The Contortions it Takes to Sell a Book
I always love going to the annual BEA, Booksellers Expo, where booksellers and librarians come to meet authors. For years, I covered publishing for the Wall Street Journal and traveled all over the country to attend the BEA, but in recent years, it has been held annually at the Javits Center. It’s always a thrill to pick up the early buzz on fall books and get to see and meet some of the authors I most admire. But there is a special thrill to be an author there (despite the obvious freak-out that competition is ENDLESS.)
Anyway, I was scheduled for a half hour session of signing copies of The Book of New Family Traditions in the Running Press/Perseus Books booth. The good news and the bad news is that the 75 books the publisher brought to give away evaporated in less than 15 minutes — there was actually a line of booksellers and librarians waiting to get a signed copy. Some of those in line included old friends, including Lynn Rosen, who edited the first edition of the book, and whom I hadn’t seen in years. Those who came too late to get a copy were so sad.
Every day, I feel overwhelmed by all that I should and could do, but this was a total feel-good day.
What can I say? A front row seat for a breakfast panel featuring Stephen Colbert, Barbara Kingsolver, Junot Diaz and Norwegian thriller writer Jo Nesbit? Priceless.
Followed by lunch with my awesome agent, Chris Tomasino.
Did I mention that I came home with 4 canvas bags STUFFED with free books?
So much treasure.
Life is sweet.
P.S. The Alvin Ailey dancer above, whose name is unknown to me, was promoting a very cool new photography book for fall called Dancers Among Us by Jordan Matter. There are plenty of towers I would climb to help my book make its way before the public. Just so you know.
Comments welcome