Back when I was promoting Dancing Barefoot, (which has gotten a really nice bounce in sales this last week — I’m sure because of WWdN readers — so thank you!) I talked about it a LOT on my site. Partly, that was because Barefoot-related things dominated my life at the time . . . but it was also because I’ve been told (and experienced firsthand) that books only sell as well as their authors promote them. This is the best way I have to promote my books on my own, so I’m going to do that in the coming months. I just want to be honest about that right now. If this sort of thing bugs you, stop reading now, and go check out the best combination since Gretzky and Kurri: They Might Be Giants and Homestar Runner. Seriously, you guys.
Still here? Okay. Here are a few mid-morning Geek things:
- There’s another excerpt from Just A Geek at California Authors dot com. I am a huge fan of California Authors, and it’s very exciting to be mentioned by them.
- I’ve been thinking a lot about how to describe Just A Geek, because I’ve already heard a lot of people (especially booksellers) mistakenly assuming it’s a typical celebrity bio (it’s really not. I worked very hard to avoid that trap, and I hope it’s more David Sedaris than David Caruso) or a Star Trek book. I’m working hard to correct this misunderstanding (and hopefully reverse the “pushback” it’s created), thusly: Just A Geek is as much a story about Star Trek as Stand By Me is a story about walking down train tracks to find a dead body — sure, it’s part of the story, but it’s not what the story is about. It’s really a story about my journey from trying to be someone (or something) to please everyone else, to discovering that I’m happiest when I’m just myself — Just A Geek.
- I hear that the major chains are shelving Geek in Television, or in Sci-Fi. I’m not too crazy about that, because I think it belongs in Biography. So if you’re looking for it in Biography, and you can’t find it, go look in Television. I’m trying to get them to move it, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful. And if you really want to help me out, you could ask for it, even if you already own it, or don’t plan on buying it. That sort of customer inquiry filters back to Bookstore Mountain, and the Bookstore Overlords may decide to give it some better shelving in stores. If that happens, I’ll . . . uh . . . well, I can’t afford to buy everyone a cookie, so I’ll just have to offer even more of my eternal gratitude 🙂
- I have three confirmed readings and signings for August: August 6 at Powell’s Technical Annex in Portland, August 15 at Borders in Hollywood (on Sunset and Vine! Cool!) and August 21 at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego. I’m also working on a SUPER COOL event at the ACME. If that goes off well, I could end up with something very cool.
- I’ll be on The David Lawrence Show this Thursday from 7-10 PDT to talk about Just A Geek, and I’m sure I’ll get to read some selections from it. I’ll post all the specific information about it on Thursday.
That should do it for today. Thanks for listening! Go reward yourself with Corporate MoFo’s hilarious explaination of The DaVinci Code. (I’ll admit it: I read the DaVinci Code, and I enjoyed it. It’s the first “popcorn” book I’ve read since Hunt for Red October) CMF wins a cauldron of bonus points, too, for working Frank Zappa and Frank Capra into the same column. Good work, Ken!
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Think outside the genre, Wil. Just because Magic Shell isn’t itself a type of ice cream doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be next to the ice cream at the grocery store. A lot of people browsing television and science fiction books are likely to recognize you, so of course your book belongs with those kinds of books if you actually want people to buy it.
The real question should not be “Why is my book shelved with television and science fiction books?”, but “Why is my book not shelved with biographies as well?”.
Wil, I want to translate your book into German 😉 No, I’m serious, I think people from Germany should be able to read it, too. 🙂
Hi Wil,
You’re going to be in Portland on my last day of vacation (was born and adopted there, and may end up moving there).
I’ll be at Powell’s for your reading, and to buy Just a Geek. Luckily I have a late flight out that night so I won’t miss it!
BOOK TOUR!!!!!
Cool! My calendar is marked and alarm is programmed!
I can’t wait, Wil!
Scott
BOOK TOUR!!!!!
Cool! My calendar is marked and alarm is programmed!
I can’t wait, Wil!
Scott
BOOK TOUR!!!!!
Cool! My calendar is marked and alarm is programmed!
I can’t wait, Wil!
Scott
From the mind of a library geek: Bookstores do a great job selling new books. Librarians do a great job classifying information (books, websites, CDs, journals, etc.) — new and old — so people can find it. Even when the publisher prints SciFi, a cataloger can size it up and write lots of other cross references or even choose to place it in his / her library near Sedaris.
