jimhines

Today only, Amazon is marking down their most popular Amazon Daily Deal books of 2015, and I’m happy to say that includes Libriomancer. Just like before, other places are matching the reduced price, which means you have another chance to get the e-book for a mere $1.99.

• Amazon
• B&N
• BAMM
• Kobo
• iBooks

My thanks to everyone who picked up the book earlier in the year and got it onto Amazon’s list, and to Amazon and my publisher for setting up this second chance deal.

If you want to try before you buy, the first chapter is posted here in .pdf format.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Today only, Libriomancer is a Kindle Daily Deal, meaning you can head over to Amazon and pick it up for Kindle for only $1.99. This is the first time one of my books has been spotlighted as a KDD, and it’s both awesome and a pretty big deal

ETA: It looks like several other ebook vendors have jumped on board as well. The book is $1.99 at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iBooks!

Libriomancer is the first book in the Magic ex Libris series, and remains the bestselling of all of my books. Io9 called it a “love letter to science fiction and fantasy, with real emotional weight at the center of it — except this version is a rollicking adventure story full of ridiculous little touches … a seriously fun ride for anyone who’s loved geeky books their whole life.”

The book includes:

• A magic-using librarian from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
• A motorcycle-riding dryad
• An enchanted convertible
• Smudge the fire-spider
• Johannes Gutenberg

For those who haven’t read it, here’s the synopsis:

Isaac Vainio has spent the past two years working at the Copper River Library in northern Michigan, secretly cataloguing books for their magical potential, but forbidden from using that magic himself…except for emergencies. Emergencies like a trio of young vampires who believe Isaac has been killing their kind, and intend to return the favor.

Isaac is a libriomancer, brilliant but undisciplined, with the ability to reach into books and create objects from their pages. And attacking a libriomancer in his own library is never a good idea.

But vampires are only the beginning. This was merely the latest in a series of attacks against members of Die Zwelf Portenære, a secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the world from supernatural threats. Among the casualties is Ray Walker, Isaac’s friend and mentor in magic.

Complicating matters further is the arrival of a dryad named Lena Greenwood. Along with a neurotic fire-spider named Smudge, Isaac and Lena set out to find and stop whoever is behind the attacks. But things are worse than Isaac imagined. An unknown killer of unimaginable power has been torturing and murdering humans and vampires alike. And Gutenberg, now more than six hundred years old, has disappeared. If Isaac is to have any hope of preventing all-out war, he will have to truly master the magic of libriomancy.

Assuming he doesn’t lose control and wipe himself from existence first.

The first three Magic ex Libris books are out. I’m working on #4, Revisionary, but the first three form a pretty complete trilogy arc. Just in case you were worried about cliffhangers or anything.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still pick up the book and download an app to read it on your computer or smart device.

If you’ve read and enjoyed this series and felt like signal-boosting, I’d be very grateful. If you’ve been thinking of checking out my work, today could be a very good day to pick up the e-book.

My thanks to DAW for continuing to believe in and support Isaac, Lena, Nidhi, and Smudge!

#SFWApro

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

The UK mass market edition of Libriomancer is out today!

• Random House UK
• Amazon UK

The folks at Del Rey UK have been absolutely lovely to work with, and I continue to be thrilled that one of my series finally has a UK edition.

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Now on to the more aggravating part. I received a very polite email earlier this week from an anthology editor, asking if I was still planning to contribute a story … seeing as how the deadline was March 1.

And there was much swearing on my part. I had committed to this a year ago, and I knew this anthology was on my list of things to write, but I had somehow gotten it in my head that the deadline was later this summer. (I think I managed to mix it up with another deadline for an anthology that has now been cancelled.)

Regardless, the editor was kind enough to give me until the end of this month to get something written and turned in.

Looking back a few days later, it was interesting to see how this screw-up on my part crashed head-on into the Depression. Being a writer is a pretty core part of my identity, and one of the things I pride myself on is making my deadlines. There’s a line in Friends where Joey snaps, “Joey doesn’t share food!”

Well, “Jim doesn’t blow deadlines!”

Between feeling a bit stressed already with the novel-writing schedule and the realization that I’d messed up, my mood for the day went down like a level 2 thief who lost initiative against a Beholder. The fact that I had also gotten stuck on the novel just made it worse. Look — two different sources of writing stress at once! Oh, joy!

