So the power was out in my neighborhood today. This doomed me to an afternoon of stewing in my own juice. The weather in Wisconsin right now has been roughly equivalent to living inside a dog’s mouth. It was not a good day to be without air conditioning.
Also, the power outage threw a wrench into my plan to fine-tune and post another blog about Europe. So, instead, I decided to pass along some news and answer a piece of fanmail I got yesterday instead.
First the news: I’ve just finished updating the tour page.
The busy part of convention season is fast approaching, and I’ve got a lot of events scheduled over the next couple months. From relatively small conventions and signings here in Wisconsin (I’m in Wausau this Saturday, btw) to big conventions in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Montreal, and San Diego.
(Rare footage of the elusive Rothfuss at his natural migratory habitat: the convention.)
At some of these conventions, I even get to be Guest of Honor. I’m not sure, but I think this means someone will be contractually obliged to fan me with a large palm leaf. I also expect to be given a shiny medal of some sort or at least a rather dapper-looking hat.
(The Rothfuss uses his bright plumage to lure readers into panels, where he devours them. )
So head on over to the page and take a look at where I’m going to be. I go to these to meet readers and hang out, so the more the merrier.
Now the piece of e-mail:
Pat,
I have a quick question I hope you don’t mind answering. I saw you do that sometimes in your blogs.
After finishing The Name of the Wind, I called my local bookstore to see when the next book was coming out. They didn’t know. So I called my local Library. They didn’t know. So eventually, I gritted my teeth and borrowed a friend’s internet and found your blog.
Over the next week I read all of it. Including most of the comments. I was a little addicted. I’m guessing it took me fifty hours.
I don’t have a question about book two. Take your time. But as someone who doesn’t spend a lot of time online, I am curious about this whole blog thing. Specifically about the comments you receive on your blog. After reading these, I feel like I know a lot of the posters.
Many of them are funny, and some of them are really clever… But some of them seem downright insensitive or rude.
What is up with that? Am I just oversensitive, or are a lot of the people commenting on your blog actually rather rude?
I’m tempted to say it’s the former. I’m not really a blog reader. And I’ve always assumed that people smart enough to read your book would also be courteous and polite.
Sincerely,
Jen J.
Jen,
I’ve always assumed that people who read my book are not only intelligent and polite, but more attractive and better in bed than your average person. They also smell like fresh pie.
Unfortunately, the internet is like a great machine designed to make humanity look stupid. Oh sure, there are good things the internet does for us. Smart things. Noble things. But for every one person using distributed computing to cure cancer, there are ten people forwarding me a letter that threatens impotence and the death of a fluffy kitten if I dare to break the chain.
The problem is this. The internet is allows people to do things very quickly.
Now don’t get me wrong, some things are better done quickly. Getting someone to the hospital. Mowing the lawn. Making my 7-layer burrito.
But many things are not improved by speed. Most things, actually: Backrubs. Baths. Getting a haircut. Writing a novel. Cuddling. Kissing.
And blog commenting. Contrary to what people believe, fast is not always better in terms of communication.
The problem is, language is a slippery thing. People have a hard enough time getting their point across when they’re face-to-face. Over the phone is harder because you can’t see body language or facial expression.
But pure text is the hardest. That’s why e-mail misunderstandings abound, because you don’t even have timing or vocal inflection to help get your point across.
This means when a person types a comment without thinking things through, it’s much more likely that their intended message will get lost and they’ll seem rude when they really didn’t mean to be.
Take my announcement today for example. I know what’s going to happen as soon as I post about my upcoming convention appearances.
I’m going to get people posting comments that say things like: “Screw Indianapolis! Come to Mucwanigo!!! We have a bookstore!!!1!!”
Now this person probably wants to say three things:
1. They have a lot of enthusiasm for me and my work.
2. They won’t be able to make it to Indianapolis and this ensaddens them.
3. They’d appreciate it if I came to Mucwanigo.
But despite the egregious overuse of exclamation points, this is not what this comment actually communicates. To a lot of readers, this comment seems rude. Here’s why.
Signings and conventions require a great deal of effort on the author’s part. Doing a even a handful of events like this means an author will spend dozens of hours on planes breathing recycled farts, hours scheduling panels and e-mailing plans, then days at the event itself.
It’s also expensive, thousands of dollars on plane tickets, taxis, hotel rooms, and overpriced airport burritos.
Knowing all of this, a courteous internet user can understand why a comment of, “Why don’t you ever come to St. Augustine?” seems a little insensitive.
At the same time, rude is sometimes in the eye of the beholder, too. That’s why I try my best to read comments in the spirit they were written. That means looking at them with a generous eye sometimes, trying to cherish the enthusiasm and ignore the fact that the poster didn’t take the time to think things through.
Still, when someone writes, “Minneapolis is a whole 30 miles away! Come to Wanamingo!” it’s bound make me feel like a cat that’s been rubbed backwards.
Not only is it issued as a command (which is never endearing) but it implies that even though the author is traveling several hundred miles, leaving his pregnant girlfriend home alone for the weekend, and effectively skipping his own birthday, he still isn’t doing enough to please you.
So that’s what I think is going on in the comments, Jen. Sure there are a few mean-spirited or genuinely snarky people out there making posts. But the vast majority of the people that come across as rude are probably just guilty of posting without thinking things through.
Of course my readers. My clever readers. My clever, polite, sexy, apple-pie readers are a class of person quite above the normal internet rabble. They think twice before they post. Some of them even think three times. Right?
Right?
Later space cowboys,
pat
Personalized books for sale
[This is a blog about the Worldbuilder's fundraiser. If you don't know what that is, you can get the details HERE.]
