Here at EBP HQ, we are big believers in the printed word (check out our post from earlier this week about the economics of publishing for one of the biggest reasons why). At the same time, we’re hardly luddites or purists or anything like that—this business is built on tech, through and through. It may appear that we are trying to have our cake and eat it too, and in fact that is exactly the point of building this here multimedia universe.
Anyway, the moral of this story is that this year got off to a slow start and many print projects are in the works (my old re-xeroxed cookzine is the only book-like object released so far in 2014; this fall’s going to be hectic). But *today* is a big day for digital projects to go out into the wild.
An eBook single
My first-ever science fiction short story, “Butt Dial,” is available as a 99 cent eBook (for Kindle or everything else, you choose). Just to make things fun, the eBook version is a different edit from the print version; the character has a different name in the eBook and her backstory is a little different and more fleshed out (maybe too-fleshed-out—read them both and tell me what you think!). My intention in offering it in this format is pretty much entirely as a strategic way to reach new readers and inspire them to buy the paperback and read the other excellent stories inside. (Deep tip of the hat to Bikes in Space 2 contributor Emily June Street, who generously shared her secret recipe for painless and no-cost eBook production. I recommend reading both her story in this anthology and her novel set in the same world, The Velocipede Races.) Anyway, just because I know how tough it is to succeed in the eBook business doesn’t mean I’m going to throw my own (or anyone else’s) ethereal e-publications under the bus. I encourage you to go buy this story *and* tell the world about it. Who knows? Your dollar might become the first 30 cents of a stupendous fortune. When that happens, you’re all invited to a party at my mansion.
The Audiozine
The Taking the Lane Audiozine exists at last! A ton of people have put a large amount of effort (and money) into this, and I’m really thrilled with how it turned out. Some of the best essays and stories from the first ten issues of TTL are in here, read by the author (or, in the case of anonymous Bikesexuality essays, on behalf of the authors with their permission). The zine will at some point be available on CD and cassette; for now you can buy the whole album as a digital download for $7.
You can also buy tracks (or preview them) on Bandcamp:
All the writers who worked on this just nailed it. My friend Jeff Hayes did a stellar job on the recording and engineering of this, and also added some background music and sounds to several of the tracks (if you’re in Portland and want to record something, look him up!). It’s well worth checking out. I’ll also have cassettes and CDs available for sale here at Taking the Lane… soon.
That concludes today’s digital releases. Now I need to sit myself at my desk and focus on finishing writing Taking the Lane #13. The Zombies issue. You can preorder it by subscribing, or wait for the Kickstarter.