Many years ago when my first novel Experimental Heart was in the process of being repeatedly rejected, editors would tell my agent that its main problem was one of categorization: What cover would we put on this? At the time, the bookshops in Amsterdam were awash with geisha covers. A year later it was all Renaissance portraits of demure young ladies in pearls, hopelessly falling in love with the painter on the other side of the palette. Pink, lavender and mint-green signaled chick lit, while lad lit fiction sported primary yellows and blues. Fads came and went as my manuscript passed by desk after desk, the covers seeming to chase an elusive dream of best-sellerdom as if they could possibly disguise the quality – or lack thereof – of the words inside. Are readers really so shallow?
Tangible euphoria My advance copy finally arrives
When most people think of science or scientists and fiction, ‘science fiction’ seems to be the only category that exists. In such a climate, a non-SF novel about scientists – lab lit – doesn’t stand a chance. Or at least, that’s how it was when I started. I’ve been making a lot of noise with LabLit.com, which is finally starting to have an impact, and others, like Carl Djerassi and Anne Lackie, have been promoting similar causes for many years. With the rise of serious funding for ‘sci-art’ as a public engagement incentive, there have been numerous efforts to bring writers and scientists together. But is that enough to bulk up the number of lab lit novels out there (which currently stands at about a hundred ever written)?
The thing is, categorization and facilitation are not the only obstacles. Publishing professionals, who are usually arts and humanities trained, are not shy about confessing their aversion to science as a topic. In the past, these people have exerted sole control over what the rest of us get to read – and there was nothing that lab lit authors could do about it, except for the occasional one (usually already established in non-science topics) who got lucky and found an editor with a more open mind.
But this is starting to change. Technology is now giving opportunities to niche authors that never before existed. Just as musicians can circumvent the traditional recording industry by producing, distributing, advertising and selling music themselves, the new affordability of digital print-on-demand, coupled to websites and social networking, has made it feasible for anyone to be a published author. The chance of these authors producing a best-seller is probably as remote as a MySpace garage band reaching the top ten, but the possibility is nevertheless there, and such successes are becoming increasingly common.
So how did I get published in the end, when the traditional route of the agent gateway failed, when even getting shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize greased no wheels? To be entirely frank, it was all through hard work and self-promotion. I founded LabLit.com to raise awareness of the issues, toiling over it almost single-handedly for years with more time and money than I could really spare. Through this, I gained enough cachet to convince Waterstone’s to run an experiment with marketing lab lit, and to convince Phil Campbell to let me write about it in Nature (after meeting him at a science/media party I blagged my way into via various contacts). This article brought in hundreds of emails, including one from John Inglis of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. We stayed in touch and discussed possible projects for several years until eventually – just when I was on the brink of publishing it myself via CreateSpace – he offered to buy the book.
The rest may be history, but the story is by no means over. Most publishers have a slim marketing budget, so even authors at megalithic imprints have to do a lot of their own legwork to get the word out. Again, I believe the internet is key here: the blogosphere is word-of-mouth writ large, and I am hoping to make more than just a few ripples. If there is any useful lesson here for lab lit authors, it is to never give up, to keep chasing every opportunity that arises. And do visit LabLit.com – we can serialize your novel, publish chapters as short-story excerpts, listen to your angst on the Forums, and do whatever we can to promote you.
Meanwhile, the book should ship any day now!
Publisher (If you register for free as a Gold Member, CSHL Press will give you a 10% discount)
Advanced praise for ‘Experimental Heart’:
“It is terrific…I was gripped from the first page to the last, which is unusual for me…[ the author has done] a brilliant job of weaving in so many aspects of science – experimental, social, and political – without making them intrusive.”
– Martin Raff, Molecular Biology of the Cell
“Science as it is practiced today can be conceptualized as a mystery story, or a love story, or a thriller. In EXPERIMENTAL HEART Rohn has made a brilliant synthesis of these three modes, resulting in a page-turner with depths, exploring the hope and danger of both bio-medicine and lab romance. In short, a true novel. Scientists who gave up reading fiction about science because it’s never right—check this out. Non-scientists wondering what goes on it in that weird culture—find out here. By the end you’ll be reading as fast as you can.”
