Monday, November 7, 2016

Sponsor Letter, November 7th 2016

Hi All,

Well here we go, we're into November and into the chute leading up to the Holidays.  I quite like this time of year but it is busy, busy, busy.  This month is also notable in that it's the beginning of our 20th year in business.  I opened the shop on November 3rd, 1997.  As you can imagine, I've got a few plans for our 20th anniversary at the end of next year and, of course, some special stuff in mind for you all particularly.  But, it's nothing I want to talk about yet though I will give you a hint -- I think that there are going to be some book collectors who will be sad in the latter part of next year that they are not sponsors.

All those plans are contingent on getting 300 sponsors next year, but I'm feeling pretty good about that.  We've over 650 for this year so far and I don't expect that will drop by more than 50% next year.  Just like last year, we'll be opening up pre-payments for existing sponsors sometime in December and then well start charging credit cards and accepting new sponsors on January 1st.  I'll have all the details about that in the next sponsor note but you can expect that it will work much the same as it did this year.

If you can make it to the sponsor social next Saturday, November the 12th, please do.  This year we're not doing a public anniversary party but I think we'll be whooping it up a bit at the social. We're also going to have two guests from out of town.  Chris Roberson has written a huge range of stuff and right now is mostly working on comics.  After a stint writing for DC's Superman comic he went on to create iZOMBIE (the TV show based on that comic is now in its third season on The CW).  Nowadays he writes Hellboy with Mike Mignola, when he's not writing novels.  Also visiting will be Rani Graff.  Rani started and runs Graff Publishing, which is the second largest publisher of SF and fantasy in Israel and has introduced more great authors to that country than I can count.  Chris and Rani are two of my favorite people in our business and it's going to be great to have them hanging out at the party.

Regarding sponsor socials and the upcoming year, I have a question for you.  This year we scheduled the socials to alternate between Thursdays and Saturdays.  After talking with some folks, I'm not sure that is a good pattern, but I want to hear from you.  Should we keep up that alternation, or should we just have all the socials in 2017 on Saturday evenings?

I think that's it for now.  Have a great month and please enjoy your Thanksgiving, whether it be turkey with all the trimmings or Chinese take-out.  I've had both and, I've got to say, I sorta prefer the Chinese take-out.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

All Best,
Alan

The Yeager Version
1) BOOKED UP Mary Robinette Kowal's Whiskey Tasting will be on Friday, November 11th, at 8 pm.  As expected this event filled up very quickly and, at this point, there are no spaces left (along with a full wait-list).

2) Sponsor Social.  Our next Sponsor Social (and last one of 2016) will be Saturday, the 12th of November, from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm.  As always, you're welcome to bring a guest, and RSVPs are appreciated but not required.  This quarter we'll have tarot readings, wine tasting, and a special guest DJ.

3) We'll be touring the offices of the Long Now Foundation at Fort Mason Center (2 Marina Blvd. Fort Mason Center Bldg. A San Francisco, CA 94123) on Monday, December 12th at 7:00 pm.  You're welcome to bring a guest but please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com.

4) Bringing in the new year, we'll take a tour of the Speakeasy Brewery on Saturday, January 14th at 2:15 pm.  There will be a small charge for the tour and guests are welcome.

5) The first sponsor social of 2017 will be on Saturday, February 11th from 7 pm to 11 pm.

Jude, Scott and I are in the process of setting the sponsor event schedule for 2017 and we've got some fun stuff ahead for you.  Likely events are a "Buffy: The Musical" sing-along, a tour of the SF Center for the Book, rollerskating at The Church of Eight Wheels, and much more.

The Wright Brothers Version
1) BOOKED UP Mary Robinette Kowal's Whiskey Tasting will be on Friday, November 11th, at 8 pm.  The cost for this event will be $25 per attendee, to cover the Scotch.  As expected this event filled up very quickly and, at this point, there are no spaces left (along with a full wait-list).  But, Mary will probably be back in town next year and, given how popular this event has been, I think we'll be doing it again.  If you'd like a chance to meet Mary (and find out about her latest novel GHOST TALKERS, which is excellent), she'll be doing a reading and signing event at the store on Sunday, November 13th at 3:00pm.

