Liveblogging the hardbacks, and an open mic

Posted on By Wil

This is a big day for me, and a moment of truth: was I foolish to think that at least 300 people would want signed, numbered, limited edition hardbacks of The Happiest Days of Our Lives? I’m about to find out.

I feel the same way I do before a big poker tournament or extremely important audition: my stomach is queasy with excitement and apprehension, my hands are a little shaky, and though I’m hoping for the best, I have to be prepared — at least a little bit — for something less than the best.

Because this is an event for me, (and because I have to watch the server to make sure nothing goes wonky)  I’m going to live blog it for a little bit. I’m also going to do this thing Warren Ellis calls an Open Mic, since I’m going to be here anyway: In comments, feel free to ask me anything, and we’ll have one of those time-shifted discussions we sometimes have on blogs and message boards.

Live Blog!

11:56pm: Whoops. We threw the switch a little early. Someone must have been F5ing, because about a dozen orders went through in the first minute.

12:00pm: Okay, we’re on sale for real now! Orders are coming in as fast as I can count them. I see some familiar names in there, and that makes me really happy.

12:06pm: The first count has 65 to the US, 7 to the Canada, 3 to the the UK, 2 to the the Europe (it’s the final countdownnn . . .) and one to the Australia.

12:10pm: 80 sold so far. Anne says, "I honestly don’t know why you were worried so much." You’d think she’d know me better after 12 years.

12:15pm: I can hear a train whistle from the train yards about 20 miles away. It’s one of my favorite sounds, because it conjures up romantic images of a time when people traveled by rail.

12:17pm: I’m looking through the Romper Room magic mirror: I see Angie, I see Starshine, I see Clay, I see Alice, I see Bill, I see Chuck . . .

12:26pm: 100!

12:30pm: Secret Agent from SomaFM is the perfect soundtrack for this moment. It’s okay to feel happy and relieved and excited now, right? That’s not tacky, is it? I feel like we’re all sharing in something that’s incredibly special to me. Is that corny?

12:33pm: OH HAI APRIL! YOU CAN HAS BOOK!

12:37pm: This is a good time to thank Roughy, who did all the design work on Monolith Press dot Com, makes sure the server doesn’t barf all over itself, and keeps me sane in my moments of panic and doubt.

12:42pm: Nothing to add. I just liked that it was "42" on the clock.

12:51pm: From gabrielwalker:

300_hdool

12:56pm: This is going better than I ever dreamed.

1:03pm: My count may be off a little bit, but just about half of the hardbacks have sold in the first hour. I’m trading nervousness and apprehension for pure, unadulterated excitement and joy.

1:13pm: We’re having an awful lot of fun in the open mic. Well, I am, anyway.

1:19pm: Updated scoreboard, not counting eChecks and the few times PayPal doesn’t include an item number in the e-mail header: US – 111, Canada – 11, UK – 5, EU – 9, Australia – 3, Asia – 0.

1:24pm: From Clay:

1:28pm: Nolan just made himself a Dennis The Menace style slingshot, from a "Y"-shaped stick and some surgical tubing. It’s pretty awesome.

1:48pm: Looks like orders are slowing down a little bit, so readers who were worried about it selling out real fast should still have a chance to get copies in the next few hours. That’s pretty cool.

1:57pm: This is probably as good a time as any to share this review of The Happiest Days of Our Lives from Firefox News:

The nostalgic photos on the cover and the title might lead someone to
think he’s calling his childhood the happiest days, but if anything,
his book serves to show that the happiest days of his life are right
now.  As I said earlier, he’s madly in love with his wife and adores
his kids.  He’s discovered a love of writing and an enjoyment of
poker.  He’s run to raise money for breast cancer, he’s put the spirit
of Wesley Crusher to rest, and he’s found a purpose in life.  (Okay, he
also listens to "Mr. Roboto" in his car.  Nobody’s perfect.)

This
is a great book for anyone who was a kid in the 80s.  Trek fans might
get a kick out of the backstage looks at the Next Gen cast.  Me, I like
it for the reminder that things really have gotten better since I was a
kid, and it’s just a matter of knowing where to find the sunshine.

2:06pm: Well, it looks like things are winding down for today. I didn’t intend for this to be an "event" when I planned it, but it’s kind of turned out that way, which is awesome. This has been an incredible rush for me, and I get the sense that it’s been an awful lot of fun for everyone who wanted to get a signed hardback.