– Kim Stanley Robinson, Hugo- and Nebula-award winning author of Red Mars, Antarctica and Forty Signs of Rain
Meanwhile, the book should ship any day now!
Good! I’m getting impatient!
I think it’s a good sign that I received my copy, and that arrived about 6 days ago. Neither of the Amazons are giving straight answers, but I just checked the main CSHLP page and it says “Now Available!”
Ooo.
My Amazon order says “Delivery estimate: 22 Dec 2008 – 30 Dec 2008” – hopefully it’s not true!
That seems wrong to me. There is a UK printing distributor, and their warehouses should be stocked any moment now. Fingers crossed it’s out before Christmas at the very least!
.com is saying ‘Usually ships within 1 to 2 months.’
I ordered it over a month ago (wow doesn’t time fly?) and it says
Shipping estimate: November 28, 2008 – December 9, 2008
Delivery estimate: December 24, 2008 (More about estimates)
Fingers crossed!
Amazon.de will ship November 29. I’m looking forward to this.
Well, everything happens sooner in Australia, I suppose!
If anyone wants a giggle, go to the .com site and check out the “customers who bought books like this also bought…” suggestions. Mind you, that jibes quite well with this headline.
Obviously the UK site is more intelligent.
Martin, our posts crossed.
I didn’t know .de was carrying it! (And far more efficiently, obviously.) I shall add the link forthwith.
This from .com, going to me in Canada:
Delivery estimate: December 10, 2008 – December 24, 2008
Shipping estimate: December 1, 2008 – December 11, 2008
Usually they take much less than 9 days, and I’m expecting this to get to me just before my defense date, but I won’t read it until after. It will go on the pile of Books I Don’t Have Time For Now, but you’ll get bumped up a bit so you’re probably only the 2nd or 3rd book in line and I’ll get to it before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, can everyone please stop writing books until I have time to read again? I was at a book launch party for a friend’s book two weeks ago, and that’s in the pile, too.
I don’t know how far your budget will stretch, but have you thought about getting review copies sent to some of the ScienceBloggers?
I must admit I’m a bit put off by the name of the protagonist.
Don’t worry, Bob: Andy O’Hara doesn’t have a cat. And even if he did, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been as sexy as The Beast.
My publisher has already sent review copies to two key SBs who have agreed to review it – that was a key part of our plan from the beginning.
Jenny has done a lot to promote my book by serializing it on LabLit and also hosting it at the Royal Institution fiction lab. It has sold 29 copies so far. My other book, having had none of these benefits, has sold three (3). Which goes to show how promotion helps!
I think it’s important to note that promotion is a long game, as well. You shouldn’t expect instant results.
Any advice on self-promotion for people who are used to be self-deprecating and find it hard to even update their CV?
Get someone else to help you.
Eva, you need to think like an American!
(1) What have you got to lose?
(2) What have you got to gain?
Just big yourself up; you’re awesome.
Just big yourself up; you’re awesome
Ah, the American Approach. In the mid-1990s an American Prof of my acquaintance wanted to invite me to his university (UCLA) for a winter quarter to teach his graduate students how to put together scientific papers. He asked me to send me my CV … which he edited and sent back for my approval, before he sent it to the Board of Regents.
At first, I could hardly recognize the peerless paragon described within, the words and phrases used were so mightily bombastic (hard to believe, I know, I know) but when I looked closely, nothing the edit said was actually wrong. And it secured me a very nice visiting professorship.
The Prof concerned was very proud of having been a graduate of … Oberlin College.
In the U.S. and in the right crowd, one should be proud of graduating from Oberlin. I went to a similarly sized school and am quite proud of it, too. More than if I had been at my large Ph.D. univ in California as an undergrad.
It’s just cultural differences again. Don’t poke fun in an international environment such as NN – it will fall flat for someone.
Oberlin was very good for my self-esteem. I remember when I first decided I wanted to go there. It was a headline in a girl’s magazine for a story in which they’d sent a journalist undercover for freshman week: ‘People who were geeks in high school get to be cool at Oberlin’.
