I recently attended Book Expo America for the first time. It was an enlightening experience. I could regale you with the wonderful things I saw and learned, but instead I’m focusing on something awful–how many books I saw in the trashcans.

Yes, you heard that right. Brand new, unread books–many of them ARCs–tossed in the trash. Everywhere I turned, there were racks of free (very nicely made and sturdy) tote bags to carry books in… and right next to them were trashcans stuffed with waste and new books.

This practice makes me so frustrated I could scream, because it’s a problem with a solution that benefits everyone involved, yet no one seems to be doing it. Give the books to people who want them–charities, libraries, hospitals, etc. The author gets their books “out there,” landfills have less waste in them, trees aren’t sacrificed for nothing, charities receive much-needed fund raising materials, and readers who will love the books get them.

I blogged about this issue before. With the Romance Writers of America’s National Conference coming up in just a few short weeks (Uh… where did the year go?), I thought it was prime time to remind everyone who plans to attend to think twice about the book situation and see if we can take care of it this year.

The Basics:

1. Don’t take books you’re not absolutely certain you’re willing to pay to ship home or drag on the plane with you.
2. Don’t leave books you receive in your registration bag as “tips” for the maid. They aren’t allowed to keep items left in the room. They will throw them in the trash.
3. Don’t leave books in common areas of the hotel (seating areas, bathrooms, meeting rooms, etc.) in the hopes that someone will walk by and want some of them.

Some ideas:

1. If one or more of your chapters has a chapter party, see if they’ll arrange a “book swap” table.
2. If you live in Northern California, perhaps you’d be willing to contact a few of your local charities/hospitals/libraries to see if they’d like to take some of these unwanted books as donations.
3. If you live elsewhere in the country, perhaps you’d be willing to arrange something similar in your hometown and ship the books home (or directly to the recipient). A flat-rate Priority Mail box from the post office is only $9.80 shipping, no matter how heavy it is. They come folded flat and fit neatly in the bottom of a carry-on sized piece of luggage. You can buy the postage beforehand and leave it with the front desk when you check out.
4. Spread the word when you’re at the conference. So many attendees have no idea the book situation is such a problem.

If you have some added solutions, please share. Let’s not throw away hundreds of books this year.

Have you heard? Sometime late last year or early this year (the exact date appears to be a mystery), Wal-Mart — one of the largest retailers of books in the US — stopped reporting their book sales numbers to the NY Times and the USA Today. This would seem to mean that the lists we’ve come to rely upon as indicators of book sales and bestsellers in this country are markedly different than the same lists we followed this time last year. Authors who sell the majority of their books through Wal-Mart are showing up on the lists lower than authors with much smaller sales numbers who sell predominantly through the struggling chain and independent bookstores.

You might have heard about Wal-Mart’s decision a year or so ago to only carry certain titles. Many books/authors who once enjoyed hefty sales figures at Wal-Mart suddenly found their print runs slashed when their latest book was passed over by Wal-Mart’s book buyers. Simple fact is: Wal-Mart sells a ton of books. Now the lists can’t factor in those figures.

I’ve always thought of the bestseller lists as an indicator of what America is reading now. Is that no longer true? Are they now only an indicator of what half the American population is reading and only a certain demographic — the bookstore shopper? What about the moms shopping for laundry detergent and socks who pick up a book at WalMart as a treat? There sure are a lot of them. I’ve heard Wal-Mart’s market share is as high as fifty percent.

Is this change a good or bad thing? For those authors whose books were passed over at Wal-Mart or those whose trade paperback titles are never considered, does this level the playing field a bit? What are the long-term ramifications for established authors, who might find that the majority of their sales aren’t reported?

As an author, I can understand the thrill of “hitting the lists” for the first time. No matter what, you have to sell a lot of books to make the lists. But I can also picture the flipside — selling more books than ever, but not being recognized for it, which is more than just an ego-stroke. Have you seen those bookshelves in drug, grocery, and airport stores that are numbered (#1, #2, #3) for those books on the NYT list? Imagine if an author would have been #5–if their Wal-Mart sales had been counted–now hitting #16. (Being in the Top Fifteen is hugely important, I’ve heard.) Which might lead to less outlets, less visibility, less sales. Which could then lead to lower print runs, lower advances, etc. (I’m speculating.) Perhaps it wouldn’t be a big deal if Wal-Mart had a low market share, but 50%? Again, that’s a lot. If the authors were losing sales because the quality of their books was diminishing, that’s one thing. But in this case, they would be losing sales only in a figurative sense, but the costs they might pay are very real.

