The Spacerwares Home Store

Due to high shipping prices and the amount of time it takes to run a small signed book shipping outlet out of my home, I won't be selling signed books for the foreseeable future. I would rather spend my time writing or working on other pursuits that support my career. Thank you to everyone who has placed an order in the past, I hope you enjoy the volumes you have in hand.

If you would like to order unsigned books, please visit Amazon, they print and carry most of my work in print and ship to most parts of the world.

For other merchandise, check out the links below, thank you for your support! 

T-Shirts, mugs and many other items are available from Cafepress.

Cafepress Spinward Fringe Store Launch

After checking with many local T-Shirt & other product producers in Ontario and weighing the pros and cons of having piles of product in my home, I finally came to the decision to use Cafepress for the bulk of the clothing. There have been several local companies who were happy to tell me that they'd beat whatever I could find online for price and quality, I've found that something always suffered - and they do business as if it was 1970.

Cafepress will be able to offer a basic variety of objects to get the store started, and their prices aren't as high as many of the other online store hosts, especially with only a 10% markup.

Here's what Cafepress will be handling for me:

• T-Shirts and other basic clothing.
• Drinking supplies.
• iPod, iPhone, iPad cases.
• Bags.
• Stickers and other miscellany.

The 10% markup will provide funds for my production company which is responsible for bringing Spinward Fringe into other forms of media. There's a five year plan to bring Spinward Fringe to life in the form of a Web or Television series if someone doesn't make an offer worth taking. When I say an offer worth taking, I mean an offer which allows Spinward Fringe to be everything it can be as a series and give it a fair chance to find an audience.

Pipe dream? Maybe. That's why there's a five year plan to get things ready so I can do something myself. The store is part of that plan.

I encourage all of you to do a search for coupons before buying in the Cafepress store. Here are a couple that are valid as of this month:

• Save $10.00 when ordering $50.00 or more: DAD50
• Get $5.00 off when ordering $75.00 or more: GREAT
• Get $10.00 off when ordering $100.00 or more: FAB

What's good in the Cafepress store? I suggest the pint glasses (this design looks really good when full), ceramic travel mug or Triton Crew Shirt.

T-Shirts from the store are going out to the draw winners on Thursday!

There is another store in development that will carry buttons, books, specially made prop items, patches and other objects. Development of the buttons completed today, and the final edit of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins will be finished shortly.

Thank you for your support and patience, I hope you find something you enjoy!

Go to Spacerwares - The Spinward Fringe Store

RL

Spinward Fringe & The Overwhelming Response

It's time for an update on what's going on with Spinward Fringe and other work. It's important to start by saying that half this update is about people responding to the series and opportunities to shape things around it.

The books continue to spread in the US and UK through Kindle, B&N and other eBook retailers to a lesser extent. Last month I received the first email from a reader in India, just one example of how this series doesn't sell heavily in one area, but lightly in many areas. Hearing from people across the planet is absolutely awesome. From Tehran to Texas, kind readers are enjoying the books and spreading the word. I couldn't be happier.

Then there's the Facebook page. I never thought it would be as busy as it has been. People are offering general comments, ideas about the store (see the Buttons update below), and coming together. All the while, nary a negative word is heard. Big thanks go out to the moderators and all the participants.

My first part time staffer is currently down with a summer cold, but she continues to work online. She's brought a few good ideas to the developing business side of Spinward Fringe, and is currently assisting with proofing on Spinward Fringe: Expendable Few. She'll also be working on the rest of the books with me as we get closer to presenting final edits. The focus is on new work right now, so the earlier books will get more attention when the next two are out. All in all, she's a big help, even with a head cold.

3D and CGI work for Spinward Fringe demonstration and cover graphics have ground to a halt because I haven't had time to finish so much as a serviceable sketch in months. There are two neglected CGI artists who are willing to create 3D models as soon as I send out a completed sketch, so it's something I'd like to get to. The off the shelf 3D models of characters are a little too anime or supermodel style for most of the Spinward Fringe characters, but I've found a couple ways to use them. Now it's just a matter of putting the hours in, which will happen sometime in the next couple of months. I'm just glad I don't have to have most of it designed from scratch, which would turn a $20.00 endeavour into a $20,000.00 project - minimum.

The Web/TV Series project is taking its first firm step. An account has been opened to collect funds for early development. The money will come from the Spinward Fringe store, and probably won't be spent for months or years. Unless a production company is interested in a partnership with me, it'll take years to get this going properly. The general sentiment I'm hearing about the series tells me that poeple would rather see a viable, long run show done properly than a short-run, cheap looking show that's bound for cancellation. I couldn't agree more. So, the journey begins, and people seem excited about the store.

