VCON done! O. M. G.

What a weekend. It was nuts. I spent most of the con manning my dealer table. I wish I could have also gone to the various panels and such- At any one time, I would have had a hard time deciding which of the events running at the time to go to.

Rob from Let The Games Begin (or NAMBLA) couldnt make it on friday do to scheduling mixups, so I had to do what I feared, and make my table look decent with one product. I laid down a poster (which was for sale, though I didnt mention that to anyone.. so it didn't sell, oddly) across the table over the tablecloth, and spear out my promotional magnets, postcards, bookmarks, and made a good ole book pyramid. (laying FLAT, folks, I'm not nuts) with one hardcover standing proudly on top. I also had a hardcover acting as a stand for the cool plastic sign I had, which was a great investment. Many a random wanderer would start reading it with a bored expression...

"She Lost her brother." Ho hum.
"She learnt to fight a legion of dead." Big whoop.
"She spent two years alone, scavenging to surive." Yawwwwwn...

"Then to make things difficult, she fell in love with a striaght girl."

That's where I got to see the expression change. Heheh, great fun. To qoute one fellow, "AAAAAAWLright, ya got me! How much?"

The second best marketting weapon was the pinup postcards and magnets of Regan:


Yeah, a few people took without buying the book, but that's fine. I brought a pile for anyone. It's also my art gettin out there, and even still, I was there to just be OUT there, not jsut make money. I did make OK money though.

I asked on a writers' forum once, "I've never been to anything like this, how many books do I take?" and the answer I got was "Bring 10. Be darn glad if you sell 4." I'm glad I took more than 10. I for home with 4 to spare. Granted, this was also a 3 day event, so I averaged 6 books a day. This paid for my table, and admission for this year and next, the promotional junk, and of course the books themselves. Then pizza, and a few other bits n bobbles.

All in all, the 2nd edition has already paid for itself (once I collect on my pre-orders) and I still have a handful let to sell at Robs store, and the comic shop.

What a blast. I could make the most obscure reference, and no one looked at me like I'd just landed from mars. People got it. These were nerds, these were my people. Cute girls came wearing RedBull backpacks and gave me life! Darth vader allowed me passage to the mens room, Batou's skinner cousin offered me a brain dive, a hyper gal in chainmail hung out at my table for a while.

Some guys have unbeleivable weekends, and never tell thier wives what happened, because they'd make thier wife mad. I won't tell my wife, cuz I'd put her to sleep. :P

"Hey guys, I thought there'd be nerdier conversations at these things."
"Like what?" Asks the guy in the utili-kilt.
"Like... who would win, Iron Man, or the enterprise?"
"........ which enterprise?"

And it was ON, FUTHAMUKKAZ!! For the record, the startrek fandom was scarce if any.. classic starwars dominated that area, with 2 Vaders, a Boba Fett, 2 jedi, and sevreal imperial officers being the most notable and realistic costumes. There weren't as many cosutumes as I expected, but those that showed, glowed. The renisance side of things made a decent showing as well. It was less of a sci-fi con, and more of a general fandom con, I think.

Anyway... yeah. I'm going next year, I'm already paid up. Gotta get working on Yute NOW. After I get some sleep. I barely ate or slept for 3 days. I dunno why I'm still alive.

The sun rises again.

Go put on 'House of the Rising Sun' or some doors or something. Done? Ok, now you may continue reading.
I sit here, sucking down a NOS, feeling it's taurine payload hit my brain like the Normandy beach, as the music lulls the chaos into a quivering undercurrent, waiting to strike. That can only mean one thing.

Time has come for me to turn my attention back to "Watching Yute". (As soon as I find the USB stick it's saved on.. no worries, I have a pretty current backup on my HD if it doesn't show up...)

Yute has been a little neglected during the re-working of Lifehack for the 2nd edition, and the launch prep. Now, all that lifehack needs form me is for me to actually show up to the Sci-Fi convention. I politely mentioned what I was selling there, and they crew from the con put me in the list of authors launching at the con. Cool beans. Spider Robinson's gonna be at the con. He's pleasantly crazy. I'm not big on autographs, but I might make an exception.

While Yute's been fermanting on the backburner, a few new ideas have risen from the stew. Dark ones. More than ever, Watching Yute will be a VERY different beast from Lifehack. Yute will have a lot less flat out action, and a lot more drama. I'll try to keep it form getting TOO emo all at once though, folks, don't worry. (And yet I hear the old trenchcoat speking to me....)

