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ENTRY

2009 Reviewed
December 31, 2009

Adios, 2009, a good year for me as OH! came out in May, launched at the Book Expo America in NYC. The book got many great reviews (visit www.ohthenovel.com to read them). Especially gratifying were the NPR pick as a summer best read, the Japan Times review, the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco) selection as a 2009 notable book, and Avid Bookstore's pick as a top 5 best reads in 2009.

As you know, I spent two months on the road promoting it: some 20 events, at an average travel expense of about $300/event (I stayed with friends/family at least half the time, hotels the other half). I took over 20 flights, totalling over 25,000 miles flown. Attendance averaged maybe around 25 people/event, low was 0 (... that's right, zero) to over 100. Out of a total of around 500 people attending, maybe 200 bought books, gross $4500, publisher share $2500, my royalty $600. Bottomlining it, the tour didn't make financial sense, although intangibles include the publicity from the events, future sales from word of mouth, meeting new and old fans, getting word out about Chin Music Press (a great small press), playing tourist, and getting to see my mother and father (he's read all my books, she hasn't ready any). The publisher and I pretty much split the travel costs. And out of the publisher's share of the gross sales you'd have to deduct the book printing and production costs, publicity and marketing, distribution, and the travel expenses to figure out if any direct profit was made. Overall, I think it was worthwhile and would tour again, although I'd do a few things differently (like not see my mother until she reads my books, just kidding Mom).

I read a few good novels this year, not as many as I wish I could have. The best was Brothers, Yu Hua?s over-the-top, ribald farce which compresses the last fifty years of Chinese history through the lives of two stepbrothers. Baldy Li is rough, sex-obsessed, gnomish, and an inveterate opportunist. Song Gang is tall, good-looking, and loyal and selfless to a fault. They live in a village, Liu Town, only a day's bus ride from Shanghai, but in sophistication, a light-year away. (Read my full review at UPIASIA)

While traveling, I re-read a few of Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen mysteries. They are set in Italy, extremely well written, and makes you want to be in Italy drinking grappa and espresso, and eating the local cuisine while looking over your shoulders for criminals. Dead Lagoon takes place in Venice and is my favorite. Philip Roth had a good novel (or was it two?) out this year. Good friend Wendy Nelson Tokunaga's new novel Love in Translation made me laugh heartily. Can't beat that.

Amazon's digital book reader Kindle was supposedly taking over the reading world (according to Amazon), as publishers like Chin Music Press try to keep readers interested in paper-and-ink books (and do a good job at it!) Here is a blog entry about the numbers purported by Amazon: December 30, 2009. I also wrote a blog entry about the future of books, titled, coincidently, The Future of Books.

John Updike passed away. I liked most of his novels, a couple were stinkers, but as I noted in a blog entry ("Murder Makes the Magazine"), he and I collaborated on a novella together, ironically for Amazon publicity in its early days.

Resolutions? Read more, watch less TV, write more regularly, lose a few strokes at golf, lose a couple of pounds (love handles), blog more. And have more face-to-face and less Facebook-to-Facebook social interaction. Have a good 2010!

© 2013

COMMENTS

Number of comments: 5
click here to add a comment

Jo Reed
Interesting figures on the book tour, that's actually not too bad for traveling two months. Plus it's all deductible.

Lee Witte
Yeah, I read somewhere that publishers spend more than $1000 for each event.

Lee Witte
And congratulations on the great press for OH!, well deserved.

Gail
Thanks for the recommendation of Wendy Nelson Tokunaga's book as well as Mieko Kanai's book. I have put them on my "to read" list. I recently started reading Soseki, and his book "Kusamakura" reminds me of your comments "aware". That's what Soseki's book is all about.

Todd
Thanks Gail, I've never read Soseki's "Kusamakura" but will soon!

ARCHIVE

date (comments)

Review: Paprika
April 21, 2013 (3)

Review: A Straight Road With 99 Curves
March 30, 2013 (1)

Gripping writing
Feb. 28, 2013 (2)

Review: Salvation of a Saint
January 19, 2013 (2)

2012 in review
December 30, 2012 (2)

Review: Ninja
September 30, 2012 (2)

Review: My Postwar Life
August 21, 2012 (1)

New interview with Colin Marshall
July 15, 2012 (3)

Book events
April 25, 2012 (2)

Subduction
March 14, 2012 (8)

Review: A Room Where the Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard
January 14, 2012 (1)

Review: Plainsong
December 20, 2011 (3)

Review: The Devil's Disciple
November 29, 2011 (2)

Haruki Murakami
October 5, 2011 (2)

Busyness and demons
September 25, 2011 (2)

Characters: The Bully
July 30, 2011 (3)

Review: Manazuru
June 28, 2011 (2)

Deadlines!
June 24, 2011 (2)

Review: Butterfly's Sisters
May 18, 2011 (1)

Review: Isle of Dreams
April 20, 2011 (2)

Cades Award for Literature press release
April 12, 2011 (2)

Japan and other news
March 29, 2011 (1)

