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Oct. 31st, 2005 09:43 pmSince tomorrow is a holiday here in Spain, everyone I tried to reach today wasn't at work, since they'd gone away for an extended weekend. (What's called a puente ("bridge") here, when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday because it leaps from the weekend to the holiday.)
Next week, at least in Madrid, there's another holiday, but it falls on a Wednesday, so at least people will only be out of the office on that day.
Next month, the 6th and 8th of December are both holidays and fall on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, resulting in what's called an Aqueduct, since many people just take the whole week off.
Sigh.
It's a wonder, sometimes, that anything ever gets done.
Much of my frustration is not just that people are not at work but that I am trying to coordinate the launches for the multiple books that are coming out in November, to make sure they don't conflict with each other and so on.
So many publishers seem content to just print the books and let them wither on the vine, as it were. Yes, in Spain they usually print the book and then star the publicity process, but for instance, one of the books in question is a Christmas title; most magazines have already put their December issues to bed by now, so it's too late to get publicity for it.
And even the non Christmas-themed kidzbooks, I've been trying to do advance publicity (sending the covers and some info on them) to magazines to recommend them as Holiday Gifts in their December issues.
And while the publishers are not exactly thwarting my efforts, they're not helping much (for instance, I still don't have the prices or ISBNs of some of the titles, which have already been set weeks ago when the books went off to the printers since they're printed on and in each copy).
It's disappointing.
Especially when it happens book after book (from many different publishers).
And when I have contacts built over the last umpteen titles I've published, which publishers don't take advantage of.
Sigh. C'est la vie, I know. Must just try and focus on my gazillion deadlines of things I need to get done instead and try and get more writing done. (I did manage to do a draft of a kidzbook this weekend, although it's a bit... bland, I'm afraid.)
Next week, at least in Madrid, there's another holiday, but it falls on a Wednesday, so at least people will only be out of the office on that day.
Next month, the 6th and 8th of December are both holidays and fall on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, resulting in what's called an Aqueduct, since many people just take the whole week off.
Sigh.
It's a wonder, sometimes, that anything ever gets done.
Much of my frustration is not just that people are not at work but that I am trying to coordinate the launches for the multiple books that are coming out in November, to make sure they don't conflict with each other and so on.
So many publishers seem content to just print the books and let them wither on the vine, as it were. Yes, in Spain they usually print the book and then star the publicity process, but for instance, one of the books in question is a Christmas title; most magazines have already put their December issues to bed by now, so it's too late to get publicity for it.
And even the non Christmas-themed kidzbooks, I've been trying to do advance publicity (sending the covers and some info on them) to magazines to recommend them as Holiday Gifts in their December issues.
And while the publishers are not exactly thwarting my efforts, they're not helping much (for instance, I still don't have the prices or ISBNs of some of the titles, which have already been set weeks ago when the books went off to the printers since they're printed on and in each copy).
It's disappointing.
Especially when it happens book after book (from many different publishers).
And when I have contacts built over the last umpteen titles I've published, which publishers don't take advantage of.
Sigh. C'est la vie, I know. Must just try and focus on my gazillion deadlines of things I need to get done instead and try and get more writing done. (I did manage to do a draft of a kidzbook this weekend, although it's a bit... bland, I'm afraid.)
