My Emerald City Comicon schedule, and an ultra-limited merchandise thingy

Tomorrow, I head up to glorious Seattle for the Emerald City ComiCon. I'm doing the usual storytellings and autograph signings, though I have to leave on Saturday due to an unfortunately-timed family commitment. I'm hosting an Awesome Hour on Friday at 4pm, and I'll be on The Guild panel with Amy Okuda and Felicia Day on Saturday at noon, flattening out the OMG HOTNESS curve.

I've shipped up some copies of The Happiest Days of Our Lives (expanded edition), The Day After and Other Stories, Sunken Treasure, and Memories of the Future Volume One. I'll also bring along some 8x10s for people who want that sort of thing.

I always try to make a nifty Chapbook for cons, but the thing is, I've been working as an actor so much, I haven't had much time to be a writer, and there isn't anything new that is polished enough to release in Chapbook (or any other) form. HOWEVER, I've been kicking an idea around for a few months, and I thought I'd go ahead and give it a trial run at ECCC.

A bunch of my friends who are musicians release their entire catalogs on a USB drive (Paul and Storm, and Jonathan Coulton are two who you probably know), which lets people get a whole bunch of stuff on something that's small enough to fit in their pocket, and has the added bonus of being a nifty USB drive that can be used for TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS once the files are copied off of it. I know, right?! Isn't the future amazing?!

I have a bunch of work that's in multiple formats, including text, audio, and video, so I thought I'd collect as much of it as I could and offer my own USB drive thingy at cons, w00tstocks, and maybe as a big old honkin' zipfile at Lulu or something later this year.

I'm not sure anyone wants this sort of thing, though, so I haven't invested in the number of USB drives I'd need to purchase to make it cost-effective. I'm testing the waters at ECCC with an extremely limited number of DVDs containing something I'm calling The Complete Works of Me, Wil Wheaton (being an incomplete collection of the audio, video, and textual works of me, Wil Wheaton).

It's pretty much what it sounds like. Here's the README I created, which will make people who write and rely on actual README files twitch a little bit:

Congratulations, dear sir or madam! You are now in possession of a truly remarkable collection, guaranteed to restore even the most ill-humoured man, woman, or child to gaiety and mirth.

Included in this delightful volume are three separate collections. They are as follows:

Text: For the gentleman or lady who wishes to escape the hum drum modern world, we offer these portals to the past … and the future! These turgid tales of mirth and marauder can be read off an automatic teletype device, or given to a reputable printer for conversion to portable paper format.

Audio: Voices and music appear, as if drawn by magic from the aether itself, or perhaps from a more sinister locale beyond! A warning to the faint of heart or soft of spirit: some of these recordings are of a most uncouth and ribald nature! Let the listener beware!

Video: Pictures that appear to magically move, transporting the viewer to locations mundane and fantastical. 

The buyer is cautioned that these files are for personal use, and unless expressly and explicitly noted, are not to be reproduced for commercial or personal gain.

All files are copyright 2010-2011 Wil Wheaton. Some files are released under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike license. For more information, please visit creativecommons.org

There are three different directories, described thusly:

Audio

This directory contains the following:

Audiobooks:

Just A Geek

This is an audio performance of my first book Just A Geek. It is the super-bonus-holy-crap-is-it-really-nine-hours-long version because my friend David and I ended up including a lot of asides and what I called “audio footnotes”. You could think of it as the Director’s Extended Cut That Runs in Parallel With The Regular Cut, if you like.

The Happiest Days of Our Lives

I was so happy with Just A Geek, David and I got together again to do this one. It’s similar to Just A Geek, but David added in some nice interstitial music between each chapter. You know, for kids.

Podcasts:

Memories of the Futurecast Episodes 1-13

In the weeks leading up to the release of Memories of the Future Volume One, I started a promotional podcast. Each week, I read an excerpt from the book, and added some of my own comments. I’m especially proud of this podcast, and if you enjoy it, you’ll certainly enjoy Memories of the Future, which is in the text directory. All the shownotes and links are at http://memoriesofthefuturecast.com

Radio Free Burrito Episodes 0-4 and 9-31. 

Let me save you some searching: I never did an episode 2, and for some reason skipped straight to episode 3. I’m not sure exactly why, that’s just how we did things back in those days.

I left out Episodes 5-8 because the really, really suck. If you are determined to hear them, they are online. After Episode 9, though, the show starts to come together as I get comfortable and have more and more fun each time.

In addition to almost all the RFBs, I included Lakeside Shadow as a stand alone track, and Radio Free Burrito’s Mixtape (Volume One).

