Three Books for Sale at the Expo

Because I am getting many, many page views from people who are finding this blog through the Edmonton Expo, I will write briefly on the three books I will be selling at my table.  Prices below are for Edmonton Expo customers only.

Cost: $30.  How to Run (customer reviews) is literally what it says on the cover: an advanced guidebook for understanding and expanding a skilled DM's existing ability to run their world - whatever that world might be, as the book is in no way genre specific.  The book is as applicable to The Masquerade or Rifts as it is to D&D, because it addresses the dynamic between DM and player, not in-game ideals.

We are all in a position where we are striving to manage both ourselves and the players, while presenting the best possible game we can despite our limitations.  Game play is mastered through a practical use of time, an understanding of goals, the mastery of the game's immersive qualities and our most intrinsic motivations.  These elements of game play are universal - and they are, for the most part, wholly ignored by game manufacturers.

I have written a book that discusses role-play the way an academic treatise would discuss a subject among professors or the way that a trade manual would discuss the subject among masters of that trade.  There are thousands of practitioners of role-playing games who are wallowing, uncertain of what they are doing, particularly because there is no standard by which they can judge themselves.

Therefore, rather than present a series of things not to do, the book concentrates upon those things that a DM does that work - and why they work!  I believe that by firmly understanding why a particular running succeeded, a DM can build upon that understanding and ultimately learn to reproduce that result over and over.  The book How to Run proposes to give that understanding.

Cost: $12.  How to Play a Character (customer reviews) is a collection of essays discussing elements of character development, game settings and the social development of Dungeons & Dragons, along with elements of satire and humour.  It features a challenging, insightful viewpoint of a grognard, me, that has dedicated virtually of his life to the game.

And because most of that time has been spent in serious disagreement with the game's mainstream, the content of my mind expressed in these pages will prove to be well outside what the reader would normally expect to find.  The reader will take note, I don't see Dungeons & Dragons as a game, but as an personal expression, a form of performance art, in which participants are enabled and empowered to investigate and comprehend parts of themselves in exactly the way we imagine artists do.

Players are, in the strongest sense, creators.  Creators of character, creators of circumstance, creators of a destiny, contained inside a structure that enables them to seize a moment in time and make it their own.  This sense of gamesmanship that I have permeates the pages of this small but enthralling book, one that promises to be consumed greedily.

Cost: $12.  The Dungeon's Front Door (preview) is my latest book, published this year.  It is a series of essays focusing upon the underground dungeon: its structure, its biology and sociology, its purpose in the game and most important its opportunity for fun and humour.  With this book I've struggled to identify what it is that makes the dungeon an iconic, compelling feature in D&D role-playing, hoping to enable the reader to reinvigorate their dungeon adventures and look at them anew.

I simply don't believe that the traditional game can dismiss the importance that dungeons have for players and for the opportunities they present - and at the same time, as with all things, I tend to look at dungeons askew from the usual tricksterism that's constructed of traps and clever rube goldbergs.  My view is that dungeons are small, profound worlds unto themselves, allowing for endless variety for player and DM alike.  I believe firmly that this book accomplishes the goal in expressing these possibilities.

There we are.  Three books, all available for sale from my table at the Expo beginning Friday morning.  Come around, have a chat, talk about your hopes and dreams and we'll see if we can't raise the bar for your players higher than they've dreamed!

Friday Afternoon

"A community of practice is where people gather together, learn together and get better at what you're doing."

Clay Shirky

I've just put a book to bed.  This is a curious time for me; it is like the first hours on a Friday afternoon when I was a boy - when weekends seemed to last a long time.  I would percolate eagerly with the things I would do, the games I would play and the opportunities I would exploit - and while I did, on the walk home, I was never sure what I would do first.

Some readers will have noticed that I have trouble focusing all my attention on one project.  Even in the last stages of the book's editing, I still gave time to mapmaking.  I kept the blog going.  I went on having ideas.  There were sacrifices.  I haven't worked on the wiki in a couple of months.  I haven't addressed other large projects.  Any ideas like those had to be shelved.  

I have a couple stewing in my mind; but like Friday afternoons, I'm chewing over my options.

When I don't have substance to write about; when I haven't the time to do my research or the energy to tackle a post with a lot of content in it; I usually write about the community.  Or the principles of the game.  Or I bitch about something or somebody.

