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March 5, 2007
Serenity now: The 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient I met yesterday was asked by a nurse how he had managed to stay looking younger than his years. He thought for a moment and said "I was too busy to get old."
He thought for another moment and added "And try not to worry too much about anything."
For me, the past week has been an exercise in trying not to worry too much about anything, or at least not worry about the things I can't control.
I can't control what a reporter chooses to write and, in the end, I need to follow my own mantra about publicity: as long as they spell your name right. I just wish she could've spelled the name of the book more frequently.
I can't control that I have to spend most of today without a car that needs one last round of repairs following last week's break in.
I can't worry about the notice Amazon sent to everyone who has pre-ordered the book giving them an inaccurate ship date (but if you did pre-order the book please log into your Amazon account and let them know you still want it).
But the biggest stress inducer of the past week was the thought of having a book release party without books. A little known trick of the book printing business is that printers assume that books will come in past deadline so they overbook their presses to minimize idle time. The problem is that sometimes books all come in on time, meaning that a book has to be bumped and rescheduled.
So last week I found myself promoting a March 8 book release party for a book that isn't going to ship until March 16. The purpose of Thursday night is not -- and never has been -- to sell books, but I was assuming some of the 150+ people planning to attend would at least want the option of buying a book.
I'll spare you the details of lots of angry phone calls and just share the email that announced the eventual solution to our dilemma:
THREE WAYS TO BUY BOOKS AT THE BLOOD & VOLUME BOOK RELEASE PARTY
We're looking forward to seeing you and more than 150 of our friends at the Blood & Volume Book Release Party on March 8 at the Living Room in Boston. We wanted to let you know that you will have three options for buying books on Thursday night.
1) Barricade Books is printing a limited edition, paperback version of Blood & Volume that will only be available for sale at this event. The cost of these books will be $12 and they will be available the night of the party.
2) If you prefer the standard hardcover version of the book, you can pre-order a copy at the party. These books will be signed and shipped directly from the author as soon as they're available. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. You will also have an opportunity to note the inscription you would like Dave Copeland to write when he signs your book. The cost of these books will be $22, including shipping.
3) Purchase both both books for $30 and save $4 on your order.
In all three cases, we can accept cash or personal checks for payment.
Once again, we're looking forward to seeing you Thursday night. As always, thanks for your continued support.
-- The Blood & Volume promotions team.
In the end, it may end up being a better option than the original plan. I realize that $22 is a lot to spend on a book, so this gives people a cheaper option. Those sales won't register in my royalties report but I'm not concerned about it -- preorders are off to a great start and I expect a second printing (hopefully an on time second printing) in short order. If some of the paperbacks remain unsold after Thursday night, my publicists can use them for a second round of media promotion (Have I mentioned Melwood Global, my public relations firm? They're great and I would highly recommend them).
But more than anything, I'm just looking forward to Thursday night. Short of getting married, releasing a book is the one chance you get to throw a party for yourself, and I'm going to get to see people I haven't seen in months, years and, in a few cases, a decade. RCF has taken the lead in planning and execution so outside of a Thursday morning trip to Leominster to pick up the special editions, I can pretty much sit back and enjoy the day.
The release party is open to the public and you and whoever you'd like to bring are welcome to attend.
Details:
Thursday, March 8, 2007, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m., Boston, Mass.:
Blood & Volume book release party. Author reading and signing, appetizers and open bar.
Try not too worry too much about it. It will be fun.Labels: bloodandvolume
Posted at 8:57 AM
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