My comedic novel set in a pet shelter was unleashed upon the world last July.
Here's the good news. Reviews have been almost universally excellent - three and four stars on Amazon and Goodreads, and even a very nice one from the pros at Kirkus. So, great, right?
Well, not exactly. Truth is, I'm just not selling many books. Here's the dilemma, no doubt one faced by many self-published authors. I'm not reaching my audience. If the book had lousy reviews - or even no reviews - I'd give it up. But people LIKE it, and many absolutely LOVE it.
So I'm seeking help: I need some fresh ideas to market the book without bankrupting myself.
Before you start to make suggestions, I'm going to outline what I've done so far.
Social Media
Twitter: I've strategically acquired nearly 70,000 Twitter followers, most of whom are animal lovers and/or avid readers. I promote the book regularly on Twitter, and send new Twitter followers a welcome message containing a link to the book on Amazon. Plus, I engage my readers daily with witty, fun, thoughtful content. And Twitter, my friends, has been the sole successful effort to date. Nearly all my readers come to the book via Twitter. I definitely need to diversify, which I'm trying to do. Read on.
Facebook: Created separate Facebook page for the book, and post there as well as on my regular page.
Goodreads: Contacted top reviewers, mainly women, and requested reviews. A few did so, with mostly glowing reviews. Results: some sales, I guess. Not tons.
Amazon: The mother of them all. Like Goodreads, sent review requests to top reviewers who seemed a good fit. Again, received great reviews. Enough to generate business? Nah.
Pinterest: Have a bunch of followers there, and the book is part of my profile.
Women's interest e-newsletters
Sent the actual book or link to Amazon page to: Daily Candy, Pure Wow, Urban Daddy, Fab, Joyous, Hello Giggles (Zooey Deschanel's site) and Rookie. Guess the outcome.
eBook Reviewers
Sent review requests to People, Entertainment Weekly, Bustle and even The New York Times (now there's a waste of postage).
The Dodo
This is in a category all its own. I read in the NYTimes that founder of BuzzFeed was funding his daughter's new animal focused website The Dodo. So I sent said daughter a copy of the book, and The Dodo featured a story I wrote about my dog on the site, with a link to the book's Amazon page. Guess I sold a few extra copies the days the story was featured.
Bookstore Readings
Did readings at two local stores. Frankly, don't have time to pursue this further and doubt it would do much for me.
Blurb and PR requests
Sent copies of the paperback to around sixty celebrities who are known animal lovers (yes, including Ellen DeGeneres) and to chick-lit writers, asking them to write a blurb for the book - or even, in some cases, option it for the movies. Yes, I have delusions of grandeur. Result: I received a lovely, handwritten note from author Meg Cabot, informing me that she was no longer doing blurbs, but wishing me luck, and - TA DA - an envelope containing nothing but an autographed picture of Charlize Theron.
Charity Tie-In
I approached animal oriented charities - ASPCA, The Humane Society, PETA and the World Wildlife Fund - offering to donate to them a percentage of the profits from sales of the book if they would promote it on their websites. All turned me down, though PETA does have an online store where I can list the book for $500. I'm considering it.
Pet-oriented businesses
I sent copies of the book to PETCO, Petsmart and a few other national pet supply stores to see if they would carry the book. All declined. Also tried a few local independents - same result.
Vets' offices
I tried my local veterinarian's office,which is part of the VCA chain. They said they couldn't make the decision to carry the book, and that I would need to approach VCA's national headquarters. I did so, and contacted the other big veterinary chain, Banfield, as well. Never heard from them - and yes, I did make follow-up phone calls.
Pet-centric writers
Sent copies of the book to a few columnists who write about animals. Nada.
What I've considered and haven't done
Placed copies of the book on subway seats and airport waiting areas with a note asking finders to post reviews and/or spread the word any way they could in exchange for the free book. Any thoughts on this?
