Almost There

I just got a statement from Iris in my inbox after making the request that she please deal with my rep, Carrie.  Apparently, she doesn’t understand that I don’t want her emailing me. :/ I can’t complain, at least it’s something, right?

In a year [June 2007 to June 2008] Only Words moved around 395 copies. Now some of you might say ‘wow, that’s not a lot…‘

Looking over the breakdown of all the reports sent to me since June 2007, these books were sold mainly through Diamond [they take 60%] or Amazon [they take 40%], not much was sold through the web site, and direct sales [conventions] were pretty much next to ZERO toward the end there because Iris Print no longer did cons after missing Yaoicon 2007.

There was a spike in sales after the reviews for Gadarene started posting, which I expected.  I’m curious to see how many were moved in July, with Iris announcing 50% off stock this month and the spike in resellers at Amazon selling the title as ‘new’.  I wonder if we broke the 400 mark?

I have to be honest, 400 books in one year is not a bad deal to me.   Only Words had a lot going against it – Caroline didn’t draw in the marketable Japanese style, my story was sad and its ending posted at Amazon.com by an immature commenter, there was no press release or huge promotion of the title [I did only 2 interviews and they were essentially Yaoi101ers and not about the title specifically], Diamond lost a substantial amount of pre-orders before the release date, it missed sales at Yaoicon 2007, and the title was shrinkwrapped&gay which is pretty much a dead sell to bookstores that barely stock titles that aren’t June-safe, and it had only a small collection of reviews [I thank all of you who read and reviewed, I mean it--even those of you who weren't happy with it ^_^v] and still, 400 books moved in a year.

I have my disappointments sure – my writer’s notes didn’t make it in, it missed sale at one of the biggest ‘yaoi sales events’ of the year, my artist copped to hating me for selling the story [and us] out so cheaply, my publisher turned into an unresponsive mess, and we only made back half of our advance.  I can’t help thinking, with my new titles coming up–that it would just keep selling due to reader interest in my new material…  wow, another year and we would’ve made back our advance.

…I’m sorry; I can’t be disappointed in Only Words.  The odds were completed against it, and Only Words still managed to move near 400 units in a year.

Not bad for a little black duck.

Dear Dark Horse

How can I put this without being rude?

THIS BOOK SUCKS.

You lured me in with the excellent Ghost in the Shell novels, and I’ve always dug your Universal tie-in novels…while we’re on the subject, I just noticed that DH Press is no more, and all animation or comic tie-in fiction are now just part of the same library as ‘Dark Horse Books’; which kinda stinks–but hey, it’s your company, your licenses…

I wanted to give Blood+ a chance, I really did. I like Vampires, I like girls that kick ass, and hey–as an added bonus the translator for this book is kinda hot– why not check out his work. I can say that the problem isn’t with the translation, or the books design [kudos BTW] but the story itself is so damn dull that I couldn’t even read my way out of chapter one. And NO – adding clips from the anime series does not help this book at all.

I’m sorry DH.

Signed,

Tina Anderson, DH Fan.

Mission Accomplished!

Trying to charge me $40 and $50 PLUS SHIPPING for this book [Shame on you Otome Road and ComiComiya]. You bastards, you should all wear masks when you try and take my money!
- buwhahahaha! Found the artist, her web site, and ALL her awesome books! Ordering her latest DBZ books from youclub, and it’s only $5.50 for the one I wanted! That’s right, five dollars and fifty-cents–and plus shipping it’s still cheaper then what you’re asking for the item alone! And guess what, the artist is consigning it through youclub– so she’s getting a portion of my payment! NYAH!

eBook Stealing is Still Stealing.

Dear Doofette:

Uploading eBooks in their entirety, for free, while they’re still on sale and earning authors royalties–is stealing. You’re basically taking money away from the authors who’re earning a percentage per download. You’re an ass.

Just Read My Zokkon…

Volume 4 is about… Priest Tampering.

I didn’t write Only Words just for the drama you know… (^_-)

…Amen.

Shiny New Things: Yaoifix.

I have found Yaoifix.  (^___^)

Proving Myself.

I tend not to get to worked up when people talk smack about me [who am I kidding?], especially when they do it in a locked LJ, obviously they don’t want me to know. What I dislike though, is being called a liar, or being accused of misrepresenting my work.

Recently, some twit made the accusation that my doujinshi career isn’t real because they’ve never seen one printed book I’ve ever produced. Her stance was that my doujinshi page was bullshit–because she’s not seen one print version of my books anywhere. Naturally, back when I had to print before selling, I only printed enough to sell at conventions and IF I had left-overs, they went to eBay. Now that POD is readily available–I don’t do that [of course, I don't really make fan doujinshi anymore either.]

