Just write the damn book.

This week was supposed to be my big start to the 2nd draft, but I kind of froze. I started letting outside considerations enter my thinking.

Will people like this?

Am I prepared for people not liking this?

Is this a manuscript that I would send off to a publisher?

And so on.

In the end, none of those questions are pertinent. I'm writing the book I'm writing. I'm not sending it off to a publisher.

So I just need to write through the doubts and finish the book.

Reading as Escapism

I read for the fun of it.

What's fun for me are well-written genre books. With the occasional seasoning of non-fiction.

I've been keeping up a list of the books I've read since 1982 in a blank notebook, which is nearly full. It was really useful in that first decade or so; I could refer to it whenever I was in doubt. Over the last decade, not so much. I have to go through pages and pages, and even with the publishing date, it's a bit of a pain trying to figure out if I've read something. So I read mostly newer books.

My lowest total was in 1991. 20 books read. That was just before the big sports card crash. I had four stores, and I was very, very busy.

My highest total was in 1998: 85 books read.

I seem mostly to read between 40 and 60 books a year.

Last year, I read 60.

Anyway, something that becomes very noticeable is that I actually read much more in the stressful years. When business was bad, or declining.

My worst years, as far as stress and debt and just hanging on were concerned, were between 1992 and 2001; I averaged 65 books a year.

My busy years, 1984-1991 and 2002 and 2009, I averaged 36 books a year.

What's clear, is I bury my head in books when I'm stressed out.

Not to mention the decade that I suffered depression. I'm pretty sure that I was reading well over 100 books a year back then. There was one year where I remember reading a book every day or two.

It was all I could do.

And thank god for that....books probably saved me.

I'm smarter than the Fed.

Apparently. That's not saying much.

Read the New York Times article: "Fed was Slow to Connect Dots on Housing Crisis" ... and weep. Turns out the Fed was even more clueless about the Housing Bubble than we thought at the time. These transcripts have become available after 5 years, so ignore everything they said they were thinking and read what they were really thinking.

Over the course of the housing bubble, I spent most of my profits on inventory and or paying down the debt. I knew that there was going to be an implosion, I knew that that implosion was going to impact the economy.

All I needed to do was look at my regular subscription comic customers and count up how many of them were employed in some aspect of the housing business to know it was trouble.

When Bear Stearns ran into trouble, I immediately pulled back on my expansion plans. I immediately assumed that the anticipated recession would soon start. (It actually pretty much began that month for me.)

According the N.Y.T.'s article, the Fed didn't think the Housing Bubble would affect the overall economy. In fact, they thought it would be GOOD for us.

If you really want to be frightened by our future, just read all the comments by Tim Geithner, (who seems to me to be Obama's Donald Rumsfeld -- a complete incompetent who keeps getting promoted.)

In fact, I'll go ahead and reproduce those comments in all their horrid glory:

"We think the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good." December, 2006. Timothy Geithner, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

"We just don't see troubling signs yet of collateral damage, and we are not expecting much." September, 2007.

About Alan Greenspan: "I'd like the record to show that I think you're pretty terrific, too. And thinking in terms of probabilities, I think the risk that we decide in the future that you're even better than we think is higher than the alternative."

What a mouthful of obsequious gibberish!

Our Treasury Secretary, ladies and gentlemen!

Now....don't you feel secure, just all warm and fuzzy, in our Greenspan granted, Geithner graced future?

2011 Pegasus Books results.

We ended the year at 5% over 2010.

Overall.

However, we were 10% down in the first half of the year and up 16.5% in the second half.
Six months of better than last year sales, July through December.

I'm not going to feel the recession is over until we not only beat last year, but we beat a positive month from last year. So far, every time we've seen an increase, it was over a decreased month. So, if I can string 10 out of 12 months where we not only beat last year, but we beat months where we beat the year before that -- then I'll believe we're on the upswing.

The biggest increase was card game sales. 53%. My two competitors both took a bite out of my sales in the last 3 or 4 years, but we seemed to regain some ground last year. I just tried to be steady and have the product available at all times. Plus, Magic just seems to be having a resurgence.

Games (boardgames and rpg's) were up 7% for the year, but the second half was pretty big.
Same with new books -- they were up 10%, with the emphasis on the second half of the year.