So, bottom line. I've done every free thing I can think of. Please share with me your ideas (whether more unpaid things or things I'd have to pay for) so that I can help my little baby find the audience it deserves. You can post here or email me at [email protected].
HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS, BOUGHT ANIMAL CRACKER, OR MAKES A SUGGESTION.
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By: Andi Brown,
on 3/2/2014
Blog: Writer's Cramps (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Amazon, Meg Cabot, Goodreads, veterinarian, Twitter, VCA, ASPCA, PETA, Ellen DeGeneres, Humane Society, Daily Candy, World Wildlife Fund, Petco, Banfield, Petsmart, The Dodo, Add a tag
By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 10/28/2011
Blog: Ypulse (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Jobs, peta, harlequin teen, tiger beat, Bauer Publishing, disney theatrical group, m magazine, Add a tag
Today we bring you our weekly sampler of cool youth media and marketing gigs. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to join the Ypulse LinkedIn group, if you haven’t yet, and post there for... Read the rest of this post
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By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 11/30/2010
Blog: Ypulse (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: oscars, netflix, Itunes, hulu, peta, Anne Hathaway, Ypulse Essentials, prescription drug abuse, black friday vs. cyber monday, james franco, dkny, social media marketing, jumo, Add a tag
James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host the Oscars (as the Academy forgoes the veteran comedian route in favor of what some are calling the "SNL" approach — and almost everyone is calling an obvious bid to appeal to younger viewers. As... Read the rest of this post
By: jeff,
on 7/10/2009
Blog: The MJM Books Blog: Featuring all kinds of info you never knew you needed! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: PETA, Miscellaneous Thoughts, Caption this Pic, Environmentalism for Kids, Lincoln Park Zoo, Meercats, Pollution Exhibit, Toxic Waste, Zoos, Add a tag
It’s summer, and you know what that means… it’s time to hit the zoo. Heres a handy zoo locator to get you goin’. Go… shoo… scat…
Fine, keep reading…
I may get a strongly worded letter from PETA for saying so, but I think zoos are good for people and for animals. There is just something different about seeing an animal up close with your own eyes instead of on TV. There is a primal connection that happens deep down when a child sees the immensity of an elephant, or the cold black stare of a boa and this is important when we are teaching our children to be good stewards of the environment.
Oooooo, scary...
Pruned has a great post about an art installation at a Vienna Zoo that is doing just that. Through a series of exhibits, the zoo is making a statement about pollution and its effects on the animals’ habitats. Now, even idyllic zoos aren’t safe from barrels of TOXIC WASTE.
(Photo by Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf.)
When Beth was creating the illustrations for the book ”What Animal Are You“, she insisted on realistic habitats for her animals as part of their educational value. Perhaps we should have had a few more discarded plastic bottles and McDonalds wrappers! Beth is quite handy at animal drawings, and a zoo is one of the best places for your child to hone their budding sketching or photography skills.
Beth Link's Animal Alphabet Book
Of course, I would rather we could all see these fantastic animals in their natural habitats instead of cooped up behind plexiglass and concrete moats, but sometimes, their enclosures can be quite accomodating, unlike some enclosures I know of…
Which brings me to my next topic: PEOPLE WATCHING. I’m an avid people watcher, and have the binoculars to prove it… Actually, it is a lot of fun to plunk yourself down on a park bench, or mall cafeteria and just observe who goes by. If any of you have pets, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself what they must think about all your strange actions. That’s exactly what I wondered about when I saw this little guy at the LINCOLN PARK ZOO:
What’s this little guy thinking??? Take a guess in the comments section and you could WIN BIG!
….
By: Rebecca,
on 6/8/2009
Blog: OUPblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Health, Animal, Science, Animals, A-Featured, Medical Mondays, Odyssey, rights, PETA, welfare, Animal rights, Morrison, animal welfare, with, Adrian Morrison, An Odyssey with Animals, Adrian, Add a tag
Adrian Morrison, DVM, PhD. is professor emeritus of Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. In his new book An Odyssey With Animals he explores the touchy balance between animal rights and animal welfare. In the original post below he discusses the various shades of gray in this debate.