These are things I have to quit.

I did start already, about a year ago.  If the reader compares my work post March 7th, 2014, with my approach to blogging in the years before, a difference will be noticed.  It hasn't been an instant change, but there has been a change.  I'm still acerbic, still intolerant, but I'm making an effort to turn to these things as a substitute for having something to write about.  There have been a lot of changes in me and my perception of the community this past year.  It has become more positive.  I'm less inclined to go looking for a fight, less inclined to be interested in what others are saying philosophically.  I find myself losing interest in the internet brawl.  I've made my points.  It's clear what I stand for.

Going forward, I have to surrender on what others are doing wrong.  I have to keep going ahead with what I think is right.  This book - this Dungeon's Front Door - it is still tainted in parts by my disposition, my sarcasm, my cheek and my pride.  Much of it is dressed up as humour and wry wit; some of it is not.  The best parts are those where these parts of "me" have been amputated.

The book's writing was a surprise.  My original intention had been to do the same thing I had done with How to Play a Character: find a group of essays I had written online about dungeons, clean them up, remove the acid and make them respectable, then release them as a collection.  

However, when I went looking through my blog for essays about dungeons, all I found was bitterness, spite and anger.  I have not written well of dungeons.  The little time I've spent on this blog on the subject of dungeons has been all negative.  Apparently, I hate them.  Apparently, I have no use for them.

This is not true.  Dungeons have been a mainstay of my campaigns.  I've never not run them.

I realized, after announcing the book, that I was on the hook to write all new material - positive material.  Material that would be useful for the community.  Material that would help people learn and grow better at making dungeons.

To succeed at this, I had to take a step back here and there on issues I've barked about on the blog.  I had to give in on some points.  I had to cast dungeons in a positive light.  This I think I've done.  But there are still places where the old Alexis had a few things to say, as well.  That old Alexis - he's been around a long time.  He's older than I am and smarter than I am; and sometimes, damn it, I like him a bit too much.

So I'd say I was about 95% successful at my aim.  I dare say that last five per cent will be forgiven.

Well, I hope it will be.

Rank #1

Well, good news.  How to Play a Character & Other Essays is sitting at #1 for the past month on Lulu's top 100 Games Books' list.

How to Run: an Advanced Guide to Managing Role-playing Games is #22.

How to Play, 2nd Edition

Prior to printing a copy of the small book, How to Play a Character & Other Essays, I reformatted the book.  Revising the size of the text and the quality, I've unfortunately forced the price of the '2nd edition' up to $13.

Those of you who purchased early have gotten a break.  I'm afraid that the book is now somewhat more expensive.  This shouldn't affect sales at the Expo, but I realize this may make some of the people online unhappy.

Reviews for How to Play a Character & Other Essays

If you have a review to write on the book, How to Play a Character & Other Essays, please include it below.  Bad reviews will be published, so long as they are about the book and not the author.  Please do not include content that does not relate to the book's content.

I would prefer not to run reviews on my page, but Lulu has indicated that there is little they can do about the obvious stalker (they have told me all the abusive reviews are coming from the same IP address) except to have me turn off the review option.  I've done this.  I hope the reader can trust me to be honest about publishing appropriately negative reviews about the book.

The Hole I'm In

Here it is, the 2nd of June, and I am writing like a demon.  My only frustration is that I feel a strong resistance to looking at the writing I've done in the last month, making final corrections, so that it can be sent to the editors.  I've been very lax in this.  I have tried to make a schedule, and keep it, but then I just put it off another day, then a second day, then a third and so on.  There's only a month left, I've got a ton of it in the bank and I'm beginning to worry.

As far as the third draft, I can see a dim light at the end of the tunnel.  I am writing, or rewriting, around 1,800 words a day, which doesn't include the stuff I'm writing and then throwing out.  I'll finish the third part of the book this week, probably Wednesday, which will leave me with nothing but the world-building segment to do.  Oh, and a conclusion I plan to write, that I haven't touched yet.  With the second draft, the worldbuilding passages went so much easier - I find it much easier to talk about how to create a world rather than how to manage people.  I will give a sigh of relief when I move onto that.

