“We can’t market this book” - a Just Stab Me Now Q&A

[@ronwingrove683]

"The difference between Caroline and me is that Caroline enjoys writing" is possibly the most heartfelt thing I've ever heard any author say.

[@CraigUntlNytTym]

I feel like a lot of authors don't like writing, they like being authors and telling stories but actually physically writing? Not really.

[@SuperZeve]

The fact that your book isn't fantasy enough to be fantasy, and not romantic enough to be a romance, and is too meta to be... anything seems perfectly on brand so does it still being classificed as fantasy and/or romance.

[@Marveryn]

i would think it would lean more toward romance/comedy? perhaps. Not read the book but listen to the short there was not a lot of fantasy elements for me to say its fantasy, but a lot of the themes revolved the romance trope and annoying the author.

[@RecklessFables]

Maybe Nerd-tok Fantamancy?

[@CaptHayfever]

If I owned a bookstore, I would likely file it--after "New Releases", of course--in the Humor section.

[@heidilarson5109]

Petition to classify her works as "noble-bright" (the antidote to the "grim-dark" genre.)

[@kilianortmann9979]

@@Marveryn The world building is certainly fantasy, however it's subtle and does not have an impact on the story as such. Romance is certainly involved, but the main focus is dedicated to characters fighting author and uncovering plot, where "spoiler".

[@johannalietar9462]

I convinced the librarian to get it for the school library!

[@ulfjohnsen6203]

Which section did they put it in?

[@johannalietar9462]

@ulfjohnsen6203 my library doesn't have that many sections, there's fiction, non fiction and classics. It just went into fiction.

[@jonathanwessner3456]

I made my public library get it for me. I hope more people check it out.

[@JasperJanssen]

Ooook.

[@jonathanwessner3456]

@@JasperJanssen yes, he swings by to visit. Makes sure we don't have any dangerous books....

[@davidioanhedges]

Getting compared to Pratchett - and having the same shelving problems as Pratchett, and Adams, all good signs ... "Writing is easy, You only need to stare at a blank piece of paper until your forehead bleeds.” - Douglas Adams

[@fsodn]

Yes, Jill, I'm very impressed as how evenly you took that. I would been having to actively stop myself from profusely thanking the person for even mentioning me in the same sentence as Pratchett. Congratulations; that's an amazing endorsement!

[@prospero4183]

Pratchet comparison is such a high bar, I'd have to never write again cause its only downhill from that.

[@tbotalpha8133]

@@prospero4183 You got there once, you can get there again.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@prospero4183 I hear you. Good thing we can aim for Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, as well. That sentence, even, has some inner strength. Sargent Colon would be proud for you.

[@w4iph]

I think the statement " My cat is a very effective Hunter, or the squirrels where I live are exceptionally stupid, even by squirrel standards" is one of the best things a person has said. What a delightful assessment

[@TadeuszCantwell]

I didn't even realize that the author arguing with the character was a fan fic trope. I'm just here for the cheese!!

[@ello_verity7667]

Her mentioning that felt very nostalgic to me because it is an old trope that doesn’t seem to see much use now 😂 Very ‘oh, I member that!’, and ‘hello, fellow fandom old’

[@vrewq]

My cat used to catch squirrels, and even three years after he died they still avoided the trees at the end of the garden. Seems a study of squirrels having cultural memory might be appropriate.

[@vlmellody51]

We had a cat who had a fraught relationship with cat birds. She raided a nest once, and word got out about it to the rest of the flock. For many years afterward, she couldn't go outside without being attacked by them. After she died and we got a cat with similar markings, they transferred their vendetta to him. 😅

[@Narangarath]

@@vlmellody51 Guilty by association 😂

[@roaxeskhadil]

Read the book. Loved it. And I agree with the consensus here, it works without the shorts. And that the publishers rejected you as not marketable is really a badge of honor: it clearly shows it's something out of the ordinary, which is not an easy thing to do these days, when every story has been already told a few dozen times.

[@johnbeauvais3159]

"Don't anger the gun people or the horse people because they will tell you when you get it wrong" This was exactly how the character of Major Boothroyd came to be in the James Bond books because Fleming wrote Bond as having a ".25 Caliber Berretta" and someone wrote him saying "A .25 Berretta is a lady's gun and not a nice lady at that."