Throughout history, humanity has associated with animals in ways that have benefited human beings. Animals have been hunted for food and clothing, accepted at our hearths for companionship, and brought into our fields to produce and provide food. Only during the latter two-thirds of the last century could most people – in the developed, wealthy West — begin to imagine living without animals as part of our daily lives. 
We were completely dependent on them. As the twentieth century progressed, though, technological advances rendered animals’ visible presence in our lives unnecessary. We can eat a steak without coming close to a living cow, or wear a wool sweater without having to shear any sheep. But now, according to some, we have no need, indeed no right, to interfere in animals’ lives, even to the extent of abandoning their use in life-saving medical research. This belief motivates the animal rights/liberation movement, which follows the thinking of a small group of vocal philosophers.
But what does the term “animal rights” mean in a practical way to most in our society? All of us do use the word “rights” quite commonly: the right to decent, humane treatment when animals are in our charge. This is our obligation as humane human beings. Indeed, this duty is embodied in law, and we can be prosecuted and punished if we ignore it as lawyer/ethicist Jerry Tannenbaum from the University of California-Davis pointed out to me years ago when I was focused on the depredations of the “animal rights movement” against biomedical researchers and blinded to the obvious. Thus, the ongoing debate – and recent violence in some California universities for example – is about a more radical (and unworkable view) of rights. To clarify things in my own mind, I have come up with a ranking of views/behavior from the extreme to the reasonable as I see it.
First, there are those within the animal rights and welfare movement who believe that human life is worth no more than that of other animals. Some of these people damage property, threaten the lives of those who use animals, and even attempt to commit assault or murder in their effort to save animals. This subsection of the animal rights movement has been classified by the FBI as “one of today’s most serious domestic terrorism threats.” They are extremists in the truest sense.
Others in the movement, such as those who condemn the fur industry, engage in stunts like parading naked with signs. Though extreme, these tactics do not, to my mind, constitute extremism—just activism. Unfortunately, there are others who damage stores, throw paint on fur coats, and release mink from farms to die in the wild. They would obviously fit into the first category: extremists.
Then there are those who gather in peaceful (and lawful) protest, or who contribute money to organizations engaged in some of the activities just described, often because they have been fooled by false claims of animal abuse or graphic photographs that have been doctored or taken out of context. Of course, overlaps among these groups are possible, if not likely. I would consider these members of the movement—those who object to animal use but who do not employ extreme measures themselves—to be animal rights and welfare activists (as opposed to extremists).
Then, there are those who use animals but are also involved in efforts to improve the treatment of them. These individuals comprise what I consider to be the animal welfare movement—whether they engage actively through contributions to local humane societies or other good works or simply share the beliefs of those who do. Certainly, I am a member of this group. We think animals have certain claims on us humans when they are under our control, including the right to decent care. Put another way, we believe that, as humans, we have a moral responsibility to treat animals as well as is practically possible.
This position is distinct from the aims of the animal rights/liberation movement, and here I think it is important again, to acknowledge the difference between “animal rights” as envisioned by the movement and “animal welfare.” Those who belong to the animal rights/liberation group believe in severely limiting the way humans use animals, encouraging our removal from the animal world in many ways. Those who belong to the animal welfare group wish to improve animal health and welfare in a number of different contexts.
There are those I place in an extreme animal welfare camp that I consider less than reasonable, though: they object to the idea that many species are “renewable resources” that humans may justifiably use—hunting them for food or fur is one example. They aim to change drastically the way we use animals. On the other hand, I think that animals are a renewable resource and that ensuring animals’ welfare while they are alive, and providing a humane death for a legitimate purpose, is our only charge.
Finally, it is my perception that over the years there has been a noticeable shift toward use of an umbrella term, animal protectionism. I do not favor this designation because, though a noble-sounding banner, it could easily cloak an extremist fringe.