Borders bankruptcy
February 17, 2011 (2)

2010 review
December 17, 2010 (6)

Congratulations Mario Vargas Llosa
October 7, 2010 (2)

OH! wins best book award
September 23, 2010 (2)

Review: Kissing the Mask
August 22, 2010 (1)

Jonathan Lethem: Writing at the margins
July 12, 2010 (2)

Review: Love in Translation
June 22, 2010 (3)

Jose Saramago
June 18, 2010 (0)

Marketplace of Ideas interview
June 11, 2010 (2)

Imagining Memory
May 6, 2010 (1)

Upcoming Los Angeles events
April 7, 2010 (2)

Time and energy
March 30, 2010 (2)

Review: Botchan
February 28, 2010 (2)

J.D. Salinger
January 28, 2010 (1)

2009 Reviewed
December 31, 2009 (5)

Review: The Word Book
December 12, 2009 (1)

Chaat and Chat event with OH!
November 6, 2009 (2)

Home at last
November 2, 2009 (2)

Los Angeles events
October 17, 2009 (1)

Poets and poetry
October 7, 2009 (1)

Time + place
September 24, 2009 (1)

The future of books
September 23, 2009 (1)

October book tour
September 6, 2009 (1)

Blogging at Powell's Books
August 28, 2009 (2)

The evolution of an idea
August 3, 2009 (1)

The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey
July 9, 2009 (2)

Tour debrief
July 2, 2009 (3)

Book tour events
May 18, 2009 (3)

Simply in the mood
April 24, 2009 (2)

Book tour
April 8, 2009 (6)

The Necessary Book
March 2, 2009 (2)

"Murder Makes the Magazine"
February 7, 2009 (3)

John Updike
January 27, 2009 (2)

2008 misc. (good news, bad news)
January 1, 2009 (3)

Publishing woes and query letters
December 13, 2008 (4)

Punctuation compunction
November 16, 2008 (3)

The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas)
October 10, 2008 (2)

David Foster Wallace
September 14, 2008 (2)

Ending it all
September 12, 2008 (2)

The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries
August 29, 2008 (3)

Blocking out the block
August 20, 2008 (3)

"What kind of books do you write?"
August 8, 2008 (2)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4
July 21, 2008 (3)

Show and tell
July 14, 2008 (3)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3
July 7, 2008 (7)

Advice for first-time writers (Barry Gifford and me)
June 30, 2008 (6)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2
June 18, 2008 (3)

To be or not to be
June 10, 2008 (6)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1
June 3, 2008 (6)

Virtual unreality
May 31, 2008 (4)

The purpose of this blog
May 21, 2008 (5)

