Blog Post No. 405
The virtual launch is over and while I did very little to facilitate it (or likely because) it was a success. Though I’m not sure how to quantify a success of such a thing. At a physical event you can count of number of people who showed up and how many books you sold. I suppose I could go by views, but with so many different elements spread out over multiple digital spaces, that’s not so easy. I could go by engagement and I did get some good feedback on the silly video I made for the event, but again, I’d have to go around and calculate the comments on all the posts and I don’t want to. The easiest and most kind to my ego is to look at the things Christian, Brittni, and I did for the event.
We each had a video and I think they all turned out well. I have some quibbles with mine, but I also can’t stand recordings of myself (video or audio) so I may be biased. Christian and Brittni also had other posts that they release throughout the day. I wasn’t as invested as that (and I hope they don’t think I didn’t pull my weight because of it) but as far as quality content goes, I think they did a good job. I’m not sure if the launch will result in books sold, but in this environment, who knows what prompts people or holds them back.
Since most of my book sales are in person at events, I haven’t sold many copies of Broadcast Wasteland, but because of this event, I finally got off my butt and brought some copies to Biblioais. It’s currently only available there and online (and from me but I’m more hesitant than ever to go out without very good reasons since so many folks seem to be carrying on as if there isn’t a pandemic happening). Biblioasis has some copies of my other books there, but I wasn’t able to find them on the shelf when I dropped off Broadcast. The clerk told me they may be in the back as they are in the middle of reorganizing everything. So, they have some, but if you happen to go in looking for them, you may need to ask.
I’m still writing the first draft of Break/Interrupt right now. I’m ahead of schedule at over 32 000 words but unsurprisingly I still have a lot to write to get to the end of the story. I’m trying to keep it more focused, but there will need to be some major edits when I’m done. I feel like a broken record, but I intended for it to be between thirty and thirty-five thousand words, but I’m going to be well past that by the time it’s done. Maybe editing it will be good practice for tacking the novel (which is going to be a mammoth job when I get to it). I’m not sure how long it will be in the end, but I still hope to keep it from surpassing Neon or Broadcast. I have to stop the word count swell especially by the time I start writing the next novel (sometime in the unknown future). Either way, over 32 000 words in 27 days feel nice.
Thanks to everyone who checked out the virtual launch and thanks again to Christian Laforet and Brittni Brinn for making it special.
Ben Van Dongen 