There has been some talk about this on various author loops, but the topic is rife with confusion. Why did Wal-Mart decide to keep their book sales numbers to themselves? How does this affect the viability of the bestseller lists? Can they be seen the same way, knowing how many books they don’t factor in?

What does it mean to you–if anything?

I borrowed this blog post title from a headline that caught my eye in The Library Journal Academic Newswire (Feb. 12, 2008 - At O’Reilly “Tools of Change” Conference, Publishers Look Warily to the Future). It touched on what I’d intended to blog about today — how I’m looking at and wondering about the future of publishing.

In a relatively short period of time, so much has changed in regards to selling books. In the summer of 1996, the wholesale independent distribution business collapsed, leading to a crippling of mass market sales that continues to this day. Independent bookstores struggle to compete with chains. Chains are downsizing and posting losses. Wal-Mart, a major distributor of books sold in the United States, cut back on which titles they stock. E-readers are becoming more user friendly. The number of e-book retailers is increasing. In a separate but related event, the Writers Guild fought long and hard for “new media” rights. In a January 18, 2008 New York Post article on Wal-Mart’s decision to curtail the number of magazines it distributes, the publishing industry is described as “battered.”

Content in the age of the Internet is a “free-for-all,” and the “legacy model” of authors writing, publishers publishing, and readers buying only what booksellers stocked on their shelves has broken down.

– James Lichtenberg, president of Lightspeed, LLC (as quoted in The Library Journal, Feb. 12, 2008)

As a reader, I’ve come to expect that I will definitely find the book I want online. It’s a crapshoot whether I’ll find it in a bookstore, and almost certainly it will not be in my grocers or drugstore, because they only stock the BIG names. Stephen King books from the ’80s are many times more likely to be there than a book that released yesterday.

As a writer, it’s clear that the distribution channels for non-bestseller books are dwindling by the day. In a recent discussion with friends, I suggested that it wouldn’t be much longer before the coveted CALL from NY for a first sale would be for an e-exclusive release. Right now the NY publishers are doing e-exclusives in shorter lengths — epilogues, prologues, erotic quickies. But certainly it won’t stay that way. They’re testing the waters and more e-friendly readers are hopping on the e-train every day. With the overhead for an e-exclusive so much smaller than a print release and the promotional burden resting almost entirely on the author’s shoulders, it makes sense to see a future where debut authors cut their teeth on e-exclusives, especially if a print version would have limited distribution outlets. Why fire up the presses for a book that’s only available on retailer websites? If the author manages to build up an audience with their e-release, maybe they’ll get a print re-release. If that manages to sell well enough, maybe they’ll graduate to a print original.

I’m just speculating, of course, but it’s undeniable that the publishing industry is poised for a massive shift of some sort. Mr. Lichtenberg suggests that “the future business model for book publishing can best be understood as providing a service rather than a commodity.” Makes sense, but how will they do it? As a California native, the present publishing climate feels to me the way the earth does just before a quake hits. It’ll be interesting to see how the industry settles once the shaking has subsided.

***UPDATE***

Related to the discussion about the future of book sales–

From PR Newswire:

Borders Unveils First Concept Store
“…we’ve brought a fresh new look and an exciting interactive dimension to the store with a Digital Center where customers can do everything from mix and make their own custom CDs, download books and music, publish their own books, explore their family history, and create photo books — all without being computer experts because we have trained people there to help every step of the way.”

– George Jones, Borders Group Chief Executive Officer

‘Tis the season of giving, I know. We spend so much time and effort thinking of the perfect gift for each individual on our lists. We shop around, fight the crowds, and hope we find it. And when we do… Oh man, I love that feeling! I get giddy knowing that I found THE best present for someone.

This year, I spent some time thinking of books to give. I really don’t give that many because I think it’s a shame to give a gift that’s only got “maybe” potential instead of a “sure thing.” If I know for certain that the intended recipient wanted a particular book or enjoys a particular author, that’s great. But oftentimes, I have no clue what they like and, sadly, so many people these days seem not to have time to read. (blasphemy, I say.)