Yute's gonna focus a lot LESS on the sci-fi-ness than Lifehack, although of course it will be a necessary factor to the stroy. By comparison, the third book I have planned for the Lifehack world (Our world, + about 50 years, and a conitnent I invented) will be a blitzcrieg of sci-fi tech. (And sorry, no lesbians in #3) Drama? Yes. Romance? No. Maniac on the loose? Kinda.

Is it 'dangerous' to have three books in a 'series' vary too much thematically? I don't know, though frankly I don't care. If I were writing to please some big publisher who wants a string of sequelitis, I might, but I think people have figured out I'm not doing this for the money. In the rich canadian tradition of authors, I'm just trying to cover my losses. :)

Last night I put in an order for another payload of Lifehacks. Aside from not being sure if I had enough coming to me for the con, I got a couple more requests for the hardcover version. I really didn't anticipate that.. I figured that only people who knew me and wanted the deluxe collectible would be interested in the hardcover, but lo, I was mistaken! I can't blame folks tho, I'm letting them got for $10 less than the net price, (long story, but it involves shipping costs to Canada from the publisher) and the hardcover... is just so purdy!!!

Alright. The Nos is winning and my playlist has migrated form classic rock to techno. Time to rip the house apart looking for my USB stick.

Officially ON for VCON!- and corrections galore...

Just a note.. my last post had the wrong dates and place. Wheee! I are smart. It's actually the 3rd to 5th in SURREY. Oy. How'd I get it so messed up?

Anyway, a couple people mentioned they might wanna go and say hi, then I scared em off by telling them how much I'm paying to get in. That $50 was for the full 3 days...!

The daily rates go from $13 for a kid on sunday, to the most expensive being $35 for an adult on saturday. http://www.vcon.ca/registration.htm for details.

EXCITING NUDES!

Er, I mean news.

I may have mentioned before that the 2nd edition of Lifehack will probably be carried in a comic book store, and a games (board games, pen & dice games, etc) store. I was in the games store yesterday, and got yapping.
It turns out that the fellow that runs the games store, and the fellow that runs the comic store, might be sharing a table at the Vancouver Sci-Fi convention. which happens in october. I mentioned that I'd considered going to a convention before to sell the first edition of lifehack, but the cost of setting up, coupled with the lameness of having a table with one product... well, I never could find someone to share a table with..
I was quietly fishing for an invite, and I got it. (Subject to comic book guy's approval, and them actually deciding in concrete that they ARE going.)
... but it sounds good! I might see if I can bring a couple posters along. I only have a couple "in stock", and they're my personal posters... so I might just bring those along to decorate the table.. OR, if the guys go for it, I might have a few printed up just for the occasion.

Ah, by the way, fedex says the first copy of the 2nd edition will arrive (at our PO box south of the border) on the 15th. The cost in shipping is just horrific to Canada, I'm afraid. That's why I like to order a bit of a stockpile, save on bulk shipping, and sell locally from that pile, instead of referring people to the website. - and for the customer, it's instant gratification, instead of waiting for delivery. Anyway, I'm not sure when I'll be able to get it in my hands, but yeah.. on the 15th, the ball's in my court again.

I have no idea how many I want to order.. how many books does one sell at a convention? (especially if you're an unknown... the last name PICARD might catch a few eyes at a sci-fi convention though.. heh.) I don't expect to sell many in Pitt Meadows, since it IS the same story as the first edition, (even if it's more polished, better formatted, and has some new content..) the typical reader isn't going to want the same story again. Maple ridge has been under marketed though, and Coquitlam is next for me to invade....

...but that's kinda off in the future, and doesn't help me decide how many to get now..


In other news, in the livingroom, my nephew, aka fireball (red hair, too much energy) is currently playing mario kart advance on my gameboy, because despite my tidy little collection of games, he refuses to play anything that isn't vehicle based. He's obsessed with cars. I tried to show him contra, figuring the shotting giant monsters and blowing things up (WITH MASSIVE CHEATS, TOO!) would appeal to a 9 year old.

"Is there any vehicles?"
"No, but take a look at.."

And he was off in the corner looking for remnants of his hotwheel collection. What kind of 9 year old boy doesn't want to play games with guns?! What is the world coming to?! That sounds kinda bad, but I've seen this kid drive. We'd all be much safer if he had an obsession with guns instead.