Actually (and don't tell anybody) I just leap to the end of your digital missives to, you know, cut to the chase.
:) Re: rewards for the aggressive on-line advertising: how about after I get back from Blackhat next week. Oops, that weekend is taken. Oops^2, I'll be on the bike in Colorado the following week, August 24th - 27th. Hmm. The 31st of August is a Friday. And my birthday. Sounds like a good excuse to eat, drink, and etc.... Asymptote City, regarding the shape of the sales curve. I'm still a bit away from selling fractional portions of a book per week, though. As to that other Doug Roberts. Hmph. Just hmph. --Doug On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 3:25 PM, Steve Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > Doug - > > Thanks for the honorable mention, Steve! > > > You are always welcome! I throw those things in just to make sure you > read my massive missives to the end (or at least grep for your name!)... > > > > BTW, I'm now qualified to give seminars, workshops, etc. that provide > clinical proof of how rapidly your book sales can (will!) fall off a cliff > without a pretty aggressive, ongoing marketing plan. > > Sorry to hear that, but it is not surprising in these times... have sales > gone to zero? Or just asymptotically approaching. > > http://www.amazon.com/Second-Cousins-ebook/dp/B004WF4DXE > > How's this for aggressive and ongoing marketing? When do I get my > agent's commission (2 fingers of Chivas)? > > > BTW... who IS this Doug Roberts from Rio Grande Ohio? > > http://www.amazon.com/Douglas-Roberts/e/B0034PDCYE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 > > > --Doug > -- > Doug Roberts > [email protected] > [email protected] > http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins > > 505-455-7333 - Office > 505-670-8195 - Cell > > > On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 2:43 PM, Steve Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Jochen - >> >> I met George when I used to hang with some of the local (NM) SF >> authors, I've since dropped out of that crowd. >> >> I also hosted a series of events at LANL during the 1998 Nebula >> awards... At that event I even met a woman (SF/F Author who claimed to >> have accidentally started the Society for Creative Anachronism when she >> invited all of her friends and aquaintences and colleagues to her house in >> Berkeley to celebrate her recent Masters in Medieval Studies and they all >> showed up in period costume and weaponry.... I can't remember her name >> now and could not corroborate her story. >> >> George is a lot like many of the SF/F authors I know... only a bit more >> successful than most. I found George to be a self-important curmudgeon >> long before he hit it bigtime (while he was producing the work that he >> would hit it bigtime with!)... so I can't imagine that has decreased. The >> Game of Thrones series (even before it got picked up by HBO) was very >> powerful even though it is not my usual fare. George also initiated and >> edited a series of collected/themed short stories known as "the Wild Card" >> stories which in my opinion presaged (or inspired, or informed) the >> "Heroes" HBO series. These are (I think he's still cranking them out) very >> good examples of collaborative fiction as well... >> >> We (NM) recently (2006) lost the legendary Jack Williamson at the ripe >> young age of 98... he came to NM by way of covered wagon just around >> 1912/statehood (age 4). He was incredibly prolific right up until his >> last few years, and managed to get credit for many neologisms from Science >> Fiction as documented in the Oxford English Dictionary.... including my >> favorite "contra-terrene" (anti-matter). He also told a great anecdote >> about being visited by the FBI during the Manhattan project because of one >> of his stories' reference to "Atom Bombs"... he got them off his back by >> referring them to a much older (1932?) story with the same ideas... I >> recommend his first novel in the "Humanoid" Series... I think it was called >> "With Folded Hands" (what goes awry when you make the perfect robotic >> servants whose directives are roughly those that Asimov is given credit >> for... "Allow no human to come to harm"... taking this to the extreme >> they became a kindler, gentler version of the Borg or the Berserkers. >> >> We also lost the similarly legendary Roger Zelazny who was a long time >> resident of Santa Fe and most famous for his series referred to as "The >> Amber Chronicles" I think. Zelazny was also much loved for the writing >> workshops he taught in the area. >> >> Steve (S.M.) Stirling is another prolific Santa Fe author. He has >> several collaborators who he publishes with, including the well known name >> of Anne McCaffrey ("The Ship who Fought). Most of his works are military >> SF, Post Apocalyptic and Alternate History. I enjoy the last the most. >> >> Stephen C. Gould and Laura Mixon are perhaps my favorite "writing >> couple"... Stephen's work hit it "big time" when one of his juvenile >> novels, "Jumper" was made into a movie (disappointing result as such >> endeavors often are) a few years ago. They wrote a great collaborative >> novel together for those here interested in collaborative efforts. Laura >> is a very powerful Cyberpunk (my measure of the theme of her work) Author >> in her own right and collaborator on an Interactive Storytelling engine >> (Storytron). Laura and/or Stephen might even be members of this or the SFX >> Discuss list. I hosted them at SFX for a "blender" on interactive >> storytelling a few years ago. >> >> Walter Jon Williamson is another of my favorites... His work touches on >> Cyberpunk (HardWired in particular) but manages to be very highbrow >> technically despite the lowbrow tropes such as "Space Opera". I haven't >> seen anything from him lately, but I'm sure he's still working... >> >> Other SF names from the immediate are that might also be recognized >> include: Fred Saberhagen, Sage Walker, Patty Nagel, Sally Gwylan ... >> >> And of course, there is the ever-famous annual SF Confention in >> Albuquerque called the "Bubonicon" after the unfortunate disease, "Bubonic >> Plague". >> >> Oh, and then of course, we have Doug! >> >> - Steve >> >> >> >> A colleague came up today with a book from George R.R. Martin. They say >> he is the American Tolkien, so I decided to read one of his books, 'Game of >> Thrones'. Has someone actually met him? He lives in Santa Fe and seems to >> be cool. >> >> -J. >> >> >> >> Sent from Android >> >> >>
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