Toys were down, 16%.

Comics were down 6.5%. The New 52 kept it from being worse that. I was able to restock or newly stock a ton of graphic novels which should hold us in good stead. I'm going to save several hundred dollars a month in a better discount rate -- and that on top of saving several hundred on shipping costs. Add in, constantly jumping on any "sales" and I think this category will be stronger this year. (Comics and graphic novels.)

Graphic novels were up 2%. Some of this is bleeding into the New Book category, I believe. It still feels vibrant.

Sports cards and anime aren't significant movers in the store, anymore. I actually rededicated myself to restocking them this year, so I haven't given up.

Toys -- that's where my big push is going to be this year. Can't sell what you don't order, and over the last few years I was ordering pretty slim numbers of new toys -- except when they went on sale. So I've decided to get at least a couple of series of new toys every month and see what happens.


We matched 2009 sales in 2011.

So my goal would be to match 2008 sales in 2012. A 10% increase, which is a lot.

And then, the biggest year on record -- 2007 sales in 2013 or 2014.

Then we'd be back to square one....Mr. Greenspan.

Sunday T.V. is the Bee's Knee's.

I've stuck with Hell On Wheels, mostly cause I really like the whole western thing. I spent my youth watching just about every western on T.V. (Except ironically Gunsmoke and Bonanza -- my Dad was a reverse snob.)

I still think it's the most lackadaisical work crew in the history of labor.

They seem to have a real problem with trying to keep the characters workin' on the railroad, and yet having dramatic things happen to them.

Bohanon running from the law, the Swede being tarred and feathered. How they coming back?
Whatever they do, it's going to seem a little unlikely.

**********

Am still loving the Good Wife. Kalinda -- everyone falls for Kalinda. (Boys and girls. This show has more girl/girl longing looks than I've ever seen.)

I had just read an article on Bitcoins, so at least I knew what they were talking about.

**********

I watched The Firm, and you could tell they were trying for Good Wife vibe, but it didn't happen. They fell back too much on the old cliches. Won't be watching.

**********

Downton Abbey is still totally addictive.

**********

Most of my other shows seem to still be in the never/never land between re-runs, co-opting, and new shows. Which is really irritating.

Buy the stuff that sells, sell the stuff they buy.

So let's say you have a store full of stuff and it isn't selling.

What do you do?

Here's the kind of advice I imagine you would get if you threw that question out to world.

1.) Lower prices to sell more. Have a "Sale!"
2.) Advertise more. Let people know what you have.
3.) Promote more. Instead of spending money on ads, do it with events and other efforts.
4.) Provide more free service. Give them more for their money, expand your "Open" hours, give the customer free events and services.
5.) Move to a better location, a bigger location.

And so on.

In my opinion, all the above are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.


If you have a store full of stuff that isn't selling, fill it with stuff that WILL sell. Stuff that people are willing to pay full price for. That will bring them in during normal hours. And that --if you carry it-- knowledge will be spread by word of mouth.

You don't have to get rid of what you have, but search for the product that will sell. I can almost guarantee you, there is something just around the corner, something tangential but not opposed to what you already sell, that might do better. Or-- if 3 product lines aren't enough-- add a 4th. And so on.

The problem probably isn't your service, or your prices, or any of the other things experts will tell you.

The problem is that you don't have product that people want enough to buy.


O.K. I know I've simplified it somewhat, but I'll stand by it. Do the math. If you need to sell to 1000 people, but what you sell only sells to 1%, and you have 90,000 population base, you will fail.

You need to have a product that sells to enough people that you can sell it. If you don't, then carry a diverse group of product that WILL sell to enough people.

I'm not saying it's easy, but having the right product is the best solution.

First the store, then the promotion.

I can see that I need to explain myself better on my assertion that "promotions" cannot save your business over the long run.

If you don't mind, I'm going to use the 80/20 rule for illustrative purposes.

I will make a bold statement -- that 80% of the customers who walk in your door have not been affected by your promotional efforts. Seriously. They've never heard your ad, they don't care that you had an author signing last week, they missed that newspaper article on you.

No, they are there because they are regulars, semi-regulars, browsers, tourists, whatever.

