I'm gonna need someone to help me; I'm gonna need somebody's hand

[rolanni]

The Saga of the Car continues.

Yesterday, I picked up a 2016 Subaru Legacy at Charlie's Subaru in Augusta -- the same dealership that sold me Kineo (used), and is now gluing him back together.  Geico, after originally agreeing that it would rent me a Subaru (since only Subarus are comparable to Subarus and mine was broken), tried an end-run at the point-of-rental, telling the rental guy that Geico Did Not Do "comparable"; Geico does Number of Seat Belts, and there was no need to go to extra expense to provide the customer with a "luxury car" (I kid you not, and no, Subarus are not "luxury cars").  Fortunately, I had spoken to the rental guy before I'd called Geico, and he gave me a Subaru anyway, which really was above and beyond.

Everybody please put them together for Greg at Charlie's Motor Mall  Rental Center, who was beyond helpful, and made the rental part of the process just as smooth and easy as it could be.

Also -- Geico?  No gold stars for you.

Now, Geico has authorized this rental for nine days, that being the amount of time that Doug in the Collision Center guesstimated the putting-back-together part would take.  However, Greg tells me that, if I have not heard from Doug, Geico, or Greg himself before the Ninth Day (that being Friday the 29th), that he will just roll the rental over for another nine days, so I shouldn't be in a position of not having a car, no matter how long the repairs take.

So!  Everything on the car front is as caught up as it can be, and I anticipate making no further updates until Kineo is home again.

#

On another note entirely -- y'all are aware that Steve and I have a book coming out in early July.  It's called Alliance of Equals, and is the nineteenth novel-length adventure in the Liaden Universe®.  You can read an early reader review, here.

Now, among the Liaden cognoscenti, there is a certain amount of. . .excitement. . .about Alliance of Equals.  Long-time readers apparently think that it's going to be one heckuva read, and they're not wrong.

We're excited about Alliance, too, and we feel sorry for all the folks -- yes, there are quite a few -- who are going to miss out on the excitement -- and the great read! -- simply because they have never heard of the Liaden Universe® and don't know that they Really Want To Read this book the instant it comes out.

So -- we're asking for your help to identify ways and means to get the word out in as many venues as possible.

Readers:  What is/are your favorite review site(s)?  (We know about Locus.) We'd like to see that they get a review copy.

Also!  If you blog, Tweet, Facebook, or have a social media platform of some kind, you can help get the word out by mentioning Alliance, or chatting about the Liaden Universe®, and even the fact that there are two! Liaden Universe® novels available as free ebooks, for those who may be a little timid about trying a new series.

Links for Agent of Change, free ebook:  Amazon (kindle)      Baen Free Library (all formats known to Man)

Links for Fledgling, free ebook:  Amazon (kindle)         Baen Free Library (all formats known to Man)

Writers/Commentators/Colleagues: Do you host other writers on your blog?  Steve and/or I would love to stop by and chat.  Do you talk about upcoming books?  We'd love to get you a review copy of Alliance.  Drop me a  note at rolanniATkorvalDOTcom.

Thank you all in advance.  We couldn't have gotten here without help from our readers and colleagues and random well-wishers on the internet.  Truly, it's a wonderful world.

#

In personal news, I have caught Steve's cold, which is poor planning, indeed, and not just because it means that I couldn't play pickleball this morning.

I have here on my desk a Chunk of The Gathering Edge to be fine-tuned; a short story that I'd really like to write for Splinter Universe, and, of course, the 2015 taxes to do.

I will, therefore, be Somewhat Scarce on the Intertubes for the next while.  Email will of course reach me, but I may be Just a Tad Slow answering.

And that's all I've got.

Everyone in the snow zone, please, please stay safe.  I know you guys aren't used to this, and I Worry.

Here's a list of Helpful Snow Tips (really) from the Bangor Police Department, for those who can Facebook.

And, here's a picture of Belle, collaborating:

Today's blog title brought to you by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, "S.O.B".  Here's your link.

Comments

[sb-moof.livejournal.com]

I think the Big Idea pieces on Whatever (John Scalzi's blog) are an excellent way for authors to possibly attract new readers. Also, I suspect just making sure a copy winds up in his weekly stack of books can help remind people that they want to buy this. Since you did this for Necessity's Child, it's not a new to you idea, but others have had multiple big ideas, so it would still be worth a shot.

[christina zable (from livejournal.com)]

I get almost all my book recommendations from Goodreads. I see you have a profile there; you probably know that you can give away review copies there. And I believe people need to list the book as "want to read" to be in the drawing for the free copies; that gives you some visibility right there even before the drawing.

[gingerwood.livejournal.com]

I've been looking at http://www.themarysue.com/ for my reviews lately. It's a feminist fandom site that also dabbles in science and politics. They mostly do tv/film/anime reviews, but there is the occasional book review.

They tend to get very excited about stories where women talk to other women on a regular basis.

[ohlibn.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I put links in the previous version of this and it marked me as spam. Re-submitting without. You can do a search on any of the magazine titles with "submission guidelines" and they should come up.

Librarians often look at Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and/or Booklist.

Also RT reviews quite a bit of SF and is not limited to romance-centered stories despite its early beginnings as "Romantic Times." I couldn't find submission guidelines so I've asked an author friend for help on this one and will post when she gets back to me.

[readinggeek451]

Right, if it's not reviewed in at least one of Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, or Booklist most libraries will not buy it.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

And three cheers for Greg; may his tribe increase!

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Ditto!!

[melita66.livejournal.com]

I read reviews at www.fantasyliterature.com but I don't know if they would review it. They've been reviewing more sf recently. I also check out reviews at Tor.com, and recommendations/reviews from bloggers: Sherwood Smith (sartorias on LJ), Martha Wells (marthawells on LJ), Nicholas Whyte (nwhyte on LJ).