I think there will be a few people who check in a few hours from now, who will be pleasantly surprised to find that there are still some copies left. It was always my hope that I could balance the business realities of this limited edition with my desire to make as many people as happy as possible; I’m thrilled that everything seems to be working out for all of us.

2:08pm: The Firefox News review was Propelled by Starshine. Go vote, so we can Front Page that sucker!

2:21pm: Hey, you know what would be fun? A celebratory SNG at PokerStars:

Tourney number:67601545
Time: 18:35 EST
Game: NLHE
Buy-in: $20
Password: monkey
Bonus: $5 bounty on Wil.

2:31pm: This whole experience has reminded me how important the WWdN community is to me. I don’t quite know how to put it into words, so I’m not going to try.

2:49pm: We’re closing in on 200. This is probably a good time for me to get really sentimental and mushy, and thank you all for your support. I sincerely hope you enjoy this book, and you should all know that without people like the 300 (heh. I love that) there wouldn’t even be a Happiest Days of Our Lives, or anything else in the future, for that matter.

2:56pm: Dr. Pauly, Change100, Penner42 . . . holy shit, this poker tourney is a shark tank!

3:23pm: Book review only needs five more votes to Propel it to the front page.

3:30pm: I walk away for a few minutes to give Ferris a Kong in the backyard, and when I come back, I see that five more people have bought books. Awesome!

4:06pm: Yes! The book review hit the front page at Propeller! Thanks, everyone!

4:36pm: Somehow, I forgot to share this from Starshine, featuring 300 copies of The Happiest Days.

5:07pm: The poker tourney was a lot of fun. 11 players, and I made it to heads up with Dr. Pauly. I would have won, too, if it wasn’t for his damn runner/runner flush powers.

5:18pm: So I’m adding things up, and here’s how it looks right now: 177 orders from the US. 16 orders from the Canada. 11 orders from the the UK. 13 orders from the the Europe. 5 orders from the Australia/New Zealand. That works out to 217. There are also about twenty or so orders that I can’t easily search for in Thunderbird, because they’re eChecks, or because PayPal didn’t include the item number in the e-mail subject. I think it’s safe to assume that I’ve sold about 240 signed, numbered, limited edition hardback copies of The Happiest Days of Our Lives. If things continue the way they have, the remaining copies will probably sell out with the next 24 hours, if they don’t sell out over night.

This is a very big deal, and an important affirmation for me. The paperbacks haven’t sold on the same pace as Barefoot or Geek, and I was worried that for reasons I didn’t understand, a lot of people like to read my blog, but didn’t want to — or weren’t able to — support my writing efforts by buying my books. Today, however, tells me that a lot of you were waiting for something special, and all of you who are part of the 300, and that subset of you who participated in the open mic are part of something that was and is very special to me.

Maybe it’s corny to feel good about this, but I love the sense of community I feel here, and spending some time today with so many of you turned a cool day into an awesome day.

Self-publishing is hard. Making it through the media filter is hard. Just getting the damn hardbacks available for sale has been maddening. But today made it all worthwhile.

I’ve felt discouraged and frustrated lately, and I’ve been doubting whether or not I can make a living doing this. Today, you all showed me that, while it’s not going to be lavish, and it’s certainly not going to be easy, at least it’s possible.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years, and to everyone who supported me today. I sincerely believe you’re getting something special and wonderful, and it’s very close to my heart. It’s not a stretch to say that you’re all getting a big part of me when you get one of my books, an even bigger part of me than the average audience gets when they watch or listen to me act.

Thank you all, most sincerely, for being a part of this, one of the happiest days of my life.

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Comments (250)

  1. OH HECK YEAH! I DO BELIEVE I GOT ONE!
    Now, the only thing left to do is get ice for my poor finger that’s now slightly bruised from F5ing.
    Aw, CRAP! Did I say that out loud? *attempts to look innocent*

  2. So Wil. Are the rumors true about if you are the first person to order you get some cake? Oh and yes I was DEFINITELY f5ing. 😛 Congratulations on the book Wil!!! w00t! ftw!

  8. Wil, I *SWEAR* I wasn’t F5ing… just getting the page loaded so I could start F5ing at noon. I thought I’d broken something when the page came up. 😀
    Clay

  10. That is $3.71 per California Book Wil. That can add up very quick and cut into the kids tuition. I would be more than happy to send that in separatly. I am also a small businessman and want to be fair. Bill Mann

  13. As I posted in the other comment thread… 🙂 I’m wondering – will we faithful Wil followers be deemed “The 300”?
    Would that not constitute a joke?
    (Oh yeah. Quoting Spock, there.)