I had one class, reading Herodotus in the original Ancient Greek, that met in the prof’s office over tea with three other students. And I learned NMR in a class of two. I think such individual attention is bound to make you feel special, and make you less shy about seeing your good points.
And I learned NMR in a class of two.
Best way.
@Heather:
10 REM POKE FUN
20 INPUT Are we having fun yet (Y/N)?$
30 IF A$=”N” THEN POKE HEATHER, FUN
40 STOP
Bloody textism screwed my BASIC.
That should read
20 INPUT “Are we having fun yet (Y/N)?” : A$
And if I may hog the comments thread to say something half-way serious,
One forgets that this is not the norm. I was amazed to discover that ‘tutorials’ meant a class full of students, to most people.
Jennifer, hope everything goes smoothly from here on in!
Henry, how do you fancy posting the before and after CV versions, as part of a blog masterclass in
shameless self promotionCV writing?Thanks Mike.
What a splendid idea. In fact, it’s just crying out for a spoof before and after…
Is there an ebook version of your novel?
Henry, how do you fancy posting the before and after CV versions, as part of a blog masterclass in
shameless self promotionCV writing?Modesty forbids…
What have you done with the real Henry Gee and where is he?
We don’t want him back, we’re just interested in knowing.
bq. Modesty forbids…
So nothing stopping you then, big man?
More seriously, if you or others wouldn’t mind doing this, I’d certainly appreciate getting a glimpse of what could be got away with, especially for expectations over the pond compared to our modest British efforts.
Check out my profile for my CVs (plural, yes).
Thanks, Richard, it is useful to see what other people have found useful additions or focus points in an academic CV.
Anyone else want to offer something that gets you out of the prison colonies?
At first, I could hardly recognize the peerless paragon described within, the words and phrases used were so mightily bombastic
Americans have a reputation for this sort of bombast, particularly in the UK. I knew that as a Texan, my stereotypical reputation for bombast and bluster would be even worse. Since no one would know anything about my undergrad (Rice) and grad (U Oregon) universities anyway, I let the intellectual superiority chips fall as they may, when I moved to London. They are, of course, BS chips, but many people cling to them tightly nonetheless. Besides, I’d already experienced the “Texans are stupid, provincial, and uneducated” meme in graduate school.
Perhaps the situation would have been better, had I received my undergrad degree from an Ivy League university. But that would have been out of question financially – outside of Texas, I would have lost substantial academic scholarships, as well as my excellent weekend and summer jobs in the medical center – and I’m not sure I would have been accepted at such universities, in any case (I’m not very good at taking standardized entrance exams).
Many people express surprise that I chose to return to Texas for a faculty position. I just have to laugh.
Nobody outside of Holland has even heard of my undergraduate institution, but the fact that it is in Amsterdam and not the “University of Amsterdam” suggests that it’s crappy, even though Dutch universities aren’t ranked like they are in some other countries.
My CV sucks so much that I’m too embarrassed to even show it. I recently applied for a sessional lecturing job that I know I’m absolutely perfect for, but I haven’t heard back, and I really think it was because my CV is just a boring list, and looks like I’m grasping at straws.
Okay, one example: Holland doesn’t really rank universities and students. If you fail, you can try again, and as long as you get a degree within ten years, you qualify to interview for a PhD position. High grades are completely unnecessary. Nevertheless, in 1997 the society for chemical industry decided to award the top chemistry students in the country. About 40 students were selected to receive and award, and within that group, 5 were singled out for an even higher award. I was one of those 5. The year after, they did the same, but singled out 8. I was one of those 8. On my CV it just says “VNCI Award for top undergraduate chemistry students in The Netherlands, 1997 (top5) and 1998 (top8)” and it looks like I am implying that I was number 5 one year and number 8 the next, but for all I know I could have been the number 1 chemistry student of the entire country two years in a row! I don’t know how to emphasize that this was such an achievement in only a few lines of text, and this is something I actually can brag about.
Eva, this sounds like the sort of distinction that should be mentioned in your cover letter, where it’s easier to explain things. Nobody here has mentioned the letter, but as someone who routinely had to triage for positions with 200+ applicants, they are pretty important! (Did you go to the VU? That’s a great place.)
