Blog No. 196
The last few weeks have been stuffed full of tasks needing my attention. More than writing or publishing, I’ve had work, family, and general domestic responsibilities come home to roost. I’m not sure if any one of them is worthy of being a blog post on its own, but perhaps together they can make up the approximation of one. As usual, I’m not necessarily sure where I’m going from here. It may just be a list of stuff I’ve been doing (not including all the slacking off I manage to fit in throughout the week. But that could be fun right?
I suppose I’ll start with the latest in my series of Chapter’s visits. So far I’ve only managed to get to the one local store (where I worked for many years). So far (especially because of all the work to constantly do) that’s the only Chapters (/Indigo) I’ve done. Thanks to Christian’s more broad outlook, we’ve set our eyes on a bit of an expansion for next year (summer?). Since we live in a magical place where a five hour drive in any direction takes us to many (many (many)) big cities, we can hit more than a dozen just by going in one direction. We don’t have the time, money or clout to hit them all in one trip, but we can easily take a trip to a new one each week for a month (or more than one). We do alright at Chapters and thanks to our partnership with Mirror World Publishing, we’ll soon be in their database across Canada. It sucks that they take such a large cut, but they are the big boys on the block so they get to set the rules. It’s nice enough that they offer so much to armature and self published authors. Like most cases, people are limited to the work they put in. We have a local record so far, it would be nice to have records in stores across Ontario.
A quick addition to that. I’m sure it has to do with my previous connection with the local Chapters, but the employees are always super nice and supportive when we’re there. The company should know how welcoming and passionate their employees are.
The next Fifth Monday is one the way. If you don’t know what that is, you should. It’s something we do on Adventure Worlds Press on the fifth Monday of a month. Since we post on Mondays, we found sometimes there are remainders. We decided to fill them in with something fun and The Fifth Monday fit the bill. It’s a throwback to the initial idea for the site—stories written in series by different authors. Not only is it a lot of fun, but it gives the chance to flex my creative muscles. Almost by accident, they’ve become wild, wacky, and uncompromising. We go wild with the stories and prose not only trying to out-do the other authors, but trying to stump them too. It’s all for fun, but competition is healthy when everyone is supportive and friends. Christian’s is up on the 29th, and it’s part three of four for the year. You can catch up on Adventure Worlds and join the ride (https://adventureworldspress.com/2016/02/29/hole-in-the-wall-fifth-monday-three-part-one/).
Layout, design, layout, design, ebook, cover, layout. That’s been my last few weeks. I don’t mind the work. I actually enjoy most of it, but it takes away from my writing. It wouldn’t be so bad, but I had some edits to do (a crapshoot of work and frustration). I’ve also slaked off on my online presence stuff. I should be sharing a lot more. Many of my friends and writer/artist acquaintances are busy. There have been a bunch of worth while events I haven’t been able to attend (mostly from work). 
The least I could (should) do is spread the word. I do my best to vocally stand up for local artists. I hear people badmouth the city and bemoan the lack of sophistication and culture a lot at my place of business. It’s fun to throw a list of upcoming events in their face, even though they have no intention of actually supporting the things that say we lack. Of course the city does have its issues. The new city hall makes me shake my head. Also, we’re getting a pedestrian tunnel under a main street down town for no good reason. But I digress.
That should cover a post length, so I’d better get back to my layout and design. At least that means more things are on the horizon. That’s worth the effort.
Ben Van Dongen 