A couple of weeks back I promised to post about all the interactions with my publisher leading up to the launch of book four ... and maybe beyond. We're still a long way from release date (2nd June) so the posts won't be that frequent, but I do have a couple of updates for you.
Yesterday my publicist emailed about getting together to talk about the upcoming release, but thanks to my dodgy back I've had to put that off for now. I had a CT scan and xrays this morning, and it's still giving me a lot of pain. Anyway, I offered to chat on the phone initially, and perhaps we can have a meeting to discuss any points raised.
The other thing I discovered is that review copies of Hal 4 are going out. I've not seen the finished book myself yet, despite my casual hints, but I suppose I already know how it ends and I can't very well post an unbiased review. Anyway, I put in a word for Mary Koenig, who reviews for the WA education department. Their publication only comes out 2-3 times a year, which means long lead times. She obviously enjoyed the first three books so I'm keen to see her reaction to #4.
Speaking of fours, today was the fourth time I've driven my car since the Xmas holidays, so after the xrays etc I decided to make the most of the trip and went to visit the nice people at Dymocks Carousel. (The first drive was round the block back in February, when I was checking to see how my back would stand up to it. The second was to pick up an Atari 1040 STe, also in February, from a guy who contacted me via my website after seeing my emulators page. He just wanted it to go to a good home, and I now have it set up in my office. The third trip was last week, when my daughter missed her bus. But I digress.)
The reason for the Dymocks trip was to advise them about Hal 4 coming out, but they asked me about the book launch before I could bring the subject up, so we're good there.
Finally, I had nice email from one of the local Penguin sales reps, congratulating me on the upcoming release of Hal 4. Penguin distribute the books outside my home state, so this rep has no financial interest in the Hal books and can't even take orders for them, but that just made it even nicer to get her email. I know publishers can seem like faceless conglomerates, but little touches like that show there's a human side.
Oh, one more thing... I just spotted a familiar name on the Tin Duck (WA SF awards) ballot. Yes, Tehani Wessely, who put together the three Andromeda Spaceways best-ofs last year (details here), has been nominated for Best WA Professional Production. Go T!
Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)
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