Saturday, October 9th, 2004
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9:06 am - $$? $$? $$? $$?
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Thursday, October 7th, 2004
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10:17 pm - lj identity crisis
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dreampeople
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I've been thinking about getting rid of this community and setting up a personal blog instead. I wasn't very familiar with lj when I first set this up so I chose a community because I thought it would be good to have other people post. But really people can comment on a personal blog anyway. The thing about a community is you can't add people like you can to a friends list, you've got to get them to sign up and you can't post on other people's lj's as the community. It makes it a lot harder to spread the word about this blog. I know that John gets a lot more comments on his blog, but then again, his has much more charisma, mine is all business.
It would suck to loose all the past entries though and apparently you can't just switch a community into a personal journal. I do have a personal account but I don't use it. If I went personal I'd want a name asssociated with RDSP.
On the other hand I kind of like the 'best kept secret' aspect of this blog. Sometimes I want to post stuff that I don't want everybody's brother to know. Plus it will be work to set up another blog and I'm feeling lazy.
current mood:  lazy
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, October 6th, 2004
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11:14 am - LSI-POD-HELL
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dreampeople
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One thing I've been worrying about it that Lightningsource/Ingram, our printer/distributor, is instituting a "new stocking strategy". They used to keep at least two copies of every book on hand so that the books would be listed as in stock. It's important for the titles to be in stock because a lot of customers won't backorder a book even though LSI can print one up on the day it's ordered.
However they are no longer going to print every title because there are so many books being published that it's too expensive. They say that all books will still be listed as in stock because now their system is so fast they can print the book up and send it out immediately so it won't require backordering. But I don't think that's going to help. Even though it will say in 'in stock' I bet the bookstores will treat it as a backorder. Our titles have always been listed as returnable through Ingram but some bookstores ignore the listing because they can tell the title is POD. They tell us they can't stock our title because it's non-returnable!
Is it coincidence that overnight most of our titles on Amazon say things like 'special order' or 'takes 11-13 days to ship'? We're thinking about joining Amazon's warehouse program to get our books listed in stock at Amazon. But this is going to make it even more difficult than it already was to get bookstores to stock our books.
LSI/Ingram caused this problem when they accepted so many publishers and POD titles. LSI never turned money down from any of those publishers but now LSI/Ingram slams the door in our faces when we're trying to sell the books. They get money for each book printed and they know you can't sell books if you don't have distribution. The less books sold, the less books printed, the less money for them. Is it poor decision making or prejudice against the small press?
current mood:  angry
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, October 5th, 2004
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2:32 pm - So are the days of the dead...
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Monday, October 4th, 2004
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2:49 pm - The Royal family
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dreampeople
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RDSP calculates royalties at the end of September and the end of March so we spent part of the weekend crunching numbers and writing checks. The new financial program we have makes this so much easier! It's a good feeling to be able to send out checks, even if they aren't huge ones. It calculates royalties based on orders that have been paid for. We have quite a few outstanding invoices that didn't make it into this calculation period, it's that darn publishing lag. This business moves slower than a crippled slug.
Overall I'd say the sales have been pretty good by small press standards. Looking back on this past year I can see we did a lot of things right in between our miscalculations and mistakes. The main thing is that our profit margin per book is too low. For the most part the small press you just don't sell thousands of books so you have to be able to make your money back on hundreds.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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Sunday, October 3rd, 2004
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10:37 am - eBay strikes again
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dreampeople
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If you haven't heard about it already author Douglas Clegg is auctioning off the limited hardcover rights to his book The Abandoned on ebay. Check it out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item;=2492392403 The bid is already up past $1000 and apparently the auction itself is getting a lot of views. Clegg really knows how to stir the pot! I love the outrageousness of this move. It's a fascinating prospect and a real leap of faith.
As a publisher this auction makes my heart beat faster. Releasing a Clegg book could really put us on the map. We want to move in the direction of real print runs and advances but that's hard to do with authors who don't have a large fan following. With Clegg there's a built in market and guaranteed sales. Plus he's already created a huge buzz around the book. And just think of the amazing ultra special edition Grimoire we could do!