The up side is that I recognized what was happening, and I knew — intellectually — that I was overreacting. Not that I’m okay with blowing deadlines, but it wasn’t the end of the world, and the editor was very cool about it. It wasn’t enough to drag myself out of that slump, but I think it kept me from getting as deeply bogged down by it as I would have a few years back.

I’m not asking for comfort here. I know I’m far from the only writer to ever miss a deadline. I know it’s unreasonable and unfair and egotistical to expect perfection from myself when I wouldn’t dream of holding anyone else to that kind of standard. And I know the best thing to do at this point is let it go and start working on the story.

Which, for the most part, I think I’ve been able to do. It took several days, but I sorted out the novel chapter I was stuck on, and I started brainstorming story ideas for the anthology. I added the new deadline to my To Do List in HabitRPG. And I woke up this morning without the ghost of that Beholder following me around, zapping me with its eyestalk-beams of, “OMG I suck!!!”

It’s still hitting me with various minor eyestalk-beams of life stress, but I’ve got the hit points and saving throws to deal with those. And I’m back in a space where I can enjoy the fact that the new edition of my book is coming out, and people are talking about it and saying mostly good things.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Tor.com is giving away 10 copies of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. All you have to do is comment to enter. They’ll be picking the winners after 12:00 (Eastern Time) on September 3.

Why? Because Tor.com is just awesome that way.

(And can I just say thank you to everyone who said such nice things about me and the book in the comments? Skimming through those was a wonderful way to start the weekend.)

The Tor.com giveaway is limited to the U.S. and Canada. Having paid for overseas shipping on books before, I can totally understand this. Often the postage is significantly more expensive than the book itself, which is frustrating.

But I also know some people have been disappointed at not being able to enter. Which is why I’m putting an 11th copy of the book up for grabs. Leave a comment to enter, and I’ll draw a winner at random some time after lunch on September 3.

There’s one rule. Only people who live outside of the U.S. and Canada are eligible to enter

ETA: Congrats to jessikast, chosen by the Oracle of Random Numberness to receive a signed copy of Libriomancer! My thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks again to Tor.com for their giveaway.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Yesterday was exciting, overwhelming, draining, marvelous, exhausting, and gratifying. Thank you so much to everyone for your support, support that came across in so many ways. There were several times yesterday I actually got choked up reading some of the things people were saying and doing.

Like Mindy Klasky‘s comment that, “The final chapter of CODEX (no, I’m not going to spoil it for you) actually left me with a real, physical chill.” Or everyone who came out to Schuler Books last night for the launch. Or friends who loaned me their blog platforms to talk about the book.

I’m happy and a little dazed today, but there are some things I needed to share.

BOOK GIVEAWAYS:

Two wonderful friends are hosting contests to win an autographed, personalized copy of Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].

1. Seanan McGuire – Leave a comment naming the first book that changed your life, and you’re entered to win.
2. Elizabeth Bear – Create a humorous book macro about either my books or hers. (I really want to see what people come up with for this one!)

KINDLE AVAILABILITY:

Some people noted that the e-books weren’t available outside the U.S. Unfortunately, this is not something I have control over. It’s a territorial issue, meaning the e-books are only available to U.S. mailing addresses.

The U.K. edition of Libriomancer will be coming out in two weeks, so that e-book should be available then.

As much as I’d love for everyone, everywhere to be able to give me money buy the books, I’m afraid this one is out of my hands.

That said, the U.S. e-book of Libriomancer has dropped to $7.99 to match the mass market paperback price.

VIDEO SILLINESS:

Over on Facebook, DAW has posted two videos I did when I was in New  York earlier this year.

• Video One: In which I chat about Codex Born.
• Video Two: Talking about cover poses.
• Video Three: I don’t know, but I’m told it will be very silly, and may include random comments about Anton Strout. This one will be posted once Video Two gets 200 likes on Facebook.

• Romantic Times also did a video interview with me at BEA, which was a lot of fun.

I’m sure there’s more I should be mentioning, but this is all my brain had room for.

And don’t worry. As I get through this week, the blog will shift back to its normal routine of randomly yelling at clouds.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Both DAW and Del Rey UK sent me author copies of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] this week, which is a wonderful thing. Except now I find myself with more books taking up space. I figure the best thing to do is get rid of a couple, and I was hoping y’all could help me out with that!

I’ll be heading off for vacation next week, but when I get back, I’ll give away one each of the UK edition (trade paperback) and the DAW mass market release. Crocheted Smudge will be keeping guard over the books in the meantime.