But recently, I flipped my thinking around and thought about what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a book gift. Some gift books I didn’t like much. A couple took me a long time to read. Yet I keep every one on my keeper shelf. There is a piece of the giver in each one of those books, something that struck a chord and resonated. Something they wanted me to find and experience. I look at them, and try to see what it is that the giver wanted to share with me. It is that — the gift of the giver’s inner self — that I love and cherish.

I’m honestly a different person today because of some of the books I’ve received. My first romance novel was a gift from my mother. Over the years it was lost, but I found it on eBay one day and bought it. It’s in nearly pristine condition after all these years. I read it again and smiled. It’s so old school — overbearing, rapist hero and abused heroine who falls in love with him anyway. Still, it’s the book that hooked me into a lifelong love of romance novels. She also gave me Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Memoirs of a Geisha, and The Dragon King’s Palace. My stepmother gave me The Catcher in the Rye, In Cold Blood, The Brothers Karamazov, and Postcards.

If you’re familiar with these titles, maybe you’ll see a pattern emerge and glimpse a bit of the giver in their selections. I’ve learned so much about both my mother and my stepmother through their gift books. Which led me to reconsider how I give books to others. Yes, it’s wonderful to give a “sure thing” book that brings happiness to the receiver, even if it means nothing to you. But I think it’s also wonderful to give a book that you love, thereby sharing a part of yourself that you couldn’t share any other way.

How about you? What are some of the books you’ve received as gifts that you cherish?

Halloween is rapidly approaching. A few weeks ago, the first neighborhood decorations came out of the garages and now cobwebs, caskets, and giant inflatable pumpkins and spiders amuse passerby. Some neighborhoods are known for their elaborate Christmas light displays, mine goes wild for Halloween. There will be several haunted houses, much moody music and eerie nature soundtracks, fog machines, and tons and tons of candy. My kids beg to go home before we even make it all the way around the block, because their bags get too heavy. My son is torn every year between the desire to trick or treat and the desire to pass out the candy at our door.

So for me, it’s always a bit disconcerting to see the Christmas books on the shelves in October. Why so early? Well, that’s simple, right? Because they sell well. Look at the USA Today bestseller list and you’ll see a few Christmas romances on there. In October.

But what about Halloween? It’s such a fun holiday. Where are the anthologies with that theme? I wrote a Halloween story to help launch Avon’s e-publishing imprint and I had great fun with it, but there are quite a lot of Halloween-themed e-books. Where are the print ones? And are there any non-erotic, non-paranormal ones?

Tonight, as my kids chatted excitedly about what they wanted to dress up as (my daughter already has two new costumes, but is thinking she might wish to be something else after all, and my son just can’t make up his mind) and whether they could somehow find a way to give out the candy at the same time they’re trick or treating for it, I thought about the dearth of Halloween-themed books in the bookstores. Why is that? I guess they don’t sell, but I’m not sure why.

Is it because the holiday is somewhat naughty and therefore the premises lean toward the more risqué? Not so heartwarming, maybe? Perhaps the character-in-disguise premise is used enough? I have a new book coming out on Tuesday that features a disguised hero and it’s not related to Halloween (o’course not, it’s historical. *g*) I was able to think of only one story I’d read that had a costume in the premise and it was a novella (”Sinderella” by Kimberly Randall — which I enjoyed immensely) in a non-Halloween, non-paranormal anthology (SINFUL).

Am I just missing them? How do you feel about holiday-themed books? Do you like to read them?

Is there such a character? I’m not certain. Over a dozen novels into my career I’m just now learning about archetypes, master plots, etc.

Over the last few months or so, I’ve had some interesting conversations with various writer friends about heroines. Some of them write strong heroines, some write kick-ass heroines, others write heroines with less obvious strength. Each of them had various concerns about how their characters were perceived.

The kick-ass heroine has received much press of late, while the “weaker” heroines are used to getting a few knocks. But there are quite a few bestselling authors whose books feature heroines who aren’t remarkably strong or kick ass. These heroines aren’t Too Stupid To Live, they’re simply not… much. When the story is over and the book is closed, it’s the heroes who linger in the reader’s minds and are discussed with affection.