[@MichaelScheele]

My county public library system has 8 copies of "Just Stab Me Now" in circulation. I live in the Seattle area, Washington, USA. Well done, Ms. Bearup!

[@brentmartin6833]

Evidently there's 7 copies in the Cobb County GA library system. Yay!

[@jonathanwessner3456]

I love that Caroline's writing of the book is because "her readers (Jill's viewers) bullied her into it. As well as some of our favorite quotes from her channel.

[@hannahsutherland4760]

I picked JSMN for my bookclub. They loved it! The only context they had was what I told them, and most of the ladies are in their 50s and older. It's probably one of our favorite books of the year.

[@kathryngutierrez5967]

Time to re-watch the shorts and re-read the book. Looks like everyone had fun.

[@roadrunnercrazy]

That is what I was just thinking myself. 🙂

[@QALibrary]

Thank you Jill and the people that turned up - this was great fun - thank you for the share

[@evelyn_burve]

That was pure delight to watch--also, it sounds as though you had a "Princess Bride" problem! No one wanted to make it into a move for *years* because it crossed too many genre categories! In any case, congratulations, Jill!

[@JohnSmithShields]

It is almost a year since I first stumbled on the shorts, whilst killing time between sessions at an event I was attending. By the end of that day, I'd found and watched them all, and got wind of a possible novelisation in the works. My work colleagues were unwillingly laboured with hearing about the mad sword lady and her author who is nuts. The book once released was as good as I hoped. I admit it is the first book I have ever pre-ordered. I am the type of reader who stumbles on the first book of a series, then binges the rest, mostly sci-fi or post apocalypse stuff. Can I just say thank you for a great journey, a great read, lots of laughs, and this, a great peak into the writing of the whole thing. Now, this sequel.........

[@HosCreates]

Yes a sequel! Please!

[@cmm5542]

​@@HosCreatesWe ALL want the sequel 😁 Or rather the Robin spin-off.

[@rachaelknudsen8801]

Prequel about how Robin wooeded his wife! And how Rosie helped/hindered that process.

[@unpaintedleadsyndrome]

That seemed like a fun event... So apparently the book found its way to an audience that didn't know about the shorts. How about an update on the sales figures? The boom in the beginning was us who knew about it from youtube, I'm quite curious about how it's going now. And as Sword Lady BookSSSSS, you need to write at least one other book... There is room for a prequel...

[@thefaboo]

11:32 "Other than starting..." This is such a lovely, knowing question 😊

[@CursedKelpie]

Jill is a fancy writer now

[@heidilarson5109]

Petition to classify her works as "noble-bright" (the antidote to the "grim-dark" genre.)

[@rasnac]

This is a very fun and informative Q&A, thank you for uploading it for us, international viewers; but I first must say those are some fabulous boots. I mean they are very very cool. Are they riding boots?

[@JillBearup]

They’re leather boots from Clark’s, but I don’t know if they sell them any more, I’ve had them a long time!

[@rasnac]

@@JillBearup Thank you for your kind reply. :)

[@hilarylonsdale608]

My daughter introduced me to the shorts, then I requested the book for my birthday. I subsequently lent daughter the book and she took it off to university with her. I reclaimed it on a visit in October, she's looking forward to rereading in once she's home for Christmas.

[@alicecain4851]

I love this!

[@matthewosborne8384]

To anyone who didn't go it was an awesome night out. It was lovely to meet Jill. Sorry again to Waterstones for rolling a nat 1 when attempting to use your chairs. Picking a screw out of my jumper. "I have a screw loose!"

[@denisdrozdoff2926]

"Very Pratchettesque" Oh it hit me, this is how I would describe it to people. "Imagine if Sir Terry wasn't so condescending"

[@khathaway414]

Jill Bearup is now a real honest to goodness author... Congrats.

[@stephengunnell5048]

Roger Zelazney used to build one or two key scenes in great detail and then construct his novel around them. He also used to write an small story about the characters that would be referred to but never appear in the novel.