Over the last couple months, people have been contacting me, asking if I’m still signing books like I mentioned in my blog from long ago.
The simple answer is, “yes.” You mail me the book, something cool, and a check for return postage, and I’ll sign your book.
But for the Worldbuilders fundraiser, I’m streamlining the process. Rather than having you pay shipping both ways, you can just buy a book, I’ll sign it however you like, then I’ll ship it back to you. Hopefully in time for Christmas.
I can inscribe any of the following books however you like and mail them off to you.
These are anywhere from the second printing to the 6th printing. All of them have the cool new blue cover. Signed however you like.
This book was my first publication, and it’s a shameful piece of my sordid past. It’s a collection of of humor columns I wrote for the college paper between 1999 and 2003. Columns dealt with pressing philosophical issues such as the fast zombies/slow zombies debate as well as everyday problems like how to bribe your professor or start a career as a prostitute.
The book is full of illustrations by BJ Hiorns, the same guy that illustrates my blog. It also contains annotations where I explain how some columns got written, the lies I told, and what sort of trouble various jokes got me into
Only 500 copies were printed, so the Guide is hard to come by these days. Collectors sell them for as much as 200 bucks. Myself, I think it’s perfect for reading on the toilet.
I’ve got about 20 of these. Some with the green man cover (above) some with the Fabio, and some that have been re-covered with the blue jackets. You wouldn’t believe what some people are charging for these things out there.
I can sign this however you like, but make sure to specify in your order which cover you’d like.
Edit: As of December 3rd, I’ve run out of the first editions. They went WAY more quickly than I’d ever guessed. If I can find some more, I’ll put them up here again. But for now we’re sold out. Sorry.
If you mailed in your order, and it’s postmarked on the 3rd or earlier, I’ll should have enough books to cover your order. But if your mailed-in order has a later postmark than that, we’ll contact you contact you and see what you’d like done with your check.
This is the Subterranean Press anthology that printed my short story, “The Road to Levinshir,” which is an excerpt from The Wise Man’s Fear.
It’s a beautiful hardcover book with stories by folks like Tim Powers and Kage Baker. The cover price was $40, and that was back before it went out of print. Now it’s hard to find one for less than 80 bucks.
A galley is an early version of a book that publishers occasionally print to promote a book. This version of The Name of the Wind came before the final edits, so there are about 5000 small changes I made before publication, as well as two chapters that I re-wrote almost entirely.
There weren’t that many of these printed, and I have a handful that I kept for sentimental reasons. The last one of them I saw on e-bay was going for over a hundred dollars, and that was a year ago. The few signed ones out there are going for more than that…
For the most part, prices for the books are double what they cost me, plus a little for packaging. I can get a 6th edition hardcover for 20 bucks, so they’re up there for 45. Tales of Dark Fantasy is out of print, and would cost me 50 bucks off Amazon, so they’re going for 105….
The reason for this is that it’s in keeping with the fundraiser matching donations. If someone buys a book from me for 20 dollars and then I donate the money. They really haven’t donated. They just bought a book. Follow me?
And remember, all the money goes to Heifer.
* Signed hardcover – $45
* Signed copy of Your College Survival Guide – $85
* Signed copy of Tales of Dark Fantasy – $105
* Signed First Edition Hardcover – $145 [Sold out.]
* Signed galley proof – $255
You can pay one of two ways:
1. Write the following information on a 3 x 5 note card:
A) Which item you want.
B) EXACTLY what you’d like me to write in the book.
I have no problem personalizing books, but please be specific about what you’d like. Asking for a quote from Bast is fine. Asking me to wish someone luck in their own writing is fine. “Happy Birthday Schmendrick.” “To the best lover I’ve ever had.” It’s all good.
But if your card says, “write whatever you want.” I will write, “Whatever you want” in the book. Seriously.
C) Your return address.
D) Contact information. Either a phone number or an e-mail address where you can be reached.
2. Include a check. Make it out to me because I’ll be using a couple bucks from each one to cover postage before I make the lump donation to Heifer at the end of the fundraiser.
3. Mail the note card and the check to:
Pat Rothfuss
P.O. Box 186
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Rules for International orders:
If you live outside the US and want to buy a book, the rules are a little different. International shipping is expensive, and you need to fill out your check a certain way or my bank won’t cash it.
It costs me about $25 dollars to ship a book internationally. Every additional book in the same package adds $10 to the cost of shipping.
So here’s what you do:
1) Add the extra 25 dollars (or more, if you have more books) to the prices I’ve listed above.
2) Add three bucks to cover the fee that the bank is going to charge me to cash your check.
3) Convert it into your local currency. (euros, pounds, rupees, whatever)
4) Write me a check using your local currency. (This is important. Don’t write me a check in dollars if that isn’t what they use where you live.)
5) Mail it off to me with the other information I’ve asked for written on a notecard.
You can pay online with paypal. But make sure you include your contact information and detailed signing instructions with your order.
Note: When you pay on paypal. Make sure you include how you want me to sign the book BEFORE YOU COMPLETE YOUR TRANSACTION. Seriously. Look around, find the little area where you can add extra instructions and put your signing instructions in there.
Edit: Please visit us at The Tinker’s Packs to buy signed books online.
That’s all we’ve got for now, folks. Hopefully before too long we’ll have t-shirts and posters for sale too. Keep an eye on the blog.
Want to go back to main page for Worldbuilders? Click HERE.
As always, special thanks to our sponsor, Subterranean Press.
(All Hail Subterranean Press!)