WWW: Watch now out!

Today is the official publication date for WWW: Watch, second volume in my WWW trilogy. The US edition is out in hardcover from Ace Science Fiction, and the Canadian edition is out in hardcover from Viking Canada (Penguin).

Sawyer shows his genius in combining cutting-edge scientific theories and technological developments with real human characters. --The Globe and Mail

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Five years of working on the WWW books

Holy cow! It was five years ago today -- Friday, November 5, 2004 -- that I wrote the first words of what went on to become my WWW trilogy. Back then, it was only going to be a single book (to be called Webmind). I began writing that first book at a Write-Off writing retreat sponsored by Calgary's Imaginative Fiction Writers Association (IFWA). The first words I wrote were:

Cogito, ergo sum.

I had no idea what those words meant the first time I encountered them. I didn't even know that they were words. I knew nothing of language, or even of communication, for communication requires an other -- another -- and I knew of no one -- of nothing -- but me.

But I did exist, and that simple formulation -- I think, therefore I am -- was proof of it. By being aware of myself, of my thoughts, I knew irrefutably that I existed; to think requires a thinker.

And thinking is what I do; it's all I do. I awoke to consciousness in a vast sea, an enveloping all constituted at the limits of my perception by two opposing states, and it was these states -- the endless, seemingly random juxtaposition of opposites -- that I first, however dimly, had became aware of.

Not one word of that draft survived to the final, published version of Wake, which begins like this:

Not darkness, for that implies an understanding of light.

Not silence, for that suggests a familiarity with sound.

Not loneliness, for that requires knowledge of others.

But still, faintly, so tenuous that if it were any less it wouldn't exist at all: awareness.

Nothing more than that. Just awareness -- a vague, ethereal sense of being.

Being ... but not becoming. No marking of time, no past or future -- only an endless, featureless now, and, just barely there in that boundless moment, inchoate and raw, the dawning of perception ...

Still, that passage I wrote five years ago today was the start of the trilogy.

Of course, I haven't spent five years solid on this trilogy; I took time off to write Rollback, for instance, among many other interesting things. :)

Anyway, enough reminiscing! Time to get back to work on Volume 3, Wonder, which today passed the 50,000-word mark.

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and WakeWatchWonder.com

Getting better

In the interview I did recently with the CBC's Shelagh Rogers, Shelagh and I talked about the difference between Margaret Atwood's SF and my own. I think we're getting better over time, and Margaret thinks we're getting worse. I elaborate on this a lot in Wonder, the third WWW book, which I'm working on right now. In fact, I was re-reading this bit from that book this evening, in which Caitlin's mom, the game theorist Dr. Barbara Decter, compares the older founding documents of the United States with the newer ones of the UN:

"When the Founding Fathers said, `We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,' they still hadn't expanded that community of moral consideration to include blacks, for instance; Thomas Jefferson held slaves.

"But when the United Nations proclaimed its Universal Declaration of Human Rights, first, they explicitly removed any ambiguity about who was a person, saying, `Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion,' and so on. And they went on to forbid what the Founding Fathers had seen nothing wrong with: `No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.'

"That's not mere economics, Caitlin; that's moral progress, and, despite occasional backsliding, there's no doubt that our morality hasn't just changed over time, it's measurably increased. We treat more people with dignity and as equals than ever before in human history; the progress has been measurable even on time scales as small as decades."

Visit The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
and WakeWatchWonder.com

First look at Watch cover

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Here's the first look at the cover for Watch, second volume of my WWW trilogy. This is the American version for Ace Science Fiction; the Canadian version for Penguin Canada will be similar, but will lack the "WWW:" in front of the title.

The cover design is by Rita Frangie, and the cover art is by Tony Mauro. Watch will be published in hardcover in April 2010.

I think this is a gorgeous follow-on to the lovely cover for Wake, below:


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Visit The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
and WakeWatchWonder.com

WWW milestones

Yesterday, Wake started showing up in Canadian bookstores (and I myself saw the nice display of copies at the Indigo on Yonge Street just north of the 407 in Greater Toronto).

