Wow oh Wow!
Bookmark Now has been named one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Best Books of 2005. It’s the perfect topper on an absolutely nutty year.
Wow oh Wow.
Whatdya know?
Ghost Word has named Bookmark Now one of its favorite books of 2005. How cool is that?
Done.
So my book tour is over. 15 cities, nearly 50 events, thousands of miles traveled. I have no idea how well the book is selling and frankly, I don’t want to. RIght now, I want normalcy, friends, family, loved ones, time with Suzan, my cat and myself. Time in San Francisco, time to wander, time to turn left when I meant right. Time to be.
I’ll be taking December off before beginning my next project and to enjoy the holiday season. So you’ll be seeing a lot more of me around these parts.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And thank you for your support. You make it all worthwhile.
DIY Book Touring:
Huuzah K.L Cook! The author of Last Call has written a fantastic article in this month’s Poets and Writers about how he book together a book tour for himself, 60 events in several states and dragged his wife and four kids along. Reading at universities, elementary schools and backyard BBQs, he managed to serve his book with both dignity and sweat and not abandon his familial responisbilities or go bankrupt.
In my consulting pratice, the single most common question I get from pre-pub authors is “how do I promote my book and not desert my family/lose my job/have to sell a vital organ? From now on, I’m going to to give the best advice I can and assign this essay as required reading.
P.S. Works equally well for touring musicians/filmmakers or other on-the-road artists.
Recommend a Few, Win a Few:
So the summerwide hype of my book is drawing to a close but my publisher has kindly agreed to sponsor this contest, which gives you, the loyal or passing reader the chance to win a whole pile of really good books. Here’s how it works.
Visit this site. Recommend your favorite books, the books that changed your life, to friends and loved ones. Doesn’t have to be my book. Probably better if it’s not.
Once you’ve made your recommendations, as many as you like, your name will be entered in a drawing to win this list of 15 books, as recommended by the contributors to Bookmark Now. No names are kept or sold or placed on a spambelt by anyone.
Da List
Christian Bauman recommends: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Tracy Chevalier recommends: Restoration by Rose Tremain
Stephanie Elizondo Griest recommends: Nothing to Declare by Mary Morris
Douglas Rushkoff recommends: Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson
Nico Cary recommends: Power Politics by Arundhati Roy
Tom Bissell recommends: The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Benjamin Nugent recommends: Atonement by Ian McEwan
Paul Collins recommends: How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
Paul Flores recommends: Smoking Lovely by Willie Perdomo
Glen David Gold recommends: Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne
Karl Soehnlein recommends: The Beautiful Room Is Empty by Edmund White
Kelley Eskridge recommends: Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Dan Kennedy recommends: Shopgirl by Steve Martin
Neal Pollack recommends: Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
Megham Daum recommends: The White Album by Joan Didion
Easy peasy. Recommend books, get entered to win. And blog owners, feel free to steal the graphic above to alert your own readers about this opportunity.
Again, the Electronic Bookmark, where this contest is happening.
I’m in Maimi tomorrow, reading and seeing my folks. More this weekend.
Book Tour, Part the Second (Imaginary)
So when I found out from Lucia that I would be missing Pandora’s first meetup because I would (again) be out of town on book tour (again), I just about lost it. Then I regained, remembered how excited I am to do be doing an event at Books and Books Miami and to see my parents, and figured this rage could be put to better use. Therefore…
If you are a creative person and have spend untold months on the road, keep a list of every event, happening, hootnanny and box social you miss at home. Then when your travels end, try and recreate these missed gatherings, one at a time on whatever scale you chose. You can throw a friend a second birthday, play a day’s worth of Matt Nathanson because you missed his concert, or reenact the Pandora Meetup with finger puppets. I say do all three.
Catching up:
Wherein we discuss my next book and related mishigas.
Climbing Aboard a Pedastal:
So it would seem I’m someone’s guide to contemporary literature. I hope he knows what’s he’s getting into.
Guest Blogging Over Yonder:
I’m guest blogging over at Radio Open Source until tomorrow when I’ll be on the show talking about technology and books. You can listen on the site or get it by podcast (Podcast URL).
Blogs I’m Following for the Research on my Second Book:
Yes, there will be a second book. Or at least a proposal for one that I’m working on now. Some blogs I’m following for my research:
The Artful Manager: On the business of arts and culture. Written by Andrew Taylor who teaches in an MBA program in Arts Administration.
Butts in the Seats: A little more casual by a theatre manager. All about how to get audiences in the theater in a competitive cultural time.
Adaptistration: Another Arts Journal weblog, this one on the future of orchestra management.
There’s even a title. But I can’t tell ya quite yet. Stay tuned…