Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Acacia on Ebay

Hey. So there's an Advanced Reading Copy of Acacia: The War with the Mein on sale through Ebay. I don't know - might be I should be bothered by this. Whomever is selling the thing is selling a copy that says right on it that it isn't for sale... But, anyway, there it is. I've bought some things that weren't legally for sale myself, so who am I to get self-righteous?

Want one? If you pick it up - no bids yet - you'll legitimately have a copy of the book months before publication. And if the book makes it big one day the copy will be valuable, rare and all that. Act fast, though, only 2 days left! Just search by my name and the title...

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8 Comments:

Blogger Constance Brewer said...

No thanks, think I'll wait for the real thing. I want the cover art and all the proofed goodness of the final version. I'm just weird that way. :)

Or maybe its just that my To Be Read pile will topple over if I add one more book. Ah, the disadvantages to being a procrastinator...

12:30 AM  
Blogger David Anthony Durham said...

Constance,

Good idea to wait. I cringe at the number of typos and other types of mistakes get into galleys. There are errors on every page of it, honestly. How'd they get there, I always wonder?...

There's a certain charm in it, too, I guess, but I really shouldn't be promoting this. Why would I want people to know I chronically misuse they're instead of there or their?...

2:51 PM  
Blogger Constance Brewer said...

Typo gnomes. They're lurking your computer, screwing with your prose. As if using Word wasn't bad enough... affect/effect is my personal demon.

I checked on Ebay. A slew of Pride of Carthage ARCs now. Must be like launching your teenagers into the world, you lose control over where they go and who they associate with. :)

4:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i must confess i'm a sucker for the ARC. when i lived in Portland OR, i would find a slew of ARC's lining the shelves at Powells. i would always buy the hardback too, but just something about holding the ARC, seeing the typos, knowing the author was human.

10:32 AM  
Blogger David Anthony Durham said...

That's a good comparison, Constance. Glad to have my actual kids firmly under my own roof at the moment, though. I'm doing the best I can to make sure they don't eventually end up on Ebay.

Oh, yeah, effect/affect (or is that affect/effect?) troubles me as well.

And Drew, nice to get an arc-reader's perspective. Nice also to see your site. Best of luck with your work.

David.

2:32 PM  
Blogger Constance Brewer said...

David, I'm an anomaly, I like my teenagers. :) They're good kids. Eccentric, but good. Their rooms, however, may end up on Ebay yet.

Do you have any control over the ARCs, or is that a publisher thing and you're out of the loop? ARCs for poets are called 'napkins' in some circles. *g*

5:21 PM  
Blogger David Anthony Durham said...

Constance,

Good to know that it's possible to like your teenaged children. I've got a few years before we get to that point, but I'm thinking there's a good chance I'll stay on good terms with mine too. Wishful thinking, maybe - and more than I deserve. I was a bad teenager in many ways. My poor mom...

Anyway, you asked about arcs. I'm not sure what you mean by control, but I guess the easy answer is that I'm pretty out of the loop. I don't have any say in whether or not they're going to do arcs instead of galleys. Don't have much say in what they'll look like or how many they'll print or who they'll send them to. With each book I've felt a bit more influence on such things, but not much. I can ask to have them sent to particular people, but in the past those requests sort of disappeared into the publishing machine and I was never entirely sure what actually did or didn't happen.

I can say, though, that things already feel different this time. I've got a publicist and a consultant both working on Acacia. The consultant is a sci-fi/fantasy veteran, and so far it sounds like she doing lots of great stuff. And she responds to my emails so quick that sometimes I can't see how she had the time to read them.

I'd like to think that fiction arcs have a value above napkins. I've been to a couple of bookseller trade shows, and it certainly seems like people swarm on the arcs, going home with bags full. What they do with them in the privacy of their own home is another question, I guess, but that horde enthusiasm is kinda nice. Not that often you see people get that excited about books, ya know?

4:11 PM  
Blogger Constance Brewer said...

Well, you don't go into poetry for the money, that's for sure. :)
Thanks for your ARC take. I'm stil not clear on why somepeoplel will pay lots of money for them. Reminds me of collecting baseball cards. They're only worth what someone is willing to pay for them.
Sounds like Acacia will have some great publicity. Can't wait to see it. Books over baseball cards!

10:12 PM  

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