[@ericepperson8409]

It's really interesting to hear about the number of publishers that passed on the book because it didn't fit their predefined genres. In a way that's really surprising, because there are so many stories I've seen lately that really bend the notions of classic fantasy or science fiction. It's part of why I like the redefining of the whole genre to be speculative fiction. It's rather a shame that you state you don't like writing because I found that part very well done and considered it better than plenty of other books by folks that are professional authors. And thank you for sharing the book event. Hard to get from America to these that are closer to your home. I understand that the same can be said for you to arrange such events going the other way.

[@chadsmith8966]

I came across the shorts first. KZbin's algorithm hit me hard with them. So much so that I was like alright fine I'll buy the book. And I did off of Amazon. I would describe Just Stab Me Now as a Romcom Fantasy and spiritual successor to the Princess Bride. As for Caroline and her interactions with her characters, there is a lot of truth in that.

[@MrSJPowell]

As a Warhammer person, yeah... yeah, we kinda do. I've written multi paragraph introductions to characters that get a few moments of "screen" time. We know "this moment is epic!" but we also know that Warhammer has far too much lore for the average person to get the context of why this moment is particularly awesome.

[@MittensTheMurderKitty]

Like when someone doesn't know better and asks me a "simple" question about Elder Scrolls lore... LOL (And I just noticed, we have the same last name! Well, you can't see mine on here, but that would be an odd thing to make up.)

[@PVS3]

Any problem worth solving, is worth solving with a spreadsheet!

[@trackeduser2577]

its all about the Pentiums.

[@lisaroper421]

I keep trying to think of an exception, but I can't! 😅😂

[@CanalTremocos]

@@lisaroper421 If you used a spreadsheet you'd have found one.

[@trackeduser2577]

@@lisaroper421 cheese aging?

[@rachaelknudsen8801]

​@@trackeduser2577Yeah!

[@knghtbrd]

"I like your book … I can't market that, but I like it!" I hope you took that as high praise Jill, because I mean _I_MAKE_FUN_OF_ romance books (and harem books on the other side to be fair) and I loved it! Loved it so much I actually read the eBook, with my eyes, because the audio isn't out yet. And I'm legally blind! I mean, I've said that before but why would you remember me among your millions of adoring fans? I absolutely loved the book precisely because the book was meta. You know the tropes, so do I, and you've systematically subvertted … most of them. 😉 I'm eagerly awaiting the audiobook, and I hope someday you'll be up to writing the sequel. Mabry's still out there and he needs to be dealt with.

[@alicecain4851]

Yes! Exactly! The villian needs to be... taken care of!

[@Cirkux]

I was unable to attend so thanks for uploading this.

[@ghost307]

I love that you are a woman with serious convictions, as demonstrated by your excellent choice of footwear.

[@johnapppel64]

In terms of writers making mistakes that don't get caught - you're in fine company. Larry Niven got the rotation of the Earth backwards in Ringworld, and none of the editors, copy editors, or anyone else involved caught it. The first printing of the book was published with this error still present, and it was readers who finally noticed the error. (I believe it has been corrected in all subsequent printings.)

[@judithstrachan9399]

My favourite author called Midsummer Night “the longest night of the year”. It is, of course, the shortest. I hope it was picked up for later editions; I’ve been too nervous to ask her.

[@stephenhunsaker8531]

This was so charming to watch! Watching your standard videos (scripted) is marvelously entertaining because you have good insights and the occasional hilarious quip. Q&A sessions are an entirely different ball game, and it is clear this is not your first rodeo! (Live streaming might be the key) I'm impressed at your public speaking skills!

[@johnbeauvais3159]

One fun part about reading the book is all the female character voices were Jill from the shorts, but for the male voices, particularly Robin, the voice in my head was Nathan Fillion because I guess he is my default goofy but good supporting character voice.

[@jackiemowery5243]

Well, my male character voices hadn't been Fillion, but they just retroactively became so. As in, all of my memories just collectively changed. (Queer mind, mine.) Of course, the females have always been Jill.

[@8.6GivenAdqVacSysm]

I mean, I think Jill has the right to all the female character voices. But I swear by his pretty floral bonnet, it’s a little bit of a slight to Nathan, to only give him the male character 😂😂

[@Rebecca_English]

That hilarious! I can totally see Nathan Fillion as both Robin and Leo, but Robin was played by Alan Tudyk in my head.

