skills like that you could be writing Bing commercials! Another calling until sales pick up :-) Congrats on the $2.45 and hang in there.

Unknown said...

I'm actually one of those strangers. *blush*

Alan W. Davidson said...

You, sir, are the master of transition. I'm thinking you should take the $5 and buy someone else's book from another small press. Sort of a 'pay it back' thing. Even if it's one you've read, you can still give it away in a future contest (promoting your novel).

Michael Stone said...

Nice review... L D & D is slowly floating to the top of my TBR pile. Looking forward to it!

Daniel Powell said...

Hi Aaron. Thanks for the link to my story. I'm putting up a post with a link to 52 Stitches over at my blog. Maybe donate the money to the same trust fund?

I feel a deep sense of sadness for Mr. Eyberg's family; those children, in particular, are in my thoughts...

Aaron Polson said...

Cate - of course we are.

Belinda - Ha! Bing commercials would pay soooo much better than anything else I've done. ;)

Gef - I figured they weren't "strangers". It's all about degrees of separation, isn't it?

Thank you, Alan.

Thanks, Michael. I was pleased. I spent a good deal of time on those characters.

Thanks, Dan. Jamie was a good friend.

Anthony Rapino said...

I'm totally loving the snow days. At least, I love them until I get back into class and realize I have to condense several missed classes into one or two. :-/

Congrats on the sales. I just started reading Loathsome Dark and Deep, and (not sure if you saw my earlier tweet) it gave me nightmares. Nice work, my friend. It has been a long long time since I had a legit nightmare. Hollow fields indeed.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to getting Loathsome once I finish The Passage - halfway through it.

Donate the $ to Everyday Weirdness; they need some kind of jumpstart, by all appearances (and maybe they'd be able to pay their writers...)

Andrea Allison said...

I'd rather have snow than ice....in most cases. We got a little over a foot.

Congrats on the seven sales!

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Tony. I'd love the snow days if I didn't have to wrangle my own kids (who have been penned inside for too long). I can't seem to get anything done. (Like...aren't I supposed to be looking at somebody's edits...)

Milo - I've already written off pay for three stories they published. :\ Good venues are hard to come by...

Andrea - Yes. Snow is much easier to deal with. Thanks!

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