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Monday, February 04, 2008

Numbers and Lists...and more Art!

I can't post often enough about my extraordinary readers. My publisher sent me word today that not one, but two of my books hit the Young Adult Bestseller List for February (December sales figures, actually). The Door Within is at #7, and Isle of Swords is at #8 on CBA's Young Adult Bestseller list. So again, thank you to my readers--and not just for reading, but SO MANY of you have gone out of your way to steer others toward my books.

To quote one of my favorite Tolkien lines: You are "like the falling of small stones that starts and avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I feel the rumblings." You are making a difference, readers, and I will never be able to thank you enough.

Later today, my agent shot me an email with some very interesting statistics. I can't share them specifically, but in general terms, my books are selling nearly as well in ABA (Secular Bookstores) as they are in the CBA (Christian Bookstores). And that's very good news. I wanted my stories to be enjoyed by Christians and those outside of the faith as well. I always wanted my books to cross-over from Christian shelves into mainstream. And so far, it seems like that is happening. God is making things happen. And my readers are a spectacular part of it all.


Another SUH--WEET piece of Fan Art. This one from regular DW Blogger, Josh C. He told me he hadn't seen any fan art for Isle of Swords, so he drew up this fine Man-o-war. Nice, eh?


Oh...and still no news about the movie rights. {sigh} B-) I think the preceding smiley looks like Batman with a great big grin. Maybe it's just me.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

That's cool that your books can keep hitting the lists many months after they've been released.

The Writer said...

Ooh. That's cool.

~Just*Flinn~ said...

Awesome! I'm glad to hear it! And sweet fan art! I couldn't draw a ship that well to save my life! Bravo!

Shane Deal said...

Sweet!!!!

One of my friends has my copies of my Door Within books... Haven't heard back from them on whether they liked them or not...

Nice ship!

-Shane

everlastingscribe said...

Well, that's cos they really are fantastic. Not that I'm biased or anything. Noooooo. All ready have people m'lord happy that you are going to FINALLY have a signing in the "little" store. I think the general comments have been along the lines of "It's about ruddy time." *A*hem. ;) Lovely Man-Of-War, and Josh my friend you definitely have some mad skills.

Anonymous said...

Coolness! ^.^

WOW, truly amazing ship! Really great detail and everything is perfectly proportionate too, someone is very talented! I tried to draw a ship once...it didn't look like a ship lol XD

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for posting my ship, Mr. B! That's awesome that you're a bestseller! Sweet! B-)

Anonymous said...

Nice job, Josh C! Great shading! Well, The Door Within and the Isle of Swords have always been a hit in my book. Keep up the good work, Mr. Batson! May your pen be sharp for many years to come!

Anonymous said...

Wow! You certainly have some artistic fans, Mr. B! :D

Anonymous said...

"And about The Hobbit movies: I know I risk offending some purists, but seriously, I don't care what they do to make it two movies: Aragorn subplot? The White Council goes after the Necromancer? Hunting Gollum? Bring it on! Bring it all on. PJ and the crew could make ten movies and I'd see them all."

Okay I totally agree with you Mr. B, if PJ is at the helm. BUT PJ might not be directing the Hobbit. Some guy called Guillermo del Toro (anybody know what he's done before?) could be taking up the helm this time. He's not comfirmed yet, but as soon as the writers strike is over who knows!

It has some stuff over at www.onering.net about him. Also a bloopers video, very funny! You may have to go to a previous page of posts to see it though.

Anonymous said...

Oh and I would skip from 1:00 to 1:28. It's a part when Pipin and Merry are in their trailers. Trust me you won't miss much. It's rather gross. :/ The rest of it is funny though.

Anonymous said...

sarm:
On The Hobbit, my sister's CCM magazine had a small snippet about it, here's what it said:

"After some legal wrangling, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth as an Executive Producer of two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute the two films, to be shot simultaneously. At press time, no word yet who will direct."

Anonymous said...

Hum interesting I'm glad that he's doing something. I hadn't heard anything about PJ and was worried he was completly hands off.

~Just*Flinn~ said...

I'm just glad Peter will be doing something in it. I was afraid they wouldn't let him do it at all, and if that was the case, I didn't think it'd be worth going to see. I'll have to check out the bloopers!

~Just*Flinn~ said...

Well, I just tried the watch the bloopers, but the video isn't available anymore. ;0( Oh well.

Anonymous said...

Thar be one incredible looking ship *cough* That's an awesome ship.

Araken said...

I like the ship. Yeah, just thought I'd say that.

The Writer said...

Guillermo del Toro... let's see... (racking the files in my brain)... I think he was the guy who directed Pan's Labyrinth. It's a fantasy that won lots of awards, so The Hobbit is not totally unfamiliar territory with him.

~Just*Flinn~ said...

I still love Peter Jackson.

Anonymous said...

What?! Not avalible? I just watched it again today.

Anonymous said...

Flinn if you're still online. It was a youtube video so you might be able to find it there.

Anonymous said...

Awesome picture!