All files are .mp3, except for RFB episode 9, which is an enhanced podcast that apparently only plays on Apple devices. Sorry about that; I was young and foolish then (I feel old and foolish now). Just for shits and giggles, another short original tune I made, JazzyJazzJazz is also included. Don’t ever say I never gave you something for shits and giggles, kids.

All the shownotes and other neat-o things can be found at: http://radiofreeburrito.com

W00tstock from Los Angeles

This is an audience recording of the third w00tstock we did, at Largo. I think it’s hilarious and awesome, and I hope it inspires you to come see us to w00tstock in person whenever we come to a town near you. More information about w00tstock is at http://www.w00tstock.net

The Criminal Minds Production Diary

In July 2008, I worked on Criminal Minds, in episode 404, titled Paradise. I played serial killer and all around Very Bad Man Floyd Hansen. I keep a diary during production, which was printed in Sunken Treasure. I recorded it as a standalone audio thingy, with my usual asides and additional comments.

Video

Moments With Wil

One day I got it into my head that it would be amusing to make these little 30 second videos where I did something stupid, and then thanked the viewer for “spending this moment with me.” The problem was, they just didn’t work on their own, and I ended up showing the 15 I made to a few friends, before forgetting about them.

When we were putting together w00tstock, and the decision was made to include some short silly films, I knew that Moments With Wil had finally found a home. This is the first time all of them have been collected into one place and viewed by anyone who doesn’t also live in my house.

Stupid Cellphone Videos

While working on Eureka in 2010, I had one of those days where I was called in early, but ended up not working for almost seven hours. Sure, it was nice to earn a paycheck for sitting around and playing Plants Versus Zombies all day on my iPad, but I eventually got bored … and these stupid cellphone videos were born. It’s basically the Moments With Wil concept, without the fancy-smanchy titles and credits. As of this collection, there are 14 of them.

Text (which I wanted to call Text-eo, but didn't, because I'm apparently a chicken)

This directory contains nearly all of my writing, with the notable exception of Just A Geek and Dancing Barefoot, to which I sadly do not own the electronic rights. The Happiest Days of Our Lives is also absent, because a decent electronic version simply does not exist at the moment.

HOWEVER! What is here is pretty swell:

The directory HUNTER contains three different formats of my short tale Hunter (see how that works?), which is a short sci-fi story, set in a dark and desperate world. 

I have also included several chapbooks. They are:

Sunken Treasure – Wil Wheaton’s Hot Cocoa Box Sampler. 

This is just what it sounds like: a sample collection of all the different types of writing I do. I often suggest this book to people who are unfamiliar with my work, as it gives them a chance to find out if they’re going to like my work, and if they do, where they’d like to go next.

Games Matter

This is a collection of gaming-related essays and stories. It was prepared for GenCon in 2010. I’m really proud of this little book, and I plan to give it a wider release in 2011, with some additional material, including my two keynotes to PAX and PAX East.

Memories of The Future Volume One

Part memoir, part episode guide, part behind-the-scenes, all told from the perspective of a guy who is looking though his high school yearbook, facepalming and declaring “I can’t believe I thought that was cool.”

Volume One covers the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation from Farpoint to Datalore. Volume Two, which goes from Angel One to The Neutral Zone will be released in 2011.

The Day After and Other Stories

A short collection of short fiction, originally released as a chapbook at PAX in 2009. In order to get over my fear of writing and publishing short (and eventually longer) fiction, I released it as a print book in December 2010 for just 10 days, then released it as an eBook in January 2011. It is presented here in PDF and pub formats.

140 – The Stupid Twitter Book

I had this idea to make a short, small book, like the little Tao and Zen books you see in card stores and car washes. It would contain 140 of my stupid little Twitter things that made me laugh. I spent the better part of a day putting it all together, and then realized that Lulu, where I do most of my self-publishing, was going to charge something like $60 per copy, because it was a full color printing process for some strange reason. I didn’t think it was worth $60 (or anything more than $5, really) so I shelved the project. It’s not the same to read it as an eBook, but it’s still funny, and I think it’s kind of cool. For the moment, you’re one of 11 people in the world to see it, which includes the 9 other people who bought this DVD at Emerald City Comic Con (assuming I sell all 10) and my wife.

