In the Land of the Babblers

[Cypress]

1. What is this about?

2. Are you planning on making it a complete book?

[Glenn]

Since Mark (i.e., Zomp), isn't here at the moment, I'll tell you what I know in the meantime.

1. What is this about?

I'll cite Mark's own description, from his page The Secret History of Verduria:

The second novel was written not long after this; it's called In the Land of Babblers. It's set in the year 297, and concerns a young courtier named Beretos, who is sent to be the Cuzeian Resident in a miserable little Cadhinorian barony on the edge of the Plain that happens to guard the only pass through the Ctelm Mountains against the ktuvoks. The Cadhinorians are basically barbarians at this time, and Beretos finds it hard to be accepted even as a warrior, much less a help against the demons.

Some tidbits of further information on Babblers can be found on the Secret History page, which includes a short excerpt, in the form of a Cuzeian legend; in the Historical Atlas of Erelae, under the year 287, which also summarizes the story; in the Cuezi grammar, which includes a "translated" excerpt from Babblers at the end; in the page on Cuezian monotheism from the section Belief Systems of Almea (which has a few brief comments); and in several threads here on the ZBB, primarily in the Almea forum.

2. Are you planning on making it a complete book?

As Mark's description in the Secret History implies, Babblers already exists as a completed (but as yet unpublished) novel. Mark sent it to a number of publishers at the time it was first written, and as he's said here on the board, at the moment he's seeking once more to get it published. There are already a number of us here who will be happy on the day that In the Land of Babblers appears at the local bookstore.

p@,
Glenn

[Shm Jay]

I have influence with the Oklahoma City library, so if it gets published, at least one library is likely to get it.

[JT_the_Ninja]

he might publish it over cafepress.com, though the number of zbbers with credit cards (of which I am not a member) is very small.

[zompist]

he might publish it over cafepress.com, though the number of zbbers with credit cards (of which I am not a member) is very small.

Interesting idea, but it won't fit on one shirt.

[JT_the_Ninja]

They allow for printing of books. As I read it, all you have to do is upload a .pdf file of the book, plus probably cover art, etc.

[Xephyr]

he might publish it over cafepress.com, though the number of zbbers with credit cards (of which I am not a member) is very small.

I just use my mother's credit card and reimburse her in cash.

[Glenn]

he might publish it over cafepress.com, though the number of zbbers with credit cards (of which I am not a member) is very small.

I just use my mother's credit card and reimburse her in cash.

My main credit card is my bank's Cash & Charge card, which acts essentially as an ATM and debit card--if I use it as a credit card to charge for something (online or otherwise), the money is removed from my account as soon as the purchase clears.

This actually works quite well for everything but extremely large purchases (like my car), because I don't like to pile up debt; I prefer to spend only what money I have already, and for it to be subtracted from my account as quickly as possible, to avoid confusion. Using the card in this fashion also gives me an excellent credit rating almost as a matter of course.

While JT's idea of cafepress.com is a valid one, I suspect that Mark might still be better off in the long run if Babblers is published by an established publishing company, both in terms of prospective sales and (alas) authorial "respectability". (Jeff earlier mentioned Tor Books as an example; they're a well-known fantasy/SF publishing line.) And I'd like to see Mark's books (and Jeff's!) in the bookstores someday...

p@,
Glenn