Shit, I can hardly log in to anything right now. Almost everything is set up for “two-factor authentication” whether you'd like to or not.
I feel like I'm witness to the doom that is soon to come to many.
DIGGER is phenomenal. Groundbreaking on multiple levels and may just be the best thing I've seen in the last decade.
The first retail order for THE SOLAR GRID hardback came in from the fine people at Partners and Son. Orders overall have passed the 100 mark. This is actually a very good metric given that I only posted about it 4 days ago. Compared to the Kickstarter campaign I ran way back when, which ran for two whole months and only managed to attract interest from around 400 people.
In other news, phone decided to roll over and die an eternal death out of the blue while I was out, forcing me into a mode of existence I haven't experienced since the 90s. Wherever I look, the phone model I like to use—or anything remotely like it—seems to be completely absent from retailers around here, so it looks like I'ma have to learn how to survive like a caveman for a little longer.
Hmm, not as smooth as I'd like. Rotation's kinda bumpy, but okay for a first try.
50 orders in the first 24 hours since opening pre-orders for THE SOLAR GRID hardback. Not too bad.
I should probably note that the designated target of 750 orders does not make me, personally, any money. It's just the bare minimum needed to cover printing and fulfilment costs. The latter of course entailing warehousing the books, packaging, and shipping to readers, along of course with the labor of fulfilment operators. Profit margins are only unlocked beyond the 750 order-count, because that's when the per unit cost of each book starts to drop a little. But you'd need to hit at least double or triple that 750 for any kind of profit margin worth your while.
I haven't actually made any money off THE SOLAR GRID in the 10 years since I started working on it. Which is fine, it's something I've learned to make peace with. At this point, I'd just like to get the work into the hands of those who want it.
Uh, okay, excuse me while I freak out for a minute because I can see that an order has just been placed by none other than Paul Levitz.
A pre-order page for THE SOLAR GRID hardback has been created.
After being strung along by a handful literary agents, editors, and publishers for the better part of the year, it seems that the punk-rock self-publishing route is all I've got. Agents coil at the thought of representing the work, and mainstream publishers shrivel when considering it. I understand; it's transgressive and hard-hitting and the publishing landscape is not what it was in the days of Metal Hurlant or early Vertigo (who I fully blame for my irreversible corruption).
Despite the fair degree of praise THE SOLAR GRID has received thus far, it just doesn't quite check any of the boxes drawn out by publishers these days. It is neither a biography, memoir, or piece of graphic journalism—seemingly the only forms of graphic noveling deemed literary by the big boys. And it is way too complex and textured for publishers who peddle escapist genre. So I understand, I get how it doesn't quite fit within the norms of the current publishing landscape.
On the other hand, it is so often praised by readers, authors, reviewers, and media outlets. It's even won a couple awards!
Earlier in Dresden, seeing scholars beam excerpts from THE SOLAR GRID on a big screen as they dissected the work with intellectual scalpels was quite surreal. I recall Imre Szeman starting his presentation with something along the lines of: “The Solar Grid is one of the greatest works of fiction I've ever read.”
I almost cried.
That and being approached by professors who say they plan on including THE SOLAR GRID in their syllabi—along with the press and reviews (not to mention getting funding to turn it into a videogame)—really makes you wonder how on Earth this thing isn't being coveted by publishers.
It's fine though, everyone has their own measure of considerations. Rather than dwell, I move forward. I've devoted 10 years of my life to this 488-page tome, so I kind of don't have a choice.
I've spoken to the printers and fulfillment center at length, and it looks like we should be able to ship by May 21, 2027 if the printers get the final order by January. The catch is, we need to secure at least 750 orders (in addition to the almost 300 from the original kickstarter I ran way back when). That's the only way to make the numbers work, and securing 750 orders in indie publishing is apparently no small feat.
Best I can do is bang the drums wherever I can. I'd honestly rather not have to do the social-media song-and-dance thing, I'm just not cut out for it. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do I guess.
If you're reading this, have something of a social media presence and like what you see, do consider spreading the word. Here's the pre-order link again.
The book will break your heart and blow your mind. I promise you.
Delightful morning. Spent the first few hours of the day sat on the new reading chair with a cup of coffee and a book by Ahmed Khaled Toufik on storytelling. I'm alternating between that and Boroughs' NAKED LUNCH. Tiger hopped on my lap and curled against my belly in silence.