Now, you can decide where you fit in this spectrum.
By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 9/5/2008
Blog: Ypulse (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: peta, hip hop, virgin mobile, aeropostle, Ashoka, do something, doritos, dosomething, glue network, invisible children, myspace impact, peta2, socialvibe, TakingITGlobal, think mtv, thinkmtv, youth activism, youth noise, youth venture, Youth Media, MTV, Add a tag
For this Ypulse Toolbox, I'm focusing on 10 youth activism sites to give you a broad brush of what's happening in this space. I know there are many, many more amazing youth activism oriented communities, Facebook applications/groups and... Read the rest of this post
By: Nathan Bransford,
on 11/26/2007
Blog: Nathan Bransford (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: The Hills, literary agents, publishing industry, The Bachelor, Add a tag
OK, what did I miss?
Well, I received approximately 7 million queries over the holiday weekend and my inbox is so full I can hardly bear to look at it. People, look. I don't really believe in timing your queries and normally I'd say fire away, but I received MORE queries than usual in the past week. If you want your prospective agent to read your query while they're not in a turkey induced food coma or, alternately, if you want to avoid giving your prospective agent a post holiday heart attack when they come in on Monday and look at their inbox I'd suggest avoiding the major holidays.
Meanwhile, in TV news, the Bachelor didn't choose ANYONE, which shattered my belief in the possibility of finding true love on a reality TV show that involves dating multiple people at the same time. Just a stunning turn of events.
In other reality TV love news, Spencer and Heidi from The Hills were unengaged for 24 hours AND THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING ON ITS AXIS. Oh wait. No it didn't. Whew.
And in big publishing news, Amazon unveiled the curiously named e-reader Kindle (because, uh, books and fire go together so well?), which I will blog about more tomorrow. And the next day. And possibly the day after that. Maybe forever. WHO KNOWS.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and in the spirit the season please feel free to share your hilarious Thanksgiving stories in the comments section.
By: Nathan Bransford,
on 10/26/2007
Blog: Nathan Bransford (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: contests, The Bachelor, Add a tag
Ladies... gentlemen... Chris Harrison...
This has been an incredible journey. I can honestly say this has been the hardest decision of my life, and it just kills me to have to decide who gets to stay... and who has to go home. I really hate to say goodbye to these amazing paragraphs, but I had to look inside my heart and find the first paragraphs I really connected with on an emotional level. Thank you to all of you for being here tonight.
(deep breath)
I only have 7 roses to give out tonight.
But first, let me discuss with the camera in a pained voice some of the things that helped me make my decision.
While I met over 600 beautiful women er, paragraphs in the course of this journey, some of them just weren't in it for the right reasons. Here are some of the things I was looking for, and a few of the reasons some of the paragraphs did not receive a rose this evening (besides the fact that some of the paragraphs had shotgun-wielding fathers).
I crave originality. When establishing a world in a first paragraph, it is so so so important to avoid cliches and sentence crutches. One easy way of telling if you're using one of these is to run a "find" in the comments section for key phrases in your paragraph. For instance, Chris, I hate to single these lovely paragraphs out but the phrase "the last thing X expected" was used five times.
Also, trust is just so important in a relationship, and I really had a lot of respect for the first paragraphs who trusted me as a reader. Some of the paragraphs who will not receive roses tonight had too many redundant words of emphasis. When they said something unexpected, they followed up with superfluous emphasis, as in "No, really." or "Literally." or "Seriously." or "I'm not talking about this, I'm talking about THIS" You have to trust the reader to recognize when something is surprising, and if you do have to qualify it, it means you probably could have written it better the first time.
Lastly, I found myself attracted to first paragraphs who didn't try too hard -- they didn't try too hard to be literary, and they weren't too chatty. A healthy middle ground is simply amazing.
(another dramatic pause -- have I mentioned the candles??)