Alas, in a quick WorldCat search, “only” your movies show up, Wil, so I can’t show you folks what I mean. WorldCat (link)is the library world merging with the search engine world to give searchers the option to find the book, movie, etc. they want at a library instead of buying it. Possibly not popular with authors, but great for grad students on a budget.
Too bad I’m on the east coast. I guess I’ll have to suffer by buying the book unsigned.
I tried to read CMF, but stopped after I read the word irregardless. I hate that word, and my respect for any writer drops a couple points when they use it.
Wil:
A couple of things regarding shelving. First, I got my copy of Dancing Barefoot at a Barnes and Noble. It was shelved with the Star Trek books, which makes a certain amount of sense, but might not be where you want it to be. I got JAG from Amazon yesterday. I suspect they shelved it virtually. 😉
A number of authors have had skewed sales due to cross-shelving. A notable example is Robert Silverberg, whose book The Realm of Prester John should have been shelved with Elizabethan books, but was shelved with Science Fiction. Critics liked it, but stores put it in the wrong place because of his name. When SF readers picked it up, they disliked it because it wasn’t the typical Silverberg that they were looking for. Many Elizabethan readers never saw it.
It seems that you are up against the same challenge, here. Perhaps you can request that O’Reilly send a note along with shipments of the book, stating that it should be shelved in Biography.
Good luck!
Way cool! Haven’t seen it at Barnes and Noble yet, but have been seriously looking. Tomorrow is my Barnes and Noble Day so will make sure and see if I can’t locate Dancing Barefoot.
You know, here at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky Stephen King did a book signing….ahem….*cough*….it would be really cool if you could come here and follow in his footsteps.
Can’t wait to read your book!
if anything, isn’t it more non-fiction, or in the “short story / short essay” section, if there IS one?
well Wil, you’ve done it, you’ve writing a book that has no freakin’ genre! 🙂
On Amazon it says:
One person recommended: Atlas Shrugged (abridged) instead of Just a Geek.
HAH!
Picked it up, but haven’t read it yet (still working on another book this week).
The local Borders here in Boise had both JAG and Barefoot in the Trek section. That was only after I had spent 30 mins looking in Bio, fiction, and finally Fantasy/Sci-Fi did I find it there.
When are you going to head out to the east coast for some singings? Like, say, Atlanta? I would love to get you to sign a copy and get a chance to shake your hand.
Think about heading this way!
Wil,
I bought Dancing Barefoot from Amazon and read it last month, and it was wonderful! I reviewed it in my blog and posted my comments on Amazon as well. Can’t wait to get Just A Geek now. I think I’ll see if my local Barnes & Noble has it before I order it online.
Hey Wil,
Can’t wait to get your book, from what I have read on your blog, it’s sure to be a best seller!! If it isnt, then SHAME on the MAN, who runs the corporate book machine. By the way, I put a link on my blog to your blog, I didnt use the buttons you had because I am HTML-Retarded to a degree, but its there none the less. When I get the book I will make sure to put a 5 star review online. Blog located at timmyjstudios.blogspot.com in case anyone is bored. Keep up the great writing Wil.
Just about done with it and LOVING it. Its a great read and cant wait to really promote it right, at my store.
Wil, I work for B&N and I’m going to be meeting the buyers next week so I will tell them that they need to change the display code for both JAG and Dancing Barefoot to bio. It will sell much better there. I am a trekkie so it doesnt bother me that it wont be in Star Trek section.
Keep up the good work
sean
Wil, I’d just like to say that I just special-ordered both books at Borders, since they seemed to not be in any hurry to get them in on their own.
I HATE special ordering, btw, especially when they tell me that it could take them 1-6 (six?!) weeks to get the book, and I can’t help but think, “Goddammit, I could get both off Amazon within a week and with free shipping, and I wouldn’t have to wait for flaky teenagers to give me a phone call about it, either.”
So I did it for you, Wil.
I haven’t seen “Dancing Barefoot” or “Just a Geek” in my local bookstore. We have the smallest bookstores, and they only carry Danielle Steel and other poorly written garbage.
I love Homestar Runner!
I saw TMBG last night in Columbia, MO. Awesome. The HR video is great, too. Are you being considered to co-host the Screen Savers?
