Dragon Con and Other Sundries

Okay, so, while I am locked in to attend Dragon Con this year, the Dragon Con powers that be decided not to have me attend as a professional guest. I applied pretty late, so that's not really a surprise. What it means is that I won't be appearing on any panels, although I imagine I'll probably attend a few.

However, my publisher (Shadow Alley Press) maintains a vendor table at the convention. So, there will be scheduled times when I am at their table to sign books and generally look like a terrified deer in headlights as strangers ask me things and expect answers that involve human speech. Good times, right? If you're attending Dragon Con, come by and say hi. If you're super nice and bring me coffee, I might even pose for a selfie. I'll probably do it even if you don't bring coffee. Probably.

My publisher hasn't even started thinking about what that signing schedule will look like. I'll just be one of several of their authors there. They'll also have to work around any panels that the other authors are on. Given that I'm 95% sure that even the Dragon Con organizers don't know yet what panels there will be, let alone when, it's more or less impossible for my publisher to know when and where they can have people.

However, once I do know the location of the table and my assigned schedule, I will post it for the convenience of anyone who wants to stalk...er, um, I mean meet my magnificent personage and get my illegible scrawl on their books. I may be willing to do something a bit less formal at a restaurant at or near the convention if there are enough of you attending/in the area and we can get organized.

If you live in the area, I probably won't agree to visit your homes...unless it's because your aged grandmother who is home-bound is also one of my avid fans. Even I'm not that heartless. Honestly, though, it's largely because I'm quite introverted. Meeting people and moving through crowds is hugely draining on me mentally. It's one of the big reasons why I haven't been signing up for conventions left and right. I expect that once I turn off for the day while at the convention, I'm going to be a lot like a zombie only with less talking.

On to the other things. It turns out there are hardcover editions of Volumes One and Two available through Amazon. I was not aware of this until very, very recently. No, I don't have any copies to give away. Seriously. I paid retail for my copies. But they do exist! So, if you read the books and thought, "Man, if only there were hardcover versions...," your wish has been granted.

Because I know the question is coming, let's talk about the audiobook for Volume Three. The recording is done. I have listened to some of it. It's the same narrator, so you have a good idea about what to expect. As for the release date, it's a bit hazy. I'm still desperately crossing my fingers for a simultaneous release, but that's probably not likely. The good news is that it should drop within a couple of weeks of the book going live, assuming nothing bizarre happens with Audible.

Warning: boring publishing stuff ahead

If you're wondering why the release date for the audiobook is hazy, let me give you a little background. Many self-published authors and smaller publishers get their audiobooks produced through ACX. ACX is a system run by Audible that lets authors and publishers connect with narrators who choose to participate. A lot of top-notch narrators do, incidentally.

There are, however, some limitations to the system. One of the limitations is that authors/publishers generally can't pick a release date. Instead, once the narrator finishes the book and gets it approved by the client (the author or publisher), it goes to Audible quality control for review. That review process can take anywhere from, oh say, one day to three or four weeks. There is no way to anticipate the turnaround time from quality control. So, unless your print/ebook version is already live and waiting for an audiobook version, the whole thing turns into something of a guessing game in terms of timing. I expect that Volume Three is somewhere in that quality control approval window.

Now, I have never tried to get an audiobook produced and approved before the ebook/print edition goes live. Since Amazon owns Audible, I have a sneaking suspicion that Audible can't release an audiobook before the ebook/print book goes live. So, if I'm right about that, and if the audiobook was finished and approved before the ebook/print edition went live, it probably means that they release the same day. I don't know that this is the case, but it's my best guess at the moment. If I am right, and the Volume Three audiobook gets the QC stamp of approval before July 2, we get a simultaneous release. Now, don't you wish you could get back the 1 minute of your life you spent reading this section?