Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: stumped
  • Music: Moulin Rouge, "Elephant Love Medley."

Okay. Advise me.

I have a few more ARCs to give away, and I'm stumped. So how should I give them away? (Hint: saying "give them to me" will actually not endear you, unless you finish that sentence with "I do all the buying for a major bookstore" or something similar, and can present credentials.) Have you got a favorite review site? Have I missed a contest? Should I abandon them on BART cars? What?

Propose anything. I am open to the crazy.

EDIT: So it's said, the "abandon on BART cars" option was a joke. I won't do anything that involves releasing ARCs into the wild, outside the bounds of the standard social contract, with no idea where they went. Not okay.
Tags: giving stuff away, requesting things, rosemary and rue, toby daye
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orlacarey

August 17 2009, 18:57:49 UTC 7 years ago

silly as it may be - consider keeping a couple? You might find you want one or two in the future.

wendyzski

August 17 2009, 19:06:12 UTC 7 years ago

At this point, I kind of agree. The book is so close to being actually "out" that hanging on to a few to donate signed for later charity auctions is probably a good idea. That way next time a cause comes around you'll have something to add.

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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sheistheweather

August 17 2009, 18:58:19 UTC 7 years ago

Perhaps to elisem or to kythryne so they can make promotional jewelry?

seanan_mcguire

August 17 2009, 19:45:51 UTC 7 years ago

I don't know the one, and while I adore the other, I think she's pretty busy. I can check with her, though. Thanks for the tip.

liamstliam

August 17 2009, 18:58:33 UTC 7 years ago

I would sign them and leave them on BART cars.

If you send me one, I will leave it in a public place, and the person who picks it up just might be a buyer for a major bookstore.

;)

seanan_mcguire

August 17 2009, 19:46:21 UTC 7 years ago

Public abandonment makes the ARC social contract of "now you have to buy one" difficult to enforce, however.

bardling

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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bardling

7 years ago

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archangelbeth

August 17 2009, 19:02:28 UTC 7 years ago

I'd say keep one or two for fun and displaying at conventions.

For others... Hm. Got a high school around who'd accept a donation for their library? College library?

(I donated a couple of Ursula Vernon's kid books to my kid's library, and they were very happy to have them -- librarians apparently love books (who knew! O:D ) and never have enough funding to get as many books as they want.)

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 03:32:04 UTC 7 years ago

ARCs aren't suitable for donation to libraries. They were never intended to be read more than a few times, and their binding wouldn't hold up to that sort of treatment.

I'm definitely considering some finished book donations.

archangelbeth

7 years ago

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liamstliam

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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tsukara

7 years ago

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keristor

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 03:36:46 UTC 7 years ago

Neat thought!

dianthus

August 17 2009, 19:12:00 UTC 7 years ago

Have you sent one to shadesong? She just announced that she's managing the literature track for Arisia, and about a bazillion people read her LJ.

liamstliam

August 17 2009, 19:18:41 UTC 7 years ago

And I already suggested an "urban fantasy" or whetever you want to call it panel.

Hmmmmmmmm.

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 04:06:49 UTC 7 years ago

That's a great thought!

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Re: Raise money?

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 04:07:12 UTC 7 years ago

Not until a year or so from now, but it's a great idea.

djonn

August 17 2009, 19:25:40 UTC 7 years ago

I'm assuming that "a few more to give away" already means "in addition to the handful I'm keeping for archival purposes and to placate the cats". Now, then....

The WTF!Pumpkin Contest: Retail being what it is, it is not quite too early for people to start finding instances of Weird And Amazing Pumpkin Products. Entrant who provides photographic or other evidence of the weirdest and/or most amazing gets an ARC.

The Write Seanan's Dialogue Contest: This would involve picking a suitable "With Friends Like These" strip, cleverly zapping the words out of the word balloons in an electronic version, and giving entrants the chance to offer their own dialogue. Winner might be chosen by popular vote, by a Panel of Clones, or by the Will of the Seanan.

The Mad Pandemic Contest: Entrants must create (as in "name and describe", not "synthesize in their secret lairs") a hypothetical Deadly Pandemic capable of wiping out, horribly devolving, or otherwise causing serious harm to large portions of the human race.

