New Idea for Appearances
Between my storytelling show, Science Fiction conventions, and random author events I make quite a few public appearances throughout the year. I’m always trying to come up with new ways make my shows (yeah, I count pretty much every time I get in front of people a “show,” because my first goal is to entertain people enough to get them to take a chance on my fiction.
In 2011, thanks to a suggestion by my good friend, Tobias the Adequate, I started having what I call my “Unfolding Tales.” These are flash-fiction stories that I put into a Power Point presentation and print out on two sides of a standard 8×11 inch piece of paper. I print a stack of these before each faire and spend a little time the night before or the morning of the first day of the faire folding these stories. After my show, people can come and grab one of these tales, “that will unfold before your very eyes…Collect all three,” at the end of my show. I’ve now decided that I’m going to have these at all my appearances and not just at my storytelling shows.
Here’s one of my “Unfolding Tales” pre-folding:
I’ve retired the first three unfolding tales, “Two Pick Pockets,” “Prophecy,” and “Familiar Choices.” I’m working on three more for my 2013 appearances. The original three unfolding tales will be included in my upcoming short fiction collection Of Silk and Cobwebs…
…Which segues nicely into my short fiction collections.
As my 2011 season was winding down, I came up with the idea to have a collection of my fiction available only at my storytelling show. I can’t take complete credit for this idea either, as it was inspired by another stage performing buddy, Captain Jack Spareribs. About halfway through 2012, I decided to make this at anywhere I did a “reading” as well. Also, halfway through 2012, I decided to do a new collection each year, retiring the previous collection. You know how it is…supply and demand…supply and demand. If you missed the chance to pick up Otherworlds, I’m sorry, but make sure to be at one of my appearances this year to grab Of Silk and Cobwebs.
The other thing I added to my appearances at the end of 2012 was the concept of my “spontaneous stories.” Basically, for $5 (cause a writer’s gotta eat and diapers are expensive) you give me a topic/subject and I write a flash fiction poem for you right on the spot. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this composition, quality cannot be guarantied. (“The first draft of anything is shit” Earnest Hemingway.) The above photo is the very first spontaneous story I wrote, and honestly, I couldn’t even tell you what it was about. I’ve only done this at Renaissance Faires, but I’m considering how to integrate this into other appearances as well.
I’m rather proud of the idea of the “Spontaneous Stories,” because, in so far as I know, this is 100% my idea. While I might have gotten the idea from somewhere else, the kernel of it is so far removed from me and was buried deep in my subconscious that this counts as my idea.
So, that’s all the crazy things I’ve come up up with before today. Now, let’s look at the future!
This morning on Facebook, I saw the following image:
And it gave me a great idea! In 2013, I’m going to have a box full of blank envelopes. Each envelope will have a 3×5 index card in it. This 3×5 index card will have the title of one of my books written on it. For $10, you can choose one of the envelopes and will get a signed copy of which ever book’s title is on the 3×5 card. As I write more books, I’ll add more cards. I also think that I’ll stack the odds in favor of people getting the first book, or stand alone books, by putting in a few more envelopes for say First Chosen and Halloween Jack and the Devil’s Gate than for books later in each series. For my regular readers/fans, this is not intended for you, because you’re already going to have most of my other books already, but you’re more than welcome to try your luck. It’s a potentially fun way for someone who is up in the air about which of my books they want to dive into. Also, with the exception of Halloween Jack and the Devil’s Gate it’s cheaper to get a book by pulling the card than it is to get one outright.
This idea is still in it’s infancy, as I came up with it just this morning, on very little coffee and the first day back at my 5 am writing schedule. The Unfolding Tales went through several iterations before I settled on the current system of getting them into reader’s hands.
What do you think? I especially interested in hearing from those people who come to my storytelling shows.