[@Mister_Underhill]

​@@Rebecca_EnglishAh, people of good culture here, I see. 🤌🏼

[@luvnotvideos]

Delightful interview. So glad you were able to get the book out for us to enjoy!

[@EriktheRed2023]

Finally got my copy of the book! I'm hoping Christmas will give me a chance to dive in.

[@QALibrary]

it a great book - I brought the book and ebook

[@johnapppel64]

And for the record, as a traditionally published SF author with many writer friends, most of us would KILL for your sales numbers. Well done!

[@alicecain4851]

What do you mean, you're not planning on writing another book? But... we're all here waiting for the next book! We are invested in your characters! And you! Oh, please 🙏 😢 🙏

[@yobgodababua1862]

This was a fantastic interview. You absolutely MUST paraphrase it in the sequel. ;) Except that Caroline is not you, so it will all go horribly wrong in some terrible yet entertaining manner.

[@cmm5542]

Have Henry on standby for damage control 😁

[@maike__-]

Awwwe this was lovely! Thank you for sharing this for us international folk!

[@leihaddock]

This book is peak fandom honestly. That's what makes it great though

[@judithstrachan9399]

I’m one of the people who haven’t seen your shorts. Not sure how I came across the book, but the title appealed to me, so I borrowed it from my library. And loved it!

[@aleahzubrod2943]

In my unarmed stage combat exam, my partner and I used the dialogue from when Flynn and Rapunzel first meet in Tangled and it was soooooo fun!

[@anarionelendili8961]

Nemo sounds like he is living his best cat life. :)

[@llearch]

I wandered in to say something along these lines, but you summed it up better. ;-]

[@jackiemowery5243]

That whole "not quite spherical" thing is self-limiting. If Nemo gets too fat to catch squirrels, it means he will be eating less while running more, which will get him thinner! Hopefully he will achieve some medium condition.

[@JohnSmithShields]

@jackiemowery5243 a lovely perfect vicious circle.

[@yuffiefan7637]

i've stole the term "grand theft equine" for my DND game and everyone laughed sooo hard!

[@quentinking4351]

Mom read my copy blind. Well, I told her it was light fantasy/romance and it was about an author and her character fighting. She said it took her a while to figure out what was going on, but she enjoyed it. Also, that is true about gun people. We are like that.

[@richdurbin6146]

I read once that writing a book is a tedious agonizing slog, and that having written a book is wonderful.

[@SteampunkGent]

t/s 2:45 Older ladies who had no contact with fan fiction? I know of at least 5 ladies and a couple of gentlemen (all over 70) who were writing fan fiction in the 1970s Also how many knives or swords did you have concealed in that dress?

[@christajennings3828]

Not in my 70s yet, but I went to one of the earliest cons, a Star Trek event in 1974.

[@mariegrover1409]

I think she might have had her sword hair pins in the bun, so that's a start for concealed weapons!

[@RJeremyHoward]

I wanted so badly to help edit! Turns out, your wisdom about trying to take care of kids and editing is Absolutely True™.

[@susanprice3377]

Oh, I wish I could have been there ... thank you thank you for the book, the shorts, and all your armor reviews, fight critiques and everything else. So glad your book is doing well!!

[@susannekalejaiye4351]

Absolutely delightful!! (even without cheese). Am so glad to watch and listen. Well done Jill!

[@Brievel]

Just Stab Me Now is one of my favorite books. I love how pragmatic Rosamund is. I'm also currently wearing my Time To Commit Sewing hoodie and have been for a couple of months now (hooray for unusually cold weather!) and loving it more and more.

[@johnthomas2485]

I really enjoyed this. I'm also proud to have been one of the many who bullied you into writing. 😁

[@cmm5542]

As are we all!

[@mbuhtz]

This is delightful, thank you for letting us be in the front row at your book talk

[@QALibrary]

Oh my this looks very interesting - I can not wait to watch this - Jill is such a wonderful person

[@kithric4878]

Thank you for recording and uploading this! What a lovely interview sounds like it was a fun time!!

[@ashleah5458]

When I described it to a bookseller she described it back as “cozy fantasy” so that works, I guess.

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

14:33 But then, having written the vignettes, you have to get the characters into those situations, which can make them inconsistent because their motivation is whatever it needs to be, to get them there.