Todd Shimoda's Writer's Blog home \| current \| forthcoming \| past \| contact
ENTRY 2009 Reviewed December 31, 2009 Adios, 2009, a good year for me as OH! came out in May, launched at the Book Expo America in NYC. The book got many great reviews (visit www.ohthenovel.com to read them). Especially gratifying were the NPR pick as a summer best read, the Japan Times review, the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco) selection as a 2009 notable book, and Avid Bookstore's pick as a top 5 best reads in 2009. As you know, I spent two months on the road promoting it: some 20 events, at an average travel expense of about $300/event (I stayed with friends/family at least half the time, hotels the other half). I took over 20 flights, totalling over 25,000 miles flown. Attendance averaged maybe around 25 people/event, low was 0 (... that's right, zero) to over 100. Out of a total of around 500 people attending, maybe 200 bought books, gross $4500, publisher share $2500, my royalty $600. Bottomlining it, the tour didn't make financial sense, although intangibles include the publicity from the events, future sales from word of mouth, meeting new and old fans, getting word out about Chin Music Press (a great small press), playing tourist, and getting to see my mother and father (he's read all my books, she hasn't ready any). The publisher and I pretty much split the travel costs. And out of the publisher's share of the gross sales you'd have to deduct the book printing and production costs, publicity and marketing, distribution, and the travel expenses to figure out if any direct profit was made. Overall, I think it was worthwhile and would tour again, although I'd do a few things differently (like not see my mother until she reads my books, just kidding Mom). I read a few good novels this year, not as many as I wish I could have. The best was Brothers, Yu Hua?s over-the-top, ribald farce which compresses the last fifty years of Chinese history through the lives of two stepbrothers. Baldy Li is rough, sex-obsessed, gnomish, and an inveterate opportunist. Song Gang is tall, good-looking, and loyal and selfless to a fault. They live in a village, Liu Town, only a day's bus ride from Shanghai, but in sophistication, a light-year away. (Read my full review at UPIASIA) While traveling, I re-read a few of Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen mysteries. They are set in Italy, extremely well written, and makes you want to be in Italy drinking grappa and espresso, and eating the local cuisine while looking over your shoulders for criminals. Dead Lagoon takes place in Venice and is my favorite. Philip Roth had a good novel (or was it two?) out this year. Good friend Wendy Nelson Tokunaga's new novel Love in Translation made me laugh heartily. Can't beat that. Amazon's digital book reader Kindle was supposedly taking over the reading world (according to Amazon), as publishers like Chin Music Press try to keep readers interested in paper-and-ink books (and do a good job at it!) Here is a blog entry about the numbers purported by Amazon: December 30, 2009. I also wrote a blog entry about the future of books, titled, coincidently, The Future of Books. John Updike passed away. I liked most of his novels, a couple were stinkers, but as I noted in a blog entry ("Murder Makes the Magazine"), he and I collaborated on a novella together, ironically for Amazon publicity in its early days. Resolutions? Read more, watch less TV, write more regularly, lose a few strokes at golf, lose a couple of pounds (love handles), blog more. And have more face-to-face and less Facebook-to-Facebook social interaction. Have a good 2010! © 2013	COMMENTS Number of comments: 5 click here to add a comment Jo Reed Interesting figures on the book tour, that's actually not too bad for traveling two months. Plus it's all deductible. Lee Witte Yeah, I read somewhere that publishers spend more than $1000 for each event. Lee Witte And congratulations on the great press for OH!, well deserved. Gail Thanks for the recommendation of Wendy Nelson Tokunaga's book as well as Mieko Kanai's book. I have put them on my "to read" list. I recently started reading Soseki, and his book "Kusamakura" reminds me of your comments "aware". That's what Soseki's book is all about. Todd Thanks Gail, I've never read Soseki's "Kusamakura" but will soon!	ARCHIVE date (comments) Review: Paprika April 21, 2013 (3) Review: A Straight Road With 99 Curves March 30, 2013 (1) Gripping writing Feb. 28, 2013 (2) Review: Salvation of a Saint January 19, 2013 (2) 2012 in review December 30, 2012 (2) Review: Ninja September 30, 2012 (2) Review: My Postwar Life August 21, 2012 (1) New interview with Colin Marshall July 15, 2012 (3) Book events April 25, 2012 (2) Subduction March 14, 2012 (8) Review: A Room Where the Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard January 14, 2012 (1) Review: Plainsong December 20, 2011 (3) Review: The Devil's Disciple November 29, 2011 (2) Haruki Murakami October 5, 2011 (2) Busyness and demons September 25, 2011 (2) Characters: The Bully July 30, 2011 (3) Review: Manazuru June 28, 2011 (2) Deadlines! June 24, 2011 (2) Review: Butterfly's Sisters May 18, 2011 (1) Review: Isle of Dreams April 20, 2011 (2) Cades Award for Literature press release April 12, 2011 (2) Japan and other news March 29, 2011 (1) Borders bankruptcy February 17, 2011 (2) 2010 review December 17, 2010 (6) Congratulations Mario Vargas Llosa October 7, 2010 (2) OH! wins best book award September 23, 2010 (2) Review: Kissing the Mask August 22, 2010 (1) Jonathan Lethem: Writing at the margins July 12, 2010 (2) Review: Love in Translation June 22, 2010 (3) Jose Saramago June 18, 2010 (0) Marketplace of Ideas interview June 11, 2010 (2) Imagining Memory May 6, 2010 (1) Upcoming Los Angeles events April 7, 2010 (2) Time and energy March 30, 2010 (2) Review: Botchan February 28, 2010 (2) J.D. Salinger January 28, 2010 (1) 2009 Reviewed December 31, 2009 (5) Review: The Word Book December 12, 2009 (1) Chaat and Chat event with OH! November 6, 2009 (2) Home at last November 2, 2009 (2) Los Angeles events October 17, 2009 (1) Poets and poetry October 7, 2009 (1) Time + place September 24, 2009 (1) The future of books September 23, 2009 (1) October book tour September 6, 2009 (1) Blogging at Powell's Books August 28, 2009 (2) The evolution of an idea August 3, 2009 (1) The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey July 9, 2009 (2) Tour debrief July 2, 2009 (3) Book tour events May 18, 2009 (3) Simply in the mood April 24, 2009 (2) Book tour April 8, 2009 (6) The Necessary Book March 2, 2009 (2) "Murder Makes the Magazine" February 7, 2009 (3) John Updike January 27, 2009 (2) 2008 misc. (good news, bad news) January 1, 2009 (3) Publishing woes and query letters December 13, 2008 (4) Punctuation compunction November 16, 2008 (3) The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas) October 10, 2008 (2) David Foster Wallace September 14, 2008 (2) Ending it all September 12, 2008 (2) The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries August 29, 2008 (3) Blocking out the block August 20, 2008 (3) "What kind of books do you write?" August 8, 2008 (2) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4 July 21, 2008 (3) Show and tell July 14, 2008 (3) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3 July 7, 2008 (7) Advice for first-time writers (Barry Gifford and me) June 30, 2008 (6) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2 June 18, 2008 (3) To be or not to be June 10, 2008 (6) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1 June 3, 2008 (6) Virtual unreality May 31, 2008 (4) The purpose of this blog May 21, 2008 (5)