I did some quick math, and figured out that if these things were to be bought separately, the Moneybags who collected them all would end up spending about $85. In light of this being an ultra-limited edition of just 10 — did I mention that? That's kind of important, so let me say it again: this is a signed, numbered edition of 10, in a spiffy little paper sleeve with a silly picture that I created entirely by myself at bighugelabs.com and sealed with actual sealing wax — I have decided to sell them for $100 each. I'm not sure if anyone will want to buy them (and if I have any left over, I'll sell them online, right here, to the first people who do want them), but I think it's a pretty neat collection that I had a whole lot of fun putting together. Hopefully, it will be successful enough to warrant investing in a hundred or so USB drives to carry around to my various convention and w00tstock gigs this year.

 

44 thoughts on “My Emerald City Comicon schedule, and an ultra-limited merchandise thingy”

  1. you are funny, Will and I like your fancy words usage (not so with f-words though). You mentioned recently “coming to town near you”, are you, like, can come to Toronto (Canada), that would be totally awesome, (maybe I could help organizing the event, or something???)

  2. I wish I could go but it’s on the other side of the country 🙁 I would easily spend $100 for this collection. There is so much here that I don’t own but would love to have.

  3. Maybe selfish, but I for one hope you have some spare, because I would definitely pay $100 plus shipping to the UK for this piece of merchandise

  4. Count me in as a buyer, were you to make something like this more widely available. If you were to put together some massive ZIP file on Lulu and peg the price at $80 (slight discount for the bulk purchase, not to mention no need to invest in USB drives), you would likely sell a fair number of them. ESPECIALLY if you’ve already done the work of creating the archive…think about it, we would pay a measly $80 (or whatever you decide to charge) for this amazing collection, you would get cash money (well…”digital” cash money), AND the actual cost to you would be minimal.
    I really hope you generate enough interest to do this; I, for one, would buy it on the first day. TAKE MY MONEY, WIL!
    http://www.livingwithanerd.com

  5. Wil, you’re obvious a very busy man, but would you be interested in writing the foreword for The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy? I am under contract with Wiley-Blackwell to author/edit this book. Please email me for details:
    dean[dot]kowalski[at]uwc[dot]edu
    If you (unfortunately) are not interested or able, please jot me a quick reply here.
    Thanks,
    Dean Kowalski
    UW-Waukesha

  6. For someone who doesn’t already have the majority of that material (unlike me), that sounds like a great deal, especially for a limited, signed edition.
    Damn this Atlantic!

  7. What a tantalizing collection! I just had to chime in to say that while reading your README file, I could HEAR your cheesy 50’s announcer voice booming it out in my head. YOU, SIR, HAVE MADE MY DAY!

  8. Ack! My 5 yr old daughter has chosen Dinosaur Day at the natural history museum over attending ECCC so I’m not sure we’re going to make it this year! *sob!* But maaaaaybe we can fit it in. I’d love your audiobooks! Well we shall see, but I have a feeling fossils will win over nerds.

  9. If it was at all possible to teleport out to ECCC on such short notice I’d be there (never mind it isn’t even remotely possible -meh) just for the opportunity to own such an awesome collection! Being landlocked in the middle of the country has limited my opportunites for obtaining your chapbooks and such. Your audio books tho are a MUST! Just like having someone else in the car! On the very very very slight chance that there would be any unclaimed after the con you may count me amongst the minions that would <3 to own a copy. edited to say - if these go over as well as I imagine they will - the zip would be a most awesomely acceptable substitute

  10. I’m making my first trip to Seattle this weekend for the Con, and am more than touch stoked for the Awesome Hour.
    Here’s to hoping you have one of those cds left by the time I find your table. (And here’s to even more hoping that someone’ll loan me a cd drive so I can transfer the audio book files to my ipod for my long flight back to Boston.)

  11. You, my dear Wil, severely underestimate the fans you have. There are plenty of them out there (myself and my husband included)and put out blog posts like this one that says things like “limited” and “autographed” really excite us, but when you then write words like “ultra-limited” and “in person only” and “10” problems start to arise because living in FL the hubs will not be “in person” and therefore will not get one of the “10” this makes for a rather sad hubs. So remember us, your distant fans when your USBs sell out in 60 seconds flat.

  12. I hope that included in “140” is the conversation between you and your cat, about the ping pong ball, and how the BEST TOY EVAR could be made even better if you OMG PUT IT IN THE BOX.
    I have friends who still think Twitter is pointless and uncool and not something they want to waste time on, and that tweet is the one I always copy-paste to show them what awesome stuff there is on Twitter.

  13. Heh. I think 140 was compiled before that conversation happened.
    I *am* considering a 140-style booklet that's just conversations with pets and other things that can't actually talk, but seem to talk to me for some reason.