[@silviasanchez648]

Yeah, I had that problem. I would go from vignette to vignette and treat the rest "stuff that connects vignettes"

[@cmm5542]

​​@@silviasanchez648You just have to find a single motivation that can explain ALL the vignettes. I find 'insatiable thirst for adventure' or 'running away from something at any cost' work equally well 😆

[@therobertfaulkner]

Thank you for sharing this so us sad people who can’t be there can join in. Loved seeing this.

[@vipin3141]

Thanks for sharing this Q&A. Happy to get more information about how this book was developed. I'd like to add my voice to the choir of folks who are eager for a sequel some day. Please?!? Would love to see what happens next to Rosamund and Leo as well as Caroline and Henry. 🙂

[@Dragonmoon1598]

This was wonderful. Thank you for sharing. You really know how to engage and captivate. 😁

[@KosherCookery]

I can't relate to people who haven't seen all the shorts. I don't understand how people can start them but not finish, especially those who are reading the book!

[@PrintAndPlayPodcast]

Jill... has legs! OMG I forgot.

[@TheSuzberry]

Terrific questions. Thank you for posting.

[@bobstine3785]

The instructor you called didn't ask why he had to wear a corset? 🤣

[@thatHARVguy]

As you do...

[@purelightapologetics4930]

He didn’t. He only had to stab the corset. The mannequin was wearing it.

[@bobstine3785]

@purelightapologetics4930 ok. That's not as kinky as I feared. 😅

[@claudiamueller5475]

German woman in her fifties here, I only watched one or two shorts so far, I am looking forward to reading the book now. I wasn’t sure whether to watch the shorts first….

[@rachaelknudsen8801]

The shorts have the major points, but there's so much good in the novel besides, you can watch them and not feel like you are rewatching it.

[@michaelkoenig6368]

My brain is an odd blob of gray matter. Its instant reaction to seeing the cover of “Just stab me now“ was to create a sung version of it in my head to the melody of Queens “Don't stop me now“. Obviously works... 4 mono syllable words and such. I cannot be the only one? Sorry if i create something that cannot be unheard. :)

[@Pille22]

Thanks for the subtitles. I sometimes get distracted and then I can read the words and I'm back again. Funny ending. xD

[@cmm5542]

Robin disappearing for two days without amyone noticing sounds completely in character to me! 😁 Took me a while to work out who Robin reminds me of - basically the G&S version of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

[@Zaephyrs]

Completely brilliant, loved it! You're just as interesting and funny in the wild unscripted as on video.

[@andreagriffiths3512]

I shall have to watch this tomorrow. Loved the shorts, loved the book and I even convinced my mum to read it and she really liked it and thought it was very original. She hadnt watched the shorts.i have it in paperback and ebook and cannot wait for the audio version. It’s just brilliant and I’m so glad it was written and published. One of the best books I’ve read this year ❤

[@dawnfallon6812]

I've enjoyed your content for a good long while. But when I saw you had written a book, I bought it at once. I really enjoyed it. I plan on picking up a few more copies to donate to the local library and every single Little Library I see.

[@robintheparttimesewer6798]

That was really fun! Thanks for taking us along!

[@Xenorama]

Did anyone else keep expecting a masked swordsman to appear and tell Jill she killed his father, prepare to die?

[@rachaelknudsen8801]

Not I but I understood that reference and I agree it would have been delightful.

[@charliebrown1184]

Thank you so much for recording this! I really wanted to be there but sadly could not afford the exorbitant train fare to get there. This was a lovely Q&A.

[@barbararowley6077]

That reminds me that I found Jill because of her analyses of the sword fights in Lockwood & Co. I’d quite forgotten. They were very good fights!

[@dabeamer42]

Regarding the Shelving Problem, ask the bookstores where they shelve "Lost on a Page" by David E Sharp, which has a denser version of the "characters talking to authors" thing. Highly recommended book(s), btw. Three of them, all with the same title. (But different sub-titles) Lots of different genres.

[@gemaster14]

I love this so much.❤

[@johnediii]

I just found out that my local library system in West Michigan USA has 2 copies of your book in circulation. I fully intend to buy it at some point, but for now, no extra expenses means I'm on the waiting list from the library.

[@hamstermk4]

I would like to see more of these types of videos.

[@MittensTheMurderKitty]

Me, too. I was sad when it was over.

