“The Last Colony” Auction Comment and Discussion Thread
Posted on October 3, 2006 Posted by John Scalzi 53 Comments
This is the place where comment and discussion about the Last Colony auction goes. What say you?
Whatever
FURIOUSLY REASONABLE
WHATEVER
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John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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Would you be so kind as keep a highest current bid somewhere immediately visible in the post?
No, you can’t have one.
Wow, that didn’t take long.
So now “Questions for a soldier” is in play. Anyone want to guess the final total? I’m betting $860.
is there a prize? I’m betting $1200.00…
Um, are the bids only supposed to be in increments of $20? I thought there was a minimum $1 bid increment with $20 being the amount needed to make ANOTHER bid if you had already bid. But perhaps I’m misunderstanding.
It just progressed so fast!
Um, are the bids only supposed to be in increments of $20? I thought there was a minimum $1 bid increment with $20 being the amount needed to make ANOTHER bid if you had already bid. But perhaps I’m misunderstanding.
It just progressed so fast!
Well, if we had 100 fans, all willing to put in 50 bucks, and then sell the book to the next lowest bidder, (handing the profits back to the John M Ford Book Endowment, of course) we could make you write us all a story.
Feel free to shoot that idea down, but I think it’s apropriatley evil, and at the same time, good.
Safadancer:
“Um, are the bids only supposed to be in increments of $20?”
No, the can be in amounts between $1 and $20. I just suppose the people bidding decided to bid the maximum amount.
Josh Jasper:
“Well, if we had 100 fans, all willing to put in 50 bucks, and then sell the book to the next lowest bidder, (handing the profits back to the John M Ford Book Endowment, of course) we could make you write us all a story.”
No, no. Only one story will be written. But it could feature all 100 of you.
Josh, I’d get in on that.
John, why did you do the auction this way, instead of on eBay? Just curious.
K
Josh, I’d get in on that.
John, why did you do the auction this way, instead of on eBay? Just curious.
K
Kevin Q:
“John, why did you do the auction this way, instead of on eBay? Just curious.”
I just thought it would be more interesting to do it this way.
Hmm, a story with 100 named characters? Or would we all be part of the “nameless, but kindly, rabble?” That’s something that would be interesting to see.
I might be in for that, Josh.
A truly outstanding idea, Mr. Scalzi. Alas, the bidding is already too rich for my blood – boo hoo for me, yay for the Library!
A truly outstanding idea, Mr. Scalzi. Alas, the bidding is already too rich for my blood – boo hoo for me, yay for the Library!
Josh,
I’m IN!
I’m in for the group effort (#5, if we have to start keeping track).
I’ll even go $51 if we come up short at the end :-D.
I’m not surprised it got too rich for me….just how quickly.
I’ll bet bidding tops $2,000.
I’m not surprised it got too rich for me….just how quickly.
I’ll bet bidding tops $2,000.
Josh and fanrabble: I can do twenty, which I think makes me anonymous in the story.
I thought the idea of printing the novel for yourself was nifty, Mr Scalzi, and this is even cooler.
John, this is a remarkably nice thing to do.
Ooops… Sorry about my misplaced comment on the other thread. Delete it. Delete it now!
I too could do $20, which, I believe would entitle me to be the “unidentified body (hands and head removed to make indentification that much harder) found at the beginning of story” to get things going.
I too could do $20, which, I believe would entitle me to be the “unidentified body (hands and head removed to make indentification that much harder) found at the beginning of story” to get things going.
And, apparently, I’ll also be “unindented”
Two comments:
(1) John, this is a great idea. Thank you.
(2) The chapbook bonus is a great idea, though somewhat less enticing to those of us who already bought a copy….
Two points for supporting a good cause, Mr. Scalzi. Unfortunately, the bidding was too rich for my scolarship-dependant blood before it began, but I think it’s awesome that you’re doing this. I’ll have to be content with waiting for the paperback.
…and it’s a good thing it’s not a merit-based scholarship, apparantly, because I clearly couldn’t spell it if it was.
…and it’s a good thing it’s not a merit-based scholarship, apparantly, because I clearly couldn’t spell it if it was.
John, you’re a mensch.
I couldn’t do $50 for the group effort, but $20 is in line with my finances. Maybe my dismembered leg could be found somewhere in the same general area as Nathan’s headless/handless torso.
Excellent idea, John. While I wish I could actively participate, I really hope that the bidding tops out at $5,000.
I couldn’t do $50 for the group effort, but $20 is in line with my finances. Maybe my dismembered leg could be found somewhere in the same general area as Nathan’s headless/handless torso.
Excellent idea, John. While I wish I could actively participate, I really hope that the bidding tops out at $5,000.
So much chatter about the bidding, with no actual bidding!
Into the lion’s mouth:
I BID $60 for “The Last Colony”.
Someone let me know if we can make 50 folks with a $50 bid each (myself included) or some combination that adds up to $5000. I’ll be checking in from time to time. If we reach that number in time, I’ll set up a paypal account, paypal John the funds, and sell the book, then paypal John that.
