originally posted by shahab mushtaq
Janny,
Could you pls explain in a bit more detail how book publishing works, esp in the US? Do you have to market/sell each individual book in the series separately …? Just a bit concerned with the time lag in getting the books here in the US and sort of worried that future books might not be released here. It's a bit expensive ordering from Amazon UK …
shahab
originally posted by Clansman
Never mind. I found out how.
Laneth, I too wanted to get married in something different. I wear a suit everyday (my work clothes!), and wanted to wear something different than a tuxedo. What I wanted was full clan regalia, Farquharson tartan, but my wife wouldn't go for it. We didn't have the money (the biggest factor), and I already owned a tux (still have it, though a little small through the middle), and well…
Hope your wedding is a smash. If you love each other, it won't matter if you get married in rags. No one day is ever "perfect" (a curse on all wedding planners!). Weddings can be really, really fantastic fun, or dull and boring! Concentrate on having fun, and the rest will fall into place. Plus, people will remember it if its fun.
originally posted by Brittani Pasek
Hey maybe I'm a bit behind the times but is Exile's Return a book I have missed somehow. If so what order does it go in cause I have all of the books(or so I think) but I don't have that one.
originally posted by Blue
I remember being maid of honor when my best friend and her hubby eloped - there was getting to be TOO much tension within the families about just HOW the wedding was going to go (without consulting the bride and groom, of course!) so they decided to chuck it all aside and elope.
It was March 17 (St. Patrick's Day, the groom being of mostly Irish descent, as well as the bride) and they got married in the park they loved so much. The problem was, it was cold, windy, and rainy, - the wind blew quite a bit of moisture on us, even under the shelter we stood under - and the minister, my foster dad, was wearing a suit TOTALLY wrong for the season. My brother had told him to wear his wool suit, but he would not listen.
So Chet and I, along with the bride and groom, ended up serving partially as windblock for the minister, so he would not freeze. It was pretty funny hearing the traditional words of a marriage ceremony spoken by a minister with chattering teeth!
"D-d-d-d dearly b-b-b-beloved we are g-g-g-gathered here t-t-t-today…"
At the last moment, I had made the wedding cake - an amateur job at best, but at least they had one! A four leaf clover made of four small heart shaped cakes and LOTS of green frosting to keep it from looking like four small heart shaped cakes.
We went to a cafe in the park afterwards, so we could have wedding cake, and get dad some coffee so he could thaw out.
As Clansman said, it wasn't the dream wedding, but it was memorable, and fun.
originally posted by Trys
Brittani, Exile's Return is not a book, it's a painting of Arithon.
shahab mustaq - welcome here. Thanks for your concern. There is a strategy, but it has to be taken one step at a time.
Of paramount importance at the moment - that the London edition is successful. If it exceeds expectations - better still.
If you want to know more about how the industry works…it's complex, convoluted…sometimes not (apparently) logical. Look up the blog written by Miss Snark. Very humorous, an agent in NY answers questions from writers who are hopeful of breaking in, or else runs on about the quirks of the industry, from inside. It's cynical, very - but all too true in many ways.
A clue: publishers are NOT charities. They run on profits and losses. The numbers that count for them, are not how many people read the books or come to appreciate them years down the road, but HOW MANY BUY THE BOOKS, new.
Used, overstock, library check outs - do nothing to pay for their costs, or reward their upfront risk - or credit the author's track record, which for a publisher, is the bottom line. A track record is only as good as the last book, no matter if timing, recession, any other blip or mistake – whatever the event may be, that may come to purge a list, or reduce budget for acquisitions - or whether shifts in corporate policy, mergers, personel firings and hirings and cutbacks – whatever rains down from On High that can shift the ground, underfoot. Not least, if debt from a crashed major mainstream title, or bad debt from distribution or book store bankruptcies hit a publisher's owed funds, leaving them with a loss on stock actually sold. (Yes, a major distributor bit the dirt in the past year, scandalously leaving MILLIONS in debt on the publishers' bottom lines.) These fluctuations are not taken into account. Computer tracking of over the counter sales equals the numbers sold, NEW per individual author's name, and steady sales, no matter the recessions and tides of marketplace movement are what keep the computer restock function going. A fall off in demand will not trigger reprints or keep stock levels moving. That is the record. Period.