If you’re interested, leave a comment telling me where you’d go on vacation if you could go absolutely anywhere, real or imagined. Narnia, Neverland, North Dakota, it doesn’t matter.

When I get home, I’ll pick two commenters at random and mail each of them an autographed copy of the book.

Anyone can enter. One entry per person, etc, etc. I’ll grab comments off of the blog, LJ, Goodreads, and the rest of the places this thing is mirrored.

Three weeks and counting until Book Day! #SFWApro

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Note: Edited to fix the link.

A while back, Literary Escapism invited me to participate in their School’s In feature, which has authors writing school-related snippets for their characters. I decided to put together a bit that showed the first time Isaac Vainio from Libriomancer met Smudge the fire-spider.

I might tweak a few details if I incorporate this into one of the Magic ex Libris books or a related short story, but the gist of that first meeting is at http://www.literaryescapism.com/30530/schools-in-jim-c-hines-isaac-vainio.

Enjoy!

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

I think the lesson of this past week is that I’m not 21 anymore. Working a normal schedule at the day job and then doing four nights of booksignings throughout Michigan was, perhaps, not the smartest plan. Unless the goal was to transform me into a zombie by Saturday, in which case it was a flawless plan.

That said, I had a great time! Huge thanks to everyone who came out to the events, and to Schuler Books in Lansing & Grand Rapids, Kazoo Books, and Nicola’s Books for hosting.

Autographed Books: If you couldn’t make it and wanted an autographed copy of Libriomancer, you can order one through the Schuler Books’ website while their supplies last. Make sure you specify that you want an autographed copy. (I signed a lot of stock, so they should have enough for a while.)

Amazon Freakout: Amazon rankings really aren’t that great for figuring out how your book is doing … but in that first week, they’re all you’ve got. So I spent a lot of time on the refresh button. The Kindle version hit #291 at Amazon, and the hardcover reached #622. These are the best numbers I’ve seen for any of my books, which blows me away. Thank you to everyone who picked up the book in its first week, or who spread some word-of-mouth. I’m a bit dumbfounded to see my first DAW hardcover doing so well.

Photos: Tuesday’s signing at Schulers saw a nice turnout, as you can see in my badly-spliced pic here. Whitney had prepped the audience with party supplies, which was fun.

She also brought balloons. But not just any balloons. We celebrated New Book Day with Justin Bieber!

My cover pose blog posts came up during the Q&A at most of the signings, which means I ended up explaining and demonstrating to those who hadn’t seen the pics. My friend Gabriel Cuellar was kind enough to capture this moment in Grand Rapids.

Dr. Phil posted some pics of the Grand Rapids event as well, including shots of local convention-master Dave Klecha and Hugo-nominated author Mary Robinette Kowal.

By the time I made it to Kazoo Books on Friday, I was pretty wiped. Fortunately, they had prepared … the Comfy Chair!

Thank you for indulging my new-book neuroses this past week. I’m rather proud of myself for making it through a whole week without telling everyone to RUN OUT AND REVIEW THE BOOK ON AMAZON AND GOODREADS AND FACEBOOK AND YOUR BLOGS RIGHT NOW! Because that could get pretty obnoxious. (But, you know, if you wanted to run out and post a review, I certainly wouldn’t object. I’m just saying…)

I’ll be doing a discussion post for the book soon, but otherwise, I’m done with the online promotion, and will be returning to normal blogging of cool LEGO stuff, the first season of Avatar, sexist dumbassery in the genre and out of it, and so on.

In all seriousness, thank you. As I was driving home from Kalamazoo on Friday, I kept thinking about how incredibly fortunate I’ve been. I love being a writer, being able to tell and share these stories. It’s the best job in the world, and it couldn’t happen without you all.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Today is the official release of Libriomancer. Which means it’s the day for me to both celebrate and FREAK OUT as my eighth fantasy novel–my first hardcover with DAW–makes its way into the world.

I try not to go overboard with self-promotion, but today I’ve decided it’s okay to make an exception

Purchase Links:

Amazon
B&N
Mysterious Galaxy
Schuler Books
Indiebound

Synopsis:

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg.  Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and create things from their pages. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.

With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic…

Read the First Chapter

Win Free  Books!

Bitten by Books is hosting an interview/Q&A with me this afternoon, and we’re giving away two free anthologies as well as two autographed copies of The Legend of Jig Dragonslayer.