The Rampant Generosity Scheme: Not strictly a contest, but a possibility to be considered -- hold an auction for the very last ARC, with the proceeds to be donated to a suitably worthy cause.

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 04:11:17 UTC 7 years ago

See, most of these require actual effort on my part. Right now, that's a problem. I'm out of go.

ziactrice

August 17 2009, 19:25:46 UTC 7 years ago

I'm quixotic enough to say: give them away BookCrossing.com style by leaving (or sending to be left) in the most odd places obtainable. For example, I know someone who hikes very difficult trails in Colorado - apparently there are usually drops such as mailboxes and such at the top of the trailhead. Finding an ARC for a new book in one, with a note to Pass It Along After Reading would be extremely geeky and cool. Or how about asking your local Hospital Nurse or Doctor to take one for the patients to read who are confined to bed? I know that if I ever get stuck in a hospital reading material (should I be well enough to focus my eyes) will quickly become my number one desire for escape from the boredom. Or... hold a contest and let the people who come up with the Most Interesting Places to Launch the ARCs into the wild have 'em?

dornbeast

August 17 2009, 19:32:01 UTC 7 years ago

Hmm. I wonder if there's a relatively large geocache somewhere? I suppose putting a book in a geocache is a little strange, but it seems like a good plan.

("Please sign your name and put this book in another geocache when you are done reading it.")

silvertwi

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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ziactrice

7 years ago

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coyotegoth

August 17 2009, 19:27:59 UTC 7 years ago

Personally, I think you should have an Iron Poet round where *you* pick the words and the style, and the best entrants win the ARCs.

djonn

August 17 2009, 19:33:20 UTC 7 years ago

That's a wonderfully diabolical scheme, which I would like even better if I didn't already have an ARC.

But yes: entrants sign up in the contest topic, Seanan gives three words and a prompt to each, and madness ensues. (I think it would be more interesting for each entrant to get a different set of words, but one might also do it with a single word set.)

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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coyotegoth

7 years ago

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spectralbovine

August 17 2009, 19:30:22 UTC 7 years ago

Have you sent one to Felicia Day? She recently made a book post; I don't know how behind she is on her reading.

I do all the buying for a major bookstore
Could you hit some local Borders and Barnes and Nobleses and give them to the person in charge so that they love it and display it prominently when it comes out?

I don't know how you would get one to someone at Entertainment Weekly, but that's where I find out about new books I've never heard of!

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 18:11:56 UTC 7 years ago

I did! Remember, you got me her info?

I'm hitting the local stores. As for EW, that's done by my publicist, not me.

spectralbovine

7 years ago

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catnip13

August 17 2009, 19:35:30 UTC 7 years ago

The managing librarian at my library branch still wants one.

seanan_mcguire

August 17 2009, 19:41:56 UTC 7 years ago

I don't think I can reasonably get it to you to get to her before the book is on shelves.

martianmooncrab

August 17 2009, 19:37:15 UTC 7 years ago

my friend djonn only let me touch his copy ... but not read it. *sniffle*

djonn

August 17 2009, 21:30:12 UTC 7 years ago

If she picks the Iron Poet contest, we'll see about winning you one of your own....

martianmooncrab

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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martianmooncrab

7 years ago

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xjenavivex

August 17 2009, 19:50:00 UTC 7 years ago

I sent you a message for your consideration.

I would also recommend checking out calico_reaction her reviews have a pretty good reach!

seanan_mcguire

August 19 2009, 14:35:18 UTC 7 years ago

Your proposal is potentially of interest to me (although I've never heard of this other person). I will reply. But please don't us LJ DM if you want to reach me, in the future? I really loathe the interface, I'm constantly saying "email me" instead of "DM me" because of that.

xjenavivex

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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xjenavivex

7 years ago

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Set one free?

netdancer

August 17 2009, 19:51:27 UTC 7 years ago

http://www.bookcrossing.com/

Re: Set one free?

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 18:13:31 UTC 7 years ago

Too fragile to be functional.

professor

August 17 2009, 20:18:04 UTC 7 years ago

I like the BART car idea, but then I'm biased.

Mail copies as bribes to the heads of conventions that you want to get invited to?