  14. Sigh, I’ll be at ECCC and would buy this in an instant except I got laid off about four months ago and don’t exactly have the money. Fortunately, I purchased 3 day passes for me and my son the day they went on sale so I’ll be there. Friday is my birthday, and I cannot think of anyplace I’d rather be than a ComiCon and ECCC is one of the best! It’s a great idea Wil. They will sell out in minutes. Are you sure you can only do ten?

  16. Could you please reserve one of the CDs for me? I intend to be in your autograph line within moments of the doors opening on Friday. Looking forward to seeing you (again)!
    Thanks so much! 😀

  18. I can't reserve anything, but I doubt these things will be flying off the shelves, if past experience is any indication of future performance.
    See you at the con!

  22. Wil, Wil, Wil… You are sadly mistaken. Putting you on a panel with Felicia and Amy doesn’t flatten the hotness curve, it only steepens it!

  23. Hi Wil –
    Just a quick unrelated-to-the-topic-at-hand note (although I’d love to purchase a disc if there are some left over) to say that last night I saved Robin in DC Universe Online and had the awesome realization halfway through his speech: “Hey, this sounds a lot like Wil Wheaton…wait a minute…AWESOME!”
    Smile was a mile wide after that. Thanks!

  24. You will definitely sell all of these at the Con–stop doubting yourself! But if you decide to make more, I would definitely buy it online. $100 seems very reasonable.

  25. Thanks Wil. It does indeed suck, but I figure everything happens for a reason. At the very least, I don’t have to worry about faking illness on Friday in order to be able to attend ALL of ComiCon. 🙂
    I’ve managed to save some bucks for comics and such so my son and I will be ok. Again, spending my 43rd b-day at ECCC with my 17 year old is actually a dream come true. At least I passed on some good genes.

  26. I see what you did there. You’re ditching out on Saturday before Frakes and Spiner can give you another wedgie, right? (:

  29. Super excited to see you at ECCC again this year! Last year’s ECCC was my first con ever and I was a nerdy high for weeks. You and Aaron Douglas interacting was one of the highlights for me. 🙂 Thanks for being awesome!

  30. You could do 10 individual doodles on the 10 paper sleeves, or 10 jokes or quotes. I think selling these will be all about “rarity and individuality” value. (Get your cat to pawprint them and watch the money roll in. Cats seem to be popular)

  31. I would absolutely love to buy one of these, but since we won’t be able to attend until Saturday (something about needing to work to afford the ridiculous amount of photos, autographs and other misc items that we plan to buy), I’m not going to get my hopes up that you have any left over. You’re a lot more popular than you give yourself credit for!

  32. I have flown all the way from Australia to attend ECCC (among other things). I plan to be first in line for a copy of your collected works.

  33. So, we pounce on you as soon as we see you Friday if we want the USB drives? Or is there a secret hand signal? I’m much better at pouncing. . .

  34. Oh man, I hate that I don’t live in the US and am not able to come to ECCC because I would SO want to buy one of these!
    Any chance you’ll do this for FedCon in Germany later this year, I would probably drive up to Germany just for this!

  36. Could you please Twitter when the discs sell out? I’d love to get one, but I’m afraid costume and makeup will take longer than expected and I’ll miss my chance. It’d be great to know if I’m too late.
    Thanks and I can’t wait for the show!

  39. It such a shame that i will no be able to come to Seattle, because I would have definitely bought one. But I guess this is the price to pay when you’re living in France: you are too far to assist at one of those cool conventions. Weel I hope you will release this materials on LULU.com one day (i hope soon). Anyway you’re great and you’re story are awesome.
    Cheers from France 🙂

  40. If anyone is interested (and I haven’t had the time to read all Wil’s tweets), I am pretty sure the discs are gone. There were two left when I got there, and I know the guy behind me bought one.
    I just wanted to thank you Wil for making my birthday one to remember. Good luck on the next Jackalope hunt!!

  42. Wil, I have been in product management in high tech for 15 years. I recently got hooked on your writing and am a huge fan. May I make a small suggestion? Package the shit out of this USB idea. Inserts, photos, “handsomely packaged,” etc. It has to have something that we cannot buy any other way. This should increase the sales nicely. It is surprising what a couple of bucks of packaging and presentation can accomplish. All the best!

  44. Well Well Will.. I love reading & losing myself in the colorful world of literature. I am curious of the colors your book will bring.. Hago nah! (until next time)

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In order to survive, I disassociated for much of my childhood, but I clearly remember the books. That's where I found comfort, companionship, inspiration and validation. It's where the imagination that powers everything I do creatively in my life today was born. And it all started in that library, with that librarian. She was one of the first people I can remember asking me, "What do you like? What's important to you? What do you want to know more about? How can I help you find it?"

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