I get enough ARCs in my life. I’m not worried about not getting to read this one RIGHT NOW.
I’m also fine with the story being written once. Hell, it dosen’t even ahve to include me. The point is to get “your own short story” wherein John has to write something (one story only, I know) for us, not to get our names in print. At least, thats the way I was looking at it.
Also, I’ll see about a charity auction at Lunacon, if the chair is OK with it.
Josh:
If I’m reading responses to this thread right we’ve got eight people pledging $350 collectively so far. Which has us tied with the latest indiv bid. I believe the proper interjection is “w00t”?
The Olde English term you are looking for is: “woute”. It confuses the younglings, which is the main purpose of slang, no?
I predict this Collectors Edition will go for around $1600. And in the unlikely event that the winning bid comes from this household, I hope that Athena would be willing to sign a card to go inside. My six-year-old son Xander is a big fan of her acting: “I don’t like girls, but she’s cool.”
The Olde English term you are looking for is: “woute”. It confuses the younglings, which is the main purpose of slang, no?
I predict this Collectors Edition will go for around $1600. And in the unlikely event that the winning bid comes from this household, I hope that Athena would be willing to sign a card to go inside. My six-year-old son Xander is a big fan of her acting: “I don’t like girls, but she’s cool.”
You’re a good egg, John.
Thomas Jaxson:
“I predict this Collectors Edition will go for around $1600. And in the unlikely event that the winning bid comes from this household, I hope that Athena would be willing to sign a card to go inside.”
I think that could probably be arranged. Athena likes practicing her autograph.
This is such a brilliant idea I want to steal it — would you be OK with that?
Josh Jasper, to get John to write a story about us, while contributing to a good cause, I’d be thrilled to pitch in $50. If this gets serious, I’ll send you my e-mail address.
That would be a hoot! Or woot. Or woute. You know–whatever.
Josh Jasper, to get John to write a story about us, while contributing to a good cause, I’d be thrilled to pitch in $50. If this gets serious, I’ll send you my e-mail address.
That would be a hoot! Or woot. Or woute. You know–whatever.
Josh Jasper
If I may be so humble I’d like to suggest that the auction should stand alone….as it is with all rules and rewards as Scalzi established.
You could set up your slush fund on the side with the proceeds there being ADDED to whatever the auction raises.
Can’t do $50, but I’ll commit to $25.
Let us know!
Jo Walton:
“This is such a brilliant idea I want to steal it — would you be OK with that?”
Are you kidding? I think every SF/F writer should be doing this. So steal! Steal away!
Suggestion: Leave current auction as it is already so brilliantly set up, complete with the opporunity for the winning bidder to get their own story if the winning bid is over $5K.
If you’re willing to commit to write a story if collective pledges/payments reach pledge auction. This week, if you’re up for the chaos, or next week, if you want to keep your life easier and also know whether you’re already on the hook for one story or not.
Either way, you can set minimum pledge amounts and other rules of the collective project in ways that fit best. Nice job on the rules for the existing auction!
The collective project is trickier — you end up collecting PayPal payments or whatever from bunches of people rather than just one. But it looks like it could pay off big time for the John M. Ford Endowment Book Fund, based on the response I’ve seen here. I made my own direct contribution to the endowment fund yesterday, but you’d likely draw another contribution from me for the collective fundraising story project.
Suggestion: Leave current auction as it is already so brilliantly set up, complete with the opporunity for the winning bidder to get their own story if the winning bid is over $5K.
If you’re willing to commit to write a story if collective pledges/payments reach pledge auction. This week, if you’re up for the chaos, or next week, if you want to keep your life easier and also know whether you’re already on the hook for one story or not.
Either way, you can set minimum pledge amounts and other rules of the collective project in ways that fit best. Nice job on the rules for the existing auction!
The collective project is trickier — you end up collecting PayPal payments or whatever from bunches of people rather than just one. But it looks like it could pay off big time for the John M. Ford Endowment Book Fund, based on the response I’ve seen here. I made my own direct contribution to the endowment fund yesterday, but you’d likely draw another contribution from me for the collective fundraising story project.
KENDOWAY: This is the discussion thread. The other thread is the bidding one and it is now up to almost $500.
Tom
Such a great idea, sadly its quickly out of my price range at the moment (8 month old babies are expensive…). I did go ahead and donate to the endowment though, I remember reading John M. Ford’s The Final Reflection in sixth grade… and this is certainly a worth y cause. Hope the bidding skyrockets.
To be clear… I did not buy an 8-month old baby… We grew him fresh and everything.
In light of the current bid (yay Bill!), I’m on-board for Geri’s idea, if Scalzi is willing to weild the baton. If not, I’ll make a direct contribution and call it good.
One more copy, only just for the old man war short story this time.
One more copy, only just for the old man war short story this time.
Thanks for your brilliant example. Lois Bujold has given me her galleys of The Sharing Knife: Legacy to auction of under similar rules.
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