I'm telling you, the gentle reader, because like the man who slept with three supermodels at the same time, I am telling everyone.

This seems to be the only conversation about which I am truly capable.

Last week, for those who may have seen the Lulu page for How to Play a Character & Other Essays, I had some trouble with a troll who was leaving abusive spam there.  Lulu has been great in helping me manage it; they're terrific and understanding about these things.  I have to say, it is one kind of troll that harasses a blog, but it's another species entirely that seeks to undermine an independent author's efforts to self-publish a book. Self-publishing is hard enough.  I would think that a rational person would understand that failure in self-publishing is what we call normal.  I don't need help to fail.  The average troll should be able to sit back and let this one solve itself.

Naturally, I'd rather the opposite.  Towards that end, I'll try to explain my situation as it stands now.

My daughter is coming out to Toronto with me for the Fan Expo at the end of August, the 28-31st.  I'm paying for her airfare, because technically it is on me, so that's going to be about $1,500 total.  The table at the Fan Expo, which I still haven't been confirmed for, will be about $500.  The hotel and vittles for my daughter and I, which again I'll be paying for, should come out around $900.  The cost to produce the little book was $120, and the cost to produce the big book looks to be about $625.  This covers the editing and the artwork.  I have a fundraiser that is going on the 3rd of July, which needed $175 out of pocket so far for printing, the majority of the costs to be handled by the selling of tickets at the door.  Finally, I have a banner that I'm working on, and printing costs for that could run upwards of $400. There are other in sundry costs, but those aren't specified.

Altogether, this puts me about $4,220 in the hole.  From our estimates, we should make about half of that with ticket sales, t-shirt sales (for those who are wondering, the majority of young people actually like the t-shirt), book sales thus far (which are less than hoped for but making a fair profit right now over costs).  The table is paid for, half the art is paid for and the printing is covered.  I have contributions that have been most helpful.  Discounting the money raised from the event (for which we are selling tickets now, as I speak, for $15 each), I'm about $3,095 short.  I'm not worried.  Costs are covered one way or the other, as I have the bank credit to do it even if I make no money going forward.

This I am doing without a kick-starter or sponsors.  I am certainly grateful for those contributions.  I am not worried about making a profit; that only requires sales, and my daughter and I are both very experienced.

I should mention that I'm giving away as a door prize, July 3rd, a copy of the D&D Whitebox Set, about the same quality as the top two examples on the link.  I am GIVING it away.  At a later point, I will have the actual book launch for How to Run at the Sentry Box in Calgary (we have a hand-shake agreement at this point), mid-Julyish, we expect.  At that, I'll be auctioning off a copy of Chainmail, which upon research isn't the very expensive one after all.  Of course, we also hope to sell a lot of books.

What I don't need is a basement troll who feels that all this effort is abusive of the community, or that is somehow proves that I have a lot of baseless characteristics that make me a bad person.  I think what I'm trying to do is put on a couple of events, write a book that will help people run their games with a lot of sound advice and explanation, while starting a small business in the process.  Opposing that is, hell, it's unAmerican, isn't it?

UnCanadian, too.  Most of us do accept the virtues of capitalism, after all.  So for those who hate me, please continue to hate me.  But know that if you're pouring derision on my work, you're also doing it on all these fine people who have supported me, who have bought the small book, who have encouraged me to finish the large book and so on.  This is getting to be a larger and larger set of people that you've chosen to hate.

If at all possible, I think we should just keep it between us, hm?

Now that this is all written, let me finish by stating the very obvious. I need as much funding as I can get. If you can afford it - and you can, for it's only $9 to $10, depending - buy the little book.  Buy it because it helps me help others.  Buy it because you like to see people get ahead.  Buy it because you pity me.  Or buy it because my 25-year-old, married daughter really wants to show off her sweet cosplay Steampunk outfit in Toronto.  Buy it for any of those reasons . . . they all help me.

