the limited edition hardbacks have sold out

Wow. I hoped it would happen, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast!

I took a break from the computer to go eat dinner with my family, and while I was up, we sold the last copies of the signed, numbered, limited edition of Happiest Days of Our Lives.

The really sad news is that we oversold by 24 books, and I’ll have to issue refunds to those people. Please accept my apologies in advance, but it looks like if you placed your order after 5:30 or 6pm PST, you’ll be getting a refund from me.

I wanted to reprint my final update from the liveblog and open mic thread:

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.

Now I’m going to celebrate by playing some games with my family (looking like Ticket to Ride: Europe and maybe Settlers) before I have a Stone IPA, which I think I’ve earned.

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82 thoughts on “the limited edition hardbacks have sold out”

  1. *waves* Hi, Wil! This is Mike P’s sitter, Rachael.
    Oh, man! I had no idea you played Settler or Ticket to Ride! My game g33k friends and I have been wanting to play Ticket for a while now.
    How is it? We play a couple of Settlers games ~ sometimes at GE, too, when it isn’t so busy. Congrats on the book!

  2. Do those unlucky 24, get a signed and numbered check as the refund?
    “refund 301/300” in the for line of the check…
    They might never cash it 🙂

  4. *Heavy Sigh*
    It appears my “woo hoo” from yesterday at 7PM MST was probably premature. We’ll have to get t-shirts for “The Wheaton 24: When you’re just not good enough”
    I’m going off to eat 64 slices of American cheese…Mmmmmmm….64 slices of American cheese…..
    Sad in Santa Fe,
    SandyB

  5. Oh, Jason, I know! Context is hard to convey in print. Smiley’s always mean “I’m kidding, please don’t take this seriously” to me. 🙂 Unfortunately I don’t get to use them in my work emails. It would make everything a lot easier sometimes, I think.
    The idea of the Wheaton 24 makes me incredibly sad! 🙁 Maybe the Wheaton 24 can get cake.

  6. Hey Wil. I don’t know if you’ve heard/seen it yet, but you were mentioned in Entertainment Weekly this week. It was in the TV section, in the What to Watch article. Under the Friday listing, Numb3rs is prominently displayed in a green box wiht the heading, “Boldy Go…Back.” There is your picture, smiling, and it says, “OMG, Wil WHeaton (above) and Christopher Lloyd? Out Star Trek/Back to the Future fanfic is real!” I love seeing you in media, so I’m glad it got highlighted by Entertainment Weekly. I’ve already set my Tivo for a show I would never watch if it weren’t for Wheaton.

  9. “…before I have a Stone IPA, which I think I’ve earned.”
    If you haven’t tried it already, I’d recommend Arrogant Bastard, also from Stone Brewing Co.?

  10. Well, the fact that you shipped to Canada should shut the Canadians up!
    Aaron <--- Canadian Damn Zombie Jesus taking up my time Sunday morning. I wonder why I spend an hour each week talking about a dead guy?

  12. Nooooooooooo ……
    Did I scrape in or did I just miss out?
    Oh well, at least I’ll have the consolation of a sexy new T-shirt bra for summer.
    *Waves and 😉 to Wil*
    Still glad to be a part of the event.

  13. Damn, damn, damn …
    As soon as I saw when they were going to go on sale, I went into my Calendar program and set up two e-mail reminders. Unfortunately I was at a professional conference this weekend, and they charged $13/day for Internet access, so I figured, “Well, guess my e-mails can wait until I get home.” Little did I know that I’d missed the reminders; I’d even told a friend Saturday about the book and exactly what time it was going on sale. It was going to be my first WW book – it still can, of course, just not the signed hardcover. Ah, well – congratulations to you all the same!

  14. Funny you didn’t think it would happen so fast, Wil… with 30,000 RRS subscribers and 6,000 unique daily hits (2 are me – 1 from home and 1 from work – ha ha!), and all of us whining and drooling about this book and how there were only gong to be 300? You are very funny!
    Well, if I am one of the 24 who just missed, I can console myself with my paperback version, and your signature on the customs’ form for shipping to Canada…

  15. There was cake? I missed cake?
    There is still cake, Angie. Please lie face down on the floor with your hands behind your back and party associates will arrive shortly to escort you to the party.
    Where there will be cake.
    So delicious and moist.

