skzbrust: I have a new first name

skzbrust (

skzbrust) wrote,
@ 2006-08-17 15:30:00

I have a new first name
When Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead was informed that, with "Touch of Grey," for the first time in the band's 30-year history they had a top-ten single, he said, "I am appalled."

I spoke with my editor, TNH, last night. It seems the New York Times has this thing called an "expanded list" which includes, I don't know, some number of best-sellers more than ten, and Dzur is number 30. All of which is to say that, on all my books and related material, my name will henceforth be: "New York Times Bestselling Author Steven Brust."

I am trying to decide how I feel about this.

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(Post a new comment)

	rgriff 2006-08-17 10:42 pm UTC (link)
	Congratulations...Maybe? (Reply to this)

	ivymcallister 2006-08-17 10:43 pm UTC (link)
	Congratulations, if that's where the spirit moves you. (Reply to this)

	gaaneden 2006-08-17 10:46 pm UTC (link)
	Well, as I have always loved your writing, I know at least -I- will be cheering you. :) (Reply to this)

	ronebofh 2006-08-17 10:49 pm UTC (link)
	You goddamn sellout! I hate you! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kisc 2006-08-18 04:56 pm UTC (link)
	I second the motion! Write something inscrutable, immediately! THIS, I COMMAND! (note the icon to go along with the command - otherwise it isn't near as funny) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Hmm... jessmills 2006-08-17 10:54 pm UTC (link)
	I'd say go on a rampage with your newfound wealth and power and commission the deaths of all your rivals to clear the way to complete domination. And then you can start a charity afterwards. (Reply to this)

	just_a_treat 2006-08-17 10:55 pm UTC (link)
	Ultimately, the addition of the "title" on the name doesn't really mean much of anything. Revel in it if you feel you've achieved a goal or ignore it if you see it as pointless. It's all just business and your publisher is going to swing it around like a bat hoping to smack his ego out of the ballpark and take a lap around the bases at your expense. (Reply to this) (Thread)

skzbrust
2006-08-17 11:09 pm UTC (link)

At myexpense? Mmmm. Hardly. I mean, I was with you part of the way. I think the idea is to swing it around like a bat and make a bunch of money, some of which will come my way. No, I don't take it too seriously, but this is not one of those areas where the publisher is working against me. On the contrary, he's helping to make up for the fact that if there is one thing I stink at, it's self-promotion.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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just_a_treat, 2006-08-17 11:13 pm UTC

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skzbrust, 2006-08-18 12:11 am UTC

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skylarker, 2006-08-18 12:23 am UTC

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silaren, 2006-08-18 07:56 am UTC

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skylarker, 2006-08-18 01:03 pm UTC

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just_a_treat, 2006-08-18 12:35 am UTC

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archschnitz, 2006-08-18 04:06 pm UTC

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bigscary, 2006-08-18 04:28 am UTC

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thedanbeast, 2006-08-23 07:37 pm UTC

	Trying to decide angeyja 2006-08-17 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	Yes. Noodled. I may be too pragmatic. If it catches a more readers. I think it a net good. As a bystander and wishing authors I liked more widely read, I am in favor of hooks to do that. But not w/o noodling, and there's that awkward bit still. (Reply to this)

	dogofthefuture 2006-08-17 11:00 pm UTC (link)
	"How do you sleep at night?" "On a bed full of money." (Reply to this) (Thread)

dogofthefuture
2006-08-18 10:12 am UTC (link)

Sorry to reply to myself, but - honestly, what is the problem here? From your various author's notes, it sounds like you write to tell people cool stories. It turns out that a lot of people like the cool stories that you tell. If it bothers you that a lot of people like them, you should stop telling them. If you still want to tell good stories, you should keep telling them. If it bothers you that this puts you in the company of Dan Brown and John Grisham, you should continue telling way better stories than they do and fucking OUTSELL them.

You have not pandered your way to the top.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

_eljefe_
2006-08-17 11:06 pm UTC (link)

Don't look at it as something awarded to you by the NY Times. This is something you have created. Your ideas have reached out and found a home within others, without being hyped by mass media. You've done well by writing what interests you, don't be suprised that others share them with you.

Of course, this also means you are in a good position to sell out and start writing crap. Just remember, we all know how to get in touch with Mario now, and I don't think he would let a little thing like reality get in his way *grin*

(Reply to this)

	erikred 2006-08-17 11:08 pm UTC (link)
	In much the same way that Monsieur Dumas handled it: cry all the way to the bank. :-) Congratulations. (Longtime fan, first-time commenter.) (Reply to this)

	arielstarshadow 2006-08-17 11:11 pm UTC (link)
	I know what I'd say... It's about time. Congratulations, Steve. (Reply to this)

onalark
2006-08-17 11:14 pm UTC (link)

Now's your chance to become a con-diva! Demand scotch and chocolate chip cookies be served at every panel! Require a harem of women to swoon for you at concerts! Come up with an obscure hieroglyphic symbol and insist that it's your new name and that everyone must refer to you as the New York Times Bestselling Author Formerly Known as Steven Brust!