The first rose.... goes to MAY VANDERBILT.
Let me tell you -- it took hours and hours to go through the entrants to pick finalists, and I seriously cannot thank May enough for her help. For the love of all things Bachelor, please subscribe to Good Girl Lit, buy THE BOOK OF JANE, and express your appreciation to May -- this was a tremendous task, and the mere thought of trying to choose finalists without May gives me hives. Not that I get hives. Moving on.
Now for the finalists in the Largely Indispensible First Paragraph Challenge...
IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...
The second rose.... goes to Sophie W.:
Oh no, it's some kind of infestation, Rosemary thought, prodding the ground with her boot. Next to the barn were several fist-sized holes, just big enough for rats, or worse, imps. She hated imps. They were always getting into the larder and causing a fuss.
The third rose.... goes to eric:
There’s this girl I’ve never met that I know everything in the world about. Well, most everything. Not the big stuff, I guess. Like what she prayed about when she would cry at her bedside or whether she really believed those prayers might get answered. And I never knew all of the reasons for the crazy shit she did, but hey, who really does? I did know other stuff though. The real freaky-deaky shit. Like how she would crack open her father’s disposable razors with a pair of pliers she kept stashed behind her dresser and how she’d slice herself up. Sometimes I think she left her window blinds open that way just so somebody, anybody, me--a guy she never met--would know. Not that she was some kind of attention whore. Just about everybody is some kind of attention whore. Not Scissors, though. And I could testify in court to that, since, I’m like, some kind of authority on the girl.
The fourth rose.... goes to CC:
Brooklyn didn't know very much about me. Actually, the girl knew surprisingly little, which was exactly what I needed in a friend. She didn't ask intrusive questions and I didn't have to lie or have my heart pound while I searched for acceptable answers. She wasn't into meaningful conversation and heartfelt talks. She was light, snappy, and never depressed. And most importantly, she wasn't my responsibility.
The fifth rose.... goes to Emily Ryan-Davis:
Life inside a piano isn’t all knitting cobweb sweaters and napping. It’s dangerous. Every time a clumsy student flings himself at the bench and bangs on the ivories, just to see his fingers walk across the black and whites, I face death. The action’s unpredictable. If I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time, I could lose my head.
The sixth rose.... goes to Aden:
He was short and skinny, shorter than the others, and never wore a shirt when he ran. His thin arms flailed as he kept ahead of us and we all wondered how. He was so fast. But mostly we watched the bouncing scars on his back and thought about how he got them. We called him the Wizard. It was because of his hair, wild black mass with a white shock hanging in the front. That’s how I thought of him. The Wizard. I wish I knew what names they had given him but I never asked. Between us, there was an unspoken rule: everything would remain unspoken.
Chris Harrison: "Paragraphs, Bachelor... this is the final rose this evening."
The last and final rose.... goes to Regan:
The great flaw in the system was that some of the Children remembered what it felt like when they were taken. It was impossible to tell who would remember--temperament, age, gender, none of them seemed to matter. The flaw persisted despite all of the technicians' attempts to eradicate it. In rare cases a Child, newly imprinted, would awaken at odd hours of the night, crying for reasons she couldn't explain or shaking with a nameless dread and a desperate feeling that something wasn't right.
Chris Harrison: "Paragraphs, Bachelor.... If you did not receive a rose this evening, please take a moment.. and say your goodbyes."
IF YOU RECEIVED A ROSE TONIGHT: please e-mail me at [email protected] -- you are entitled to a query critique. I know some of you don't need a query critique because you're all agented and everything, but we'll figure something to properly reward your awesomeness so e-mail me anyway.
Now is the time for voting. Here are the procedures:
In the comments section of THIS POST, please vote for your favorite paragraph. Anonymous votes will not be counted, so please either sign in to Blogger or use your real name. Please do not openly campaign for yourself or others on the Internet or via e-mail (this is a meritocracy), and irregular voting activity will be monitored and mercilessly punished.