Ralph, the publishers did mention a Kindle version but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t happened yet.
Yes, the VU. I went there because I wanted to be in their interdepartmental environmental science program, and started in chemistry because that was one of the four departments participating, but during my first year I realized I’d rather do biochemistry than environmental science, and this is why I have not yet rescued the planet, despite my teenage ambitions.
Also, I spoke too soon: I did just get a response to the job I applied for, and was invited for an interview. I do think it was my cover letter that got me the interview, though.
Eva: Hartstikke gefeliciteerd, hoor! (I seem to recall a great Dutch slang equivalent to ‘knock ’em dead’, but can’t pull it up from long-term storage.)
I’m crap at cover letters. Last time I got myself a job I’d been exchanging emails for weeks, picked up the phone one Wednesday and said “So, , gizza job then.”
SRSLY.
“Zet ‘m op”?
(And thanks!)
I don’t know how to emphasize that this was such an achievement in only a few lines of text, and this is something I actually can brag about
Eva, is there a webpage or any sort of online description of the award, lists of the subsequent successes of the awardees, etc., for which you could include a URL in your CV? I’ve used this strategy for some of the “service to the community” items on my CV.
Kristi, no they changed the format of the award, and the website is not in English. There’s an interview with me in a magazine that I have, about the award, but that isn’t in English either, so I kind of feel like I’m just making it up when I have to translate the achievement.
That’s a tough one, Eva, but certainly an important problem that needs to be addressed, as our academic and scientific communities become increasingly global. How do we translate the relative value and importance of academic honors, degrees, and achievements? American universities, for example, are notoriously diverse in the rigor and scope of their degree programs and courses … how to compare a biology degree “with honors” from Stanford or Harvard, vs. similar from a small state college?
Sorry, way off topic here ….
For those of us living abroad…and in a country where Amazon does not exist (please, don’t ask!) perhaps one option is to have Amazon.com/de/uk shipping a copy to you, get you to sign and dedicate, and have you shipping it to Italy via snail mail. Do you accept PayPal donations, Dr Rohn?!
I may get it from Amazon.de then.
8-}
I can’t imagine that Jenny will have time to sign hundreds of thousands of dedications, Massimo. We’re talking bestseller.
…let alone popping in the post-office and mailing books out to fans worldwide.
Heh. Massimo, I’d be honored, if you’re serious. I’ve got a PayPal account somewhere, gathering dust and sending me the odd spam.
Yes, the relative merits of academic honors and achievements would be really useful. For the moment, though, I guess explaining it in the letter is the best chance you get to convince people. And yes, zet hem op was exactly what I was looking for!!!
“zet hem op”
and knock ’em down.
I heart Dutch.
Thanks for the clarification – I thought “Zet ‘m op” was a drunken plea for another round of drinks! “Set ’em up?”
Oh what a lovely echo
laughs
Laughs, laughs, laughs.
Oh look – another echo…!
You boys been sniffing the solvents again?
Yes mum. Sorry mum.
In my case it was a delightful concoction called “I don’t have any teaching this morning!”
You really know how to push the boat out, Stephen.
let alone popping in the post-office and mailing books out to fans worldwide.
That’s exactly what I’m doing. Today I sold a copy of By The Sea (now 32 happy readers) and one of Siege of Stars (now 4). But I’m also ordering ‘review’ copies from lulu myself at a discount and mailing them to people of power and influence. And Richard Grant. As Jenny said above, word of mouth is everything.
And I have a big mouth.
This is like being in a bar.
“Woo, Dutch, woo! Funny words” and then I’ll say something like “Actually, ‘zet ‘m op’ literally just means ‘put it on’, like ‘put on a hat’ or something..” but nobody is listening because everyone is drunk. And then they usually say “Say something in Dutch!” and I say “What? What do you want me to say?” “BEEER! Woo! What’s ‘beer’ in Dutch?” (Someone in the background inevitably jokes “Heineken!” at this point) “Beer in Dutch is ‘bier'”, I’ll say. And that’s no fun, because it sounds the same, so everyone forgets about it and has five more drinks.
And I have a big mouth
Every little helps.
