Jennifer Government Blog
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Behind the scenes with Jen
I’ve finally posted Jennifer Government
Trivia and
Deleted Scenes,
both of which are accessible via the
Extras page. Are there any other authors who post deleted scenes of their novels? I don’t think so. They probably understand that it’s not a great promotion for your work to take some of the worst bits and put them online. Come to think of it, I’m not sure why I’m doing it. I’m sure I had a reason originally. Hmm.
If you’re in the UK and keen to get your hands on an autographed copy, you can now do so via the Orbit Books website. At least, that’s what Orbit tells me. The page doesn’t actually say they’re autographed copies, so you have to take it on faith that Orbit isn’t a bunch of filthy liars. But I’m prepared to do that if you are. The books are large paperbacks with a signed book plate (i.e. sticker with my scribble on it) stuck in the front.
In film news, Section Eight has switched screenwriters from Scott Burns to E. Max Frye. I don’t know the details, so let’s just assume there was some kind of almighty screaming Hollywood brawl involved. It’s juicier news that way.
0 commentsBritish Jennifer
At last! Jennifer Government hits bookstores across the UK today, in “ridiculously large paperback” format. It’s been a while coming, mainly for legal reasons associated with using real company names in a work of not-so-flattering fiction. Abacus, the British publisher, got several different lawyers to carefully study the book and devise a strategy for minimizing any potential legal exposure; they came up with: “Wait six months and see if anyone sues the American publisher.” (Nobody has.)
Since Syrup hasn’t been published in the UK yet, Jennifer Government is my debut novel there. It’s nice to be a first-time novelist again. I feel all clean and innocent.
German Jennifer
Sneaking in just ahead of the UK, the German edition of Jennifer
Government comes out today. It’s called Logoland, because
“Jennifer Regierung” doesn’t sound nearly so cool. Or so I’m told. Frankly, I’ve never understood this translation business. How do my characters know how to speak German? I don’t know.
The German publisher has gone with a different cover: to the best of my knowledge, they’re the only ones in the world do that. Genius? Insanity? You decide.
Ph34r my paperback
Jennifer Government hits bookstore shelves across in Australia and
New Zealand today, as what may be the world’s largest paperback. This thing is enormous. It’s like one of those giant Fosters cans they put out in other countries to trade off the stereotype of Australians as hard-drinking beer guzzlers, even though in Australia Fosters cans are just the normal size. Ah, marketing. But I digress.
Later today I’m going to check out bookstores and quietly move all their Jennifer Government copies to more prominent locations. (Oh come on, other authors do it.) I just need to limber up first. They are really big paperbacks.
Wallpaper your world
I was browsing around for some new desktop wallpaper the other day, then I remembered I had a novel with a really cool cover. If you want your desktop to look this fancy, grab it now from the
Extras section.
This is extra cool for Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis, because the book isn’t out there yet and nobody will know what the hell it’s about, thus bestowing upon you a mysterious air of innate coolness. Of course, you won’t have read the book, so you just have to take it on faith that it’s any good. Mysterious airs of innate coolness never come risk-free.
Get thee to a bookstore
It’s out! And oh, it’s good to see the thing in an actual bookstore. It’s such a long process to get a novel from idea to bookshelf—I began writing it in November 1999, if you can believe that—so it’s very satisfying to be done. It’s also great to see
Jennifer Government and Syrup side-by-side. It makes me
look like a real writer. A real writer who can’t decide what his name is, sure, but still.
Early signs suggest the book is selling well, although it’s hard to be sure. Book stores generally don’t report this information to publishers, so I can only get an indication from store re-orders, my Amazon.com sales ranking, and bestseller lists (which lag by a couple of weeks anyway). But so far, so good!