Thank you so much to everyone who entered -- I really appreciate that everyone put themselves out there by entering, the response was seriously overwhelming. And trust me, it was ridiculously difficult to pick finalists -- there were many close calls and tough decisions.
What an amazing journey.
Kindle... sounds like a suggestion to go burn all of one's embarrassingly old-fashioned paper books.
Yay! The leftovers were nice, but fresh is better.
I never watch TV. Last week (while having my teeth cleaned) I heard an ad for the Bachelor finale, and thought, "Oh good, I'll get to hear what happened from Nathan!" That is pretty shocking!
I suspect people deliberately query you around the holidays so they can have more than five minutes of hope. :)
The kitchen didn't catch on fire. No one got drunk and admitted something embarrassing. No in-law fights on the front lawn. Pretty boring day.
We all made it out alive.
Better than last year...
;)
Don't know if this qualifies as hilarous but it ticked me off...
http://vinster82.blogspot.com/
My in-laws played "Are you smarter than a fifth grader" game after Thanksgiving dinner.
They aren't.
Well, our small group consumed six bottles of wine in just two hours. Dinner was at noon, and my 84 year-old grandpa and I were both passed out in the living room in our turkey coma/drunkenness by 2:30. I'm not sure if that qualifies as hilarious or pathetic, but, it's true.
From my nine-year-old son on Thanksgiving: "I want to go with you to buy my Christmas presents so you get the right stuff, then I'll erase my memory--but without drinking beer."
I had to boil turkey bones for my son's school project on bones. And then I had to look up labels on the internet.
Gee. I hope I get an A.
Yeah, I saw that Kindle thing too. Amazon have a bunch of videos about it, including various big name authors giving it their thumbs up. It looks interesting.
Hi Nathan,
May I ask a question that's unrelated to this post?
Say a person has the opportunity to publish a novel in a foreign country (it'll be translated to said country's language), how does that affect American rights and all that great stuff?
Anon-
Depends on the contract.
Thanksgiving stories? Lord have mercy, have I got an entire week's worth of blog posts of those. Bad food, inappopriate comments, kosher turkey, drunken relatives and strange people showing up at all hours - we had it all.
I want a Kindle too. I was thinking that maybe it could save me having to carry so many books to school, but not all the books I need are available for it yet.
That's hilarious, Scott.
Definitely smarter than an average fifth grader...Watch out.
7 million eh? Yeah, that's a lot. I'd share my turkey story but I'm from Canada and we celebrated Thanksgiving awhile ago.
I don't normally watch The Bachelor, but this time I tuned in to the last ten minutes or so (mostly because a football game was on during the shows I usually watch). At first I was irritated with him, because why did he make that big stink about the first girl and then not choose the second one either?
Then I thought, "Well, maybe he does have some moral fiber -- he didn't want to lead them on."
And *then* I thought, "What kind of guy with moral fiber wants to be on The Bachelor in the first place? He just wanted to meet a bunch of pretty girls and get paid to kiss them all."
That was the funniest part of my week.
Glad you mentioned the Kindle. It’s an odd, unattractive piece of design, reminiscent of a thin, telephone answering machine, or some strange etch-a-sketch/writing tablet. I love technology and gadgets, but in terms of form following function, the Kindle misses the aesthetic spot, for me.
Kindle? It makes me think ‘kinder’ or ‘spindle’. What does Kindle mean? At least zune rhymes with tune!!!
Welcome back!
Glad you mentioned the Kindle. As well as the odd name, it’s an unattractive piece of design, reminiscent of a thin, telephone answering machine, or some strange etch-a-sketch/writing tablet. I love technology and gadgets, but in terms of form following function, the Kindle misses the aesthetic spot, for me.
Nothing but term-paper writing and studying for finals for this graduate on Thanksgiving day, and every day between now and the end of the semester.
Speaking of Kindle, I wonder how hot that thing gets? Kinda like a laptop battery? Ouch. Also seems tough on the eyes too. Even if I had the dough to blow, I'd pass on it.
