In a somewhat suspicious turn of events, my Camp NaNoWriMo attempts are going extremely well this year. As of thirty seconds ago, I am officially at 8,666 words — 43% of my goal for the month. And it’s only the 6th! Huzzah! I suppose it helps that I actually have a plan for what I’m writing — not an outline, of course, but more of a general “This happens, then this, then this.” I’m really excited, guys. Chasing Nonconformity is going to be epic. Well, as soon as I finish writing the darn thing, that is.
And I have new pictures for you! But first, let’s do a brief iUniverse update …
iUniverse update
Remember the pricing issue I was talking about? According to iUniverse, it is impossible to solve it. iUniverse sent out their recommended sales price, and now apparently the online retailers (Amazon, Kobo, etc.) have complete freedom over how much they want to sell the books for. Grrrr. So I said, “Dear iUniverse, if you can’t control the eBook price, can you at least make the physical books less expensive?” To which iUniverse responded that they used a base print-on-demand algorithm to determine the price, blah blah blah, and that the softcover price is fixed at $21.95, and there’s nothing they can do about it. Like heck they can’t.
Chapters update
On the other hand, my book is now in Chapters! Check it out:
HOW COOL IS THAT???
The Chapters people have been absolutely awesome, as you can see from the above image! The only thing they were obligated to do as part of my publishing package was put the book on the shelf, so the fact that they stuck it at the front of the store, on the top shelf, is beyond fantastic. Huge shout-out to the staff up at Chapters North, London!
I’ve also contacted their general manager about doing a book signing — no word back yet, but I have high hopes!
Other update
The lovely and talented Ms. Tania L Ramos is currently rocking Las Vegas on a writer’s getaway. She brought along Imminent Danger, and took this adorable, alien-themed photo:
Okay, enough bragging for one day. Off to work! But before I go, I shall leave you with your favourite part of my posts, the …
Unrelated media of the day
Michelle Proulx - Author 
Good for you on NaNo! Keep it up! 🙂
I’ll do my best! The great part is that I’m writing the action/emotion-packed conclusion, so there’s lots going on in the story to keep me interested 😀
Congrats! Exciting news 🙂
Thanks 😀
Your book looks awesome on the shelf!
Right??? It’s actually deceptive, because there are only three copies there, lol, so the stack is only one deep. Hopefully they’ll order some more so the stacks are a bit more substantial 😀
Congrats on the book!
On your unrelated media of the day: Love your clown ninja! LOL!
😀 Thanks 😀
Congrats on NaNo. I’m never participating in one of their events again. Your books look fantastic in the store! The cover really is an eye-catcher. Tania is too cute, and thank you for a clown laugh. 🙂
Lol no prob 😀 No NaNo? Any particular reason?
That was absolute torture last November, and I prefer not to be on anyone’s timeline other than my own. I’m glad I did it, but once was enough for me!
Soft cover price is $22? Are they nuts? Is there a way of breaking that deal? There has to be an out clause.
I can quit at any time – just give 30 days notice – but right now they have my book in Chapters for the next eight weeks, so I definitely don’t want to do anything drastic until that’s over. After that … we’ll see. I paid them a lot of money so I want to make sure I get my money’s worth, but I don’t know if it’s worth the headache they’re giving me.
I’m sorry for your iUniverse headaches, but I have to ask: Exactly how thrilling is it to see your book on that shelf (without sneaking in and reverse-shoplifting them in there)?
And the proving thing has to be BS. If people who upload their own books to those platforms/use smashwords can manually adjust their prices, I don’t see why your people can’t.
Grrrrrr. Pricing. Stupid phone.
Yeah, it’s weird. I mean, they’re a publishing house, so they may have to play by different rules than independent authors, but still …
Hahahaha — you know, my friend actually suggested that. He was like, “Distract the employees, sneak in your three boxes of books, and make an entire shelf devoted to your book!” It was amazing to see my book on the shelf, especially with it being up at the front like that!!! It made me want to go home and finish the darn sequel so I can stick it right there on the shelf beside Imminent Danger 🙂
I probably would have embarrassed myself by yelling, “Immin DANG, baby!” and the dissolving into a puddle of tears. This is why I should probably just keep my books to myself… 🙂
Yes, the literally dissolving your own body and transforming into a pool of water would be somewhat alarming to potential buyers.