They look around your store and if you have something they want at a decent price they buy. Or not.

I'll take that even further. Of the 20% of the customers who walk in your door who HAVE been affected by your promotional efforts, 80% of them won't buy anything because of those efforts.

So what is that? 20% of 20% is about 4% of your sales.

Not insignificant, I suppose. You have to weigh the time, energy, money, space, and all the other elements that go into a promotion to decide if it's worth pursuing. If so, then go ahead by all means. As long as you know the payoff.

O.K. The 20/80 rule is convenient. So say you go crazy with promotions, and a full 30% of your customers are affected by your promotional efforts, and a full 30% of them will buy something. So 30% of 30% brings it up to 9% of your sales. Again, you've been promoting like crazy ("6000 author signings!) so you have to weigh the costs versus the results.

In my case, I'd say that less than 10% have ever heard any promotional efforts on my part, and almost none of them will buy just because they read a story in the Bulletin or read my blog or whatever.

This is NOT the impression you get reading stories about retail. You'd think that promotional efforts are the most important part of being in business. Image is everything, according to this way of thinking.

But I think it's putting the cart before the horse. It's the equivalent of the Dress for Success. Or driving a fancy car to prove to your clients how successful you are.

I think true successes get there by being efficient and hardworking and honest and experienced and -- on and on.

Otherwise, you're just an empty suit. A nice empty suit, in a nice, debt-ridden car.

It seems to me that most of the stories about business I read are about "image". Almost all the business blogs I see are about "image": how to market yourself online, or with advertising and all that.

And I'm saying it just way too overblown. To the effect that it attracts people who buy that entire message and they are simply unprepared to run a real business. They want to have a successful image without putting in the fundamentals to make it a successful business. And they think they get there by promoting, burnishing their image, joining the clubs, dressing nice --whatever.

Again, most of my customers have never read my blog, or seen an article in paper. I've spent thousands of dollars on advertising before, and had a 1% hit rate when I ask people in the door. I've had months, even years, of a fad driven clientele -- way beyond my normal numbers of customers -- who then disappeared when the fad was over.

So promote your store by all means. Just don't mistake that for success.

Sunday suds.

We put Panga, our cat, on a bit of diet.

The other night, she tried to jump onto my lap and she didn't make it. She seemed really embarrassed by it -- I mean, she acted like it was no big deal but you could see it was. She is 16 pounds currently, and has been as high as 18 pounds.

We're giving her a tiny third of a small can of wet food in the morning, a quarter cup of dry food around dinner, and then about half a cup of dry food before bed.

Doesn't seem like much, does it?

But we really weren't feeding her much more than that, anyway...

If this doesn't work, I'm going to see if I can't get Linda to agree to leave her in our enclosed backyard during the day while we are at work. See if she can't shiver away a few pounds.

**********

Had a young guy come in yesterday and introduce himself and tell me he's been looking "everywhere" for Icetowers. For "years."

Icetowers is the sequel and conclusion to Snowcastles, and my guess is that it never got as wide a distribution as Star Axe or Snowcastles.

Anyway, I did my usual, "Probably have to buy it off the internet" but I could see he was living close to street level, so that wasn't helpful.

Here's the thing. He seemed to be genuinely enthusiastic about Snowcastles -- I mean, you can tell when someone really, really likes something and he did. He went on about it, why it was good and all.

So I gave him my store copy of Icetowers (my visual proof that I actually wrote it.)

This has happened a half a dozen times over the years -- people I don't know seeming to really like one of my books, and it is obviously most gratifying.

**********

I'm stuck on my book. I thought I might have had an elegant solution yesterday, but after sleeping on it, I decided that probably wouldn't work.

I think I'm just going to have to do some heavy rewriting, despite all my efforts to avoid such a thing.

But first, I have to figure out the organization of the rewrite, and that's something I just want to be sure about for I start.

So I'm sort of in limbo.

Once I start the second draft, it probably won't take all that long. Then ... depending on how it comes out, a third draft?

Oh, why did I start this?!

**********

I think a lot of us bubble busters thought there might be a surge in property crimes when the Great Recession started.

Instead, there seems to be arson fires just about every day.

What's going on? Is this just Bend, or is it some kind of recession pathology?