However, advances and print runs both require a lot of cash up front. I've been learning the hard way how long it takes to get the money from your initial investment. If the bid goes a lot higher (and there are still 8 days left so I imagine it will) we simply wouldn't have the cash. There's something about an auction that makes you reckless. There's a feeling that this opportunity will pass you up and once you start bidding you just don't want to lose. But a miscalculation about how much you can afford to spend could be fatal. I have absolutely no doubt as to the money-making possibilities of this project but, as usual, you've got to have money to make money.
current mood:  excited
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Friday, October 1st, 2004
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3:14 pm - It's a good thing I'm not a writer...
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dreampeople
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because I'm just too sensitive. I don't know how authors do it! They put their most secret feelings and ideas out there for everybody and anybody to comment on and I know the comments aren't always glowing. I've always felt taking that kind of risk to be extremely brave. But even as a publisher I can get my feelings hurt. I hate to hear anybody criticize our projects because they're so important to me. It's no exaggeration to say that hours of work and thought, chunks of our lives, go into each release. I really believe in the books we put out so bad reviews and harsh comments about them can still get to me.
For instance, people have started receiving their Grim Grimoires and almost everybody has raved about them. But one person was disappointed about the signature being on a bookplate instead of a sig sheet. I *hate* for anybody to be disappointed with our stuff! But I love those bookplates. I think the design is just the coolest and adds a nice touch to the overall package. I regret that we didn't have the info about them when the preorders began so everybody would know about the bookplates in advance. I know that you can't please everybody all of the time but damit I'd really like to!
Nevertheless, the overwhelming response to the Grimoires has been incredibly positive. I'd love to see the looks on people's faces when they unwrap them for the first time. I think it's truly a treasure of a book, although there's been plenty of bumps and bruises on the road to making them.
current mood:  sore
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, September 29th, 2004
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1:38 pm - Book Orchard
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dreampeople
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I finally broke down and ordered DSL for us at home. Since most of the things we do for the business are on-line I hope that will mean we can get more done. Maintaining and updating web sites over a dial-up connection can be a real hassle sometimes. Also, we're actually mooching our AOL account off of my family so if they dial-up we can't get on.
I've recently had some inspiration for a new publishing project. It's so much fun in the early stages to brainstorm and come up with ideas, just dream the book into being. I wish the follow-through was that easy. We've been trying to take a lot of things into account before we decide to put out a particular book now. I hate worrying about whether a project will sell. I want to go back to the time when we decided what to do based on how much it fired us up. I wish that money did not have to be involved in creative endeavors. Why can't books just grow on trees?
current mood: whimsical
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(comment on this)
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Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
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11:36 am - Frantastic
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Saturday, September 25th, 2004
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10:08 am - The Bare Bone fund
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dreampeople
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Bare Bone #6 will be available in October but unfortunately #5 didn't sell as well as we'd hoped. We've been working on ways to make sure we'll be able to continue putting Bare Bone out and have started selling a few ads in the back of the book. This will at least help offset the cost of making it, although paying the contributors (even though it's a miserly sum) is probably the thing that breaks the bank. We had actually hoped to grow the Bare Bone fund to the point where we could pay decently but I think a lot more word-of-mouth buzz stands between us and that goal. Everyone who's read #5 has RAVED about it and #6 is even better but until more people start reading it no one will know how good it is. I think if we continue to put it out and it remains consistently good then people will catch on eventually.
One recent frustration we've been having is that some of the books being delivered to customers are damaged. I've seen how LSI packs books and sometimes it isn't pretty. Unfortunately you really can't talk to those people and we're so small I'm sure they wouldn't give a crap about our complaints. I don't know how they expect us to sell books if they're going to ship them in a way that damages the books. If we don't sell books they don't sell books either. Of course we're replacing those books but it's frustrating for the customer and eats into our very thin profit margin.
current mood: aggravated
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(comment on this)
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Friday, September 24th, 2004
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11:53 am - Dos Reviews
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dreampeople
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Just got in an excellent review from Nancy Jackson, aka ![[info]](http://web.archive.org/web/20041011110227im_/http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) horrordiva, for Everybody Scream!. As far as I know it's the first one and it will appear on 4 different sites. The first place it will go up is Dream Forge but it will also be in The Midwest Book Review, Gothic Revue and The New Camp Horror. Here's a quote:
Each sentence is a clear depiction of thought and inner voice...Full of edge, honesty, pain, and eroticism, it will satisfy any insatiable appetite looking for a damn fine read.