Actually, I can’t count (so shoot me, I’m a palaeontologist). I’ve sold 6 copies of Siege of Stars.
Eva, congrats on the interview! And it sounds like your friends are similar to mine. When I first moved here they were always trying to make me say “butter”, which does admittedly sound a bit weird in a Yorkshire accent. Oh, and trying to copy my glottal stop in “water” and “pretty”. And then we would have long drunken arguments over whether it is better to turn the Ts into Ds, or to not say them at all.
Jenny, given everyone else’s comments about Amazon shipping times, I think I’ll wait and order your book after I get back from my Christmas holiday.
@Eva, sounds about right.
@Cath, heh, we should talk. I have a very Lincolnshire ‘u’, but the glottal stop is faded.
@Henry *BANG*
Cath – understood. It seems like a mess over there! Hopefully everyone will get their copies eventually!
It might just be Amazon rather than Jenny’s book in particular. I have had an order outstanding for Brian Clegg’s latest opus for some weeks now, but that’s all gone quiet, too.
Americans and Canadians might be better served by CSHLP, who say it’s now ‘available’.
Richard, I once reduced my Essex and Edinburgh flatmates to incoherent giggling wrecks in the middle of a Newcastle supermarket by asking if they preferred I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or Utterly Butterly. Since then I have consciously modified the parts of my accent that cause the most hilarity, but all bets are off after a couple of pints.
Right, first round on me then Cath.
Promises promises…
Jenny, I think you covered the main publishing issues well (based on my one-sided knowledge of success vs. failure in that industry).
I’ve had quite a few reviews posted on individual websites for Rad Decision, with no sales impact, but have never been able to break through the barrier of getting the book reviewed at a larger site. It sounds like you’re having more success with that – good. I have found that the sites where placing a link gave me the most traffic were those most heavily viewed – even if they were a bit off topic. A single sentence and a link at one of these (such as a profile of Detroit’s “atomic car”) provided more hits on my website than a glowing full page review at a lesser read site.
You’ve emphasized the need to hammer away at the problem of writing and then publishing, which is certainly a good thing to point out. (If someone is writing for money or fame, they’re probably in the wrong business and, with science in fiction, certainly writing about the wrong topic.)
One thing your account secondarily points out is the value of living in (or frequently traveling to) a major cultural center and being willing to go out and meet people who could prove influential in publication and publicity. (I’m sure your time alone at the computer working on Lab Lit didn’t hurt either, of course.) The net is great for correspondng and sharing ideas but it hasn’t replaced actually being there on occasion. The personal touch seems to engender more interest – or, perhaps, just trepidation that you might show up again wondering where the enthusiasm went. In short, London is a better spot from which to launch a novel than anywhere in Kansas, no matter how many net contacts one has. Just the way of the world. Shakespeare didn’t stay in Stratford.
Again, congrats on the advance copy coming in, and the additional plaudits sure to come. Hopefully the time and energy you’ve put into it will continue to pay off.
One of the advantages of lulu is you can see directly how different strategies are affecting sales. I had a profile piece in our local paper, the North Norfolk News, emphasizing the local angle of By The Sea. Lots of people read the paper (and several people came up to me in the street to say how much they liked it). Sales? Zero.
Personal approaches through Facebook, one’s email contacts and so on do yield a few sales.
But the most sales I got for By The Sea were at the Royal Institution Fiction Lab book club (hostess with the mostest, J. Rohn), presumably because the participants had to acquire the book before discussing it. And also there’s that personal-appearance aspect.
James, living in London is probably the best thing that anyone who has an ambitious project and wants to make it happen can do it. The thing about London is that it’s small compared to e.g. the entire USA, but you can make a splash there and you’ve splashed the entire country. It’s both big enough and small enough to eventually meet everyone in the media and arts. I’m not sure I could have made these sorts of connections in the States – maybe in New York. Not sure.
It’s both big enough and small enough to eventually meet everyone in the media and arts.
You’ve met everyone? (Insert html for long, low impressed whistle)
Everyone who is anyone, Stephen, obviously.
OK, maybe I’m exaggerating. But a certain very famous, moderately drunk science TV presenter did pinch my bum at the annual Daily Telegraph party – does that count?