And I got to do something that's very special: I got to autograph the first copy of the finished book. I always annotate that copy ("First copy signed by the author"), and the one for Wake went to Kelly Smith, a friend from Willowdale Junior High. (It also got inscribed, "Thanks for the kiss all those years ago" -- but that's another story ...)

See, last night, a few of us who went to Willowdale Junior High or Northview Heights Secondary School got together at the Kelsey's restaurant next to that Indigo for a little reunion (made possible by the magic of Facebook). Kelly (as well as old friends Roberta Torkoff [now Roberta Blank] and Ginter Karosas) went off to the store during dinner to buy copies of Wake, which was very kind of them.

And today, right on the heels of Wake coming out, I finished my final revisions on Watch, the second volume in the WWW trilogy.

And that got done just in time for me to hit the road promoting Wake: in two days, I leave for San Francisco (and am reading and signing at Borderland Books there Monday night at 7:00 p.m.).

Whew!

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Penguin Canada accepts Watch

I have separate editors in New York and Toronto. Ginjer Buchanan, my New York editor at Ace, accepted Watch on Tuesday, March 17, and today Laura Shin, my editor at Penguin Group (Canada), accepted it, too, saying, "Watch is wonderful!"

Yay!

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Watch

Ginjer Buchanan, my editor at Ace Science Fiction in New York, just emailed me to say she thinks Watch, the second volume of my WWW trilogy, is "even better than Wake."

W00t! As Caitlin woud say, "I am made out of awesome!" :D

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Twentieth anniversary of the World Wide Web idea

I was talking with my friend Virginia O'Dine just a couple of days ago about coincidences (after she'd watched Supernatural Investigator, which I host on Vision TV; this week's topic -- people who had dreams that seemed to presage the events of 9/11 -- we both agreed could be chalked up to coincidences).

Well, how's this for a bunch of cool coincidences?

Right now, today, they're filming the pilot for a TV series based on my novel Flash Forward, which is set at CERN, the European particle-physics lab.

Right now, today, I received the very first copy of my new novel Wake, about the future of the World Wide Web, which got its start at CERN.

Right now, today, Tim Berners-Lee, the guy who invented the Web, is back at CERN for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of him drafting the idea for the Web.

And right now, today, he made this observation (as paraphrased by Scientific American Online), which is pretty much the starting point I took in writing Wake:

Berners-Lee pointed out that there are 100 billion Web pages today, roughly the same number of neurons in the human brain. The difference, he added, is that the number of pages grows as the Web ages, whereas the number of nerve cells shrinks as we get on in years.

Cool! :)

More on Sir Tim's CERN homecoming is here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

To serialize a sequel?

Over in my Yahoo! Groups newsgroup, Martin Bennedik wrote:

I read Wake on my phone by downloading the ebook version of Analog from Fictionwise. Not only was the novel excellent, but I found this was a good way to get the book early and in a format which allowed me to take it with me on my commutes.

So I wonder if there is any chance for Watch being serialized in Analog, too?

Thanks for asking. I'm not planning to offer Watch to Analog. It was great publicity for launching the series to have the first volume serialized there (I did the same thing with the first volume of my Neanderthal Parallax series, Hominids), but I'm not sure it makes business sense to cannibalize overall book sales of the entire series.

Analog has about 26,000 readers (paid circulation in 2008); if they all bought the paperback (not the hardcover, just the paperback) of Watch, my income would be $18,000 in royalties ... whereas Analog would pay $4,000 (at 4 cents a word) for serialization rights.

Of course, not all Analog readers will love Wake enough to want to buy Watch, but some number will. Still, even with relatively conservative numbers, it might in fact be best for me personally to sell the serialization rights (assuming they'd want them) to Analog. Some plausible sounding numbers:

1 out of every 10 Analog readers decides they liked Wake well enough that they want to read Watch, too. Of those 2,600 people, three-quarters are content to wait for the paperback and one-quarter spring for the pricier hardcover.