UPDATE:

There are three reviews on the recently published book, now, all of which give the book 5 stars.  Here is the newest one, copied, from James Clark:

"What Alexis Smolensk achieves as a writer offering advice on running and playing RPGs is to elevate the discussion. Whether you agree or disagree with his conclusions or whether you find his style off-putting, I think the serious player is nontheless challenged by them both. If you're looking for a primer on RPGs, you need to start elsewhere. Perhaps the "D&D for Dummies" book recommended in another review [removed by lulu] is more your speed. If you've been looking for more, then read on. Those familiar with Alexis's blog will be familiar with these essays. These are the curated high-points of his views on playing. They have been tightened up, though, where tightening was needed and expanded upon where they were lacking. People new to the writer will have in their hands an excellent introduction to his ideas. Gone somewhat in this collection is the author's oft-mentioned acerbic tone, but make no mistake; this is still the writing of a smart, hard working student of the game who has the courage of his convictions and no time for fools. If you're the sort ready to dispense with the introductory and the unhelpful and get to the meat of things with a sharply written guide, then by all means give this little book a try."

Good Reviews!

It has been a very good week.  Sales are doing well, and I've officially made all the money back that I've paid the editor.  And then some!  Gentle Readers, you're wonderful.

I have gotten two great reviews, and I'd like to repost them here:

From Matthew Capps:

"How to Play a Character is now required reading for my RPG group. Though primarily concerned with the game of Dungeons and Dragons, How to Play a Character contains sound advice for breathing life into the characters of any RPG. It does not bother itself to tell you the things you have heard in the front pages of every RPG you've ever read. Alexis does not bother to explain to you what an RPG is. He doesn't tell you how to affect a funny voice, or to dress up like your character, or to only say things your character would say.

"He also doesn't spend time talking about the best way to maximize stats, or to tweak a character for its optimal mechanical potential. The advice in the How to Play A Character essay concerns your character's needs, where your character keeps his things, the habits your character forms, and the way you can keep these things in mind to impress and motivate your DM, as well as make for a more fulfilling game.

"Along with How to Play a Character are a series of other essays that offer insights into the game. "Opening Module" is a wonderful way to start the book, as well as a wonderful way to start any sandbox style campaign. 'Wild Magic,' 'Breaking Camp,' and 'Full of Holes,' serve to inspire thought about how an RPG world compares to our real world, and how the former can perhaps be made more like the latter. All of these essays are well thought out, and well written. There are no empty words or meaningless passages. 

"These essays are put together in a nice, pocket-sized booklet. The size is just right for slipping to a player on their break, or in a moment of downtime. The book is small enough to be read in a single concentrated sitting, organized enough to support reading in small, disconnected spurts, and worth enough to inspire several re-readings.

"My only complaint about How to Play a Character is that I wish there was more of it. How to Play a Character was put together by Alexis Smolensk to raise funds to better publicize his upcoming book 'How to Run: an Advanced Guide to Managing Role-playing Games.' How to Play a Character & Other Essays is the perfect appetizer for anyone anticipating his work."

Great comments, Matt.  It's good to know I'm communicating clearly with my target audience.

From Luke Warring:

"I learned of this book from Mr. Smolensk's blog: http://tao-dnd.blogspot.com/ On his blog, Mr. Smolensk is able to clearly propose, explain, juxtapose, debate, and reconcile complex concepts within the role playing genre. It reads well, his writing is polished and reads easier than the masses of amateur bloggers. This book diverges a bit from his blog. The book's writing is elevated, worked over, and streamlined.

"On his blog, Mr. Smolensk's voice flows through a river delta. His voice twists and turns with raw drafts, tributaries of comments from blog readers, and bubbly and choppy debates of opposing currents. At times, I can be exhausted by the thoroughness in which role playing is debated. After all, I just want to play a better game-not write a treatises about role playing. To my delight the book's voice flows through a spigot. Crisp, clear, and refreshing. The coarseness of the blog was gone, and I did not miss it.

"For me, the meat of the book is in the first half. Every DM and player should read the first two chapters of this book. It is exactly what I needed to read. I enjoyed the second half too, which is a collection of essays - some creative writings. I will buy his next book. 4.5/5 - my main critique is that I wanted more pages of 'How to Play,' though it is covered thoroughly in the book. I await his next book."

Yes, it's true.  I use a different voice on this blog than I do in the book, because here I am speaking directly to my audience.  In the book, I'm speaking directly to the content.

By all means, keep these reviews coming!  I could happily wake up every morning to this.

