The year in roses that was.
So! Last year a pledge, a promise, a proposal was made: to have written six full chapters by about now. —How’d that go?
Not so much; despite a valiant end-of-year effort to Get the Dam’ Thing Done Already, we’re going to have to call it at four-and-a-half done out of six.
Oh well.
(I am working on it. Honest.)
Of course, there was also a hope: that there might come to pass “some additional formats such as ebooks and audiobooks and suchlike”—
So there’s that. —And while the serial nature of this enterprise is paramount (“It’s terribly—episodic,” the Editor says, having looked it over, or the Agent, with that Tone in their voice that tells you there’s a Look on their face, so I say, “Well, yeah—”), there’s something about a neatly bound stack of paper, you know?
Expectations are raised, however, when a work becomes a product in the marketplace; benchmarks ought to be set, and checked, to see how well one is, what’s the word, performing—so I figured, there’s hope, yes, but let’s not let it get too high, you know? Say, a nice round figure, maybe on average we sell a book a day? —Nothing exorbitant.
Well. So much for that.
(You might, if you take a close look at those numbers, say, but Kip! There’s 91 sales via Smashword in November! —And I’d say, well, but: those were giveaways. —And so.)
(While we’re opening up the books, here’s the average daily traffic for each year we’ve been around:
(One takes what solace one can from the general upward trend?)
But. But but but.
The whole point—one of the whole points—of doing this the way it’s being done is precisely to do whatever it is without the contant checking of those benchmarks and the checking them again; to never be in a position where an Editor might come from a meeting with Finance, shaking their head sadly and sucking their teeth, pondering how best to pull the plug. Means of production and all that. There’s only one number in all this heap that means much of anything:
Four. And a half.
—In 2010, only three chapters were completed; this represents another year-over-year increase in output of fifty percent.
So I feel pretty confident (being Editor, and Agent, and Finance, and Plug, all at once) in projecting an actual six chapters completed in the coming year. —Ladies; gentlemen; those otherwise designated by preference or design: I give you—
More on which anon.
—posted 4499 days ago
Thank you, thank you for working on it. You have become one of my favorite writers, in the ranks with Peter Beagle himself. I only own the first 8 chapbooks, but trust that I am saving my pennies to catch up on the rest. Thank you, Kip.