2) Our next Sponsor Social will be Saturday, the 12th of November, from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm. In addition to the usual potluck, alcohol, and raffle prize merriment, we've got some other treats planned.  Our first special guest will be a fantastic tarot reader <http://www.megstarotreadings.com/>!  Meg will be offering short readings to our Sponsors in exchange for tips; you'll be able to sign up for a reading slot at the party.  Meg specializes in readings for artists, writers, and other creative types, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Our beverage guest for November's social will be Philip Cuadra, founder of San Francisco's Highlawn Wine Company.  Philip will be talking about the wine-making process and bringing two white wines and one red for you to try.  Bottles will be available for purchase at the social.  For more information about Highlawn, you can check out their website here:http://www.highlawnwine.com/

Finally, Steven R. Boyett < http://www.steveboy.com/index.html > will be DJing in the cafe. In addition to being a very talented writer (Ariel, Mortality Bridge, and the upcoming Fata Morgana, among others) and a martial artist that I wouldn't ever want to come to conclusions with, Steve is a renowned DJ and podcaster.  His Podrunner and Groovelectric podcasts have been, respectivly, in the top 10 and top 100 podcasts at the iTunes store for many years. What he'll be mixing for the social won't be as loud or dance-y as his usual work but it's bound to be just as cool.  Oh, and here's a funny connection between you all and Steve - he contributed a story to a collection that is one of the inspirations for the store's name.  Yep, Steve wrote Prodigy, the first story in the first of the Borderland anthologies.

As you can see, it's going to be a pretty good party.  As usual, you're welcome to bring a guest and, since these events are BYOB and Pot-Luck, please feel free to bring something to eat or drink.  But, if you don't have time to pick something up, don't worry -- we don't usually end up short on stuff (certainly not in the drinks department).

3) We'll be visiting the home of the Long Now Foundation at Fort Mason Center on Monday, December 12th at 7:00 pm.  A bit about them, from their website: "The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996 to develop the Clock <http://longnow.org/clock/> and Library <http://rosettaproject.org/> projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide a counterpoint to today's accelerating culture and help make long-term thinking more common. [They] hope to foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years."

Visiting Borderlands sponsors will take a guided tour of the space, see a model of the 10,000 Year Clock (you may have heard about it in Neal Stephenson's novel Anathem), hear about the Long Now's myriad projects, and grab a drink surrounded by mechanical wonders at The Interval, the Long Now's bar.  There is no charge for the tour, and you are welcome to bring a guest.  However, please RSVP to let us know you'll be attending.  We'll meet at the Long Now Foundation, 2 Marina Blvd. Fort Mason Center Bldg. A San Francisco, CA 94123 at 6:50 pm. (Please leave yourself a bit of extra time to find the space, since Fort Mason is a bit of a maze.)  We're very grateful to sponsor Danielle Engelman, Long Now's Director of Programs, for arranging this visit.  More info about the Foundation here: http://longnow.org/

4) Tour of the Speakeasy Brewery < http://www.goodbeer.com > on Saturday, January 14th at 2:15 pm.  Ever since they were the beverage guest at one of our sponsor socials, we've been really big fans of the folks at Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, so it seemed obvious to us that a vist to their brewery and tap room would be in order in 2017.  They opened the same year as Borderlands and their operation right here in San Francisco is something to see -- they can turn out 90,000 barrels of beer a year at the current facility.  Despite their success, they're still a small, local company and just our kind of people.  Each tour group caps at 10 people but they run tours every hour so, if we fill up the first tour, we'll add another at 3:15. As a consequence, guests are completely welcome.  There will be a nominal charge of $7 per person for the tour.  Please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com to let us know you'd like to come, since we need to book a bit in advance.

5) The first sponsor social of 2017 will be on Saturday, February 11th from 7 pm to 11 pm. More details about that as we get closer to the date.

Useful links for sponsors:
Sponsors' Blog - http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com
Sponsors' Twitter feed - @bl_sponsors
Event Live Stream channel - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/NLHFhn7KUjd
YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgvLsi-6ZyU0fuY09DIAt3A
Google Event Calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ud8v8s1cfutjemfeusiv72ubvo%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles

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