**********

My sleep patterns are still off. Not getting to sleep before 2:00 or later, and waking up at least an hour late, and still feeling groggy. Makes it harder to get my blog out in the morning.

With the daylight savings shift jumping an hour forward, this is only going to get worse.

Ah, well. This too shall pass.

**********

Arguing against the obvious.

Having book signings and events is good for business. Obvious, right?

Not to me.

A couple of recent articles caught my attention.

The first deals with the storied Kepler Books in Menlo Park, California, which was saved back in 2005 by a consortium of book-loving investors. The owner is retiring, and they are talking about making it a non-profit bookstore. (I've made my opinion about that kind of thing known -- get out of the way and let someone make a living!)

Anyway, this statement caught my attention:

"In the past seven years Kepler estimated that the store has sold two million books, held 3,000 author events, collected $3 million in sales tax and donated $200,000 to schools and nonprofits. Still, it is barely breaking even."

3000 author events = barely breaking even.

No correlation, you say? Maybe it would be worse without the events?

Maybe, but I browse books sites every day, and there is funny common characteristic to bookstores that go out of business -- many of them hosted multiple author events. (That, and they sell online -- another supposed savior of bookstores.) They all act surprised that it didn't work.

The second statement comes out of an article that is actually addressing the problem of Amazon versus independent bookstores. It's written by a publisher (strange how that keeps happening, too. The publishers and authors and customers and just about everyone else things it's a grand idea!) "Independent Bookstores: How to compete with Amazon." Huffington Post.

He uses as an example, a bookstore in Boston, which he says he got started down the path toward 'events.'

Two statements, actually. First:

"Perhaps only 10 or 15 of those 40 people actually bought books that night, but since then more and more poetry readings have been booked there..."

Notice how the second half of that sentence more or less assumes that results were better with more events. But the ONE event he mentions, let's average out his number of books sold (I'm betting he was being a bit on the high side, but...) to 12.5 books.

Average profit on a hardcover 12.5 books -- maybe 125.00. ($25.00 book times 12.5 times 40% markup.)

Whoo hoo! $125.00! Sorry I missed dinner, honey, but I just made 125.00!

(You might have done just as well by staying open the same extra hours. Eventually, unless you want to burn out, you have to have set hours --- which allow you to go home and have dinner with the family and go to a movie or whatever...)

Thing is -- every time I see ACTUAL numbers, they aren't impressive. (I've also held two events myself, and I sold almost nothing -- literally. A couple of comics, a single graphic novel....something like that.)

So that 125.00! Now subtract expanded time and space and employee hours, plus sales the store didn't make because everyone is listening to the author, plus probably refreshments (at least for the author) and whatever other costs it incurs.

The second statement is more in the way of, damning with faint praise:

"...since the push to have more events, their overall sales have improved too." This comes from the owner, who in the article is mentioned to have since jumped ship and moved to New York.

I'm sorry, "overall sales have improved too" is pretty vague. One or two books a day, ten more books a day? I'm guessing that if the sales had improved "dramatically" they would have used words to that effect.

Here again, I've actually talked to several bookstore owners who do events, and they are usually anything but enthused about actual events. They usually mutter that the events are a big huge hassle without much results.

So it comes down to -- events will bring in future customers...

Where have I heard that before?

Oh, yeah. Downtown street closures. Yet, I have about 30 years experience with downtown street closures and I simply don't buy the "future" customer argument.

It's obvious, sure. Obvious to everyone.

But -- I think -- it's also wrong.

What's sad is -- it has become so much the accepted wisdom, that just about every bookstore will start doing it.

And then be surprised when they go out of business.


If you want to host events because you like it, or because you want to provide a community service -- fine. I'm sure there is a plus factor (minus all the negatives, but still a small plus). What I'm saying is;

It isn't what will keep you in business. Being a good bookstore is what will keep you in business, not being an event center.

Try not to confuse the two things.

And remember, the above examples were actually provided by the Proponents of the idea of events, and even the numbers they provided pretty much sucked.

O.K.............I'm ready for everyone to disagree with me. :/

The Gordian Book-knot.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening transferring my book into the Scrivener program.

