rolanni | Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

1. Ebay prep
~~2. Laundry~~
~~3. Catch up bookkeeping~~
4. Find a home for kaleidoscope*
5. File!
6. Read Saltation submission draft
~~7. Break early enough to watch another episode, or play Scrabble, or something~~

Hope everyone has a lovely Fourth of July, whatever that means for you. It'll be a working day here in the soggy north, where we're promised a warm day with fog and a chance of thunderstorms.

Scrabble likes the new desk arrangement; there's room for her to sit just to the left of the screen, so she can watch me type, or stalk the cursor, or steal the lizard from its perch on the top of the screen. It's all good.

*Who would like to adopt a kaleidoscope? I've had it for many years (ever since I happened to be in an art show as the artists were setting up, and I heard the male helper of one of the artists say, in accents of Broad Disgust, "Oh my god, you didn't bring THOSE, did you? Nobody's going to buy them." The artist wilted, but left the pieces up, good for her. Later, when the show opened, I put a bid on one and brought a couple people over to look. She didn't take home a one. I wish I'd been around at break-down to hear what the helper had to say about that.)

In any case, Hexapuma knocked it off the top of the old radio a couple weeks ago and one of the lead straps broke. I can't fix it, but I know several of y'all are stained glass artists, and/or know stained glass artists. I've had many years worth of pleasure from the piece, and it's time for someone else to enjoy it.

Pictured above. For scale, the post-its are 3"x4". First one to speak wins all

Below is the draft of the listing we'll be publishing to Ebay. What have we forgotten to say? What other information would you, as a bidder, want? Yes, there will be photos. Taking pictures of piles of paper is hard.

* * * *
You are bidding on the contents of two letter-size manilla folders.

Folder Number One includes:

1. The submission manuscript of the novel AGENT OF CHANGE, by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, published by Del Rey Books in 1988. The manuscript is 366 pages, on burst paper out-putted from what appears to be a 9-pin dot matrix printer, and includes a prologue later excised during editing. It bears a 1984 copyright notice.

2. A carbon copy of the original submission letter to Judy-Lynn del Rey, dated December 1, 1985

3. A revision letter from editor Shelly Shapiro at Del Rey, dated November 10, 1986

4. A "welcome" letter from editor Shelly Shapiro, dated February 24, 1987

5. The coffee-stained envelope in which #4 was mailed

6. A letter from Sharon Lee to Shelly Shapiro, dated February 27, 1987

Folder Number Two includes:

1. A cover flat for the Del Rey paperback of Agent of Change

2. A photocopy of the original cover concept drawn by artist Stephen Hickman

3. A letter from Kim Kuhlmann of Del Rey Books, dated 18 September 1987, covering authors' proofs of the manuscript. The corrected pages have been photocopied and reinserted into the set, so that it is intact.

These papers have been kept in a file drawer for 25 years; there is some crumpling of the edges, and minor wrinkling; the carbon paper is especially fragile.

You are bidding for the paper and only for the paper. The copyright to this work remains with the authors. Permission to publish is not granted in this sale.

Edited to add: The winning bidder will be required to sign a letter provided by the authors, indicating their agreement with the terms stated above.

Winning bidder pays postage. The authors will sign the manuscript, if the bidder desires.