Disqus - Latest Comments for jimmy9

Re: The Two Desks of Wells Tower - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:56:28 -0000

This is the best idea I've heard all year. I'm surprised I even finished my book with the easy mental junk food of the web always there.

George LaCas
author of THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE

Re: Barnes & Noble Launches Local Initiative - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:41:54 -0000

That's a great idea. I like the amateur video angle, and the FTF feedback from the readership. Nice and personal.

I'd love to take part.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: First Twitter Hardcover Published - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:32:20 -0000

Kudos, James Bridle, for getting the jump on the big boys!

Push it hard and get some sales!

George LaCas, author of
THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE

Re: Patrick deWitt and the Art of DIY Publicity - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:38:18 -0000

Glad to hear you got published, Patrick! Best of luck.

George LaCas
author of THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE

Re: Audrey Niffenegger Sells Her Next Book for $4.8 Million - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:26:59 -0000

Congratulations, Audrey! Loved The Time Traveler's Wife, and I wish you all the best.

Here's hoping my novel The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue gets that kind of advance.

George LaCas

Re: Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy’s Agent Fears Amazon - GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:19:24 -0000

I read the story in Haaretz, which has a lot of good inside stuff about Cormac McCarthy.

For what it's worth, I bought The Road in hardcover in a Borders, though I also shop on Amazon. The book is a first printing which I treasure, and I had no qualms about paying full price, or driving to the bookstore, or standing in line, or paying sales tax, or being asked for my discount card, or driving home again.

Ms Urban overgeneralizes in her comments re Amazon's pricing. Obviously Amazon does not sell every hardcover book for $9.99, and in fact I recently paid full price for Shadow Country, as I have many titles.

The publishing industry would do well to retool itself for the modern age, rather than casting about for scapegoats. If the mega-conglomerates and the big booksellers don't like the way Amazon operates, there's a one-word tack they can take: COMPETITION

George LaCas, author of
THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE

Re: Barnes & Noble Cuts Nearly 100 Employees - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:21:38 -0000

Re: Barnes & Noble Cuts Nearly 100 Employees - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:53:10 -0000

I call on all fellow writers, and readers, to flock into the bookstores and buy some books. Yes, that's right: buy them new, pay full price plus tax, buy newspapers and magazines. Waiting around to see what happens is just the opposite of what we need to do. WE must rise up and take control of our own economy, and we must buy some books if we want the book industry to stick around.

Layoffs and job losses are happening all over, but if you're reading this, chances are you have a vested interest in the publishing industry. Don't you see you have the power to help it? If we pull together, we could even crank it up into a Renaissance. I say it's time to crawl out of our safe dark places, abandon our cynicism and wait-and-see, and buy some books!

What happens to our society when bookstores become deserted? Who supplies our ideas for us?

I have self-published THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE, and I did it not for profit, but for the sheer glory of seeing my words in print, of making my chosen art into a tangible, giftable reality. Writers, get into print by any means necessary, and support your local bookstores... even the big chains.

Imagine if there were no bookstores. Imagine if all the clerks, all the warehouse workers, all the editors and all the agents were out on the streets digging through the garbage, desperate for something to eat. Imagine if books were outlawed, subversive, if you'd be shot on sight if you touched one.

No one knows what the future may bring. But I can predict one thing: as go our books, so go our freedoms.

George LaCas
author of THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE
magic9realist.com

Re: Four Editors Laid Off at Random House Publishing Group - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:33:24 -0000

Have any of the powers-that-be in the publishing industry considered asking for a federal bailout? Yes, the Internet is a miracle, but if the print medium truly sickens and dies, there is no guarantee that electronic media, liquid by nature, can fill the role of books. Think Fahrenheit 451. Think 1984.

George LaCas
author of THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE
magic9realist.com

Re: Readers Reject Overpriced E-Books - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:13:57 -0000

Touche, Ms Amrine. No doubt you know more about e-publishing than I do, since you're in the biz and I'm a novelist.

And I'll admit that I've considered submitting to Samhain Publishing... though your emphasis on e-books threw me.

Pretty soon I'll have 100 copies of THE LEGEND OF JIMMY GOLLIHUE (which melds horror/fantasy, literary fiction with nods to Homer and Irish myth). Don't be surprised if I send you a copy, along with a query.

magic9realist.com

Re: Laura Bush Sells Memoirs To Simon & Schuster - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:07:23 -0000

I'll wager that Mrs Bush is not forthcoming about anything worth reading. Hopefully the public will anticipate this and Scribner will make back little of the advance, but that's only a dream. I'm sure the PR people have already got a commercial going on FoxNews.

I'd rather vomit rusty razor blades forever than read Laura Bush's revisionist memoir.