At the Telegraph party—hardly.
had it been the Guardian, that would be different.
Interesting (and somewhere between inspiring and depressing) that – – even with your location at the nexus of British culture, your willingness to hit the party circuit, and your bum-pinching contacts – – getting Experimental Heart into print proved to be such a long and difficult process. There’s a lesson there that I understand, but prefer not to contemplate.
Actually, most of my fiction author friend (none of them writing with science subjects) tell pretty similar stories. There are squillions of novels being submitted, and my non-scientific survey of these friends suggests that five years is pretty normal for getting a first one bought. I only had 9 official rejections — just spent a lot of time in between, trying to make the book better. It went through 12 major rewrites during that time.
Jenny> How lovely!! And I asked the same thing (the cover photo) when I started in the publishing industry (I am influenced by the CV talk and the ego boost in the comments.). The power of a cover and that certain covers do sell, and then don’t in another country was news to me.
Look at the US editions of soft covers and compare to the British ones…. the US usually have more relief letters and large and bold colors. Whereas the British are more…. hmm… modest 😉
I am pondering about the impact of getting on a “reading list” for either a university or high school as “lablit/realistic books about alternative careers” … surely that is how some people get around?!
Eva>
Nobody outside of Holland has even heard of my undergraduate institution
oh, I recognise that. Well, my old uni has the name “Swedish University of…” which might sound better? Although it is still small and fairly unknown. (not to mention Agricultural 😉 )
My CV sucks so much that I’m too embarrassed to even show it.
Have you had any “professional” to look at it? I remember the first time I let someone take a red pen to mine (at a British conference, as a “how to get a job after your graduate time”) and then an hour talking to the recruiter on “how to phrase things”. Needless to say he chopped it and told me that he would never hire me based on how I had presented myself and my sklls. Not based on the skills I actually had…. there were all sorts of goody words to choose rather than the modest ones I had chosen 😉
And yes, I have the same problem with grades – since we don’t have them. Although, I have used my one semester in Canada as a show of “my general grades in a foreign country” but still … I would put a lot in the cover letter to “explain”.
good luck with the interview!!
Interesting how widespread the phenomena is. Were it not for the fact that I’m reminded of the need for informative books like mine every day as they discuss energy on the news, I would have dropped the whole thing long ago and moved on to more cheerful topics. I suspect I’m up a factor of ten in rejections over your opus, though most of these have been form letters. (Not really something to puff up one’s chest about….) After preparing so many pretty printed packets to individual specifications, I’m enjoying e-queries — its always worth spending a few minutes on those. The number of my rewrites is probably about the same as yours. Rewrite time alone after the first draft probably worked out to two or three hours a page if not more. Hard slogging. Unfortunately for me, due to my unique circumstances I had limited opportunities for feedback during the writing process, (though I was quite happy with the brutality of the paid editor I hired), and zero chances for in-person self-promotion. So it goes. My choice – – I didn’t quit my cushy day job. And the book’s finally available in print and not just via an electron stream, so that’s something.
Your own review process sounds as if it was very thorough and was geared toward making the reader happy. I hope your novel proves successful enough to (again) demonstrate the existence of a niche market that publishing houses will find worth exploiting. I’m terribly anxious to be exploited.
Suggestion: Nature Network Rejects.
Worth floating to a publisher, Richard – you never know…
Not all American novels are shiny and big-lettered. I’ve always been struck that there are two stream there: the shiny airport style and then the matte, more serious ‘literary’ covers (I think it’s known as ‘trade’ fiction). And they’re so tiny! I grew up with that book size but now it seems wholly alien.
Jenny> I know. I realise that I might have generalized a bit too much.
It wasn’t always like that. I remember a shift when I was a teenager. Always wondered why.
haha, I had a quick urge to say something like “well, I am quite sure I am not that old to have lived through that shift” but then again – I think it might be as easy that all the US covers that came to Sweden, arrived like ehh… 10 years later and then I saw them and compared them to UK covers 😉 [also, I might have a smaller sample group like Sci/fi and Fantasy for this specific cover story]
wouldn’t presume to insult anyone who has writtten a book that I want signed, oh no! And it more reflects my own inability to realize exactly how many years its been since I graduated ‘high school’…..