  14. I’m one of those who actually posted on your last blog entry about how proud we are to have got our order in 😉 (and one of the 2 from The Europe)
    F5ing and proud of it!
    Can’t wait to read the book Wil. So happy to have gotten a a signed copy. 😀

  17. I think I am the seventh Canadian. Yeah for me.
    I think you will sell out in less than 1hr and a half. I may be so bold to say in an hour.

  18. It’s my Xmas gift to myself. Along with a bunch of other stuff, I’m sure, but this is the most important one.
    I’ve been looking forward to this since you announced the book, and I was not going to settle for the paperback 🙂
    I wonder what number I got…

  19. Wow, glad I got my order in early. Looks like these babies are going to sell out fast! I ordered from work, but seeing as we got a small bonus this past paycheck that will pay for the cost of the book, I think it’s appropriate…

  20. Every since I took an e-commerce class I’ve been fascinated by distribution techniques of scarce goods. In the future, may I recommend doing the following:
    – Sell some of the books like this, where the first people after some deadline get the first chance to buy.
    – Sell some of the books via lottery where people get virtual tickets and you select some of them at random.
    – Sell some of the books at auction where the person paying the most gets them.
    That way you cover different types of people — people who have more time, people who have more money, and people who have more luck.
    The auction especially has the potential to increase your income. Providing the other outlets gives fans without a surplus of money a fair chance to obtain a copy.

  21. The number associated with your order is for my internal accounting. US is 006, Canada is 007, etc.
    The actual number you get will depend on when your order was placed. I’m shipping out in the order they were received.
    Also, I LOVE the idea of “The 300.” Someone needs to do some Phoshopping, stat.

  22. I wrote to the Romper Room lady as a small kid asking her to say my name, and she actually did once! And now you did too! WOO!
    Clay

  25. Got one! The boss (my wife) said I could get one of my christmas presents early. Woo hoo! Thanks Wil, can’t wait to read it — so happy I waited for the hardback. 🙂

  27. I did it! \m/
    Whoa…I had meant to set my alarm all day, but thought “pff, as if I need to do that…”.
    Hours go by…I look at the clock, and it’s 9:04 PM CET (12:04 PM PST), and I experience my very first minor heart attack. evar.
    This was my first paypal transaction ever, so I’m not sure if I’ve actually gotten the receipt or not, but I did get an email telling me that I’d wired Wil sixty bucks ^^
    Yay!

  29. Out of curiousity, if orders are placed after the 300 are gone… would it have not allowed the transaction to occur?
    (bad memories of BoC’s from woot stirring up emotions!)

  30. Damn, my PayPal account, which I’ve used like twice, says:
    Accounts with limited access may not send money.
    I’ve done the steps to get the restriction lifted, but it still says In Review. I’m on hold with them now, but I’m afraid I’m going to miss out. 🙁

  32. Amber: I’m counting orders as they come in (just over 100 now) so when we get close to 300, we’ll take the orders offline again. I’ll double-count again, and if anyone placed an order post-300, I’ll issue a refund and an apology.

  34. My darling bf wanted to take me to my favorite diner this morning (the Tick Tock in Clifton if you are interested when you are out this way) and I completely forgot about these going on sale until 2pm. Just got home now and I am so glad I was still able to get in on one.
    I am going to hold you to coming out East in the Spring. I have a Wesley Crusher figure that desperately needs to be signed. I can also get another copy of the book signed for my brother, who’s birthday is in June.

  36. BillMann: You and Jessika would have to work that out between you. If you order another book, you can do whatever you want with it.
    Kevin: Privacy dictates that I don’t say exactly, but the buyer was from Illinois. Feel the Illinois, people!

  48. as a long time lurker and occasional commenter (although having the rss feed on lj has kept me away a little…) i am so smiley right now to have been able to order one of these with my birthday monies from family, and im even more glad you got something sorted to ship to the uk!
    (Wil, you need to come over here sometime… there are at least 100 of your fans in sheffield alone and we’re all rooting for you!)
    sounds a little melodramatic maybe but its been a really rough couple of months for me…and waiting for you book to arrive as well as knowing i’m helping an actual person out as opposed to lining some corporate pockets has really made my day.
    sara

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