Large series need a constant influx of new readers to replace ones who fall by the wayside for whatever reason.
So market awareness of a title needs to keep on feeding into the system. If there is no advertising campaign, or if there is little to no availability of a book or any listing of it (due to no publisher) - you can add it up. What feeds the record?
Support London until the strategy has time to take hold, if you like the story. Support awareness of the books to new readers - for ANY title you like - to increase awareness, as many books in our genre DO NOT HAVE AN ADVERTISING BUDGET…always support what you love, if there is a living creator – you will get more books in that venue.
originally posted by Shirley Richards
I've been trying to do my bit to further interest in Janny's books. I've got at least three people interested in the series and, hopefully, they're passing the word on. In the meantime, I've been ordering the books from Amazon. UK and, if nothing else, it has been an education as to how weak the U.S. dollar is. But I consider the books to be worth the extra.
For me, SF was a deeply satisfying book. I enjoy Davien. Between Arithon and Davien, Selidie/Morriel is getting her just desserts.
I'm hoping that the U.S. publishers will finally wake up and smell the coffee, considering the fact that they seem to be able to publish much less worthy authors from my viewpoint which may be a bit skewed. Or maybe that's "wrong way to" and we need to education the American public. *G*
originally posted by Robin
I too have been trying to spread the word of Janny. Tried to do my part by preordering on Amazon UK. I am sorry to hear about the US publisher, but I admit that I have ordered the last three from the UK since they come out several months earlier over there.
SF was excellent and I can't wait for arc 4 to begin! The wait is painful, but always worth it.
originally posted by Clansman
Robin and Shirley:
You could further support the London release by joining (in good faith, only!) sffchronicles.co.uk, which is a fantasy/sci-fi site. Comment on the threads started on Janny, or start new ones if you wish. It is best, IMHO, to "lurk" a while and get a flavour for the site before diving in too fast, or you might find the water a little chilly!
Certainly, I would advise that you comment on other authors that you like as well as Janny's stuff, otherwise it has the look of spamming, despite its honesty.
originally posted by Sundancer
Coming back to Exile's Return, which I've finally rediscovered - does anyone else think that the briars immediately behind Arithon look like they could be roses?
originally posted by Shirley Richards
I'm an excellent "lurker." I seldom post although I enjoy reading other people's posts. I like this site because there aren't any putdowns on other person's viewpoints or interpretation of the storyline. A number of years ago I got in on a chat room run by Jordan fans and they were extremely insulting. I haven't been back since.
originally posted by Trys
Hi Shirley,
Welcome to the board and thanks for the kind words on how it is run. 
Trys
Hi Shirley - warm welcome, honored to have you.
originally posted by John Hulet
I get the feeling that growing the interesting in Janny's work is getting more and more interest across many different forums. It worked for Erikson, so it should work here as well.
I too like the tone of this Board better than others. Not too condescending, not too harsh and very willing to share ideas. Good Stuff.
originally posted by Blue
Thankfully, the Good Manners Champion is a Gryphon who does NOT put up with nonsense.
originally posted by Trys
Blue is right. But on the other hand, I've rarely had to take direct action. People here are, simply put, exercising good manners.
We have a cool crew!
originally posted by Shirley Richards
Thanks all for the warm welcome. Many thanks to Janny for quality reading. I'm not a huge fantasy fan but she certainly holds my interest. With the exception of one book, I believe I have everything she has written.
In response to an earlier post regarding Lysaer going to the King's Glade, I'd first like him to go through Kewar since he revealed in his lucid moment that he had a pretty good idea of what was driving him. Hope I said that right. If I remember correctly, Davien was sizing him up just after Arithon entered the maze. From the end of SF it didn't seem that he felt so self-righteous that Kewar wouldn't affect him. Probably wishful thinking on my part.
originally posted by Kirsten Laurelle Wallace
Hi. My name is Kirsten Wallace. I also happen to love this series. Unfortunately I can't convince any of my friends to read it. Like Shirley I tend to just read what the rest of you are writing on here. It's all really interesting. Hopefully I'll find a topic to join in on sometime.
Hi Kirsten Wallace - welcome!