49 thoughts on “who knew they would be so hard to find?”

1. Are they crazy? What city did the reader live in? Either I’m in the twilight zone where everyone is a serious Trek reader or they’re in a city without a movie theatre, library, or geeks! OUCH! I’m glad I live here.

2. Amazon. It’s where my wife bought me both Dancing Barefoot (Monolith Press) and Just a Geek (O’Reilly). I have to admit, I was overjoyed to see Dancing Barefoot (O’Reilly) once at a Waldenbooks, but I haven’t spied Just a Geek in the wild.
   I wanted to ask – when Just a Geek first came out, you mentioned that you had a “three book deal” with O’Reilly. Are you still required to release that “Celebrity Blogs” book you were working on, or will all of your future works be self-printed?

3. Yeah, that sounds familiar. I haven’t found any of Wil’s books over here in Germany, either… not even in the Star Trek section. Only on amazon… but no “real” bookstore has ever heard about them, which I think is pretty damn sad.

4. Guess I’m lucky – I found “Just a Geek” in the Entertainment section of my local Borders. After much jumping on my part (yeah, it was embarassing), the book was mine.

5. When I went shopping for my copies I had to order in JAG because they didn’t have any copies at Chapters (big chain in Canada). I couldn’t find Dancing Barefoot until I asked because they had filed it in the science section! I took all the copies with me to the counter and told them to put them in the biography section. It really makes you wonder sometimes.

6. Chapters here in Dartmouth, NS, Canada had JAG in the right section, but it took like three of the girls working there fifteen minutes or so to find DB. Turns out it was in the Star Trek section, even though their computer said it was in the Bio section.

7. Yeah, I got mine from amazon. _Really_ enjoyed them by the way.
   /me waits patiently for the next one

8. Wait wait…people actually still go INSIDE a physical chain bookstore, hunt for what they want, and then pay the insane prices?
   Amazon people. Amazon.

9. Wow, I’ve been buying the pocket book star trek books from B&N for years, in fact just last week I picked up one of the recent releases.
   No idea where they get that they don’t sell, how dumb.

10. BUT! I totally bought both of your books from Barnes and Noble…our Barnes and Noble in Berkeley are just better then the rest…see wil, people in Berkeley, including Barnes and Noble, care about you.
    -Cara

11. The B&N I go to was out. V. annoying 🙂

12. You can buy both books in NZ (though they’re hard to find) but the prices are pretty high. Dancing Barefoot sells for $42 NZD (about $28 USD) and Just A Geek costs $63 NZD (about $43 USD). I don’t know how much is costs in the US but comparing NZ prices to Amazon.com and O’Reilly.com, it seems pretty expensive.

13. I had to order in my copy of Dancing Barefoot at Borders. Although, when I was paying for it, the girl at the counter looked at it and said, “Is that the same Wil Wheaton from Star Trek?” And though I had not properly prepared for that incredible opportunity to plug Wil’s book, we talked at length about DB and JAG, and how funny Wil is, and what a great writer, and about the blog, and I think she went on to read them. 😀 Yay!

14. I ordered my copies ages ago at Waterstones on my university campus (Bournemouth, UK). And later on I noticed they had Just a Geek on display in the biography section. Which is a big thing, because Bournemouth is not exactly a haven for geeks.

15. I saw it at a B&N about a week after its release–in memoirs, not with the ST stuff;. And since *most* books have a 30-60 day shelf life, people probably would have an easier time getting it from an online store.

16. B&N: Would go there for the simple fact that they are too big and too expensive because they are too big and too expensive. I go to Boarder’s. Carmal Cafe Freeze’s. Yummy.
    Type-casting will benefit you some day. Look at the glass however you want, but try to keep the fantasy alive. It will one day turn into a dream and dreams have been known to come true.

17. Yeah. I can’t spell. I’m okay with that.

18. Wait wait…people actually still go INSIDE a physical chain bookstore, hunt for what they want, and then pay the insane prices?
    Amazon people. Amazon.
    I know, we actually like interacting with human beings and using our legs. We’re all mad here!

19. Overnighting them from Amazon costs an extra $20 plus, but it’s darn sure worth it. About the only thing I’ll buy in the bookstore any more is magazines. Mostly because I don’t want them folded and/or torn when they arrive.

