Thursday December 31, 2009
2009: The Year in Hanas
The last day of the year. A bad day for work—where is everyone?—but a good one for taking stock. The 2009 bottom line? My e-books have been downloaded more than 3,000 times this year, half of those downloads coming in the last four months. I’m confident that, with current and new projects, I will distribute 10,000 e-books in 2010, but I’m hoping for 20,000 or more. 3K isn’t a huge number, but if I were a start-up literary magazine, I’d be happy with it. And come to think of it, I guess that’s what I (and a lot of other writers) have become. But that’s just the numbers. Here are the highlights of the, um, content.
“The Arab Bank”A short story set in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival that utilizes Google Maps and Street View. Because of its relationship to a real place and event, I thought it would be fun to serialize the story during the festival, so I released installments—with notifications via email, RSS, Twitter, and Facebook—each day from May 13 to May 24, 2009. Top Novellas
Blogger John Madera asked a bunch of writers to name their favorite novellas. Here’s what I had to say. Interview at Small Stories
An interview about my 2006 e-book collection Single and “The Arab Bank.” “You Are Not Going to Be Famous”
In July, the Post printed this updated version of my Adult Education talk “You Are Not Going to be Famous” in its Sunday op-ed section. You can see the video of the original talk here. “Christian and Me”
A video based on my talk from the October 7, 2009, installment of Adult Education—wherein I consider the respective careers of myself and my astrological twin Christian Slater.Cassingle
My latest e-book, released in November, includes stories that originally appeared in McSweeney’s, Fence, Bridge, and Twelve Stories—plus “The Arab Bank.” Review of Cassingle
In Toronto’s Eye Weekly, Brian Joseph Davis writes, “As for the future of publishing, it won’t entirely look like Hanas’ experiment in free, but it will look more like it than not. At five stories and 33 pages, Cassingle is aptly titled and rather witty. A combination of original works and stories that have appeared in the likes of Fence and McSweeney’s, it is a good introduction to Hanas’s perfectly designed, well-tuned and aerodynamic tales. … No matter the cut, this is writing that speaks American, in all its complexity.”Fictionaut Five
Earlier this month, I answered a few questions about writing (and golf) at Fictionaut.What’s ahead in the new year? I have a few stories making the rounds that will hopefully find homes — plus a couple on blocks in the garage — as I continue to putter my way toward a full-length story collection. In the spring, I’m hoping to serialize a novella-length work, although the technical and creative ambitions are such that I’m scared to say much more about it. In April, I’ll be joining Brian Joseph Davis and Richard Nash for a reading and a chat about digital publishing at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. That’s all I can discern from here. See you … tomorrow.
Posted via email from The Hanex
