Much to my surprise…
Sabine: Hey, don’t you have some copies of the Brit edition of The Steerswoman? I bet people would want that, too.
Me: Um, pretty sure I only have a few copies left.
Sabine: I thought you had a bunch.
Me: Don’t think so… Wait a minute. (Goes into basement, looks at every box. Grumbles. Comes back.) No, I only have the handful of copies on my shelf.
Sabine: Oh, well. That’s too bad.
Me: Yeah.
Pal Brian in in comment queue: You might want to mention that you have a near infinite supply of the English edition “The Steerswoman”. There may be people out there who would like to have a copy.
Me, to self: But I don’t, I just checked! (Goes back into basement. Looks at every visible box again. Looks at very large standing fan. Thinks about very large standing fan. Moves very large standing fan. Finds box previously hidden behind fan.)
Me: Well… heck!
So, I seem to have on hand about a dozen copies of the British mass-market edition of the stand-alone version of The Steerswoman. (That’s the start of the series, which is otherwise only available as the first half of the very-expensive The Steerswoman’s Road.)
Seriously, I would have told you before, if I realized I had them. I thought I didn’t!
I blame Nyquil, Dayquil, and my DayJob, all working together in concert to Keep Rosemary Stupid Just Before Xmas.
But the copies are here, if anyone is interested.
I’ll charge $15, which will include Priority Shipping (two to three business days, meaning if I mail tomorrow, they arrive Tuesday or Wednesday because of the weekend) within the US and Canada — foreign shipping, or Express would cost more.
If you’re interested, drop me an email at: rosemary.kirstein@gmail.com
December 17th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
This might be a dim thing to ask but are you signing them before you send them out? We went to a show last night and the programmes were £15 or £25 if you wanted a signed copy – not even personalised!!
(not that I need a copy – unless I can’t find my old copy in my loft!!!)
December 18th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Sandie —
I sign if the person would like me to (I forget that I didn’t say so in the blog, because I say it in the emails to person requesting the book). And I only personalize if the person wants me to, because I’ve been told by collectors and booksellers that it affects resale value.
Which bemuses me, I must admit. How odd, to be an author…
December 17th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Can’t you see why I thought it was fantasy? No clues otherwise at all on that cover!
December 18th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Jo —
Not to mention the very obvious white logo stamp on the spine, showing a dragon and the word “FANTASY”.
Plus: the fact that I wrote it intentionally using fantasy tropes, fantasy style…
December 18th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
So a dozen is “near infinite”? that will revolutionize the field of infinitesimal calculus.
Anyway, congrats on the lucky find!
Jo – it’s best if you go into The Steerswoman thinking is IS fantasy! much bigger payoff. Of course without you and several others on RASFW who talked about how it’s not really fantasy I’d probably never have read it.
December 18th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
I love the cover art.
December 18th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Thomas —
I must admit that I do, too, even though that cloak is a bit too fancy for a steerswoman. Plus: ring on the wrong finger.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
It was “ring on wrong finger” that made me upgrade to the US version.
I think I did get more of a payoff reading it thinking it was fantasy and suddenly noticing the orbit of the guidestars, but, well, what Michael_gr said. I think a lot of people who would love them wouldn’t pick up that Pan cover. Also, Pan (typically for a British publisher) didn’t bother to support the series or publish the subsequent volumes.
You’ve consequently never had a penny out of me for _The Outskirter’s Secret_ — I bought the US edition second hand in Vibes and Scribes in Cork, and I was so pleased to see it I squealed. This was before the internet — no, it was after the internet but before Amazon. (Also, after stew and Paris, but I think there were a few bemused dinosaurs still hanging around squawking after breadcumbs on street corners.) Before the internet, you could only get US books in Britain if you already knew about them and went to a great deal of trouble. I don’t miss that at all.
December 21st, 2010 at 6:14 am
Jo —
Pan not picking up the second book surprised me as well. They gave no actual explanation for their decision, if I remember.
I also am not missing the days before the internet was used commercially. I just have to hear a vague rumor about the existence, somewhere in the world, of a book that I might possibly want — and five seconds later, I’ve got name, author, publisher, synopsis, reviews, and three different ways to purchase it.