E-Read

Okay, some of you know that despite editing a website as part of my job, running a blog and having learned how to make my own website more than ten years ago, I'm a bit of a Luddite. I don't have a cell phone or a car, and I refuse to Tweet. Ever.

But you may also know that I self-published my three novels, the first the old-fashioned way; print, printers, cartons upon cartons of books, thousands in costs, but thousands more in profit than the subsequent online publishing formats with the subsequent two.

But I'm willing to move into the 21st century. So, after three network news stories and a bunch of Facebook posts from notable author Kemble Scott, I decided to give the new online publishing website, Scribd, a try.

Two hours of converting my third novel Cyclizen into PDF format, then uploading it (slowly) on my nine-year (and therefore incredibly ancient) Mac G3 (Hey, I formatted PINS with Quark 3.0 on a Performa!), I now have my first e-book.

Voila, as they say.

If you're up on the latest form of publishing, and want to download Cyclizen instead of getting a print copy, go for it. Visit Scribd HERE, and get e-reading!

The advantage? I get 80% of the sales. You get it at a discounted $10, and can read it anywhere your little Kimble or laptop goes. Wow, just like a real book.

You're also welcome to buy it in Luddite format, aka a print book, via Lulu, where I self-published it, or from the other online sites like Amazon.com, you know, the one that "accidentally" deleted all gay titles from its listing a few weeks ago.

If you're in San Francisco, you're more than welcome to go the traditional route at Books Inc. on Market St. at Noe, or A Different Light, on Castro Street.

For an even more old-fashioned way of hearing a bit from Cyclizen, I'll be reading out loud in June with members of GuyWriters, as part of the Queer Arts Festival.

The event, “Quilts, Comforters and Bedsheets: Gay Men Write About Love, Relationships and Community,” reflects the theme of this year’s festival – “Threads” – and will feature fabulous queer quilts by award-winning quilter Mac MacNamara as a backdrop for the writers. It's Friday, June 12th, at 7:30 pm in the Ceremonial Room on the 4th Floor of the LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street at Octavia Boulevard in San Francisco.

Quilts. Now that's wonderfully old-fashioned.

Maybe next I'll print a book on stone tablets, just to be perverse.