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 19:17:23 UTC 7 years ago

Interesting thought...

kiarasayre

August 17 2009, 20:40:46 UTC 7 years ago

Not sure how helpful this'll be at this stage, but as a bookseller for B&N, I've been watching the ARCs hungrily for the past few months to see if Rosemary & Rue is among them - and so far it hasn't been. So I say you send them out to bookstores! I know a lot of the booksellers at my store stay mostly to hardcovers (which can be checked out) and ARCs (which are free), so even though the ARC may not get to the store before the book's actually published, it'll still get read.

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 19:34:37 UTC 7 years ago

Which B&N do you work for? Did you want to do the reading?

kiarasayre

7 years ago

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bardling

August 17 2009, 22:49:13 UTC 7 years ago

Donate one to a local hospital/library or maybe a community center or such? (I assume even if Mike hadn't already suggested it, that you've already thought of Interfilk/filk fund auctions...)

I also rather like the geocache idea. Or you could (but that's more work) devise a treasure hunt started from your website that leads to a copy of it?

Or create a webpage for "The travelling ARC" - and set one free with the website url in it and a request to 1) sign the website with a location where it got read (perhaps with facility to upload a photo?) and 2) pass it on/set it free for the next person to do likewise and find out how far an ARC can travel?

Donate one to your local comic store?

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 19:35:01 UTC 7 years ago

My local comic store has one! It's awesome.

Not To Be Taken Seriously.

sweetmusic_27

August 17 2009, 23:15:30 UTC 7 years ago

Tie three helium balloons to ziploc-encased ARCs, and launch them from tall buildings on windy days.

Put them in time capsules. Not your time capsules, other people's time capsules.

Make a Rosemary and Rue Reading Soundtrack challenge - a good playlist of >10 songs and >8 bands/artists would be nice.

Stand next to a Scientologist on a street corner and offer them as books written by a real author.

Give a copy or two to an all-used bookstore or 'library store' you like, who won't see copies of the Real Book for a few months to come.

Give two to a pair of super-secret spies who need a source for a book cypher.

Since the binding on ARCs isn't super-awesome and the book is coming out in paperback, get a Crafty Person to make the book into a hardcover Work Of Art, and then auction it for awesome purposes.

Re: Not To Be Taken Seriously.

tsukara

August 18 2009, 04:12:03 UTC 7 years ago

I like the soundtrack idea, personally, but then that's one of my creative outlets, so...yeah.

Do we get bonus points or penalized for using "Rosemary and Rue" on there? Or Seanan's songs? XD

Re: Not To Be Taken Seriously.

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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twfarlan

August 17 2009, 23:42:05 UTC 7 years ago

Don't know if this has been mentioned, come up, what have you... but have you considered sending one to your literary idol?

seanan_mcguire

August 19 2009, 14:30:15 UTC 7 years ago

I was going to do that with Feed. I keep wanting to send him Rosemary, but I am petrified and shy.

twfarlan

7 years ago

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bigherman

August 18 2009, 00:02:16 UTC 7 years ago

I work for Barnes and Noble in WC, which does $8 mil in business every year, and I can recommend your book as a staff pick so it'll be on the other side of the "New in..." section.

seanan_mcguire

August 18 2009, 19:36:38 UTC 7 years ago

This is relevant to my interests. Email me your mailing address.

stagemanager

August 18 2009, 00:47:43 UTC 7 years ago Edited:  August 18 2009, 00:49:37 UTC

The book is set in San Francisco, yes? Choose a couple (or a few) dominant locations from the book and hide ARCs there, geocache-style, and leave clues on the SF craigslist "community" lists [activities, artists, etc.]. Make it a game!

You probably don't have time for that. But it sounds fun.

catnip13

August 18 2009, 00:57:19 UTC 7 years ago

I actually really like this idea ...

snowcoma

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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talkstowolves

August 18 2009, 02:19:30 UTC 7 years ago

I like the Iron Poet idea where you provide the words and we provide the entries. I also like the Rosemary and Rue soundtrack option.

How about a Twitterfic contest? In the rules, require everyone to use the hashtag #rosemaryandrue (that leaves them 125 characters for the fic). Not only might it help spread the word about your book via curiosity about the Twitterfic and following the hashtag link, but it'll be a fun and (relatively) easily judgeable contest what with the entries being so short.

seanan_mcguire

August 19 2009, 14:31:11 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, now, THAT sounds like an awesome idea. Thank you!
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