Jenny – just so you know, my copy, which I ordered back in October is currently showing as:
Items not yet dispatched: Delivery estimate: 22 Dec 2008 – 30 Dec 2008
I might not even have it by Christmas! (Sob.)
When this has happened in the past with books of mine that have been published I’ve nagged the publisher, who has had words with Amazon, and all of a sudden it’s available for immediate delivery, so it might be worth asking for them to intervene…
Hi Brian
In this case, I’ve just received an email from the UK distributor who told me he thinks the copies are about ready to start being shipped. So before that time Amazon didn’t know the dates and just put up a guestimate. I’ll speak to the publisher and see what they say, but I am expecting it to ship any day now. The Christmas rush will probably not help, though.
I just got a message from Amazon.com that the book shipped and that it will be there December 4th or sooner. Yay! I’ll probably have my guests read it while I prepare my thesis defense. (I’m the worst host: people that would normally crash on my couch have to stay in a hotel because my couch is full of thesis junk. The least I can do is give them something to read that isn’t a scientific paper. They’re not allowed to touch the papers in the first place – I have a system!)
WOOHOO!
Less woohoo:
Thanks for the update, guys. Anyone heard from co.uk?
As of 9.15 this morning, still showing .co.uk as
Items not yet dispatched:
Delivery estimate: 22 Dec 2008 – 30 Dec 2008
And cheerfully flagged up: The following item will arrive after 25 Dec 2008.
I ordered through the CSHL press. It is charging me a lot for shipping, but at least it should arrive in a reasonable time. Amazon.com shows it as out of print!!
20.17 GMT, Amazon.co.uk claims:
“Note: this item will be delivered in time for Christmas in the UK.”
Kausik: it is NOT out of print. Trust me! 😉 And thanks so much for ordering my book.
Maybe you’ve sold so many, Jenny, that they’ve run out??
My copy of EH is waiting for me in Sydney. I’ll have it in about 24 hours.
What fun.
Amazon.co.uk have just informed me the book is on its way…Obviously takes a little longer to come in an easterly direction – odd really, you’d think the Gulf Stream would help.
That’s biassed, that is. Mine still is “Delivery estimate: 22 Dec 2008 – 30 Dec 2008″… but encouragingly they’ve dropped the The following item will arrive after 25 Dec 2008.
Hee hee. I have mine in my hand.
Read ’em and weep.
I spoke too soon. Just had the ‘Your Amazon Order has dispatched’ (has dispatched what?) message. Woo hoo. And since I can read without moving my lips, I may even finish it before some triumphalists…
Bah. Amazon.com says:
“temporarily out of stock”.
I suspect the Christmas rush is to blame.
Oh, by the way, congratulations!!!!!
Richard, .com is not out of stock. My publisher told me that they’ve got scads of copies but their notification system is just out of whack. Please order it and it will arrive!
Copies bought from .co.uk started arriving a few days ago; someone in my lab got her copy, plenty of time for Christmas.
I can see it now. Jenny going on YouTube, waving a watch…
buy my book, buyyy my boooooooook
Mine’s arrived. A fair amount of woo, and degree of hoo!
Pleased to announce that my copy has now also arrived. Nice cover, to return to topic…!
CSHL is strangely silent on my order of THE BOOK (TM)!! [grumble, grumble…] They claim on their website that books are shipped out in 48 hours!! Damn, I should have gone with Amazon.ru or Amazon.cn!!
Kausik, give them an email; they are very friendly.
I’ve got the extremely rare page-proof copy. So there.
serious typos!!
and you’re missing a very sexy cover.
I can vouch for the sexiness of the cover.
And… fig leaves. That’s all I’m saying.
Ditto re the cover. The only thing I find slightly unnerving is your picture on the back, Jenny, which appears to be in the infamous lit window across the way, but from the scale, your head is about six foot across…
and you’re missing a very sexy cover.
Sexiness is in the mind of the beholder. Fortunately.
24hrs and counting… CSHL has not responded to my email about why I have not received THE BOOK (TM) yet!!
Just noticed that Stephen got the ton.