The store is being simplified. The first thing we're releasing are buttons. Every month four new buttons will become available, and you have a say in which will come out first. So far the Facebook page has been the hub for ideas, and I'm amazed at how many people have stepped forward to offer their thoughts. A set of 4 buttons will cost $5.00 plus $2.00 shipping in the US and Canada. Shipping to the UK will cost $3.00.

T-Shirts and other apparel will be available by the end of the month through a third party. My adventures in finding a local provider for T-Shirts (among other things), over the last few months have demonstrated that I'd need a lot more space and money to do everything I'd like using local businesses. For a slightly higher cost per item but the same or less in shipping, a third party can provide the same or better quality and a much broader selection. I've decided that's the way to go.

Other items, like the scarf, embroidered patches and signed books, will still be handled in-house, and I'm working to get that set up by the end of the month as well. Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins will be the first book available. All proceeds from the store will go towards the development of the Spinward Fringe TV series. I'll also be keeping prices low.

Now to the updates that people are really waiting for.

Spinward Fringe: Expendable Few is back on track after running into a couple of problems. A partial re-write of a few chapters slowed things down for the last week and a half. The book is well over half finished, and I hope to have the last batch of chapters out to test readers by June 7. So far, test readers seem to like what they see, but I haven't heard back from several on the last batch of chapters. I'm sure I'll hear something shortly. I'm enjoying the process of writing an entirely new work in the Spinward Fringe universe and hope to deliver a very new experience that explores another side of things.

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework is approximately 70% finished, and will be my focus once the aforementioned novella is complete. The Expendable Few is helping me develop Broadcast 7, and allowing me to expand the scope of the series without cluttering Framework, which is already a complex novel. Writing an ending to this series, even with the knowledge that there will be a Broadcast 8, is a difficult proposition, there are a lot of expectations for this book. I'm also pushing myself as a writer to take the characters and story to a new place while finishing plot lines that have been in motion for seven books.

The Dark Arts Novel is barely a side-project at this point, but a second draft of the first chapter has been completed. The writer's group I sit down with every Wednesday has taken a look at it, and the news is good. They had some important advice, and really enjoyed what they read, so the third draft of chapter one will be the real deal. My fears of having to write a brand new opening for the book are gone.

That third draft will wait until Expendable Few and Broadcast 7 are finished, but it's good to know that I have somewhere to start when I'm ready to take on my palette cleansing project. After writing over one point two million words of science fiction, Dark Arts is the perfect project to clear my head, work on a few other ideas, and experiment with before I begin Broadcast 8 and Broadcast 9.

Now for a personal update. I can't wait to get the Expendable Few, Broadcast 7 and the Dark Arts novel in front of people. There are other things going on behind the scenes that I can't talk about yet, and I'm anxious to break the silence. In even more general terms, I'm happy with the work I'm doing, even if working to a higher standard than usual has been slowing me down a great deal over the last year. It's been paying off, and I hope everyone sees a big difference when the next books are released.

I'm thankful to all the readers. Your patience should be legendary, and I hope you'll enjoy the books when they're finally ready for you.

RL

The Spinward Fringe Store - Dates & Lineup

The store has taken over half a year to plan. T-Shirt tests have gone awry, and a couple vendors have proven to be downright dodgy.

Meanwhile, contest winners who should have had swag in hand by the end of January have been left to wait... and wait...

After all that I can say with full confidence that the store will be open at the end of June. Prizes will be on their way to the winners in the 4th week. The vendors are set, and the initial products have been decided.

How will the store work? There will be a simple page where anyone can order through Paypal, and inventory will be kept in-house.

I've owned a retail business before and managed another. The biggest difference between what I'm doing here and those experiences is how the store is built. You have spoken, told me what you want, which ideas are terrible, and which you're eager to see become reality.

This is what will be available at the end of June:

Signed copies of Spinward Fringe: Origins.
Samson Crew T-Shirts.
Triton Crew T-Shirts.
Spinward Fringe Booster T-Shirts.
4 Buttons will be released every month for the first 3 months.* (One free with every order)
Military style patches.

Other ideas in development include:
Signed Copies of final edits of each book.
The white scarf.
Fitted T's.
Desk model of the First Light and Triton (this could take a while).
Spinward Fringe: The Spoiler Files DVD / BLU-RAY
The Spinward Fringe Encyclopedia & Role Playing Setting
Bomber Jackets
Spill Proof Mugs
Posters

Everything listed above was requested many times with the exception of the Spoiler Files, which are a collection of ideas that were brought up at one time or another. The prices will also be lower than vendors like Zazzle.