I couldn't find a simple, easy but totally necessary first step and flailed around for a couple hours. Linda came home and listened to my blustering frustration for awhile, and then figured it out. A simple thing that seemed utterly unintuitive to me.

I think the problem I have with lots of computer stuff is that I can't see the forest for the trees -- that I want a few simple things, and they give me hundreds or thousands of options.

Anyway, I finally got the book into the program -- in roughly the format I want.

However, it seems like a bit of an unwieldy mess, right now. It goes from A to G to B to F to M to C to....something like that.

I think I need to work out the organization of it before I start doing the second draft.

The actually sitting down and writing I don't think will take that long.

This may seem like a lame example, but when I was in college, I'd often assemble the elements of term paper without being sure what the final form would be -- and I'd worry about it for awhile, but almost always it would come together in the end.

I need to immerse myself in it, struggle with it, and eventually it will take shape. I hope.

I ended up with 26 chapters, and about 68,500 words, which is actually bigger than I thought. It's maybe already big enough for an e-book, especially if we add visual and illustrative elements as we intend. I want it to be a "fast" read.

I usually add when I rewrite, so it may very well end up the size of, say, Star Axe, which for a fantasy wasn't a large book, but large enough to tell the story. Besides, personally I'm kind of tired of overblown fantasies.

I wish I wrote in more tidy way -- but that's just not the way of it. My creative impulses aren't tidy.

I'm just going to thrash out the structure this weekend and see if I can't find a way to get it all to fit.

Love the book, hate the writer.

I'm really having trouble with Stephen Hunter. I love his books. He's a terrific storyteller. Addictive, propulsive action.

And he's a ginormous asshole.

He first offended me in his opinions of the pop culture trends that are my very break and butter -- and my first love. Science fiction and comics -- he pretty much dissed them on a regular basis as the film reviewer for The Washington Post.

O.K. I could overlook that. He's just ignorant.

But not...his last three books have gotten progressively more loony tune right wing batshit crazy. The book I'm reading now is so offensive, I can barely overlook it the bullshit.

The story is great, and then he'll do some transparently offensive caricature of Obama-- or any other liberal-- that I have to gulp and keep reading.

It's funny when you see people go off the rails. I'm guessing he started watching Fox News or listening to right wing radio. Ugh.

If only he wasn't such a good writer! It didn't matter to me that Clancy was a simply minded twit, because he is also a lousy writer.

I think this may be the last Hunter book I read. I can't get over his self-righteous smugness.

Whoopee! 0.1% rise in sales.

"Retail Sales Rise Scant 0.1%." Bulletin, 1/13/12.

So much for all the predictions. What about all the news stories that we were bombarded with throughout the season about how sales were great, great, great!

Nevermind.

Meanwhile, the media was also full of stories about how stores were discounting, discounting, discounting!

So .... lower margin, with next to nothing increase in sales = lower profits.

The mass market stores have created a very stupid environment -- training the customers to wait for the last minute, and only to buy if it's hugely discounted.

I've been ignoring the whole nonsense for years now. I stock up the store, keep it stocked throughout the season, and sell everything for regular price. So, you know, I actually make money.

Sales in my store were up 20%, and I sold everything at retail price.

These giant stores really are dinosaurs, with huge appetites and tiny brains.

It is called a "Perp Walk."

Dear Ms. Sawyer,

It's called a Perp Walk, and you are not the first nor the last the suffer the indignity of it.

Wiki: "PERP WALK is a common custom of American law enforcement, the practice of taking an arrested suspect through a public place at some point after the arrest..."

Notice the words "common."

From my reading of mysteries, it's done for a variety of reasons. The shake the defendant so they might be more malable in questioning. Or to make an example of someone. Nothing like a fellow stockbroker or mortgage agent being hauled out of the office in front of other stockbrokers to make a point. Which happens all the time, right? Right? ......uh.......right?

I'll say no more, since she seems to sue anyone who mentions her name in public.

"Executive Director of Business Development."

Something I've noticed is, that occasionally a corporation will hire an entrepreneur to give itself some sort of boost.

And it almost always ends badly.

Turns out, the independent businessman can't operate in the bureaucracy . He's neutered and marginalized. The bureaucracy won't change no matter how it is pushed.

Seems to be the norm.