Wil,
I’ve seen other authors run into similar problems. Military SciFi author John Ringo ran into sales problems with one of his recent books because the cover depicted an elf-babe and a dragon (his books usually feature heavy hardware with large explosions). The book was still very much his style, just a slightly different setting, far-future nanotech instead of near-future heavy combat. Don’t worry, word-of-mouth is *still* the best advertising ever.
The link headlines to the Corporate MoFo article bug me almost as much as the use of “irregardless” does. The article is NOT a review or explanation of The DaVinci Code at all. The DaVinci Code is mentioned only to introduce the book he’s really talking about, Holy Blood Holy Grail. Not quite what I was expecting.
Argh. So much for that earlier post. Borders’s system for special orders is broken.
*mumbles vague obscenities a la Yosemite Sam*
You would not believe how I ended up here…but I must say, I’m glad some anonymous person sent me the link! I really enjoyed your “warning” entry for first timers. Isn’t blogging great? 🙂
Glad to say Wayne Gretzky was an EDMONTON OILER and we’re damn proud of his hockey ability….even though the evil Peter Pocklington traded him to LA. Wayne will you ever return to the OILERS??? We’re really missing you right now!
Come out of retirement!
I haven’t seen Geek yet in my local Chapters in Ottawa, Canada – but Barefoot is in the ‘Science’ section with books on physics and chemistry – go figure!
Wil! No! You’re making my entire vacation seem like 5 days too late! I’m in Edmonton, but will be in Portland on the 15 and LA on the 21st! I guess I’ll have to try and make the drive down to Diago.. 🙂 Good luck!
Please come to NYC for a signing dude!!
Hey Wil,
I work at Borders and JAG is shelved in TV SHOWS. We (Borders) don’t have a biography section, so to speak. Biographies are placed in the section from which the author’s work is best known. I could push to see if we could get it moved to star/director biographies though (which is the closest thing to any biography section we have and it’s very small).
BTW, I still think you should come sign at my store. 🙂
Way way off topic, I know, but…for those who made it through Wil’s post, and then made it through the Da Vinci Code “expose” (fun fluff, I enjoyed reading it)…I very, very much agree with the recommendation of “Foucault’s Pendulum” for someone who wants DVC done better. One of my favorite books of all time.
Er…um…besides Just a Geek, of course.
as to placement of the book in bookstores,
i’m not clear whether your preference is a business decision based on market research, an informed judgment, or an intuitive/emotion-based decision. it is my limited understanding that tv drives books sales -oprah’s book club e.g.- and i’d think that the tv or trek or sf section is where you would want to be, not ghettoized back in biography. but that’s an uniformed judgement based on my own biases – ask the folks who know.
kat’s idea of a german translation is an interesting one – i don’t know anything about the translation end of the publishing industry, but it would be my guess oreilly would probably do a print run of a german edition if kat writes it and you authorize it (“authorize”, hmm, irregardless)because german is big market for techical stuff. i don’t know whether japanese consumers prefer to read you in english, or what
countries have seen enough badly dubbed trek:tng
to generate a market. yes, we know you aren’t wesley, but for those who do judge a book by its cover, your brand identity is linked to trek and sbm. at least one commenter said the biography section sells well, that could be true.
another topic: did you know anthony montgomery, a trek enterprize actor, is the grandson of wes montgomery, a jazz legend? anthony is cool, has some of your humour and energy, and wants to make a documentary about his grandfather.
http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/161218-5699-062.html i thought you might want to say hey, encouraging words or suchlike.
and i plan to post in the politics forum soon about an eff-type project i’m doing.
are you selling autographed copies; are you an oreilly wholesaler? do you have a preference which online outlet people buy from, which is cheapest that still gives you the full cut?
aren’t these rhetorical?
Hey, Wil. I realize that this comment is number 69 [69!] in an old thread, but here’s the scoop. I work at a big book box [‘b’ but no ‘n’] store in Virginia. We don’t have a Biography section. And personally, I like that. Biography is so damn subjective. We shelve Just A Geek [which is great!] in Television, but we do have Dancing Barefoot in Humor. Just letting you know.
Jesus, screwed up on the first post here in long months. That would have been number 79, 79. Say it to yourself quietly.
Hey Wil, I love the Gretzky and Kurri reference!
/Lifelong Oilers fan
HEY! Come do a signing in Orland Park, IL. At the Borders. Its across the street from a Hooters. Two things i love in close proximity… Boobs and Books.
I made sure to buy your book at the bookstore. I helped up your numbers by 1. I loved your book. I can’t wait for more.