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Tag: the sleep of reason
Vote early, vote late! But vote!
Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade eligible for Aurora Award
Image courtesy of Rachel A. Rosen As is only right and proper, Rachel A. Rosen’s debut novel, Cascade, is eligible in the Best Novel category for Canada’s premiere English-language science fiction and fantasy awards, the Auroras (https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/nomination/).
To have a chance to be added to the final Aurora Awards ballot, a work must get at least five nominations, and only members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) are eligible to vote. The price of that franchise is a pretty affordable $10.00 for an annual membership, and you must be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant in order to join.
If you loved Cascade, or even if you’re just a fan of Canadian SF&F, that seems a small price to pay to support the work creators you like. Membership information is here: https://www.csffa.ca/become-a-member/. CSFFA membership allows you to:
- nominate your favourite works in any or all of the categories;
- download e-versions of almost all of the finalist works for free with our voter package; and
- vote for the for the awards themselves.
To celebrate (and yes, to improve Rachel’s chances, I won’t lie), we’ve reduced the price on all versions of Cascade. DRM-free ebooks in all formats are now only $2.00, the paperback is marked down to $15.00, and the hardcover is only $26.00. A little self-serving, maybe, but a great deal for you if you have not yet had the pleasure of reading what I really do think was the best Canadian SF novel of 2022. You can buy all of our books here.
Besides the upcoming Aurora Awards, the BumblePuppy Press will have more news about Cascade (audiobook!), the upcoming novel Reprise, and a new version of A.A. Milne’s classic children’s book, which we will be calling The
InclusiveWoke Winnie-the-Pooh. So please come back soon or, better yet, subscribe to our newsletter!
Geoff
The joy of (sending) cash
Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade earns out advance
Why yes, that is a hard-cover version of Cascade. Available exclusively in our shop for only $25.00! It’s not often one grins while pressing Send on an e-transfer, but this was one of those times. (Not often?!? Come to think of it, I can’t remember ever feeling delighted about paying money for anything.)
But it was with genuine pleasure that I found myself sending Rachel A. Rosen her first royalty payment for her debut novel, Cascade, amounting to more than 60% of her advance! (There was also a second, much smaller cheque, for sales of her related chapbook, So Human As I Am.)
Yes, I think the exclamation point is warranted. While not quite a bestseller, for the publisher behind a very small press, I consider this a real victory. And I’m confident it won’t be the last.* * *
Not only do we have four really good books currently available for sale now, but this year we have plans for at least another four books, two of them slated for the spring.
Next week we will formally launch a Kickstarter campaign for, and reveal the cover of, Zilla Novikov’s first novel, the very twisted, and very funny, science fiction romance, Reprise, and shortly after that, our Inclusive version of A.A. Milne’s children’s classic, Winnie-the-Pooh.
If you want to avoid the mysterious algorithms of social media, please join our mailing list (link below). We won’t sell your info to anyone else, and you’ll then be the first to know when we have actual news.
Our Director of Promotions and Publicity is as happy about the new year as I am. I think that’s it for the moment. I hope the new year is starting off as well for you as it is for us!
Geoff
Cascade Update: Kickstarter success and Amazon pre-sale
Also: Spello report
Please click here or on the image above to reserve your copy of Cascade today! Launching a novel, while raising a child and negotiating the purchase of rights to other books (news on that coming soon!), can be a stressful business, but it sure has its rewards, too — and sometimes, provides some unexpected laughter.
First of all, I am delighted to tell you that our Kickstarter campaign for Rachel A. Rosen’s wonderful debut novel, Cascade, is already a great success — 218% funded, with 24 days still to go! That means there is plenty of time for you to get on the bandwagon and, depending on the reward tier you choose.
There is still time to kick it up onto the bandwagon! Second, if you are not comfortable using Kickstarter, Cascade is now available for pre-order at Amazon. Click here for a “universal” link or copy https://books2read.com/u/bp8EqJ and paste it into your browser to find it on your country’s Amazon store. For reasons so far known only to Amazon, pre-orders are currently only available for the Kindle edition, not the paperback.
Finally, the laughter. Amazon very helpfully suggested some corrections to the uploaded manuscript. Fifteen, to be exact. Can you find the one that was an actual mistake?
Doomscrolling, Fuckening, or pants-shittingly? What’s your favourite? 
Sharklust or shriekgrass? Rachel A. Rosen has a way with neologisms! 
Unsoup? Snitted? Thwick? How can you not pre-order, or support our Kickstarter now? So, that’s where we’re at for now. But please consider subscribing to our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out on news from The BumblePuppy Press!
Thanks and looking forward,
Geoffrey Dow, publisher
Tentacle Time: A tale of three covers
If human thought is a growth, like all other growths, its logic is without foundation of its own, and is only the adjusting constructiveness of all other growing things. A tree can not find out, as it were, how to blossom, until comes blossom-time. A social growth cannot find out the use of steam engines, until comes steam-engine-time. — Charles Fort
These things are sent to entertain us. — Carl DowBack in October of 2021, about a month after we announced that BPPress had bought the rights to publish Rachel A. Rosen’s brilliant debut novel, Cascade, Rachel mentioned to me that she designs book covers in her so-called spare time and would I like to see a concept she had for Cascade.
Well. What would you say? Of course I wanted to see it! And I think she sent me one the very same day.
And then, after a very little back-and-forthing, she sent me a design that knocked my proverbial socks not just off, but into the house across the street.
Needless to say, I was thrilled. The design was simple but eye-catching, the colours bold, and together the image conveyed a sense of place and of strangeness. How cold this not get people to take a closer look and sample the words behind the cover?
With all kinds of other work to do, what a relief it was to know we didn’t need to worry about the cover!
Or so we thought …
At this point I don’t remember if it was weeks later, or only days (and I’m not willing to dig into the archives to find out), Rachel sent me the following note and attached photo:
ETA: Fuckdammit. New concept time.
Fuckdamnit indeed … Naturally, my first instinct was to cry foul. Surely, China Miéville‘s publisher must (somehow) have stolen Rachel’s work and adapted it for themselves! (Rachel was not so upset. She thought Kraken‘s cover was a good one, and she’s been a fan of China’s for years.)
Of course, Rachel’s cover had existed for only a few weeks and it didn’t take much checking for me to learn that the Miéville cover had been around since at least 2011.
Harm, maybe, but no foul; just a coincidence. An irritating and a kind of hard to believe coincidence, but a coincidence nevertheless. To paraphrase Charles Fort, the early 21st century seems to be tentacle time.
Of course, we could still have used Rachel’s cover despite the similarities, but appearances wouldn’t have been flattering. Since they published first, it would have looked as if we had stolen the concept, no matter what the truth was.
Thank goodness, Rachel A. Rosen is not easily cowed!
So, without (as they say) further ado, may I proudly present the cover to The BumblePuppy Press’ next release: Cascade, Book 1 of The Sleep of Reason!
Next time: We’ll talk pre-orders and our Kickstarter campaign!
Geoffrey Dow
Publisher
April 1, 2022