I'm hoping to stick to a system of only two books at a time, one fiction and one non-fiction. Oddly enough, I find that I've been enjoying non-fiction far, far more lately. The more fiction I read, the more it becomes apparent that the bulk of it actually has very little to say.
Before A.I. slop, an onslaught of human slop has always been around.
Today will hopefully be the last day of podcast notes.
Studio has been cleansed, garden plants washed, and newsletter scheduled for Saturday.
And! New “invisible” floating shelf installed:
Back to podcast-notetaking.
The Retro Sci-Fi: GIF Edition reminded me of all the animated gifs I had once created for the first iteration of TIMES NEW HUMAN, the format of which was web-based. Most of those gifs are now lost to history for some reason. I've never been good at adequately archiving my output, something I've been working towards changing, and partially why Ganzeer.com is built to function as a genuine archive of all the work rather than a mere web brochure with a handful of samples. The latter being what is dominant in the field. I haven't quite managed to make it a “genuine archive of all the work”, but it's certainly more in that direction.
I wonder why I ever thought to take the animated gif route for those TIMES NEW HUMAN illustrations, given that a print edition was kind of the end goal all along. Seems like added unnecessary working hours. I suppose it's partially because animated gifs lend themselves so well to the web as a medium, and rather than copy-paste something as is across all media, the “purist” in me would like every iteration of a thing to be tailored perfectly to its own medium.
But really, how necessary was it? Seems like so much time gone to waste now.
Today is Tidy-the-Studio Day. I choose Wednesdays because the weekend seldom works. If I finish early enough, I might just get to drafting the newsletter. But first, email. Inbox is now at an unruly 43.
Overextending? Probably.
Fun Andy Weir interview, whose books I never read. I've only watched the movie adaptations, which weren't quite my jam, but judging a film-adaptation is no way to judge an author's work. Either way, the interview is fun and inspiring and does provide some food for thought.
The entire part 1 of COLLIDER by Warren Ellis and Jerome Eyequem, which is being serialized at Warren's Orbital Operations newsletter. Strong STALKER vibes, but clearly far more demented.
Steven Heller on his time as art-director for EVERGREEN, a magazine that “devolved” into a paperback periodical. Didn't even know this was a thing. Somewhere in the back of my mind I've been toying with the idea of a regular paperback zine of sorts for quite a long time now.
Kickstarter for Catherine Tedford's PAPER BULLETS: 120 Years of Political Stickers From Around the World forthcoming from PM Press, which I'm fortunate to have some work in.
Fonts-in-Use looks at fashion designer Tania Marcial's DELIVERY collection. Hard thrift-wear aesthetic.
More podcast note-taking today and a new plumbing issue I gotta look into, when all I'd really like to do is read and write right now. Should also start thinking about the next edition of the RESTRICTED FREQUENCY newsletter, which is supposed to go out in 4 days. Do what you love and never have to work a day in your life, they said.
The chair is finally complete! It would seem that it was being assembled for Tiger's enjoyment all along.
Cairo's a big ass city, blessed not with one Ikea but two, one on each end. The one closest to me ran out of the chair's cushions a long time ago and won't be restocking till next month. The other one had the cushions in stock, but when you order from Ikea's website, they only deliver from whichever branch is closest to you (...the fuck?). So I went ahead and trekked across the city to nab the damn thing myself and get it over with—And boy, it really is a big city. Felt more like making an out-of-town daytrip.
All I need now is a nice throw blanket and small pillow to make the setting complete (not sourced from Ikea as a small act of rebellion against the over-Ikeafication of spaces—says the man whose home is filled with close to 20 Ikea things).
I am a terrible multitasker. I thought I'd be able to alternate between writing and taking podcast notes, but when I'm in the writing zone (indeed in any zone), I find it very difficult to pull away and do something else. Even if I designate the something else towards the tail-end of the day.
So today I will attempt to power through 6 episodes, half the season we recorded. Now, each episode is quite long; an hour or more in some cases, which means more video-watching than I can handle. Basic logic would dictate spreading the episode-watching and notetaking across several days to ease the blow of the task at hand, but that would necessitate employing the kind of mental gearshift that I sorely lack.
Why am I like this?