Mind you, I’m not talking about bad stories with abusive men and women too weak to run like hell. I’m talking about women whose contributions to the story are much smaller than their hero’s. Often they’re paired with the ultra-alpha male, the hero who is borderline non-heroic. These heroines have a quieter strength that is most often displayed in their dealings with the hero. They don’t cower in the face of a man almost everyone else in the book fears a little bit and they are the hero’s only weakness.

As part of a group discussion on promotion (should I? shouldn’t I?), the “So-and-so author does no promotion, writes one book a year, has no website, and her books sell like crazy” point was brought up. Just for fun, we tried to find a common denominator. What similarities did these writers and their books have, if any?

Surprisingly, in this discussion, all of the writers who had been listed as an example of the “no-promo, hot-seller” rule wrote books which featured ultra-alpha heroes and heroines who weren’t exceptionally remarkable. I’m sure examples of the “no-promo, hot-seller, kick-ass heroine” variety exist and there are other factors contributing to the books’ success — the writer is skilled, the plot strong, the romance fulfilling, etc. An author’s books become popular because they’re good and readers like them. But we found it notable that for all the lauding of the kick-ass heroine, the beta heroine (?) is alive and well and cashing checks at the bank.

So we kept talking. One friend thought maybe urban fantasy would be a better fit for her, since readers of that genre seem to love the kick-ass heroine. She didn’t think her kick-ass heroines were doing so well in romance. On the other hand, another friend was lamenting a review where the reviewer felt her heroine was not strong enough, although not in a TSTL way. In her book, the hero is the star of the show and ya know… her books are selling really well.

What’s my point? Is there one? I’m not making a generalization about one selling better than the other or that one is a better read than the other. And it makes sense that we don’t feel compelled to talk about heroines we didn’t find especially memorable (Although I vaguely remember a heated discussion at AAR about the BDB series being insulting and demeaning to women because the heroines are overshadowed by the males. wish I could find the link. It was a blog-city comment thread if I remember correctly.) Obviously, the BDB sells like mad, so the H/h dynamic isn’t hurting sales at all.

My friend suggested this point: Do heroines really have to be kick-ass or just not stupid? And while I’m not really talking about kick-ass vs. non-kick-ass, the “just not stupid” part fits. If the hero’s running the show, the heroine is just along for the ride, and she doesn’t do anything stupid to make you pull out your hair, is there anything to lament or chastise? Might not be your cuppa tea, but still a good book? What do you think?

Do you know how many books are thrown away after the Romantic Times Convention and RWA National Conference? You might not. It’s a subject that has been a concern to me ever since the 2005 Nationals in Reno.

Reno was my first ever conference. I was a recently-sold author (Bad Boys Ahoy! was still 7 months away from release) and a year-old member of RWA. Everything about the experience was new to me. When I was handed my conference bag and discovered a large variety of books inside, I was thrilled, even though some books were ones I had no desire to read.

Over the course of the conference I was given books all over the place. Every luncheon provided 2 new books on my seat and then there were the publisher signings where I collected 2-3 books that were autographed to me by authors I admire.

By the end of the week I had a large number of books and I was looking at a sizable shipping bill for them. I made two piles — one for the books I picked up by choice and one for the books given to me that I didn’t have any interest in.

My roommate was Canadian and faced the same problem; only shipping for her was astronomical and included hefty taxes when she accepted her self-addressed boxes at home. In the end, a quick query around the conference presented a solution — leave the unwanted books in the hotel room as an additional tip for the maids. I also saw piles of discarded books in the bathroom lounges and on the water tables. I commented on them, but no one knew what happened to them and I just assumed someone was collecting them. I was right, but not in the way I’d hoped.

The “tip” idea was suggested by several people and seemed to be a widely accepted practice. I was therefore hugely surprised and horrified to learn that the hotel staff did not view these “tips” as a blessing but a curse. Two dumpsters full of books were seen heading out to the trash after conference ended. One attendee saw a maid toss the books in the trash bag hooked to her cart and asked her why she was throwing them out. The woman wasn’t fluent enough in English to enjoy them and knew no one who was. Besides, after 20+ rooms with multiple books left in each, they were just a nuisance.