My Niece's young son turned from an engaging boy into a surly teen before our very eyes. Now he ignores and grunts with the best of them.
My other niece and I actually stuffed the turkey and had it in the oven in less than five minutes. We made the stuffing the day before and had everything ready. Shoved four hands into that carcass, spread some salt and pepper and shoved it into the oven with a cup of Proseco in the roaster. It magically appeared three hours later tender and delicious.
Funny, if two people spent five minutes stuffing four hand into me, I'd have complained. The turkey never said a word.
Josephine,
The e-ink technology takes no power when it's not rearranging into new letters, so the Kindle shouldn't get warm at all. I've played with the similar Sony reader and it was plenty cool.
It really does look similar to paper, except when the the letters dissolve and rearrange into new words.
It's almost magical.
I love technology and gadgets, but in terms of form following function, the Kindle misses the aesthetic spot, for me.
Oh, me too! That thing is ugly. I know I am spoiled by Apple stuff, but really...would a little nice design have hurt?
I agree. The Kindle just doesn't do it for me. Give me a paper book any old day!
Nathan, did you see on Paper Cuts that the "Times of London" named On Chesil Beach as best novel of the year?
Laurel, thanks for the info... now if only I can keep my clunky old laptop from getting hot....
Nathan,
Did you see the pics in the media of Spencer serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless at the LA Mission?
He's an angel.
I don't have any Thanksgiving tales to tell, but may I recommend this delightful bit on leftovers by the humor columnist in the Salt Lake Tribune? Robert Kirby is really funny.
http://www.sltrib.com/columnists/ci_7558354
Hi Nathan. I remember you answering this a few weeks ago, but I couldn't find it by looking at your labels.
An agent asks for a partial. When is it okay to send the polite e-mail reminder?
I guess the Kindle would be great for people who need to drag piles of books with them everywhere. It does seem that a lot of thought went into its design, but it is not pretty to look at.
yes I do think that's important. I judge books by their covers. I think lots of people do but not everybody admits it.
I'm not a gadget techno person at all, so the packaging is more important to me than specifications. Also, despite not being into tech, I'm a Mac snob, so I have very little regard for that thing.
Bottom line? I love books. I love reading them, holding them in my hands, and lining them up on my shelf. As much as I hate leaving the house, especially to spend money, I love the bookstore.
I can't see myself owning a Kindle any time soon.
Hi, Nathan.
I just want to ask is it possible to publish a book in USA although author lives in another country and if he has to translate book into English?
Thanks.
P.S.
Sorry for my English
disturbing images of books piled up and flaming high into the night. didn't someone think of this? it reminds me of the campaign to market the vauxhall nova car in italy. 'no va' - doesn't go - tremendous!
anyway, the kindle will NOT take off unless there's a place in it for you to tuck your bus/train ticket. you heard it here first.
Glad you are back. I'm eager to read your take on Kindle.
No great stories from this Thanksgiving but over on my blog I am rehashing my one year of hell as a mall Santa.
My 4 year old daughter said she liked the Thanksgiving Beast.
I'd have been more shocked if the bachelor chose them both.
Still... I worry about this man. Will he find love? Will he maintain those perfect pecks? Will his twin brother have plastic surgery to remove the resemblance? My heart goes out to Glenn... or Bruce... or is it Gary?
Topher, best wait for Nathan to confirm, but I seem to remember he said send the most brief email possible after one month.
Heidi, what about the thrill an author gets seeing people carrying around their book? A kindle gizmo does not give that effect.
re:the Kindle. What about book signings? How does one sign a copy of their kindled book? Will book signings disappear?
I could see book signings becoming rare, extremely high-profile events if things like Kindle take off. To have a physical, signed copy of an author's work would be like owning the Holy Grail of that publication. Publishers would probably limit publications like that to a few hundred and even less would probably get signed.