Science Fiction writer S.L. Viehl is apparently annoyed at my incessant pimpage of Old Man’s War:
The book has been the topic 28 times in January, and 7 since the beginning of February. I can’t count the book-related links, my calculator doesn’t have that many places. The cover art for this book has been slapped onto the blog template as well, so it’s in your face everytime you go there. Just in case you didn’t read the last entry about how much [insert important reviewer entity name] loved it.
Really dedicated propaganda effort, too. Used car salesman quality. How the hell do you think of that much to say about your own novel? But the desperation is sad. Tempts one to post a comment on the blog, like Dude, we get that you published a novel and everybody loves it. You’ll sell. Relax.
Heh heh heh heh heh.
Well, you know, she’s right. I won’t deny I’m writing about the book a lot (look! I’m doing it again! Somebody stop me!). You got me. I do think Ms. Viehl misinterprets my purpose for doing so. This is my first published novel, after all, and the first time I’ve had a book this widely reviewed. Simply put, the process is interesting to me, and I write about what’s of interest to me here on the Whatever. It’s why I’m not writing much about Book of the Dumb 2, for which I was paid a lot more than, was released at about the same time as, and — truth to tell — is almost certainly outselling OMW. I like Book of the Dumb 2 a lot, actually; I think it’s overall a better book than the first book in the series. But I’ve already been through the process of releasing that kind of book, and the mechanics of that process are not as interesting to me at the moment.
In any event, I sort of doubt that there’s all that much propaganda value in writing about OMW here. I figure most of the people who read the site who were going to pick up the book at all probably did so in the first couple of weeks, and those who didn’t aren’t likely to be moved one way or another to pick up the book. Pretty much everyone who reads this site is has been innoculated to Old Man’s War’s charms, and has been for a while.
Now, if I truly wanted to propogandize the book in the blogosphere, what I would do is frequent a lot of other blogs and find subtle ways to mention my book in the comment threads, whether it were germane to the topic or not. And yeah, I don’t do much of that. Because then I would be a dick. I restrict my monomaniacal musings to this site, because where else would be better? This site is about me me me me me. Hell, I hardly even mention Old Man’s War at By the Way, and when I do, I apologize for it, because that site’s not about me (not all the time, anyway). I’m missing a prime propoganda opportunity there, since unlike here, I’m almost always on my best behavior, and most AOL Journalers seem to like me. Yet somehow I manage to resist the pimping opportunity.
You know, when I’m not writing books, I’m making most of my income writing advertising and marketing materials, and I do very well with that. Trust me, you would know if I was trying to propagandize the book. Instead, I keep most of my thoughts on the book confined to this one site, and avoid being a pathetic first-time novelist grasping for attention on other people’s sites. I think that’s entirely reasonable.
(As for redoing the site in the book colors: Oh, I don’t know. I think it looks pretty.)
I do recognize that not everyone who reads this site is going to share my enthusiasm for noting the continuing adventures of Old Man’s War out in the world, but to refer to the site disclaimer, this site is operated by me for the purposes of my own amusement. With the possible exception of myself, everyone who visits the site is going to find something of mine they’re not going to like. And I’m just fine with that. If the site bugs you, the simple solution is to go away and come back when you feel like it, if you feel like it. Either the subject will have changed and be more to your liking, or I will have continued to drone on in my self-absorbed way about a topic that you couldn’t possibly care less about. That’s how it works around here.
However, I would like to thank Ms. Viehl for giving me yet another excuse to talk about the book.