Milestones, reflections…and another review!

Well, we’ve reached a milestone…one I wasn’t always sure we’d reach at the start of this long, crazy process. We’ve sold our first 1000 copies of Solstice. In fact, we’re officially on backorder with my distributor as I race to supply more copies of the book. I found out earlier this week. It was a shocking revelation to see that, not only had they gone through my original stock and the replacement stock I’d sent them barely two weeks ago: now they were on backorder for more than 300 copies, and were recommending that I send about 800 copies (more than the amount I originally sent them) in anticipation of upcoming sales. Wow…

I hadn’t expected to reach the 1000-book mark so soon. I mean, sure, the optimistic hope was that, at some point, we’d sell 1000 copies through Biblio and break even on this self-publishing venture. Well, barely a month into the official sale, and we’ve broken even. Money was never an issue; I didn’t go into this expecting to make anything, and I willingly put myself into debt in order to be able to pull this off. My only real goal was to publish the book, and give it to my family. But it just amazes me to think that, already, we’ve achieved a level of unexpected commercial success.

Reviews from Booklist and Library Journal have certainly helped! And, now, we’ve got a new review! A while ago, a user named jimm left a comment on this blog that the book would be reviewed in an upcoming issue of SciFiNow magazine. Well, yesterday, issue 7 appeared at the local Borders…and true enough, there was a review of Solstice. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed. I mean, to be mentioned in the same magazine where things like Star Wars and Star Trek are mentioned, and to be placed alongside Terry Pratchett on the book review page!! WOW! ^^;;; Jimm had some really kind things to say about the book, including the fact that the book is self-published. While I can’t reprint the review here for copyrighting reasons, here’s a blurb:

“Silva spends much of his time investing in characterisation, bringing the players to life in front of the reader’s eyes…a very impressive launch for an exciting new author.”

Take a look, if you can, at the new issue of SciFiNow for the rest of the review! It should be at your local bookstores now ^_^ And Jimm, thank you! I will be sending you a thank you card, so please keep an eye out for it ^_^

I guess I just feel very grateful right now. Not only to jimm and the folks who’ve reviewed Solstice thus far, but to everyone who’s been with me throughout this process, to everyone who’s bought a copy, and to those of you who’ve taken the time to contact me and share your thoughts about the book (including you, Tsubashi-san! ^^). So, thanks to all of you for making this happen.

So what else has been going on? My brother was in town earlier this week, and we ended up having a blast (and by that, I mean we watched a lot of Anime, did a lot of nerdy computer stuff, and generally acted like the total nerds that we are ^^). My brother is like my best friend, so anytime he comes over, it’s just a lot of fun.

What else…oh, my new novel is coming along (page 562 when last I checked). I didn’t do a lot of writing this past week since my bro was in town, but I want to get back into it now, with a (perhaps unrealistic) goal of finishing the first draft before the end of the year. Eep…

Oh, and musically speaking, I’ve started recording songs. I actually recorded three songs (including bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and drums) over the past couple of weeks, so I’m kind of geeked about that. I guess, the more I listen to my favorite bands (Dirt Bike Annie, The Snow Fairies, GO!GO!7188, Deerhoof), the more I want to make music like them. Being able to play and record my own songs is kind of like a long belated dream come true. Silly, I know.

Well, enough babbling. Oh, tomorrow is the first book signing, at the Barnes and Noble in Ann Arbor, MI, at 1:00 p.m. And next Saturday, November 17, I’ll be at the Barnes and Noble in Troy, from 2-4 p.m. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to post soon.

Thanks for reading!