20. I’ve never been in a pigeon-hole. Must be uncomfortable.

21. I live in Sweden and I had to order both books because every bookstore pointed out to me that “Wil Wheaton is a unknown writer to most Swedes, thats why we don’t have his books in stock”.
    What?
    I’m so ashamed being Swedish right now.

22. I guess this kind of typecasting crap is probably why you’re never going to answer any trek questions in your podcast.
    If I understand the problem correctly, on the one hand your a geek with a love of sci-fi and of course that would include Trek.
    On the other.. well, it ain’t all about the trek for crying out loud.
    But I can understand why it would be bad for you to acknowledge trek at all. 🙁

23. chapters in guelph, ontario, had just a geek filed in the right section (biography) but… for some unknown reason… dancing barefoot has moved around…
    at one point it was in the science books (!) i think it was also in the humour section for awhile…

24. w00t, i’ve only been reading your blog for the last week. but i love your style dude, i just ordered Just a Geek and Dancing Barefoot from Amazon, cant wait till they get here 😀

25. I just got both JAG and DB the other day from chapters.indigo.ca. JAG even has “Star Trek” written in the top corner of the cover so there’s no confusion as to where it belongs. I especially liked the story where the Star Trek guy did that thing with the starship while trekking through the stars. But by the 7th time Wesley saved the day, I was growing tired of him, so I logged onto Pokerstars and played in the WWDN tourney and got knocked out somewhere in the 40s (when my pocket kings got beat by a flopped ace… no joke). Making my total amount of cash spent on Wheaton-related pursuits for the day $60+… but did I get a T-shirt? Nooooooo.
    It’s far too early in the morning for me to post comments.

26. I bought Just a Geek at barnes and Noble, but it was in the Star Trek section.

27. Got my JAG at http://www.powells.com. I moved to the south a few years back, and I really miss Borders. B&N and BAM don’t have the same atmosphere.
    Wil- by the way, I am also really enjoying your recent posts. I get the sense that your creative juices are flowing, and I hope it continues for you.

28. I’m lucky – I got Just a Geek for Christmas this year. (from Amazon.com)
    And by the way, Wil, I’m loving it. Especially all of your references to Pasadena and La Crescenta. I grew up in Pasadena and moved to La Crescenta when I was in high school. Someday I’ll tell you all the stories I heard about you… I’m glad you’re proving some of them wrong.

29. I haven’t been able to find anything except the most mainstream titles at B&N lately. I remember looking for a Cory Doctorow book for a friend of mine over the holidays and couldn’t find it at three B&N locations…couldn’t find any of his stuff at all. Borders at least had the most recent Doctorow if not the one I wanted. Walking into book stores is getting to be like walking into national chain music stores, nothing but proven sellers. Thank goodness for the interweb!

30. I can tell now that it’s going to be like when I see Kenny G in the jazz section. Kenny G is NOT JAZZ. It’s easy listening. Every time I see it, I’m a few milliseconds away from grabbing all of the CD’s, and moving them to the Easy Listening section, and dropping them on the floor. I can tell that I’m going to have to start doing that with your books too.. except, I won’t put them on the floor… I’ll put them on the shelf. 😛

31. What’s it take to get them online at MonolithPress.com?

32. You really need to get a copy to Oprah. Then she can put it on her Book of the Month Club list and you’ll become famous! Okay…. Famouser.

33. I guess I’m really, really lucky because my local libraries have both DB & JAG.
    I *will* have to get them, though, because I’ve checked both of them out a couple of time and have more than chuckled at some of the more comedic happenings. Several of the local Borders have them both.

34. I also got my copies on Amazon, since the book stores in my area are so LAME! They’ll have stupid books like Nicole Richie’s “The Truth About Diamonds” or whatever the hell it’s called, but they never have anything worthwhile.
    Just be happy that your legions of monkeys are resourceful enough to be able to find your gems, come hell or high water. We are a devoted bunch, Wil, trust me on this.

35. Funny, the local bookstores in my area stock Just a Geek. By “local” I don’t mean large-scale corporations like Borders or Barnes and Noble that only stock best-sellers. I mean local independant bookstores run by people who actually know something about books.