Same goes for creative people -- some manage to thrive in the bigger organization, but most flail around. (Insert story of Faulkner, Fitzgerald or Chandler in Hollywood.)

Anyway, Diamond Comics has hired a longtime comic person, Chris Powell, for the job of promoting specialty shops. With an apparent emphasis on creating new stores.

Normally, I'd be skeptical of the success of such a venture. But there are several factors that seem hopeful.

First, it's a new position, so he's not trying to work himself into an existing model. He's been given a blank slate.

Secondly, Chris Powell has shown he's capable in a variety of situations -- Comic's Pro, and The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Third, he's a constant presence on The Comic Book Industry Alliance forum, and seems to have his head screwed on right. I don't personally know him, but he seems very sensible.

Fourth, he was never the owner of the stores he managed (Lone Star Comics), but has been working for an owner. Which gives him some experience at dealing with higher ups.

So this could be a really great thing for the industry. What's probably holding us up from growth the most is the lack of venues for comics books. The comics are great, but most people just don't know it.

However, I couldn't quite shake a small bit of apprehension. Will he be able to create new comic stores in such a way as to not hurt existing stores? Without creating unnecessary competition?

What I've seen is, people seem to want ignore previously unserved populations areas, to congregate around population areas that seem to have successful stores. In other words, they want to follow the example of the stores they actually see, instead of envisioning store where they aren't.

So that's going to be tricky.

Still -- it's one of those moves that actually seems to make all kinds of sense for everyone involved. In fact, I'd say there is a danger of expecting too much. It's nice that Diamond is actually focusing on Brick and Mortars in a Digital world. (Of course, that's their business -- but then again, I think it's the publisher's business too, and they are pushing willy nilly into digital...)

It will be interesting to watch.

#*(^%(&* Insomnia!

Business has gotten slow in the last week.

We are back to straight math again. Numbers of people who live here, plus numbers of people visiting, minus people who don't come in the store, minus the people who don't spend money in my store.

Something like that. No matter how you add or subtract, you just aren't going to do all that well this time of year. It's just the price you pay for being in a tourist town.

**********

I was feeling pretty confident about the book, but it is also getting hard to fit together. Like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces don't fit.

I took a newly written second chapter to writer's group and they picked it apart and they were mostly right, I think.

It's almost as though I need to start over from the beginning, using what I now know about the book. The stuff I only learned about by actually writing the book.

**********

For the first time in five years, I've had trouble getting this blog out in the morning. Because I've been having trouble falling asleep.

Not sure what's going on there, but I've lost a full hour in the morning as a result.

Anyway, last night I started brainstorming the book, and that's never a good idea. Back in the day when I was writing full time, I got really good at saying to my subconscious -- "Great. Hold onto the idea. Now shut up."

But last night it just kept coming at me, fully formed sentences and ideas. I didn't get up to write them down, which I may regret, but I think I've got the gist of it.

**********

I'm thinking if I mull it over long enough, I'll come up with some solutions on the story problems. I like the story, the background, the characters -- I'm just having trouble fitting it together.

**********

It's 10:15, I still need to shower and make breakfast the newspaper is on the driveway and I haven't made a circuit of the intertubenet and I have to leave in half an hour. I feel rushed and flushed and groggy.

I hate insomnia.

Fortunately, I don't get it very often.

The past becomes nearer.

I was watching a documentary on the great cinematographer, Jack Cardiff. It was interesting, enough. But what really caught my attention was how the man's career went from the silent era right through to a couple of years ago. He died at 94.

He was the camera man for The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. But also for Rambo. It's obvious from the interviews, that into his 90's he was still on top of things.

I don't know -- it just changes my entire perspective of cinema. How relatively new it really is.

If you've seen Hugo, it seems like a quaint bygone era -- and yet, here was the guy who filmed Rambo, also was already well into having a career at that time.

As I get older, a strange thing happens. Things from farther ago, become nearer. Things that seemed like ancient history when I was young, now seem like the recent past. I was born only 7 years after WWII, and yet through my entire childhood it seemed like something from long ago, when people were different, and they acted and dressed funny.

Yet, Star Wars seems almost like yesterday for me. I was in college went it came out. But -- it's far, far more distant now, than say Kennedy's assassination was when that movie came out.