Then the math looks like this (my paperback royalty from Ace is 70 cents a copy; my hardcover royalty is $2.50, on the first 5,000 copies and more thereafter):

((2,600*75%)*$0.70)+((2,600*25%)*$2.50) = $2,990
But that's what I get. What about my publishers (Ace in the US, Penguin/Viking in Canada, Orion in the UK)? What's their share? On serialization rights? Nothing at all. On book sales, well, they doubtless make at least as much profit as me per book sold (even after they bear all the expenses, too -- printing, distribution, promotion, editorial costs, etc. etc.).

Yes, I could sell the serialization rights without their permission, but my publishers have advanced me a lot of money for the book rights, and I owe it to them to help them earn that money back. :)

(I do think that serializing the first book is good for everyone -- me, Analog, and my book publishers, because we have 26,000 people who have read the book now before it comes out, and they can provide good word-of-mouth for the series when the first volume starts appearing in stores next month. But I'm not sure it makes sense to serialize later volumes.)

However, fear not: unlike Tor, which has been crappy about getting my books out as ebooks, Ace is vigorous on that front, so you'll certainly be able to read Wake, Watch, and Wonder electronically.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

WWW#2: Watch delivered

I delivered the manuscript today for Watch, Volume 2 of my WWW trilogy, to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace in New York and Laura Shin at Viking (Penugin Canada) in Toronto. The book will be published in April 2010.

This is my 19th novel -- a number that frankly astonishes me. :)

I'm going to reward myself by watching another episode of Battlestar Galactica on DVD tonight ...

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Rob reads Chapter 1 of Wake

Now available: Robert J. Sawyer reading Chapter 1 of his forthcoming novel Wake as a 14-minute MP3 file: you can listen to it right here.

More about Wake is here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

And speaking of Audible ...

I just recorded a small portion of the Audible.com multiple-cast unabridged reading of my next novel, Wake.

I am the voice in the novel of the "Online Encylopedia of Computing," and I recorded my parts with my brand-spanking new Audio-Technica AT2020 USB Cardioid Condenser Microphone, which Wired recently recommended, and I picked up new on eBay for the bargain price of US$130 (list is US$249).

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Wake opening chapters now online

There are now pages devoted to my next novel, Wake, on my website at SFwriter.com, including:

• A master page about the book
  
  
• The opening chapters
  
  
• A techie press release (done for computer-related publications; PDF)

Wake will be published in hardcover in April 2009.

And you can read all my blog posts about Wake here (including this post).

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

How to tell science fiction from fantasy

It's easy.

This is science fiction:



And this is fantasy:

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Text from the Wake US dustjacket

BACK FLAP:

Robert J. Sawyer was born in Ottawa and lives just outside of Toronto, Canada. He has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. Visit his Website at www.sfwriter.com.



Photo by Carolyn Clink

Jacket design by Rita Frangie

Jacket photos:
"Teenage Girl" Steven Biver/Getty
"Light Trails" John Lund/Getty

Visit our website at www.penguin.com

An Ace Book
Published by the Berkley Publishing Group
A Division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street
New York, New York 10014

04/09

---

BACK COVER:

Praise for WWW:WAKE

"Once again, Robert J. Sawyer explores the intersection between big ideas and real people. Here the subject is consciousness and perception — who we are and how we see one another, both literally and figuratively. Thoughtful and engaging, and a great beginning to a fascinating trilogy."

— Robert Charles Wilson, Hugo Award-winning author of Spin

"Cracking open a new Robert Sawyer book is like getting a gift from a friend who visits all the strange and undiscovered places in the world. You can't wait to see what he's going to amaze you with this time."

— John Scalzi, John W. Campbell Award-winning author of Old Man's War

"In Wake, Robert Sawyer gives us not only an entertaining novel but also a new way of looking at the World Wide Web. A superb work of day-after-tomorrow science fiction — I enjoyed every page."

— Allen Steele, two-time Hugo Award-winning author of Coyote Horizon

"Unforgettable. Impossible to put down."