36. while i ordered both Just a Geek and Dancing Barefoot online, i have seen them both in bookstores. I found Dancing Barefoot in the biography section of “the world’s biggest bookstore” in downtown Toronto, and Just a Geek in the bio section of Indigo, also in the TDot. in fact, Just a Geek is pretty much what got me hooked on coming to this blog daily (sometimes more than once heh)

37. Interesting that B&N won’t stock any. I’ve seen it there a few times. Well, not recently. But when I did, it was always in the New Hardback Sci-Fi section.
    But my wife is so cool that she drove all the way into San Francisco just to buy one of the ones you autographed at Borders last year. Wives rock!

38. When JAG was fresh off the presses, I remember seeing it proudly displayed at the front of a big chain bookstore… as in propped up on a stand near the main door, where you could actually see it through the window from outside and had to walk past it as you entered.
    Side comment to the person who goes to Borders because B&N is too big and expensive: the ones around here are similar in hugeness and cost, but I give Borders the edge on atmosphere.

39. I talked to an SF editor back in 99 who had just got out of the biz to pursue a jounalism career. This was at Nasfic (I think), and he was warning all the would-be authors of how a coming series of mergers were going to really put the squeeze on the mid-level authors.
    “How bad is going to be?” someone asked him.
    He answered by telling this joke:
    Two men are out hiking in the woods when a bear starts chasing them. They flee for their lives, but the bear is steadily gaining ground. One man turns to the other and says, “This is hopeless. We’ll never outrun that bear.” His friend replies, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you.”
    That gave me a really warm, fuzzy feeling about the publishing industry. Yep.
    I’m curious, though, about your apparent plants to self-publish your next book. Have you picked a printer yet? Is it print-on-demand?

40. I remember going to Barnes and Noble, which is just a skip from my house, and looking all over for JAG – biography, essays, pop-culture – and ended up asking four different employees (just to be certain I got the right info) who kept telling me “It’s in Sci-fi with the Star Trek stuff.” Shwha? Well, it wasn’t there. I could forget about Dancing Barefoot while I’m there too, because they couldn’t even find it in their system. Not even under “Sci-fi, Star Trek”.
    I went to Borders and found their last copy. With DB, I gave up and ordered from amazon.com.
    I normally totally love B&N, and am willing to pay a few extra dollars if I have the book in my hands that very second, but Amazon is usually the best bet if I think it’s gonna be a treasure hunt. Sheesh.

41. The books have arrived. Over night shipping was worth it!

42. I purchase all of my books at Walden’s and, out of habit, tried to find JAG and DB there. They didn’t, but they ordered the books for me, though. That’s my story on how I got my copies.
    Those books were really good. I want to reread them. Hopefully I’ll make the time to do so.

43. Even though I ordered both DB and JAG through Amazon, I located them in the Santa/Anita – Arcadia mall bookstore. (I think it’s Borders, but not sure…) So my daughter bought the ones in the store to give to friends for Christmas. She had already read mine and loved them.
    I enjoyed them both so much that I ordered the audio version of JAG so I could hear your dulcet tones tell it your way. I get so jazzed when you produce one of your podcasts that I surmised your storytelling abilities would be superb. Of course, I was right…..

44. I got my copy of Just a Geek from a big stack of them in the bio section at my local Indigo. And to be honest, I only initially picked it up because you looked so damn cute on the cover.
    So I’m superficial. Sue me. Turned out you can judge a book by the cover…it was a fantastic read.

45. My mom had to order both for me from xmas from Amazon.com. I haven’t seen them in stores in Philadelphia and she couldn’t find them in Massachusetts anywhere.
    Where are “Do you want kids with that?” going to be sold? Online, bookstores, websites?

46. That email was from me, sent a while back. The small town is Greenville, SC and the copies I have were both found in B&N, just found it sad that they were ‘pigeon-holed’ in Star Trek. As for why I’d buy them in a ‘real’ store instead of amazon or other online outlet, I’d just regaled my local bar crowd with the video of Wil’s appearance at Gnomedex and was struck by a sudden case of ‘instant gratification’. Nice to see Wil really does read fan-mail. 🙂

47. Wil was in Star Trek?

48. What’s a “store”?

49. I got Dancing Barefoot for Christmas from my mum. 🙂 Then from my dad’s cousin I got a gift voucher for Borders. Guess what I ordered? Yup, Just a Geek. I picked it up yesterday (on my birthday ^_^). I’ve been reading it in between watching various Star Trek DVDs, and reading your books I’ve almost cried so many times, and I think I actually did at least once.

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