The primary purpose of the store is to provide for the requests of the majority of readers. The secondary purpose of the store is to raise funds for developing the Spinward Fringe Web / TV series, which could take years, but at least this is a start. The tertiary purpose is to develop a prop house.

Now that a lot of the kinks have been worked out, and there's a proper plan, things should actually begin to be fun where the store is concerned. I'm anxious to get things out to prize winners, especially since I hate breaking promises.

If you have any requests for the store, please feel free to share them!

RL

*The buttons will have Minh-Isms, other quotes from the books and TV show campaign messages.

UPDATE - JUNE 2: After reviewing the new legal information about Cafe Press they've become an option again. This comes at the last minute, days before I put in a huge order in with a local T-Shirt printer that would offer standard quality and low selection. After reviewing the options, things have changed for the store, and for the better. The launch will happen on time if not earlier. More on this soon!

Store Will Not Be Ready For The Holidays & Other News

I was honestly hoping to keep things on track while I moved and get all the editing for the final revision of Broadcast 0 done in time, but it wasn't to be. It didn't help that moving was a bit more expensive than expected either.

The only failure here is the impossibility of getting things up and running in time to ship items for the Holiday Season, however. The timeline has slipped into January / February, but the details of the store itself haven't changed. Rushing into things with this would be a mistake, not to mention it would take the focus away from writing. By taking more time to set things up I know I can get things right the first time and keep things easy so it doesn't take much effort to run. I speak from experience, having years invested in retail at the management level and below.

In better news, the editing on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins is complete, and it'll be available for free from Smashwords in the next few days. I'm also awaiting the delivery of product samples from Mongolia (silk manufacturer), and looks like local T-Shirt printers will be able to supply the styles I'm looking for. There are other positive developments, but everything is moving a little slower than expected. Instead of forcing things and rushing for the Holidays, I'm going to let them happen at their own pace and turn my attention to working on Broadcast 7.

How is work on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework going? I'm on the second draft, and I don't think there will be a third. I'm very happy with how things are turning out even though I had to cut two plot lines so I wouldn't still be working on this a year from now. There is a lot of milage left in the Spinward Fringe series, that's more obvious now than ever.

As a side note, I'm almost finished working on an early test image for a 3D rendered version of Spinward Fringe, and I hope to show it to a few long time readers soon. It's heavily stylized but medium detail, so it wouldn't cost a fortune to render scenes in the future - funding permitting.

It looks like 2011 will be a year of writing, fund raising (through the store, mostly), and contact cultivation. I'll be looking for industry contacts to start looking at the logistics of expanding the Spinward Fringe universe into a visual medium. Developing something like this takes years, so the sooner I start the better.

RL

[A special thanks goes out to Jason Black from Plot to Punctuation for his editing services.]

Spacerwares Is Open - Merchandise From The Spinward Fringe Series

make custom gifts at Zazzle

You've probably seen the store listing at the bottom of the blog with outrageously expensive merchandise. It all started when I whacked my favourite coffee mug across the room while turning around and it exploded into a bazillion pieces. 

I had an idea: Use a few graphics to make a custom one. While I was doing that I decided to make a poster out of the cover of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments, since the artwork looked really good on the print edition. Before long I had two products on my brand new Zazzle page.

Why Zazzle? Their prices were competitive and they didn't charge me a fee to have a larger store like some other services. Sadly, all the prices are still way above what I'd expect anyone to pay, but I don't have the funding to order bulk T-Shirts or the shelf space to have 24 coffee mugs fired. I still couldn't resist ordering a coffee mug for myself, and I drink out of it very carefully.

A while ago someone mentioned T-Shirts on the Facebook page and I went shopping for solutions. Again, Zazzle is expensive, but the quality is there, and most other providers charge more or less within a dollar or two. Some day I'll be able to either find a provider who offers things at a decent price or I'll have the cash to order in bulk so you can get these things at a more reasonable price, but for now, the T-Shirts, a mug and a poster are available.

If anyone knows of a better provider (not Cafepress!), feel free to suggest them. Until then, my Samson Crew T-Shirt is on the way and I'm carefully drinking out of my Spinward Fringe Rogue Element Trilogy mug. When I finish writing this book I'll probably go find a few quotes and put them on something, I'm sure Minh has said something Merch-worthy.

In conclusion: There are several shirts and a hoodie in the store. If I didn't match your heart's desire, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments!

RL

[If you're not eager enough to order stuff for these high prices, just wait until November. I'll be putting in a bulk order with a real print company and the T-Shirts will be about half the price from me directly. My target price will be about $20.00 in the US or CAN with shipping.]