ETA: The interview/contest is now live at http://www.bittenbybooks.com/56041/author-jim-c-hines-interview-and-book-giveaway-live-here/

Early Reviews:

“This funny and fast-paced series opener, Hines’s first hardcover for DAW, will be sure to surprise and entertain urban fantasy fans.” -Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Libriomancer … communicates a passion for genre fiction that I felt can only be captured with one word–Joy.” -Staffer’s Book Review

“I picked up the book meaning to read a few pages. My first thought was, ‘This is a cool concept.’ The second thing I thought was, ‘This is really, really clever.’ The third thing I thought was, ‘I should have gone to sleep three hours ago.’” -Patrick Rothfuss

“This may be Jim Hines’s best work. Libriomancer is smart, silly, and deadly serious, all at the same time.” -Seanan McGuire

“I really enjoyed Libriomancer, but the cat has been insufferable now that he’s found out he has a cameo.” -My Mom

More reviews here.

Booksignings:

August 7, 7:00 p.m. Schuler Books - Eastwood Location. Lansing, Michigan.
August 8, 7:00 p.m. Nicola’s Books. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
August 9, 7:00 p.m. Schuler Books - Alpine Location. Walker, Michigan.
August 10, 7:00 p.m. Kazoo Books - Parkview Location. Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Thank you:

This book feels like it’s been a long time coming, and I want to thank everyone who helped me to get to this point. My editor and everyone else at DAW, Team Agent at JABberwocky, all of my beta readers who offered feedback and suggestions, the experts who answered weird, random questions about fingerprint powder or the material used to build skyscraper ceilings. The reviewers and the authors who kindly offered advance praise for the book.

But I also want to thank the readers and the fans, the people who listened to me read excerpts or babble on about the book, both in person and online. The people who got excited about the ideas, who joined me in that “Ooh, wouldn’t it be cool if…?” space. Who generally just geeked out about it with me. Your enthusiasm and excitement helped me to stay motivated, and made me work harder to make this book as good as I possibly could.

Thank you so much for your support and your faith. It means more than I can say.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Months ago, I thought about how August 1 marked the end of the Hugo voting period, which meant I could go on my blog and post something like, “Now that voting is over, I can stop worrying about pissing off the entire internet and tell y’all what I really think!” Or words to that effect.

And then I pissed off half of Reddit five days early, and COMPLETELY RUINED THE TIMING FOR MY SMARTASS JOKE!

D’oh!

Anyway, Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] comes out in six days. Yes, I’m excited. Yes, I’m freaking out. Here are some of the book-related things taking up my mental real estate right now…

• My German publisher made an offer for Libriomancer and the sequel! Woo hoo! This is the first foreign deal for the book, but hopefully not the last

• Booksignings! Next week I’ll be running all over Michigan to read, chat, and sign books with some of my favorite stores and people. You should totally come!
  • August 7, 7:00 p.m. Schuler Books - Eastwood Location. Lansing, Michigan.
  • August 8, 7:00 p.m. Nicola’s Books. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  • August 9, 7:00 p.m. Schuler Books - Alpine Location. Walker, Michigan.
  • August 10, 7:00 p.m. Kazoo Books - Parkview Location. Kalamazoo, Michigan.

• Reviews! Justin at Staffer’s Book Review posted a review of the book (and some commentary about the Reddit thing). He says, in part:

“Libriomancer … communicates a passion for genre fiction that I felt can only be captured with one word–Joy.  Jim C. Hines’ novel is an ode to genre and all the joy it’s brought him. A joy that he brought me as I read it … It’s a fantasy novel written by a fan, for fans. I would strongly recommend anyone who’s characterized themselves as such to read Libriomancer as soon as possible.”

• The Little Red Reviewer said, “This might look like a run of the mill urban fantasy, but it’s a character driven story that will keep you thinking into the small hours of the night.”

• SciFiChick was a bit disappointed by the romance, but liked the book overall, describing it as “fast-paced, action-packed and full of entertaining humor and suspense … a fantastic world of magic, mystery and excitement.”

• Interviews! My Q&A with Publishers Weekly is now available on their website, and I’ve got more interviews and guest posts coming soon.

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And now for the giveaway! I’m gonna keep this simple. If you were given the power of libriomancy, the ability to create anything described on the pages of any published book, what would it be? Per the rules of libriomancy, you can’t create an intelligent being, and whatever you create has to fit through the pages. No TARDIS-making, sorry!

Leave your entry in the comments. I’ll pick one random winner this weekend and send them a personally inscribed copy of the book.

Have fun!

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.