Also, Ray Wallace's review of 100 Jolts is now up at SFReader.com. They have a cool feature where readers can rate the book too so if you liked Jolts go give it your support:
http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.asp?ID=493
current mood: thankful
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Thursday, September 23rd, 2004
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10:54 am
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dreampeople
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The time for the Horror-Web.com chat has been set for 2 pm centeral time/3pm Eastern, Sunday, October 17th. Both Mike Arnzen and Darren Speegle have confirmed that they will participate. Do not miss this chance to talk to two fascinating and friendly authors. I doubt they'll tell us ALL their secrets but I'm sure we can get a few more skeletons out of their closets!
I saw on douglas_clegg's lj that he's starting up a press. I've only met Doug once but I love his attitude about writing and the publishing business. I wish him all the best with this new endeavor. Here's the link if you want to pre-order the first release from Alkemara Press http://www.douglasclegg.com/alkemara.htm
current mood: coolish
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004
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11:33 am - We need to have a chat
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dreampeople
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We're pretty close to getting all the details worked out for another chat on Horror-Web.com. The first one, with John as the guest, was a big success and a really good time. Those people come up with the best questions and really research their topics!
So it's going to be Mike Arnzen and (hopefully) Darren Speegle as long as the times and date work out. The not-quite-confirmed date is Sunday, October 17th but I'm not sure about the time yet. If you can't attend the Horror Writer's workshop in Annapolis on the 14th you can still catch an RDSP event.
October shaping up to be quite a busy month with the B&N; thing, the chat, World Fantasy and maybe a Halloween party or two. We may need all of November to recover!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Tuesday, September 21st, 2004
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10:59 am
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dreampeople
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I've been working on the layout for Play Dead and have been having lots of fun with pips; hearts, diamonds, spades & clubs. I should have a draft pretty soon to send to Mike.
We've also been working on setting up an interview for Jeffrey Thomas with Dark Discoveries magazine. We wanted set up as many interviews as possible for Jeff since he couldn't attend any cons. Unfortunately I haven't had many leads on places that do interviews.
So I've been reading The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've been infected by some kind of Nightshade Books flu. This is the third book of theirs I've read (the first two were Move Under Ground and A Choir of Ill Children) and I've just been more and more impressed with them. The books are great, well put together, nicely printed and full of cool special touches. Each book I've read has been both entertaining and innovative. I love to see a company pushing the envelope and succeeding. When RDSP grows up I want it to be like Nightshade Books. From what I know about their company they are also able to offer authors good deals and treat them well. They've only been in business for 5 years and I don't think we can achieve what they have in that amount of time because our financial investment is much smaller than theirs. They also started out with traditional print runs and didn't muck around in the soul-sucking POD ghetto like we are. Though I know they've definitely had to overcome their share of problems going that route as well.
current mood:  envious
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(comment on this)
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Saturday, September 18th, 2004
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9:18 am - Literary Faces of Death
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dreampeople
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We just received a review of 100 Jolts by Randy Schaub that's now up at Creature-Corner.com. Here's a tidbit:
"I might describe the experience as something like a literary ‘Faces of Death’-afterwards, the reader feels sweaty, depraved, perhaps even a little guilty."
Read the whole review.
It's weird how it works with reviews. It seems like we sent 100 Jolts out ages ago but we're still getting reviews from it and any sales generated from these last two reviews probably won't show up for another month or two. It's a very slow process.
current mood:  weird
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Friday, September 17th, 2004
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10:58 am
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dreampeople
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Everybody Scream! was on the Shocklines bestseller list last week and this week too. The Fall of Never is number one over at Project Pulp even though it is only a pre-order. Too cool!
We got the information for a distribution company yesterday which we would need if we did an offset print run for Play Dead but I'm just not sure if the pricing we worked out for the book can support it. I don't understand all the details yet. Getting into dealing with a distributor is so complicated. I just don't know if we're up for that yet. But if we do a print run of 500 books I don't think we can sell all of those on our own. Sometimes I just want to scream and throw things..
