At Last, Part One

[filkertom]

The Last Hero On Earth is on the way to the duplicator.

Christ, what a year. I've been trying to get this stupid project out the door since last August. But it's finally finally FINALLY gone. dhstein provided a wonderful cover, huskiebear did a great job on the package, we got bonus tracks, we got superhero fonts, we got action balloons, we got I think 4 point type in the insert.

We got it out the door.

Which means that, in two or three weeks, I'll finally have it back, and can finally start sending your pre-order copies out to those of you who graciously did so.

I apologize -- I really didn't think it would take this long -- and I thank you for your patience. It'll be worth it. :)

Aaaaand...

The reprint of Debasement Tapes came in.

So maybe now I can start making money again.

[off to update TSO]

Comments

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I'm looking forward to having it!

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Yay! Can't wait to hear it. (To be honest, I'd nearly forgotten I'd preordered it...)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Goody! I've been waiting. Can't wait to hear how it came out.

OT, I've gotten the video footage of that puppetshow I told you about in Houston. I'll be mailing it to you in a day or two. Hopefully the skit (and the whole thing) will make you chuckle.

And now you have an idea of the insanity awaiting you in Anthrocon... hehehehe.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

It came out pretty damn great. I used a tool called Spectralive on it, basically an audio enhancer, to add vibrancy and expand the stereo positioning. I also got a better take of Karen singing "Divided Royalties", and nudged a hundred small things. That part of the audio has actually been done since early January. It's been every other darn thing, from helping friends through angst and debacle to doing web work for my dad and including the repairs on the frickin' van, that's really held things up.

[ericcoleman]

Good, I can't find the pre-release version I got from you at Marscon ... and I only heard a little of it on the drive back.

[tfabris.livejournal.com]

Warmest congratulations, Tom.

[lukeski.livejournal.com]

Super-excellent! Did you end up using any of the art I sent you for the liner notes? :D

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

No, there was too much text. But I'm gonna use some of it on the web page, which I'm gonna have revised in the next few days, I hope before PenguiCon.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo! Now the question is, should I keep the pre-release version on my iPod (listed as "TLHOE Classic") when I put the new version on?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

My vote? The new version sounds better, straight-up. I mean, don't nuke those files completely or anything, but... I think the new mix just zings.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Yay! Looking forward to getting "The Last Hero on Earth." The copy that I currently have is great, so I'm really looking forward to getting the final product. :)

[scott644.livejournal.com]

hoo-rah! Gonna hafta buy it next time I see ya!

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

That's great news, but I have one little snag...I'll be done with college by then, and my address as entered will be wrong. Should I email you the address?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

You should indeed.

[codevixen.livejournal.com]

The reprint of Debasement Tapes came in.

So maybe now I can start making money again.

What, my $8 for the download of it the other day wasn't enough money for you? What do you want, a living off of it??

;)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I appreciate it a lot, and you have no idea how much it helps. But I do tend to sell that one (as well as And They Say I've Got Talent and CD-Rs of Homecoming) to new folks at concerts.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

So, what's your next project? When can I pre-order that?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

A few things in the fire right now, at least one of which should be downloadable by MarCon if everything goes right (but don't quote me on it till you see it). The next two biggies are Girl Genius: The Musical, which I still have to finish writing and then get approved by Phil & Kaja Foglio, and Sounds Familiar, both of which I swear to Cthulhu I'm gonna try and have done by the end of the year.

I have a standard policy: No pre-orders until it's pretty much done and downloadable. I don't feel good about taking your money for a promise; I want you to have something, right then. The only reason the downloadable mix for The Last Hero On Earth is different from the final album is that I just couldn't leave it alone. And I didn't upload the new mix specifically because that woulda kinda shafted the people who bought it first: You've all got the same audio now, and you'll all get the new audio when I send out the CDs.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

A few friends and I are really looking forward to Girl Genius, The Musical. I hope to have a job by then so I can buy a few CDs of that for others. Speaking of downloadables, I really liked your Sins of Commission, lots of fun imagry with that one. And your live recordings were the next best thing to being there, glad you put those up for sale.

I can understand your policy on pre-orders, and appreciate it. Just wanted to know how long I've got to set aside some money for when you announce it. And I can emphasize with how hard it is to leave things alone. Every time I print out one of my short stories for a friend I see something to change, a rewording here, new dialogue there, condense a half page of rambling to a small paragraph of sharp wit, and expand a small paragraph that didn't make sense to a page and a half of new scene. I could see where this would be even more tempting with music. Every time you hear it (before you finally release it) you could be thinking "Should that go up there, or down as a lead in to the next part? Should I use brass instruments here or bagpipes? Should this be a ballad or reggae?"

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I'm trying hard to say this in a way that's not about me, and that I don't think will offend you, because it would be easy to take the wrong way.

I'm relieved to hear it's done. I was really getting worried that you were becoming too much of a perfectionist. The hardest part of any computer media production is probably knowing when to stop, because there's always something you could try differently or that you could maybe get just a tiny bit better. It takes a real effort to make yourself believe it's good enough. But (assuming the generic 'you' actually has artistic integrity), I think it's necessary to call it done as soon as you can possibly force yourself to, at least if it's supposed to be a money making proposition.

Since it sounds like you won't have these in hand for Kittencon, I guess I won't get mine until Duck. Are you going to be there, so I can give all the money to you?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I will indeed be there, Phil -- I'm the main attraction Saturday night, actually. :) And I'll burn off a copy of the disk to hold you until I get the real one in, which I think and hope I will have by ToBeContinued and which (thank the gods!) I will actually have by MarCon.

Re: the perfectionist thing -- I did hear about that from a couple of very close friends, and there's truth to it, but honestly that wasn't the real problem in this case. The real problem was just a series of Real Life Stuff hitting first me, then Les (who was working on the packaging). A day here, three days there, a week here, and suddenly it's April. From now on, I have to be a bit more careful about certain things, both in getting together an album and RLS, and I hope that I can be.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

By "are you going to be there", I meant Duck -- of course you'll be at Kittencon, but I assumed the CD wouldn't be back from the duplicator. Duck is the next con I expect to get to; I would like to be at both 2BC and Marcon but I won't be there unless either a whole lot of money or the opportunity to go for much less than I expect it to cost fall into my lap.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I will also be at Duck. :)

[sylverwolfe.livejournal.com]

*hugs* your work is always worth the wait, dear. tho your fans may be climbing the walls by the time we get the next new shiny, we are ALWAYS pleased.
i think kane and i will pick up our copy at marcon and not have to fiddle with shipping and the associated headaches.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the hugs, and it'll be a delight to see you at MarCon. Did you get one of the (jayzus keeryste) preview copies from last year?

[sylverwolfe.livejournal.com]

indeed we did. it's tucked safely on kane's desk, safe (in theory) from the predations of his cat. santiago considers anything in his house as a toy, especially if it makes the humans jump up and down when he plays with it.
and lexi hugs are available any time. you know that. :-)
*hugs*