It should go without saying that I never expected even a tiny fraction of the readership I’ve been blessed with. I always assumed it would be my wife, my mom, and my sister reading my books. For a long while, it was like pulling teeth to get close friends and family to read my stories. The general assumption, I suppose, was that my books must suck because they weren’t in bookstores. There’s such a mystique around authors and books (they can’t be normal people!), and this made it difficult to convince anyone to take my work seriously.
I’ll never forget the day I told my former coworkers at Audio Video Headquarters that I was going to write a novel. They laughed. A few months later, I gave my old boss a copy of the first Molly Fyde book. I don’t think he’s read it yet. The guy I worked beside at my old bookstore, who watched me disappear into the conference room every lunch break to work on WOOL still hasn’t read anything of mine. Both are voracious readers and great friends. It just goes to show what a pariah a newly minted author can be.
Not long ago, it occurred to me that complete strangers were reading my books. I have to tell you, this will make a man’s insides turn to water. It’s scary enough having my wife read my scribbles, but a bunch of people I don’t know? Terrifying. And surreal.
Not planning on this sort of success has led to a few regrets. I wish I’d named and numbered the books in a more sensible manner. It’s hard for readers to know what to read next. I tell myself that this is part of the allure of the series; you have to do some digging and investigating; but that’s just me rationalizing. Another regret is that I didn’t account for the popularity of the print books! I had no idea they’d be this popular or that offering signed copies from my website would keep me this busy. First editions of the WOOL OMNIBUS have sold on eBay for $250, $350, and $550. That’s the one with the ugly yellow cover. I get emails all the time asking where people can get these. I should have printed a few for myself before I changed the artwork!
Which brings me to today’s announcement. The order pages for THIRD SHIFT and the SHIFT OMNIBUS are both up (check the left hand side of the front page). I’m going to be traveling quite a bit over the next few months, so the only batch I’ll be getting out between now and the end of April will probably be the orders placed this week. I’ll get to later orders when I can. I should have these books in 10 business days, and then they’ll go out to you before I leave for the UK.
There’s a chance these books have to be taken down the way WOOL was, so don’t be surprised if they’re only available for a little while. That’s not to entice you to buy copies, of course. Just a fair warning. It isn’t like I pay the bills with these physical sales (I price them as cheaply as I can), so making them available is a service more than anything else. I sell the signed copies for list price plus less in shipping than the envelope and postage cost. I’m more than happy to devote some time in getting these books out to you all. I think it’s pretty cool (if strange) that complete strangers are reading my drivel. Maybe some of my friends and colleagues will eventually give the works a chance! :D
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