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, September 16th, 2004
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9:50 am - Approaching a small press publisher
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dreampeople
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Somebody recently asked for our advice on how to approach publishers which got me thinking. I can only speak about the small press but after being on the publishing side for a little while this is how I would do it:
Each press is an individual case so the best thing to do is research the press as much as possible and then pitch your book based on what you've learned about them. The key is to show how your book fits into the direction the press is going in and will appeal to their target audience. Read some of their releases to get a feel for what they're publishing. If you can meet them personally at conventions it's great to have that contact or try to get in touch with them about something other than your work at first. Introduce yourself and ask questions about their press and what they're looking for. It's not necessary to pitch a book as soon as you contact a press. It's just good to get them to know who you are.
Find out what the submission process is for the press. Maybe they take unsolicited submissions or maybe not. They might want the whole manuscript or just a synopsis. If you can't find this info anywhere contact the press with a query about your work. You might want to send a proposal letter that explains how you think your work will fit into what the publisher is doing and any selling points your work has. When you send your work include your publishing credits, info on any events or promotional things you've done as an author, quotes/reviews of your work. Basically treat it like a job interview. I know the standard procedure is query the publisher and send only what they ask for (first 3 chapters, synopsis, etc.) but a small press publisher is not only evaluating your work but how easy it is to work with you and how well you fit into what they are doing. If you can convince them that you bring more to the table than just another book that will greatly increase your chances.
The thing is while you're doing your research you may often find that the press you're looking into is not a good home for your book. Although this is frustrating and you want to get your book out there it doesn't help either the author or the press if the work doesn't appeal to the press' target audience.
Of course all this just comes from my personal experience and may not apply universally and probably doesn't work for big publishing houses.
current mood:  thoughtful
current music: The Vines - Highly Evolved
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, September 15th, 2004
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10:43 am - You will be unbearable
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Tuesday, September 14th, 2004
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9:08 am
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dreampeople
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I made some much needed but minor updates to the web site yesterday. Plus I did the recommend thing for Everybody Scream! on Amazon.com. If anyone wants to go and recommend the book themselves the ISBN is 0974503142. Choose a book you think matches Jeff Thomas' style and put the ISBN in the blank next to the words "I recommend."
I also spent probably way too much time creating a list on Amazon titled Travel to Other Worlds so I could include Everybody Scream! and Dirge along with a ton of other cool books. It's kind of fun making those lists and I never thought about how many fascinating, totally fictional places there are in the world of books. If you're interested here's my list
Obviously it's not exhaustive.
I found the discussion from yesterday on douglas_clegg's journal about publishers and whether they do enough to support authors very interesting. I was thinking of adding my 2 cents but the topic is so much more complicated now that I'm on the publishing side. But I like Doug's attitude that when you write you've got to get your satisfaction out of your art, there will be ups and downs in your publishing career but that's life.
current mood: #$@!%
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Monday, September 13th, 2004
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9:24 am - Teacher's & Reader's Guide
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dreampeople
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Mike Arnzen had an idea to put together a Teaching guide for 100 Jolts and it's now available for free download on our site. Not only is it great for anyone teaching horror or ultra-short fiction but it's a goldmine of cool writing prompts for any writer suffering writer's block. I've tried to find good writing prompts for a writer's group online before and it's pretty slim pickings out there. Anything that sounds interesting turns out to be a book you've got to buy so I think it's really generous of Arnzen to give away so many inspirational ideas.
Get the guide
I'd love to have more Reading guides for our other titles but it requires quite a bit of work and time. Having been out of the school scene for so long I'm not sure I'd know how to approach putting together the questions. But what I love about 100 Jolts and everything Mike does is how much thought has been put into it. People try to exclude Horror from literature but Arnzen makes such a strong case for it as a valid intellectual pursuit while at the same time being totally outrageous and often disgusting. Ha! Take that you snooty types.
current mood: vindictive
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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I'm hoping that having the issue sponsored by Bare Bone will create a little buzz for issue #6. I made a temporary cover image the other day and I actually really like the way it turned out. It's simple but eye-catching and gives BB an aura of mass popularity. The real cover art should be arriving soon so I don't know just what it will look like yet. However, you can 
accomplished
surprised