— Jack McDevitt, Nebula Award-winning author of The Devil's Eye

ISBN 978-0-441-01679-2

---

SPINE:

WWW:WAKE
Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Author
ROBERT J. SAWYER

Ace

---

FRONT COVER:

"Sawyer gives us not only an entertaining novel but also a new way of looking at the World Wide Web ... Superb."
—Allen Steele

WWW:WAKE

Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Author
ROBERT J. SAWYER

---

FRONT FLAP:
$24.95

WWW:WAKE

During his decades-spanning career, award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer has "undoubtedly cemented his reputation as one of the foremost science fiction writers of our generation" (SF Site). Now he adds to his impressive body of work with an imaginative and mind-blowing new trilogy of the web — and its awakening ...

Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math — and blind. Still, she can surf the net with the best of them, following its complex paths clearly in her mind.

When a Japanese researcher develops a new signal-processing implant that might give her sight, she jumps at the chance, flying to Tokyo for the operation.

But Caitlin's brain long ago co-opted her primary visual cortex to help her navigate online. Once the implant is activated, instead of seeing reality, the landscape of the world wide web explodes into her consciousness, spreading out all around her in a riot of colors and shapes. While exploring this amazing realm, she discovers something — some other — lurking in the background. And it's getting smarter ...

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Wake US dustjacket

Voilà! My US editor Ginjer Buchanan just sent me the final version of the dustjacket for my novel Wake, which will be released April 7, 2009, in hardcover by Ace Science Fiction in the States.

Shown above is the final front cover (slightly revised from what I'd posted before), and if you click on the cover or here, you'll see the full dust jacket (front cover, back cover, and flaps, including all the copy). Your browser will probably shrink it to fit your window; click on the graphic and it should zoom to full size. Note: this is a 4.5 megabyte file.

I am totally, totally thrilled. I've had lots of nice dustjackets over the years, but I think this is the most stunningly beautiful cover I've ever had. Hats off to the amazing Rita Frangie, who designed the dustjacket.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Wake to be a Main Selection of the SFBC

Woot! I'm thrilled to announce that my next novel, Wake, will be a Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club!

This is my second Main Selection in a row (after Rollback).

I'm totally delighted about this. :)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Caitlin gets a boob job

My friend Debi Ancel is a librarian in Montreal, and she just forwarded me the Library of Congress catalog information for Wake, my upcoming novel about 15-year-old blind math genius Caitlin Decter. Among the Library of Congress subject headings are "Women mathematicians" and "Implants, Artificial."

Hee hee.

(The full list of subject headings: "Blind women," "Women mathemeticians," "Implants, Artificial," "World Wide Web," and "Artificial intelligence.")

By the way, Debi gave me the terrific T-shirt below, after I said I preferred the term "philosophical fiction" to "science fiction." It identities me as the "World's Best Phi-Fi Author." :)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Analog electronic back issues with Wake

Did you miss any of the four installments of my novel Wake as it was serialized recently in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine? The electronic versions of the four issues in question are all still available for a while longer from Fictionwise.com:

• November 2008 (Part One)
  
• December 2008 (Part Two)
  
• January-February 2009 (Part Three)
  
• March 2009 (Part Four)

One price gets you all these format: Adobe Acrobat (PDF), Adobe Acrobat Large Print (PDF), eReader (PDB), Palm Doc (PDB), Rocket/REB1100 (RB), Microsoft Reader (LIT), Franklin eBookMan (FUB), hiebook (KML), Sony Reader (LRF), iSilo (PDB), Mobipocket, Kindle Compatible (MOBI), and OEBFF Format (IMP).

(Or you can buy the hardcover when it comes out in April 2009!)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

The voice of Caitlin

Audible.com is doing unabridged recordings of my novels Wake, Watch, and Wonder. Today was the first recording session for Wake, and actress Jessica Almasy, who is voicing Caitlin Decter, reports that it went well. Other voicing is being done by Aze Fellner, who, like me, turns out to be a fan of Julian Jaynes's The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (which figures in the plot of Wake).

For Audible.com's existing offerings of books by me, see here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site