[@jackiemowery5243]

I am reminded of Twain discussing 'where to end a book'. "You would end the story of a man when he dies, but where do you end the story of a boy?" He decided: where he stops being a boy and becomes a man. I think you picked a good spot.

[@rachaelknudsen8801]

​@@jackiemowery5243She could write about Rosie's kids. But I agree. If the story has to end, we can count ourselves blessed to experience it and to reread it.

[@jessicaharrison4719]

I bought the book having enjoyed your content for a while, and having been obsessed with the shorts once they started, but I was worried about how it would be translated into a different medium. You nailed it! Your wit and the snappy pacing translate beautifully, while still maintaining the appropriate levels of tension and complicated plotlines that really helped translate it from the shorts to book form. Bought it because I like your stuff here, but my 11 year son also enjoyed reading it while only having seen a couple of shorts.

[@a35362]

I can't tell how big this audience is, but they're really enjoying themselves! 👍👍

[@JillBearup]

About 25-30 people came, it was a great evening!

[@jerrychubb6168]

A wonderful interview. Charming and funny.

[@epyonslegacy]

Just finished the book. Absolutely phenomenal! Been a fan of the channel for a while and watched the shorts first. I went in expecting the book to have a more overtly comedic tone but I LOVED how earnest the plot wound up being. The romance elements of both Rosamund x Leo and Caroline x Henry were beautifully paced. Very very well done! It sounds like you didn't love the writing process but I hope you try your hand at it again in the future. I will definitely read anything else you care to put to paper!

[@thomasrogers8239]

I know the idea of another book is kind of dreadful for you right now, but if you continued the video series and then wrote a sequel I really do think you could strike gold twice. I would certainly keep reading them. I watched a few of the shorts at first, I literally said to myself "this would be a nice book", and then kind of fell off the bandwagon however I'm subscribed here on KZbin so I just kind of figured it was a thing that was happening. And then you announced you were making it into a book and so I did my best impression of Edna from the Incredibles "yasss dahling!" And picked it up as soon as it came out. Read it, loved it, I'm now reading it again to my 2 year old at night when we're waiting for Mom, and I also got around to watching the rest of the shorts.

[@Spark_Chaser]

"...You have a story and you have to...retcon sense into it." The curse of writing in general, I think.

[@CrystalKStearns]

That was awesome. Thank you for filming that and for putting in the captions. That is so appreciated

[@garvinanders2355]

I now feel kinda bad that I would love to see a sequel for the book. That said I would still like to see a sequel for the book.

[@ANPaige]

Amazing Q&A! I loved hearing you discuss all about the book and the writing process. The portion about changing choreography for actors reminds me that (if I remember correctly) they had to line up Chris Evans’ fight choreography to music lol

[@johnhughes2124]

Archery IS hard, if you EVER need someone to consult on HOW to draw a bow I'm more than happy to help

[@elaniarkady7351]

Thank you for sharing this! The whole "meet the author/ book signing" made me smile! Your audience was so sweet!

[@SaveLockwoodNCo]

Thank you so much for mentioning Lockwood and Co again!!!!! It means the WORLD to us!!!!

[@IstasPumaNevada]

I've seen just one or two of your videos so far but I went and ordered your book from my not-nationwide-chain local bookstore. I ordered it alongside my first Chuck Tingle book, so the coming weeks should be very interesting indeed.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

I, too, am buying the book. Found and am reading the first few pages; have gone from laughter and, frankly, appalled to 'Oh, lovely', tears. All in the first three pages. You are truly a goddess of words. Take my money. Take all my money!!

[@scott2836]

Thank you so much for sharing this. As it’s not very likely that you’d be coming cross the Atlantic to the U.S. for a book tour for a self-published book, it is a rare chance for us to see you in a book talk setting. It looked quite enjoyable fr the audience, and you were either well- medicated or enjoying the experience as well.

[@frankharr9466]

This was a joy. Thank you. I bought your book today. I expect it to hold up. A table maybe, but I've heard good things.

[@paulsmith410]

Absolutely delightful. I need to read it again NOW!

[@laurenloertscher1319]

This video was so fun, thanks for sharing it 😄

[@StarryEyed0590]

This is delightful! Thank you for sharing it!