Dedication

Since publishing, I've felt a strong desire to post the dedication page to How to Play a Character & Other Essays.  I know that not all of my players have seen the book yet, and I wanted them to know they were included.  I also wanted to let Tim Brannan know that I acknowledged his contribution.

Mr. Brannan is a strange duck.  He's never disparaged me here, though I know he has elsewhere (and at that place), and I find it odd that he felt the need to be helpful on this one occasion.  But then, people will surprise you.

Tim/Timothy, if I've goofed up and you should have been listed here as 'Timothy' and not 'Tim,' let me know and I'll republish the document.

For the rest of the players, hey, it's been great running you all.

Woot! eBook!

The eBook for How to Play a Character & Other Essays is now available.

One Down, One Big One to Go

Last night I wrapped up the work for the short book, How to Play & Other Essays on Gaming.  It has gone to the copyreader.  When it comes back, I'll publish the book.  I expect it to be available a week this Saturday, the 10th of May.

I'm sorry I can't give a price yet - I'll have to lay out the book first.  The printing cost will hurt a bit, and I hope to make personally $5 a book.  I trust that won't hurt the reader's sensibilities too much.  The book is about 110 pages, or 24,000 words, and contains roughly about 30% new content . . . and the old content is better written.

I'll be getting back to the grind of the original book today, now working on the 3rd Draft.  I need to keep a steady pace of about 12,000 words a week, or perhaps a shade better than that, and this is starting to overwhelm my copy-reader.  She's a close friend, a D&D player, with an education in psychology and criminal science (I think that's accurate) and she has a sharp eye.  Still, her and I will probably miss something.  That's how it goes.  I don't have the resources to pay five people to comb through the book - and in any case, I mostly find errors in books published by big houses anyway.  I'd like to pay my reader more, but I'm doing what I can.

If someone wants to pick up a couple thousand words here or there, and give my reader some air, let me know.  I can pay you through pay-pal, but it won't be much . . . just half a cent a word.  Feel free to shrug and laugh; I'm writing 90,000 words and even at half a cent that's a lot of money.  Plus what I will owe already for the short book.  Do the math.

Not sure what else I can say.  One of my earlier excerpts from the book was picked up by this thread, where the initiator says he/she was inspired.  I love that.  I want to inspire people.

Replacing Work

I find myself at odds.

This last weekend I spent most of my available time re-writing the 10,000 word How to Play a Character post ... realizing, naturally, that the post on the blog is sort of in the ball park but is in fact an awful lot of shit posing as advice.  An awful lot.  But this is how writing is.  In retrospect, all the works of genius that we think we've written turn out to be just so much crap (if it doesn't, then I don't want to ever read anything you've written), so we rework it, rewrite it, clarify the bumpy parts and do a better job.  Good work is sometimes done off the cuff ... but good writing is a lot of good work done over and over again.

The question is, in reworking the How to Play post for the essay book, should I:  a) delete the original post from the blog; b) leave the blog as is; or c) update the blog to reflect the book version.

Sorry, I should explain about the essay book, for those who don't know.  In the interest of raising additional money for printing costs, I'm taking up Tim Brannan's suggestion of putting together some of the good blog posts from the past into an essay book, obviously updating and improving the writing.  This I am doing.

I don't think option (c) above would hurt my sales.  I know that many of you out there plan to buy the book just to support me, while many of the people I would be selling the book to have never heard of the blog.  It has the beauty of hiding my errors and making me look like a better writer.

(b), however, has the beauty of exposing my errors and proving that not only am I not perfect, no one has to be in order to be a better DM, or a better writer.  Plus it offers the opportunity to be genuine.  Which I like. Still, people could read the original and think, "Wow, the essay book must be awful," a fair assessment from how bad I think that original blog post is, now that I've looked closely at it.

(a), deleting it completely, is the really cheap option.  The business model option, to be honest, the option that Monsanto would do because corporations think along the lines of, if you take it away people are more likely to pay for it.  I don't like option (a).  At all.  I include it because someone is going to suggest it, and because I want to express my awareness that the option exists.  I frankly don't think the option is a good one.

The same three options exist, of course, for any other former blog post I'm going to work on.  I've identified six I plan to include; I need two more, which I haven't quite decided upon.  The Steamy Sex post, though very popular, will not be one of them.  I did consider it.

I'll have to decide upon some precedent for all of them.