At the time I was a chapter president. When I heard of the hundreds of books that had been thrown away, I hopped on the RWA presidential Yahoo loop and said we needed to do something. It made me sick to think of those lovely new books rotting in a landfill. Sure some of those books were ones I didn’t want to read, but someone would appreciate them. I suggested donating to the local public library system or a shelter. During that discussion other presidents stated that this had been a problem at Conference for some time and their individual chapters had set up “book swaps” where members could try to exchange an unwanted book for a wanted one. However, most presidents expressed the same surprised horror I did — they had no idea this was happening.

We were told that this issue would be addressed to the Board of Directors and that a solution would be implemented in the future. Since then I’ve been to Atlanta and Dallas, and neither conference program had anything set up to address the problem of unwanted books. In Dallas, I did speak with a gal who said her chapter was accepting unwanted books to donate to charity, but she didn’t know where to take the books and it was a word-of-mouth movement that didn’t reach the ears of many attendees. The author I shared a cab ride with to the airport told me she’d left her books in the room as a tip. My roommate also left books when she checked out. I took them down to the lobby and gave them away.

This problem also applies to the Romantic Times Convention. I’ve discussed it with a bookseller whose store I frequent for signings and she told me that one year she hauled a large trailer to RT and pulled up behind the hotel. She filled it with unwanted books and still had to leave hundreds behind. (This is not related to Allison’s fabulous post addressing thievery. This bookseller accepted books from the hotel after the convention was over.) Did she sell them? I’m sure she did, but would the landfill have been a better home for them?

Last year in Atlanta, a NYT bestselling author was franticly trying to find a home for a flat of books donated by her publisher that arrived too late. (We were checking out of the hotel at the time.) The publisher said they’d just have to leave them there and the hotel was prepared to throw them away (and said so outright). I suggested she contact a local library to see if they could use some, but the author was rushing to catch her plane. She asked the hotel staff to make the call for her and they agreed, but did they make the call? Did the books reach readers? Somehow, I doubt it.

So after two years of appealing to RWA and everyone who will listen, I’m telling you here on RTB — hundreds of unwanted books are being trashed at the end of the conferences/conventions we attend. It breaks my heart. The “grassroots” movements I’ve seen to handle this problem are inadequate and unknown to the majority of conference/convention attendees.

Bottom line: If you’re leaving your unwanted books on the hotel nightstand as a tip, you might as well just drop them in the trash can and save the maid the step.

But surely there’s a better way?

I seriously spent hours trying to come up with a post for today. *shakes head* In the end, after scrapping several fully-written columns, I decided to repost something I’d posted on my personal blog over a year ago. My thoughts are the same and since I’d discussed this topic with a friend just a week or so ago, I think it’s something that might be on a lot of minds now. I’d love to hear pros and cons to the idea of an Erotic Romance RITA^®.

(BTW, I’m no longer President of Passionate Ink. You can see the new slate of PI officers here, if you’re interested.)

***************

I’m asked my opinion on the proposed Erotic Romance RITA/GH category quite a bit, perhaps due to my office as President of Passionate Ink. My thoughts are often not agreed with, but here they are:

Do I think RWA will ever establish an erotic romance category for the RITAs or GH? I doubt it, and I would be very surprised if they did. Who’s to say what is erotic romance and what isn’t? I’ve had writers tell me Blaze and Bravas are not erotic. Others say they’re close to porn. No one can even agree on what the definitions of erotica and erotic romance are. How can we define a category when we don’t know what subject matter fits the criteria or not? How much romance is required to make it an erotic romance? I guarantee that one judge’s erotic romance is another judge’s “not a romance”.

And that’s not the only problem with having an erotic romance category. While the other categories are based on genre, the ER books would be based on how much sex was going on and how it was worded. Is that what we want? Do you want the erotic romance RITA for your vamp story? Or the Paranormal RITA? What does the erotic romance RITA mean? You write better sex?

When I ask proponents why they want an erotic romance category, they say it’s because prejudice against the sexual content lessens their chances of winning in other categories. Does creating a category that holds the sexual content up as the criterion for winning combat the prejudice? Or does it feed it by saying the most important thing about the story is the sex?

What about authors of sweet romances? Should they have a category for books with less sexual content than norm? Perhaps they don’t have a fair chance because so many romances feature a certain number of sex scenes and theirs have none.

After all, if you have a category for ‘excessive’ sex, then surely there should be a category for ‘minimal’ sex?

To me, the Erotic Romance category is an impossible, and not necessarily desirable, goal.

(you can see the original comments to this post here.)

