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!).
Today, March 19, is the anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’s epic BLEAK HOUSE, the brilliant novel that of course is the subject of this entire blog for the last four+ years.
Published in 1853, I’ve learned from Compulsive Historian and legendary Disney animator Tom Sito (this is a Facebook link) that BLEAK HOUSE was the very first novel to mention dinosaurs (on the first page!)
It is strictly a happy coincidence that I chose to have these beautiful T-shirts printed with my linoleum cut portrait of “The Inimitable”, in fact I just picked them up from the screen printer yesterday.
They’re available in S, M, L, and XL. Wear one and people will instantly know how smart you are! They are available directly from me for the great price of $25.95 + $7.50 shipping, for a total of $33.45.
I can accept checks, money orders, Venmo, or, if you prefer PayPal, I can send an invoice so they don’t take a percentage. I have Square on my phone and can probably accept money that way. Email me with your preference at the link below.
There’s a limited supply, but if there’s a demand I can always print more.
Email me at dickens@mooneyart.com for questions or to place an order, and thanks once again for stopping by!
When I was prepping my last blog post about my London adventures, I was a little leery of posting (or announcing) a 20-minute video because I thought most folks would just click away from it! Although it was included in my previous post, it was at the very bottom and I soft-pedaled it in my email. After some time to think about it, though, I decided that it was worth sharing and watching in all its glory.
There were two folks shooting video of my presentation, and although the one that live-streamed on FB had some technical problems for the first two minutes, I was able to cut the two versions together so well that it’s like I was using a two-camera setup.
My full presentation at Dickens Day 2025 thanks to Jeremy Parrott and Warren Weiss
I had asked Jeremy Parrott to help with the live stream. He had some trouble switching the cameras, understandable since I literally threw my phone at him as I rushed to the stage!
Afterwards Warren Weiss, another attendee, came up and said he had shot my whole presentation, and once he emailed me his take, cutting them together was amazingly smooth.
Designing an e-book with Amazon
Moving forward, I’m working with Amazon to design an e-book of BLEAK HOUSE, which is a tricky process since it’s key that the illustrations appear adjacent to the proper text. The book is 68 chapters, so early on I suggested that they send small sections at a time.
Working in sections, we’ve gone through, first, chapters 1-20, and then chapters 21 through 39. Their designer is simply copy-pasting the text from my original pdf of the text version, so the actual proofreading is minimal, but lots of errors creep in at line breaks and paragraph breaks, especially in long sections of dialogue. I am essentially reading paragraph break to paragraph break, onerous enough but it goes quickly.
I opted for a package of services in addition to the e-book, though I’m still waiting to hear a clear list of what that involves. I do know that they’ll be producing a short promotional video, but where that will appear is still a question; and the e-book will get listed on other platforms, but exactly where is unclear.
I’m not too worried about it, as getting the book laid out properly is the main task we’re working on. The folks as KDP have been great to work with so I have hopes for it all.
Moving forward
I’ve decided that the e-book package is the last “big” money I’ll be spending on this project. Once the weather gets nicer I plan on approaching more bookstores in the area about doing linoleum-printing demonstrations, which as it turns out is pretty popular!
I’ve found that the main issue with talking to bookstores is that they need to know that my book is available for them to order through their standard channels. I think I’ve solved that problem, and I will find out once I start getting out and asking at individual stores.
The B&N store on 71st St. in Tulsa was kind enough to allow me to hold my second book signing/lino printing demonstration on Saturday, Sept. 11 and it went just fine!
Several friends showed up and I even snagged a couple of new fans among the passing customers. Special big thanks to Vicki’s longtime friend Marty Sikes for handling the camera duties on the spur of the moment.
Things always appear easier before you actually do them. It appeared that using the “Expanded Distribution” option for a book published on Amazon would make BLEAK HOUSE more widely available, and it did, sort of.
I’ve been operating under the belief that I could do book signings in Barnes & Noble stores. There are two in Tulsa, and of course there are other, smaller bookstores in most of the bigger small towns in the region. As it turns out, I could indeed have book signings in these B&N stores, as long as I was in the correct distribution channels that would allow these stores to order my book. If they can’t get the book on their shelves, there’s no reason for them to host the event. No matter how nicely you ask, there’s no way around this logic.
Which leads to the obvious question: WHAT are “correct distribution channels”?
I did my first book signing on Saturday May 3, and Katie Varner the owner at The Same Page bookstore, was nice enough (and tech-y enough!) to live stream it on Facebook. So I have a 33-minute video that, well, I found pretty hard to watch, so it took me awhile to trim it down to about eight minutes. It’s posted after the continuation below.
Now I’ve set my sights on expanding to bigger venues, and top of the list is Barnes & Noble, which has two stores in Tulsa. I visited both stores yesterday and the folks there couldn’t be nicer, but I found some small complications with the process as I imagined it.
Yes, it seemed like a good idea. It’s been a few years since I’ve advertised on FB, and though the process was a bit multi-layered, I got through it and managed to run an ad. It didn’t help!
But BLEAK HOUSE is a different project, and it was more about getting the word out a little wider than it was about making sales. I decided I could spend $91 on running this ad for a couple of weeks, fine-tuning audiences interests, geographical area, and other parameters.
Well folks, I first want to thank you for stopping by to read my posts here. It’s been a labor of love even when it’s a struggle because this book and this project are something I believe in. I don’t think I would have stuck to all this if it weren’t!
So I would like to announce the following: BLEAK HOUSE, by Charles Dickens and illustrated with 40 new linoleum prints by Gerry Mooney, is now available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTG8DLCJ . Paperback, 650 pages, $30. I’m not planning an e-book edition.
