Read 'Til You Drop

About three years ago, I sold the rights to the Glasswrights series in Germany.  I was paid relatively promptly, and I've spent the past couple of years waiting for translations to be completed, so that the books can hit the stands.  The original schedule stretched out by at least one year, and I had begun to believe that Rani was never going to romp around Morenia speaking German. 

But now, the wait has ended.  Volume 1 of Die Gilden von Morenia, Die Lehrjahre der Glasmalerin, will be in German stores December of this year: 

http://tinyurl.com/yqu5nc

The cover, of course, is completely different from the US series - a totally different look and feel.  (If I'd seen the cover in the states, I'd assume it was one of those Victorian pseudo-erotic works!) 

Should be interesting to see how sales go in Germany!

Mindy, pleased with her first venture into translation!

I've stayed out of the Grand Kerfuffle that has grown over on the SFWA LJ site.  I think that each writer has to make his or her own decisions about how much, if any, work should be posted on the Internet.  I think that the decisions that are right for one author have no bearing on any other author. 

For example, if I ran a website with hundreds of thousands of daily visitors, and advertisers paid me to place ads before all of those daily eyes, and my placing a novel up on my website lured more daily visitors, and I lived off the advertising on my site - well, I'd be putting everything up there for free.

And for another example, if I had a huge backlog of stories that I thought would never sell to a print market, but I wanted them to be read and loved, well, I'd be putting those up for free as well.

And for yet a third example, if I thought that reading the first chapters of each of my novels would convince readers that they wanted to read the whole thing, well, I'd be posting free first chapters.  And what do you know?  I *do* think that's the case.  And you can get to each of those first chapters from my website:

http://www.mindyklasky.com/books.html

(Click on the cover of each book to find out a bit more about it, then click on the link for the chapter.)

My making this post is partially intended to join in the fun.  But it's also intended to remind folks that what works for one author doesn't work for all. 

Mindy, entering the fray, in her teeny, tiny way...

Alas, a post I've been putting off writing for quite some time.  But it's a new month and time to grab all the bulls by their horns...

I learned last month that four of the Glasswrights books are going out of print.  THE GLASSWRIGHTS' APPRENTICE, the first book in the series (which was written as a stand-alone) will remain available for the foreseeable future.  Unfortunately, the other books in the series are drifting out of print.  (They aren't being pulled back from stores, but the publisher won't print more of them when the current copies wander out of the warehouse.)  Some books, such as THE GLASSWRIGHTS' PROGRESS, are already very hard to find - I learned last week that PROGRESS was actually let go several *years* ago, but no one thought to let me know.  Sigh.

The good news is - the entire series will be translated into German, available in German-language stores next January.  And my rights have reverted to the lapsed books, so that I can look at spiffy new formats, such as e-books.  And I'm working on new projects every day.  And...  well, I can't think of any more good news.

Mindy, disappointed, but fully aware of the economics that grind up the market

Work on our kitchen is progressing.  (And yes, I'm sparing all of you an account of my meltdown during the past 48 hours.  I'm actually quite pleased with where the kitchen is heading now.  And the cabinets are gorgeous.)

Today, I have been struck by how the apprentice system of education continues to function. 

The construction crew for our project consists of three people.  Two have been in the business forever.  One, N., is a recent high school graduate.  He still lives with his parents.  He has a lip piercing.  He is unfailingly polite, and he is often sent to ask me questions about details.

This morning, one of the senior people is working on another job, and the other senior person, F., is out picking up flooring samples.  N is here alone, patching holes in the floor.  Before F left, he told N how to do the job, reminded him of potential pitfalls, and asked him if he had any questions.  N has been steadily working away. 

I've resisted the urge to check on how things are going. I remember how much I worried the first time I was given a motion to draft, a brief to draft, a filing to make on my own.  I'm sure that N is alternating between pleasure at a job well done and worry that he's not meeting F's expectations.

Forget about guildhalls and glasswrights.  Apprentices are still alive and well.

Mindy, looking forward to her new kitchen

Last week, I received an email from a reader of the Glasswright series.  It made me cry (in the best of all possible ways).  Here, edited a bit for privacy and length and preservation of Glasswright story plot, is the email (posted with permission):

Tonight, we went to the Proposal Borders (site of my first date with Mark, and site of his proposal to me), to check out some new books, spend too much on specialty coffees, and generally hang out.

I signed stock while I was there. I was pleased to see that they had all the volumes of The Glasswright Series. I was *thrilled* to see that APPRENTICE is in its tenth printing, that PROGRESS AND JOURNEYMAN are in their fourth printings, and that MASTER is in its second.

Having purchased four books, I'm now home, catching up on LJ, and not-watching hockey.

Mindy, basking in the weekend