My book is officially out in bookstores and is available online. Just checked with Barnes and Noble. It is ranked No. 526,894 in sales. Bet you didn't know there were 526,894 books out there, did you?
We had our first book signing 10 days ago at a small neighborhood saloon. It went very well. Sold damn near 100 books. Had a great party. The owner made a lot more than he usually would on a Sunday and we made some money. I think all who came had a blast. Terrific day all in all.
But the book business is a lot like the politics or the major league baseball business - what have your done for us lately? We are just starting to hit the hustings - I am doing a pair of radio interviews this week and have a book signing set for April 10. To truly make the book a success for Triumph (the company that printed it.), we need to sell at least 3,000 books. To my knowledge, we have sold roughly 125.
Got a little work to do, don't we?
Friends of mine who are authors tell me this is the way it is in the book business. You need to hustle the product all the time. It's kind of job hunting - it's a fulltime job in addition to your duties.
I'm not griping - I signed up for this duty and am embracing it fully. And there are some things that should help sales coming up - the MLB season opens up next week. Mother's Day and Father's Day is around the corner. Now that local lad Joe Mauer has been signed and the team's new home, Target Field, is open for business, there is a lot of enthusiasm for the Twins around these parts.
So I have high hopes of advancing past position No. 526,894 soon. But there is some heavy lifting ahead. Finding somebody who would write a terrific review of the book would help immensely. Anybody know Jon Miller's phone number?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Some dreams do come true
We all have a little Walter Mitty in us. Walter Mitty was the fictional character created by James Thurber who had a series of daydreams about achieving greatness. Whereas Mitty was dreaming about this stuff to escape what he considered a mundane existence, most of us dream (or at least imagine) doing something that might be considered out of reach. In high school or college, it might have been something as simply as getting the cute blond girl in the third row of your Algebra class to go on a date with you Saturday night.
Later, it might be something shooting 69 on the golf course. It might be getting that cabin up north you always wanted. The field is always wide-open for dreamers.
For me, it was always writing a book. I have been a fan of reading since I was kid poring over every Chip Hilton and Hardy Boys mystery I could find in St. Francis' library. How did these guys find the time to put such a project together? Did I have the patience (and the verbiage) to put a book together?
When I found myself gainfully unemployed a year and a half ago, I decided the time was right to take the plunge. I had an idea for a book that I thought might work. The thought was the easy part. Getting somebody to publish it ... to say nothing of writing the damn thing ... was the tough part.
After a couple of false starts, I found somebody who thought my idea was a good one. I got the contract and then had to really go to work. It's one thing to have an idea for a book. It's another altogether to execute it.
I wrote the first part of it and turned it over to a trusted friend for editing comments. The first reviews were, to be mild, unkind. After a few helpful hints about style and phraseology, I got on track and the copy started to flow better. By the end of the book, the editing comments were down to a few. (I worried this was because my editor was getting bored. She said that wasn't the case. She said I had found my voice.) The book went to the publisher, who made a few changes (none that I really quibbled with).
A year after I started, the project is now finished. Yesterday, it arrived at my house in finished condition. Thus it is that "162-0: The Greatest Wins In Twins History" is now a reality.
To many, it will be considered a light tome. The concept is the Minnesota Twins have a perfect season by via their best win in their history on April 11, May 16, July 4, etc. The games go back to 1961 and run through the end of last season. There are four World Series wins kicked in for good measure.
Okay, so it is now War and Peace. Tolstoy has his niche. Mine is simply in a different direction.
Triumph Books is putting the book out. As of tomorrow (March 17), it is available online at www.amazon.com.
It is exciting, humbling and a little frightening to actually think this idea, which was a concept a little more than a year ago, is done and in print. Little ol' me now has a small spot in the LIbrary of Congress (all books are registered there) with Hemingway, Updike and even Jesse Ventura. Move over, Clair Bee (who wrote the Chip Hilton books). You've got company.
Writing a book is one thing. Writing a successful book is another matter. I have modest hopes folks will find it entertaining enough that I can make a case to the publisher to write a second one.
That is next week's battle. For now, excuse me if I take a second to enjoy (and marvel) at this one.
Later, it might be something shooting 69 on the golf course. It might be getting that cabin up north you always wanted. The field is always wide-open for dreamers.
For me, it was always writing a book. I have been a fan of reading since I was kid poring over every Chip Hilton and Hardy Boys mystery I could find in St. Francis' library. How did these guys find the time to put such a project together? Did I have the patience (and the verbiage) to put a book together?
When I found myself gainfully unemployed a year and a half ago, I decided the time was right to take the plunge. I had an idea for a book that I thought might work. The thought was the easy part. Getting somebody to publish it ... to say nothing of writing the damn thing ... was the tough part.
After a couple of false starts, I found somebody who thought my idea was a good one. I got the contract and then had to really go to work. It's one thing to have an idea for a book. It's another altogether to execute it.
I wrote the first part of it and turned it over to a trusted friend for editing comments. The first reviews were, to be mild, unkind. After a few helpful hints about style and phraseology, I got on track and the copy started to flow better. By the end of the book, the editing comments were down to a few. (I worried this was because my editor was getting bored. She said that wasn't the case. She said I had found my voice.) The book went to the publisher, who made a few changes (none that I really quibbled with).
A year after I started, the project is now finished. Yesterday, it arrived at my house in finished condition. Thus it is that "162-0: The Greatest Wins In Twins History" is now a reality.
To many, it will be considered a light tome. The concept is the Minnesota Twins have a perfect season by via their best win in their history on April 11, May 16, July 4, etc. The games go back to 1961 and run through the end of last season. There are four World Series wins kicked in for good measure.
Okay, so it is now War and Peace. Tolstoy has his niche. Mine is simply in a different direction.
Triumph Books is putting the book out. As of tomorrow (March 17), it is available online at www.amazon.com.
It is exciting, humbling and a little frightening to actually think this idea, which was a concept a little more than a year ago, is done and in print. Little ol' me now has a small spot in the LIbrary of Congress (all books are registered there) with Hemingway, Updike and even Jesse Ventura. Move over, Clair Bee (who wrote the Chip Hilton books). You've got company.
Writing a book is one thing. Writing a successful book is another matter. I have modest hopes folks will find it entertaining enough that I can make a case to the publisher to write a second one.
That is next week's battle. For now, excuse me if I take a second to enjoy (and marvel) at this one.
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