Amazon's got two of my books on sale right now -- Fanny Hill and Conjure Cookbook!
As to my other other translation project, I'm thinking I won't apply for that grant this year. The odds I'll get chosen look more and more slim the more research I do, and despite people's insistence "What have you got to lose?" the answer to that is $25+ in photocopies and shipping charges, not to mention the actual hassle of writing the paperwork out and getting it copied and shipped. This, however, leads to the problem of what then I can do to turn a penny off the project -- the John Dryden book was probably about 1/8th the length and didn't require me to translate the whole thing from a dead language like the Beaumarchais. It's hard to stay motivated when you know it'll probably never make a penny (so far Dryden has sold 1 copy, I think to a friend, and he's probably similarly well-known -- so it's a good indication how well Beaumarchais can hope to sell.)
The big problem is 300 year old plays are just impossible to promote!
As to my other other translation project, I'm thinking I won't apply for that grant this year. The odds I'll get chosen look more and more slim the more research I do, and despite people's insistence "What have you got to lose?" the answer to that is $25+ in photocopies and shipping charges, not to mention the actual hassle of writing the paperwork out and getting it copied and shipped. This, however, leads to the problem of what then I can do to turn a penny off the project -- the John Dryden book was probably about 1/8th the length and didn't require me to translate the whole thing from a dead language like the Beaumarchais. It's hard to stay motivated when you know it'll probably never make a penny (so far Dryden has sold 1 copy, I think to a friend, and he's probably similarly well-known -- so it's a good indication how well Beaumarchais can hope to sell.)
The big problem is 300 year old plays are just impossible to promote!
grayness:
Well, outside of time travel, or some other unusual "hook"... 