Alternately, buy some topnotch ingredients for your favorite meal, cook it joyfully, share it with friends, and enjoy the fruits of your many years of labor.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	skzbrust 2006-08-18 12:12 am UTC (link)
	I just can't imagine myself turning into the sort of primadona who would start demanding special treatment and all sorts of... Wait a minute. Can we talk about that harem thing some more? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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coffeeem, 2006-08-18 12:54 am UTC

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onalark, 2006-08-18 01:17 am UTC

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kisc, 2006-08-18 05:00 pm UTC

So, kisc -

cantunamunch, 2006-08-19 04:13 pm UTC

Re: So, kisc -

kisc, 2006-08-19 06:28 pm UTC

(no subject) -

starstraf, 2006-08-20 08:49 pm UTC

skzbrust
2006-08-17 11:15 pm UTC (link)

I think the time for me to have sold out and started writing crap would have been when I first noticed that little dot of light high above me was the top of the financial hole I dug myself. Alas, I don't have what it takes. I do what I do because it's all I can do, and because I like doing it, so I may as well do it as well as I can.

Since I started out quoting Jerry Garcia, I'll do it again. During the TV special "20 years of the Rolling Stone" they had a segment where they spoke about all the selling out that occurred in the 80s. Grace Slick said, "Everybody sold out." Garcia said, "For years there, we were ready to sell out on any number of levels, but no one was buying."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Selling Out a55hol3 2006-08-19 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	I'm so glad you never sold out. Now where do I order my Vlad Taltos T-Shirt, Poster, and lunch box? -Anthony (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mambolica 2006-08-17 11:19 pm UTC (link)
	I think you should use it in as many inappropriate places as possible: public functions, sign cheques with it... Then, eventually you'd make it into the gossip rags and gain a whole new level of notoriety. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dremiel 2006-08-18 12:45 am UTC (link)
	Hye, maybe you could have it printed on your checks? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	foomf 2006-08-17 11:20 pm UTC (link)
	Feel profitable. It bumps your income a bit. (Reply to this)

	cakmpls 2006-08-17 11:24 pm UTC (link)
	To think I knew ya when. (Reply to this)

	Congrats jgoodman71 2006-08-17 11:32 pm UTC (link)
	That sounds like fantastic news to me. Congratulations, Mr. Brust. (Reply to this)

	pazort 2006-08-17 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	Congrats, but it is a bit of a shame that, these days, the term "bestseller" is basically synonymous to "trash". But anyway, keep up the excellent work. I'm currently re-reading Freedom and Necessity for about the twelth time, heh. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	pnh 2006-08-18 12:29 am UTC (link)
	As opposed to that golden era of the past when only good books sold well. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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skzbrust, 2006-08-18 12:55 am UTC

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skzbrust, 2006-08-18 12:55 am UTC

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andrewfeland, 2006-08-18 01:42 am UTC

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pazort, 2006-08-18 02:28 am UTC

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lenora_rose, 2006-08-18 05:42 am UTC

	bastlynn 2006-08-17 11:34 pm UTC (link)
	I just added one more sold to that list as of today. I think you'll settle into it pretty well. Which is to say - use it to pick up chicks. ;) (Reply to this)

	oceanruins 2006-08-17 11:48 pm UTC (link)
	I for one, think it's wonderful. Congratulations. (Reply to this)

	bete_noire_2000 2006-08-17 11:56 pm UTC (link)
	Better than: "Former Husband of Liza Minelli Steven Brust." or "Enron Man of the Year 2000 Steven Brust." (Reply to this)

darknote
2006-08-17 11:57 pm UTC (link)

titles and recognition are a strange thing to be sure, and it's something i don't always handle all that well either. I actually just wrote an entry in my personal journal about self-promotion and how it prevents me from actually getting anywhere in my degree of music composition.

I've developed limited fame in a lot of other random areas, though, so i've dealt with this sort of thing a lot. Odd. Anyway, the way i deal with it goes something like this:

Titles that other people give me, i let them give me within reason, but i acknowledge them as little as possible and kindly discourage their use, using them only as weapons of pride in the rare occasion that i need to posture against some asshole.

For people that know who i am/was before i developed any sort of random fame, this isn't too difficult because those people know what i'm all about and know that i don't take that stuff seriously. For people that know about me before they meet me and treat me in awe, it's trickier. It usually means that when/if i do actually meet them, i do my best to bring them down to earth and welcome them into my life as who i Really Am as opposed to what they perceive, the person underneath all of those titles.

After they get to know me it usually sorts itself out, although there are some people who only want to idolize me and not actually get to know me, and there's only so much i can do for that lot.

I'm digressing. I think the point is that i feel you can use that title however you want because you know it's not something that's going to define you as a person or even as an author. If other people perceive you differently because of some title that's been assigned to you, i bet all you'd need to be is yourself and the right sort of people will figure it out.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	skzbrust 2006-08-18 12:14 am UTC (link)
	Very nicely said. Thank you. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mcmartin 2006-08-17 11:58 pm UTC (link)
	Congratulations, though as noted above I think the congratulations are due more for building up a readership large enough to show up on the lists rather than merely for showing up on the list itself. (Reply to this)

	panthyrr 2006-08-18 12:00 am UTC (link)
	Many congratulations. :) (Reply to this)

	digitaleopard 2006-08-18 12:04 am UTC (link)
	Well, it will introduce more people to your books. Never a bad thing. And it's how I found out about the Grateful Dead. (Gimmie a break, I was young.) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	skzbrust 2006-08-18 12:15 am UTC (link)
	I take that as a real win, by god! Thanks for telling me! (Reply to this) (Parent)

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