Re: Readers Reject Overpriced E-Books - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:56:22 -0000

I wouldn't pay any price for an e-book, because a book is not a book unless it's printed on paper. And I need a cover to judge by, not a thumbnail.
While many e-books are also offered in print, I much prefer the feel of a crisply-made hardback (cost: 30 bucks-plus) that falls apart upon reading because the manufacturer has cheaped out on production standards, all with a view toward maximizing profit.
There's a sucker born every minute, and the stacks of brand-new books in my home assure me I'm one of them.
WRITER: PUBLISH THYSELF. Hire an editor if you need one, head to your local print shop, and GET INTO PRINT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. If you feel the urge you can offer your own e-books. Keep all profits, and don't let the shadow artists and marketplace gurus dictate the nature of Art.
Re the article: yeah, $27.99 is a bit steep when you consider that a mouse-click takes the place of production, warehousing, distribution and much of the marketing.

Re: Will Amateur Booksellers Kill Publishing? - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:54:02 -0000

Regardless of the debate, readers will continue to buy used books. Personally I don't buy the argument of the NYT article's author, and it seems absurd to blame the used book trade for the difficulties of the publishing industry.

Speaking only for myself, as a serious reader: I buy new books and used books, and my motivations differ in each category. I'm willing to pay full price for the hottest new books that come out, and that I know I'll read, like 2666, Shadow Country, Tree of Smoke. The used books I buy, which I buy locally for 25 cents to around $3, are titles that I would never, under any circumstances, buy new.

In other words I don't troll the Web looking for ways to cheap out, because I do support the book industry by paying their often-overblown prices, and when I buy used, I'm supporting my local community (public libraries) by buying books that might otherwise go in the garbage.

The article's author (who freely admits he's part of the problem) seems to take a simplistic view of the book-buying process. Perhaps he wrote his article out of guilt, though he was no doubt paid for it. I think a better purgative act, for Mr. Streitfield, would be to donate his used books to his local library.

Re: Getting Young Men To Read Again - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:28:05 -0000

Would you like to read and review The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue? I'll give you an autographed copy.

Re: Getting Young Men To Read Again - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:05:35 -0000

Where are the bad-ass male writers of today? We're out here writing, and I for one am self-publishing until traditional publication becomes an option for me.

I suspect that The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue will appeal most to an under-thirty market, male and female, one which is growing before our eyes: the American Underclass.

And it's only one man's opinion when I say, in re the questions posed in the article, that the publishing industry itself is to blame for the absence of young men's fiction, and men's fiction in general, the industry's perception being that women buy books, so books should be written and marketed toward them.

This is a gross generalization, but when agents hesitate to represent books written for a below-30, even a below-40 male market, and publishers don't or won't get them on the shelves, then the books are not there to be bought.

If I were still under 30, and I walked into a chain bookstore looking for a newly-released novel to appeal to my sensibilities, I'd either head on over to the graphic novel section, or go home to the computer.

How can reading and writing be cool for young men again? Carve a niche in the corporate Leviathan, and maybe one or two store shelves, for twenty-something men's fiction. If you don't sell it, nobody will buy it!

Re: If You Love Your Book, Set It Free - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:28:53 -0000

[test]

Re: If You Love Your Book, Set It Free - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:02:50 -0000

Which has everything to do with Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association, and the free exchange of ideas and printed literature. Commerce should not dictate what is or is not available.

Self-published authors who give away a tiny number of books are no threat to the Juggernaut publishing industry. Furthermore, the world is full of literate people who'd love to read a book, but cannot afford one or are otherwise prevented from buying one.

Re: If You Love Your Book, Set It Free - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:48:21 -0000

May Fortune smile upon Mike Heppner, and may She bless his efforts.

And on a personal note, I'd like to thank Mike Heppner, not only for representing all writers and providing a positive example, but for his idea itself: giving away a self-published book by leaving it laying around, with a contact note.

I'm still reviewing my proof. In another month I'm going to do the same thing, with a few variations. Look for The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue, and the green eye, and it just might find you.

Take heart, writers. If you're in this thing for the money, get a job. But if you're in it to create works of beauty and meaning, then I hope you'll do what you have to do to get it ready, then GET INTO PRINT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

Re: CNET Executive Editor Defends Self-Publishing - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:34:23 -0000

I applaud Mr. Carnoy's decision to self-publish, as I am in the midst of doing the same. WRITER: PUBLISH THYSELF!

In my case I'm doing a limited run of 100 copies, and I intend to distribute them locally and also use techniques similar to Mike Heppner's, where he left his novella laying around with a note and contact information.

Look for The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue. It has a green eye on the cover.

Anybody noticing any trends? Could it be that publishing is going grass-roots? Could it be that the writers and the readers are now in the driver's seat?

Re: Welcome to The Death of Publishing, Take Forty - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

jimmy9 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:49:48 -0000

"Then what?" Publishing will recover, along with the rest of the economy.

Meanwhile, I'm self-publishing my novel at my own expense. I'll do my best to ensure that it meets industry standards. Then I'll give it away, if need be, just to get my name out there. When I run out of copies, I'll head to my printer and bookbinder.

While I sympathize with anyone who loses her/his job, let's not forget something: at one end of the equation is the writer, who writes a book, and at the other end of the equation is the reader, who reads it. Everything in between has to do with money.

What would Cervantes have thought of someone from our times, whether by blog or by public outcry, bewailing the "death of print" or the "end of publishing"?

As for the industry burn-out who thinks burger-flipping might be more rewarding: put on your heat-proof gloves, sister, and I'll show you how to clean the grill.