Anyway, any of you longer-in-the-tooth people know what I'm talking about, but younger folk won't give it a moment's thought.

Nor should they.

Inked stained scrivener. Virtual, that is.

Jared came over last night and helped me with the Scrivener writing program upon which I'm going to write the second draft.

I sort of insisted that it look like a manuscript, which is what I am used to working with. That turned out to be a bit more a problem that it first appeared, but I now have something recognizable to work on. Indented, double spaced.

I'm going to be entering all the material today, and I'll soon know how many words I've already written.


I'm being more deliberative in this writing this book than I've ever been before. I'm pretty sure that, in the past, I probably would've just taken what I already have written and tried to dish it out. Rushed it into final form.

Instead, I'm holding off. I'm trying to fill in the cracks before I do that, give it time to gestate, let new ideas come up.

Of course, deliberative can just be another word for lazy.

I feel lazy, even though I'm about to finish a book. I feel like I should be working harder.

At the same time, I don't want it to lose the freshness.

Even though I say that I'm usually in too much of a hurry, at the same time, I've also overcooked some parts of my books in the past -- which is what makes me want them finished.

So I'm trying to take the time to keep it fresh but also do the necessary things. Work deliberately, but without too much laziness. It's a fine balance.

I love the initial process -- but I know that comes more in the form of a sketch instead of a finished book. I don't much enjoy as much the process of turning it into a more solid form.

"I like being able to fire people."

"I like being able to fire people." Romney.

Here's the thing.

No matter what he meant by it.

I can't EVER imagine using that particular combination of words.

Ever.

So that he was able to say, "I like being able to fire people." ?

That to me just means that deep inside he means, "I like being able to fire people."

***********

Is it just me, or are there a lot more arson fires going on in Central Oregon than is normal? A lot more.

Copy cats?

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I'm sure there will be plenty of critics of the handling of the Cessna site.

But it does seem a little stupid to lay aside a guaranteed revenue stream for a "promise" of more jobs. Plus the possibility that they might get another, better deal. (Unmentioned is, they already have one business in place and wouldn't it make more sense to entice a second business?) Like the promise of destination resorts that they'll eventually get around to building The Hotel, promises of future jobs seem pretty shaky. (We planned to hire 75 more people, but -- you know -- the economy....)

Anyway, I think sometimes that our local governments give away too much to attract business, which then sticks around for a couple of years and crashes. Yes, Redmond and Prineville seem to offer better deals -- but I wonder if they have less to lose?

I've said it before -- if people really want to move to Bend and they have the financial ability to do so -- then they will. Bribing them makes me wonder how much they are really interested in coming here.

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Wow. A huge article on Dungeons and Dragons in the Bulletin this morning.

As long as it was, though, it left out some crucial history.

D & D has always had the problem of -- once you sell the basic rules, what do you sell after that? Sure, you can sell packaged adventures and supplements, but the basic rules are all you really need, and since D & D players are individualistic enough to play the game in the first place, they usually end up creating their own adventures.

So...once they buy the main books, they're done.

It became kind of obvious that the company would periodically "update" the rules just to get that revenue stream going again.

There is a new role-playing game, called Pathfinder, who seems to be doing what D & D should have done. Come up with a nice functional system, and sticking to it. They are a much smaller company, and don't have the corporate expectations.

There was a pretty strong rejection of D & D 4.0; after nearly universal acceptance of 3.0 and 3.5. (Sure there are people who want the "original rules" but they are like people who never buy anything anyway.)

The "original rules" were almost immediately messed up by TSR, the company that owned D & D before Wizards of the Coast bought it (which in turn was gobbled up by Hasbro.) Because of not wanting to pay royalties, they changed the name to "Advanced" D & D, and confusion has reigned ever since.

In other words, the damn license has been mismanaged from the beginning.

So for 5.0, Hasbro is asking for input from the fan community. Good luck with that.

Back to 4.0. This was a kind of misguided attempt to become more friendly to the video gaming community. But the appeal of D & D is that it ISN'T a video game.

I've been getting more and more requests for the 3.5 version, but this only exists as a used game, and I don't buy used games.

