I’m sure this title sounds like the place I commute to for work every day, but it is in fact a very real thing!
The University of California, Santa Cruz, has this week-long annual event called The Dickens Universe that I heard about, and it sounds like a fun, immersive adventure, chock-a-block with Victorian events, games, dances, and general Dickensian foofaraw.
Initially I approached them to ask about being a speaker there, in case they hadn’t filled out their schedule. I had so much fun in London last October at Dickens Day that I thought it would be like that only a whole lot better (or longer anyway!).
Unfortunately they had no speaking slots left. Just going to attend, or to be a vendor, wasn’t really appealing, mainly because admission is steep and I don’t have much money to throw at events like this. The economics of self-publishing makes selling books at retail impractical.
They put me in touch with a bookseller who will have a booth there. I approached her about carrying my edition of BLEAK HOUSE and she immediately bought six copies so that was a win.
Anyway a few weeks went by and I didn’t think much more about it, when I guess the organizers heard about my illustrated edition of this truly best of all Dickens’s novels, and they offered to comp my attendance at The Dickens Universe if I would I be interested in teaching a week-long linoleum printing class!
I thought long and hard for about a nanosecond (and I may have neglected to mention that this year, the entire weeklong event would be centered on, of all things, Dickens’s epic BLEAK HOUSE) and said holy heck yes!
So the last week of July (the 26th through Aug.1) I will be in Santa Cruz acting like an expert. In addition to teaching the class, I will have a vendor’s table to sell prints and t-shirts, and I’ve asked Kindle Direct to issue a hard cover edition of my BLEAK HOUSE. The books, of course, will be handled by the bookseller, who hopefully will be ordering more copies of both paperback and hard cover editions.
I’ve been playing with some t-shirt designs and frankly I’m sort of on the fence about adding “Dickens Universe” branding, since that will limit the saleability after the event. I’ve comped up some dummies to evaluate. See what you think:
I won’t be printing all of these, but I have to decide what makes more sense. Of the nine designs, six have “DU” branding on them. Folks on Facebook didn’t like the acid-green tees very much! Drop me a line or leave a comment, let me know which you like.
The “DU” branded ones will probably be more popular there, and it will be a whole week, so I’m feeling optimistic about sales.
In other news, I’m still working on getting my e-book finalized with Kindle Direct. I can’t say how many times I’ve had to proof this monster. While the print edition runs 650 pages, the e-book runs over 1,000! Still working out the final bugs.
Once again thanks for reading. I’ll be posting more about Santa Cruz soon. Drop me a line if you wish at dickens@mooneyart.com.
