last weekend was the emerging writers festival, where i was part of a panel on sunday morning. there was a good turnout for our session - the festival in general was very well attended. mark and i went along to the launch party on friday night, and a lot of catching up was done. a couple of poets last seen in newcastle circa nywf 2003, some faces from the mwf last year, some old and some new friends.
the panel went well, and after it was done this girl came up to me and thanked me for talking about not really belonging to any one place in particular, and how that might not be such a bad thing. before she thanked me, she apologised, saying she hadn't heard my name before, didn't know who i was, and had not read my book. i didn't mind of course, i'm just glad she got something from what i'd said. one thing i was a teeny bit put out by was the fact that my book was not on the sales table that readings had set up at the fest... what more does a girl have to do, huh? what mooore?!... just kidding!*
sales-wise, i got some numbers in the mail a couple of weeks ago. it seems i have managed to shift just over 3500 units in australia, and just under 100 in nz. from what i understand (after a bit of asking around), apparently these are not bad figures for a first novel. so, if you are one of the people that contributed to those numbers, thank you; i really appreciate it. having said that, do feel free to continue spreading the word - especially in nz. there have got to be more than a hundred fellow kai-indias over there!
also, i just wanted to say - the city library cafe is my new best place in the world. i could sit there for ever drinking english breakfast and watching the world go by. don't just take my word for it, though - check it out for yourself. weird story set at the city library cafe: shalini meets her reviewer. shalini is online one time, checking out the forums for her off-campus unit, and recognises a the name of the person (frances) who wrote a review of 'the bollywood beauty' for the age newspaper a six months ago. they are both doing the same unit. shalini and frances decide to meet at the city cafe and get along like proverbial flaming dwelling. as they leave the city cafe in a babble of 'lets do this agains' and 'so nice to meet yous', they both notice that ambient cafe music is the beatle's 'paperback writer'. weird indeed, no?
*sort of.
Monday, April 10, 2006
re-cap
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4 comments:
Congrats on your numbers!
thanks beej, hope all is well in your world! will have to scoot over to your blog soon - have been a little remiss lately with the surfin'-catchup. 'see' you soon!
'Twas truly lovely to meet you, my dear. Sorry I didn't get along to your panel, I would very much have liked to but fate had other, less fun, things in store for me. And congratulations on your sales figures - they don't sound bad at all (from my in-depth insider knowledge of the industry, of course, coughspluttercough).
hey aimee
thanks for that, twas lovely to meet you also. the panel was good, i ended up hanging round most of the day taking in readings and other panels... all up, a great event.
and i'll take your comment on sales - i've decided that no one knows what those numbers *really* mean, anyway!
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