I carry one copy at all times of the main books -- Dungeon Masters Guide I and II; Players Handbooks I, II, and III; Monster Manual I, II, III, and so on, so when they become obsolete, I won't have too much inventory to try to get rid of.

Still, I do hope they do a good job with 5.0 and ....just stick with it, dammit!

For profit non-profits...or non-profit profits. Common Table.

I can't resist commenting on the Common Table troubles, as detailed in the column in the Bulletin today.

There are a couple of points that seem to come up again and again, in Bend (and in this blog.)

First, that something that "works" elsewhere doesn't work in Bend. According to the story, all but one of the 18 other "non-profit" restaurants were in more populous areas.

Well, there you go. It won't be the first time that Bend tried to act like it was as big as elsewhere.

But more than that, Bend is different. I really believe that. We have strange demographics....

I've explicated that I think it's because of our relative isolation. We don't really have another metro area for at least 130 miles, over the High Cascades. We don't 'really' have a 4 year college. We are isolated by the fact we aren't connected to an Interstate -- the same 130 mile distance. I think, as well, we don't have a whole lot of strong industry here -- we are a retirement and tourist destination. I think second-home and retired people and tourists act differently overall than long-term residents. Oldtimers act differently than newcomers.

Truth is, though, I don't really know why Bend is so different. I just know, when I compare it with the experiences of other towns, we always seem a little ...off.

Secondly, I just don't believe that mixing profit and non-profit works well together. Whether it's a profit store that asks for non-profit contributions or volunteers or a non-profit store that tries to turn a profit. In the first case -- well, that's kind of scuzzy. In the second case -- well, doesn't seem cost effective.

Other -- true -- non-profits can make meals for the cost of 1.00, according to the article. So, I'd have to say, the money stretches quite a bit further, without blurring the goal.

So it comes down to the experience of the poor sitting down next to the rich. I'm not sure why this can't happen any old time. Just head on down to Drake Park, and strike up a conversation. In fact, it probably happens every day at McDonalds. Or even more often, at the public library. It seems like a "do-gooder" idea to me, but one that doesn't have a lot of long term viability.

Unless a bunch of you are doing this on a regular basis? I'd be more than glad to be wrong about this.

I mean, if it works --- great.

But it it doesn't work -- you have to wonder how many meals could be distributed for the same cost.

Christmas results.

December sales were up by 19% over last year. It was the second best Christmas on record, eclipsed only by 2006. It beat 2007 by a little bit.

(2008 pretty much sucked, and 2009 and 2010 were static.)

Sounds very impressive, except that I more or less spent that 19% extra on product, so the profits were probably actually down a little bit.

This was a tradeoff, for me. An active business atmosphere, following up what strengths I have, pursuing the areas where I feel that the competition is weak. I mean, the profits are encased in the inventory, so you could actually say I made more profit -- but it just isn't the same as liquid assets. Still, I have a packed store which means I won't have to spend all spring just trying to catch up again.

These kinds of decisions are the very essence of running a small business; the kind of decisions where even in hindsight you can't be sure you made the right choice. I do know, it was the best of all results from the actual decision. I could easily have spent the money and not gotten the increased sales, for instance.

As I mentioned before, boardgames actually beat comic sales, for the first time. Totally seasonal.
Books actually beat graphic novels, equally seasonal.

I've finally got the three-legged store I've been trying to reach all these year. About 35% games and books; 40% comics and graphic novels; 25% everything else. (yearly.)

The results, compared to Christmas 2010.

+7% Comics
-7% Cards
+53% Card Games
+7% Games
+10% Books
-16% Toys
+2% Graphic Novels.

Card Games have recovered from the impact of two new competitors. It's possible that they've rejuvenated the market enough that I'm seeing an increase because of that. These sales levels are where they were before the two other guys opened.

Toys are a tough sell these days. They seem to be impacted by the recession spending more than any other category. Nevertheless, I'm going to concentrate on trying to get a boost out of them this year.

Books and Games are still increasing, albeit not as fast as the first few years.

Comics and graphic novels seem in good shape.

Sports cards are pretty steady, pretty low, but not totally inconsequential.

I've dropped anime as a category and I'm going to ring them up under toys. I've replaced it with Used books, so I'll know how many used versus new books I'm selling.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.