  16. angie k:
    Unfortunately I don’t get to use them in my work emails. It would make everything a lot easier sometimes, I think.?
    So…does your work e-mail system filter them out? Or block messages? Wow…that’s even more lame than the IT people where my wife works. They’re going to upgrade to Vista in January. Oy.

  18. Alan LOL
    Craig It’s not so much a matter of can’t use them as it is don’t upon penalty of a disapproving glare use them. Sometimes they slip through. Not often. Oh, and my IT Admin mentioned the other day that when we get the grant money in we’ll upgrade to Vista. (She was grumbling because she couldn’t get some drivers to install for a new scanner I got.) It was all I could do to not fall to my knees, wailing, and beg her to never speak such horrors again. God, if she can’t get that scanner to work on XP she’ll never get it to work on Vista. Srsly. 🙂

  19. angie k Uhg vista. As an IT Admin managing a government facility I have yet to see one solitary valid reason for ever upgrading to vista. I’ve already proposed to the board of directors that if we are going to be forced spend a boatload of cash upgrading we should leapfrog vista. I only hope the next iteration of windows isn’t as painfully useless with even more painful upgrade requirements.

  20. Alan, your cake description brought tears to my eyes. It was very Stephen King-ish. Non-sucky Stephen King.
    I was kind of creeped out in a pleasant way. So, you know, that’s good.
    I also realized I JUST missed being comment #69. Instead I’m wholesome #70.

  21. jason Ugh! But of course I’d never, ever mention to her that it’s a bad idea. Oh no, Vista is the next upgrade therefore we should upgrade. Nevermind there’s no good reason to. >p~~~ Grrr.

  22. Aargh! I missed out on the hardbacks, but I just got my softcover copy in the mail today.
    What a wonderful book. I had to stop at page 48 and get some ice cream, but the 7-11 at the corner doesn’t carry double chocolate malted crunch, so I settled for Ben & Jerry’s Mint Chocolate Cookie.
    You have such a vibrant way of writing, of bringing your reader into the world that you’re describing. I could see the 70s style housing, the smog in LA (I grew up in El Segundo, just south of LAX so I know what smoggy LA looked like back then), I could feel the muggy heat of the summer, and the welcome coolness of the air conditioned Thrifty drugstore.
    Your story about Felix the Bear tore me apart… it was so much like what happened with our own black cat Diablo.
    You really have a gift in your storytelling ability. Please continue to share it with us.
    Thanks for a great book!

  24. Hey there, Wil.
    A litle late to the party, but a while ago you mentioned the possibility of a book about your
    experiences playing poker. I was just wondering whether this was still
    in the works, because I think your recollections of playing poker is
    some of your most engaging writing in recent memory. It’s all
    engaging, mind you, I just found it really easy to get wrapped up in
    your poker stories, and I don’t even play.

  25. You know what I would do if I were you? I’d offer those 24 people the option of either a full refund or a refund of the difference between the HC and the SC – and sign the SC for them for free. And I’m not even one of them.
    But, congratulations, man.

  26. Hi Wil.
    I just received the paperback in Germany and noticed that you actually get both paperback and hardcover signed as overseas customer.
    OK, you have to admit: the paperback signature is actually on the customs declaration and not on the book itself but nonetheless — it’s from you 🙂
    Thanks for extending your service worldwide, your previous books would have felt alone on my shelf without their youngest brother with them.

  27. Check out the current Slashdot Poll!
    The poll is what Star Trek series is the best one. TNG is the overwhelming favorite by a huge margin at 46%. Jean-Luc Picard and Wesley Crusher FTW!

  28. I’m really happy that you sold out in one day. I’ve enjoyed reading the last 2 years of your blog for the past 2 weeks. I’ve enjoyed them so much I’m putting all of your books/audio book on my Christmas list, in hopes that I get at least one.

  29. Can someone tell me the price of the softcover? I need to put it on my Christmas list, as well as instructions on how to get it. (For my less than technically savvy parents and in-laws)

  31. I like MissMia’s idea regarding a book about poker. Actually, I’ve been hoping for that for a long time. Even though I don’t play, I’m a sucker for poker stories. Or (almost) anything involving gambling and casinos – which must be why I enjoyed all of the Ocean’s X movies.
    Anyway, Wil’s writing + poker = really good entertainment.

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