They’d probably be like, “publicity gimmick, whatever.”
People are so jaded these days.
Congratulations! It must be so awesome to see your book on the shelves of a brick and mortar store. (I’m beyond jealous, btw). Hope the book signing comes through for you!
Thanks 😀 It was incredibly cool to see my book on the shelf, even if it’s just the one location. Soon it will be in ALLLLL the stores! Ahahahaha.
Congrats on the book in the front of the store. That’s impressive, although this post was great until the end. I’m kind of creeped out by the clown ninja.
Hahaha sorry for creeping you out. Mea culpa. And thanks 😀
Excellent-ness all round!! Well done! 🙂
Woooo!!!
I have to say, that picture of your book on a REAL LIFE BOOKSHELF was very awesome. It gave ME warm fuzzies, and it’s not even my book! You must be about to burst from happy pride. :)) Forget birthing children–you birthed a BOOK!
Also, I’m always suspicious when my writing seems to go too well, or when I really like what I’m writing. xD The way it always seems to work for me, I write something, think that it is the worst, most horrible, smelliest piece of writing in the whole world, and am this close to ripping it up. Then it turns out that everyone loves it. I figure that means that if I’m writing something I actually LIKE, everyone will hate it, lolol.
And iUniverse is ridiculous. That is all.
Good luck getting those book signings! =D If one happens, make sure to take pictures + post them!
I like the concept of birthing a book, but in practice it would be … messy. Icky mental image! Ick!!! Lol at your writing issues –> maybe the problem is that you’re an unbelievably brilliant writer, SO brilliant that you don’t even recognize your own brilliance. I’m not sure what the solution for that would be — hire a personal advisor to tell you what’s good and what’s bad? I suggest finding an unusually wise five year old child — they’re high quality, and work for cheap.
xDD You’re right, that mental image IS a little… disturbing. MY BAD. And LOL, well, that does make me sound very conceited, doesn’t it? I hardly think that’s the problem! I think the problem is that people are crazy. Or maybe I’m just conditioned to hate everything I write, which would be a shame. I have no idea. But I like the idea about small children. Very cheap–usually a piece of candy, or a chocolate or something. Silly things.
Here’s hoping you get the book signing!
Update: I did! May 25th, 12pm, Chapters London North 😀 They’ve ordered 30 copies, so fingers crossed I manage to sell at least half of those!
Awesome!
Congrats on NaNo and your book looks GREAT on that shelf. You must be so pleased to see it so prominent. Good luck with the signing 🙂
I’m psyched 😀 I just wish they were stacked more than one-deep, lol. Hopefully they’ll order in some more so the shelf looks a little less sparse. And thanks! I’ve got the signing planned out — set for the 25th of May (Saturday afternoon) I think it will go well — and even if I don’t sell many books, I will at least give out lots of bookmarks 😀
Clown-Ninja .. . . hahahaha. Love it. Hope you get that signing and sell a million books. Top shelf, that is awesome.
I did get the signing! They’re only ordering 30 books in for it, not a million, but still — yay 😀
The book looks fantastic on the shelf, Michelle! Congratulations – what a great week you’ve had 😀
It’s been pretty sweet, not gonna lie 😀 Of course, in about a week it’s all going to sink in and I’ll have a panic attack. But until then, yay!!!
Ahhhhh, woot woot. Your book on shelves Girl you are living my dream ^_^ Congrats It looks good up there too. Nice work.
Thanks 😀 I really want to camp out beside it all day and pretend like I’m super fascinated by the book, and perhaps remark loudly every now and then, “Goodness, but doesn’t this look like a smashing read?” But then people would wonder why I have a fake British accent, not to mention I’d get kicked out of the store for loitering. Le sigh.
Nah they won’t kick you out, just offer to sign if they buy it 🙂
Oooh –so exciting to see your book on shelves!! 🙂 Woot, woot!!
Woot indeed 😀 I’ll have to pop by this week and see if they got anymore copies — not sure if the picture shows it, but those three books … are all that’s on the shelves, lol. One-book deep stacking. Hopefully passersby will assume this is because the book is selling really well, and not because they only have those three copies, lol.