I’ve known of her dislike for me since first encountering her…however, to her comment – ‘if you have a copy of her books then show me or stop stop defending her, as far as I’m concerned anyone can post thumbnail covers on a page only to say they’re sold out of books they never printed.‘

*ahem, pay attention twip*

Exhibit A, B, and F U:

First title in print as Studio Plug’n Play.

Oh Lordy, it’s those Inuyasha books you claim don’t exist!

D’oh, some books drawn by Minako…
wow, she isn’t a figment of my imagination!

Here’s some sold in Japan books – the ones you feel we never sold in Japan!
Note, the original version of 3 Times, a size A5.

There they are…the Gungrave fanfic books I had the audacity to print and sell.
It’s staple-copy too…my arrogance knows no bounds!

The American version of 3 Times and the final doujinshi, Bonedriven.

Laying around here somewhere is Futz 1 and 2, and the collected edition of Futz…but I don’t feel like looking for them because, I think I proved my point. My books were never made of masterpiece awesomeness, they were just fanworks. Printed fan art and fiction sold to fellow fans. Forgive me for daring to post my ‘circle’ page and show off the fan works I co-created with some extremely talented ladies – I think my doujinshi were detrimental to helping me get published. I’m proud of my fan works even if I’m not very proud I had to make this post today. So what I have to say next isn’t going to be all that professional–it’s going to be made as one fan-creator to another: The next time you want to call my bluff, send an email, or I invite you to pay me a visit at the next convention you see me at and kiss my fat ass. ^_^

You have a nice day you little biptard.

Holy Shabbot, Such Closed Minds.

I’m officially dead up to my ass tired.

I just finished my script clean-ups and uploaded my material to the production company’s server. >_< Also, this pinched nerve in my shoulder is a real bummer – It’s still aching, [because I wont take Advil until bed time] and so I’m trying to limit my keyboard usage today.

My friend is at SDCC this weekend, and so far it hasn’t been going to well for him. He’s had two pitches that didn’t go so well, and one of his works was nominated for an award but didn’t win. Another friend is also there trying to sell her comic, but sadly she’s been tabled next to someone selling cheesecake, and the fans it’s drawing are just crowding her table and making her feel about two-inches high. Sorry babe.

Also, changed my web site design. No new info really, it’s just that all the literary types have these clean classy web pages now, and I felt out of the loop. Also, I added two Japanese DBZcentric blogs to my RSS feed. Thank G*d, because with the weekend I’m having, the fannish humor was needed.

On the nets—Fandom, you’ve really irked me this week.

Crat puts on her Ms. Rantstein hat:

I support the notion of never outing a fan’s RL name, address, and personal info period–don’t care if there’s ads on the page or whatever. If the person’s real name is not public record in association with her ninja-name, it’s no ones place to out that person, but the person involved. It’s a terrible invasion of privacy–it’s that simple. Also, all this talk about making money off fandom– GTFO, all you all post fan arts and or frequent fan art sites with ads on them, and some of you even buy doujinshi that are parody works at triple the price from vendors preying on your fandom likes…stop it. Money is made off fandom in various places in all sizable doses, just because it’s one of your own that’s making you see that, doesn’t make it the most horrible thing since herpes. Also, I think the subsequent dog piling in the fandom is nothing short of ridiculous–but flail away, that sort of thing has been part of fandom since day 1. :/

Next on my list that made me wince is a bit of self-serving cliquish moronic bullshit given some credibility be appearing on a LJ I used to watch: creating your own community for just you and your friends, and those who agree with you all the time…you’re entitled to do what you want, but shame on that slash newsletter for even linking to your bullshit as if to give it some element of legitimacy outside your own bruised ego. That community is not an official slash anything, it’s just a sandbox where the author can kick anyone out or refuse anyone entry because they don’t agree with her view of things, or support her occasional bouts of drive-by netourettes aimed at whomever has had the gall to tick her off. Took that newsletter off my LJ watch list; fruit of the poisoned tree.

And lastly,

Tiamat, you closed comments because you wanted the last word, which sadly is no different from your first, second, or fiftieth words. I thought various comments made by others in that blog post made sense and presented a very good case for what they were trying to explain to you—but I don’t think you read them because you didn’t address anything they actually said to you. Dude, it wasn’t their goal to change your opinion, you’re entitled to feel anyway you wish and blog about it, but they were trying educate you on the indignities of approaching what might be considered an unsavory genre trope, out of context, and to the point that you judge its readers/fans unfairly. As a reviewer, you can’t and shouldn’t do this, but it seems you do and have no problem with doing it.  Your final comment just proved to me that you’re a like a kid with his fingers in his ears singing lalalacanthearyoubecauseyourwronglalala. That’s a shame.