*************

Personally, if the problem is finding judges, I would rather they add a check box for “erotic content”. Then judges could also have a check-box that says, “I am willing to judge erotic content”, just like they opt-in and out of categories. This would eliminate the problem caused by authors not being able to judge the category they entered. Otherwise, with an Erotic Romance RITA, who would judge the books? All the erotic authors/readers would be disqualified for entering that category.

Maybe then there wouldn’t be a “Great Sex” RITA. The winning book would be just a “Paranormal” winner or a “Single Title” winner and the focus of the award would remain on the non-sexual aspects of the book.

Unless I’m missing something?

Over the last year or so I’ve watched a sad trend. At least, I think it’s a trend. Maybe it’s just that more authors are speaking out. Either way, I’ve recently noted many authors talking about their lowering print runs, non-renewed contracts, or the need to write under a new name because the old one didn’t sell well. Not too long ago, three writers spoke up on the same loop on the same day to share that they’d been told they would not be selling their next book to their existing publisher because the numbers “weren’t there.”

On the flipside of this, I hear readers ask the question, “Whatever Happened to…?“. The list of once-promising authors who are now MIA is long and growing longer by the day. So I was sad to see a reader post that she saw promise in an author’s work, but until that promise came to fruition she would be checking that writer’s books out from the library. That’s a sale lost for that author, which cumulatively lowers sales numbers, which can lead to her publisher dropping her and that “promise” dying before it blossoms.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t check out books from the library! I love libraries. And I know books are expensive. With a limited book budget, I also can’t afford to buy books that aren’t going to satisfy completely. But we’re losing authors and with them, their unique stories that only they can tell. What can we do?

I was talking to my mom about this topic the other day. She’d recently happened upon an author who is *thisclose* to being excellent in my mother’s opinion and my mom was very excited. When she mentioned intending to search out the author’s newest book at her local UBS, I had a suggestion for her:

“Why don’t you adopt the author, mom?”

I suggested she take it upon herself to support that author’s work by buying her books new. I said, “I know you can’t do this for every promising author you find. It would be too expensive and it just doesn’t make sense to buy a bunch of books that you like ‘mostly’, over an auto-buy author who delivers consistently. But one author wouldn’t be too bad.” She agreed and she’s going to try it. I’m happy for both her and the author. I hope it helps.

Do you do this? Do you have an author you’re “nurturing” by buying their books even though they still have some growing to do? If so, I think that’s wonderful! It surely can’t hurt. If you’re not, would you consider adopting an author?

Today is the official “pub date” for my latest release, The Stranger I Married and I’m excited! For me, there is a lot of build-up involved in getting ready for a release date. Like most writers these days, the burden of promoting my work rests heavily and almost entirely upon my shoulders. I’m grateful that the success of my previous releases has eased some of the pressure I’ve felt in the past, but it’s just a lightening, not relief by any means. I still do/consider/worry about a lot and it’s draining–creatively, emotionally, and financially. So many factors can affect the sales of a book, not the least of which is the time of year the book hits the shelves.

I’ve been told that February is the best month to have a new release, followed by March, Aug, July and Oct. (In order from best to good.) No Dec or Jan? Hmm… Who knew? *g* Just one more bit of trivia for an author to worry uselessly about.

Maybe everyone is sick of shopping. Maybe some stores won’t shelve the new releases until the first. Maybe distribution is spotty. Maybe I didn’t promote enough. Maybe this, maybe that, maybe maybe maybe…

But right now I’m not thinking about any of the endless number of things there are to stress about. This blog, and the many blogs listed in the sidebars, and the romance novel forums/loops/review sites around the web, and periodicals like Romantic Times, and readers groups around the country are all dedicated to celebrating the joy of books and today a new one was born after a long and laborious gestational period. It is a piece of my heart that I’m sharing with readers and that’s something to celebrate. In the midst of all the business aspects of covers, blurbs, sales numbers, reviews, distribution, promotion, contracts, word counts, ms formatting, etc. etc. it’s lamentably easy to forget what’s most important — the sharing of a story.

So happy holidays to you, and happy birthday to my baby and all the other babies/books that share Dec. 26 as their b-day. There are new books for all of us to read, enjoy, and talk about. I’ll be thinking about that today and only that. All the other stuff can wait until tomorrow.