happiest days gets a review

I was helping a friend troubleshoot and .opml issue a few days ago, and ended up building the mother of all vanity searches with this thing called monitor.

I was going to delete it last night, but I’m glad I didn’t, because I found this great review of The Happiest Days of Our Lives with it this morning:

The book is a compilation of stories from Wil’s earlier years. The
stories make for a great read. Some will make you laugh, while others
will sadden you. And more than one is very easy to relate to. I really
enjoyed the book. Reading it caused me to recall some great memories
from my past as well.

Yesterday at work, I loaned one of my books to this guy Robert, who is a makeup artist I worked with a million years ago on Star Trek. They’d hired him to do special effects makeup on the background actors playing fans, but wouldn’t let him use real pieces, because it would look too good. He ended up using the stuff you can buy  at Cinema Secrets, and it still looked great. I’m telling you guys, the authenticity is so great, you’ll swear we were at a real convention.

Anyway, Robert sat down with it and started reading between setups. After about an hour, he came over to touch me up and make me look awesome for a closeup. While he put powder on my shiny face, he told me how much he liked the stories in my book, especially Blue Light Special, which he could relate to, and I am the Modren Man, which he said cracked him up.

I told him how happy that made me, and asked him to tell people about the book, because word of mouth is what sells books, not advertising. Think about this: when is the last time you bought a book, DVD, or game because of the advertising? I don’t think I’ve done that since I realized advertising was bullshit about twenty-five years ago. I have, however, bought lots of books, games, DVDs, and CDs because my friends told me how much they loved it, and thought I’d like it.

Reviews are important for books, because they can convince people who are on the fence to take a chance on a book, but even more important is word of mouth, especially from your friends, family, and other people you trust to give you good, honest advice.

I’m not going to be reviewed by Booklist or any of the major newspapers, and it’s unlikely that I’ll get a chance to go on television and radio to let people know about The Happiest Days of Our Lives who don’t know about it already. I’m counting on readers who feel my book was worth their time and money to tell their friends, and help me reach people who I haven’t reached already.

If you’ve read The Happiest Days of Our Lives, and you felt it was
worth your time and money, please tell your friends and family about it. It makes me so happy (and relieved) that it’s already happening a little bit, right here on the Internets.

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23 thoughts on “happiest days gets a review”

  3. “I am the Modren Man”
    Congratulations, you just made another sale. For making this particular Styx reference (which made me laugh stupidly loud at work, thanks), I must now affectionately refer to you as “my boy”. Before that, you were simply “a really cool guy.” Now, you’re “my boy”.
    Plus, I must see what that story is about. I’ll read the others, too, to be sure.

  4. So, WWDN readers, let’s put on our thinking caps. Besides word of mouth, how can we get the word out? Word of mouth works to a certain extent, but I believe Wil’s writing is of a level that more people should be exposed (that sounds a little like a disease, but you get the idea).

  5. Thanks for the flickr link, Wil. It was cool to see some shots from the set. And your captions, especially about your experience on set is different from when you were young to now. That was insightful.
    And don’t worry about the word of mouth for happiest, we got your back.

  7. Totally off-topic except maybe the part about vanity searches…I took a flight on Alaska Air last night, and did the crossword in their magazine (Oct 07 issue). Halfway through, the clue was “Wheaton or Shriner” – 3 letters.
    Thought you’d like to know!
    P.S. Who the hell is Wil Shriner?

  8. I cracked up with laughter so hard while reading “Modren Man” that I, again, offended my cats and had to read it aloud to my fiance to explain what I was laughing at.
    Incidentally, my powers of Wil immersion have worked on the fiance. We were driving to see a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse (Fido, a particulary AWESOME zombie film) and we drove past a Hooters. Without any prompts and without you being a topic of conversation for at least a day or so my fiance burst out with, “Hey, didn’t you used to be an actor?” (He’s been listening to Just a Geek: Teh Audiobook.)
    My reply? An immediate, “I mean, when you were a kid?”
    Oh yes, we’re geeks. 🙂 I’m spreading the word and soon will write a review of the book. 🙂

  9. My girlfriend bought me Happiest for my birthday (my 30th, yay, in two weeks), so my review will be delayed until then. I’ll have to post a link to it here when I’m done. I loved DB and JaG, so I already know this one will be teh awesomeness…

  10. I read “THDOOL” (That acronym has a bit of “menace” to it), last night and really enjoyed it.
    I still have my Keep on the Borderlands module along with a few books here and there. “Keep” is still one of my most favorite adventures ever. And at times, when old friends, (and I mean that literally) get together for Gaming weekends, I still find myself grinning broadly as I rifle through old character sheets from 1980-something. It’s nice to know someone else is inclined to do the same thing. Thanks for sharing. And please send an E-mail to my wife and tell her Fantasy Role playing/Board gaming is not juvenile; she seems to respond to you. I believe it’s something to do with you being all “gangly and adorable” in Stand by Me or something like that. I don’t know either; you’ll have to ask her…

  11. Wil Wheaton blogs NUMB3RS WITH PICS!

    Wil Wheaton, who will play a comic creator in the upcoming episode of Numb3RS, has blogged his experience on the set and here as well!
    He also took PHOTOS! And theres shots of my leeetle cute booth and my pretty posters and books! Thanks for se…

  13. The best review – my wife who never has time to read a book, picked up “Days” just to check the covers. She just had to read a little bit … and got hooked. She really likes it, especially stories that mesh with her own memories. We are both reading it a small piece at a time to make it last.
    That she now recommends the book to her friends and family is a wonderful accolade.

  14. I know this will warm your hear, Wil. Shat got dissed for the “new” Star Trek movie. Heh heh heh. Look at this quote will you:
    ‘”I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn’t seem to be a wise business decision.”‘
    God, what a stuck-up prig. Newsflash for Shat: No one can stand you you pompous jackass, that’s why you’re not heading to the Trek set again. Pppfffhhtt.. 😛

  15. I loved your book and my son is hot to read it next. The stories are great — I can’t say enough about how real the writing is. It puts us right in your heart. Sounds silly, but I don’t know how else to say it. The story about Felix made my cry big time (I lost my own Darkwing Duck just a few months ago).

  16. Oh, also, I just saw the flicker slideshow. Great pics! Amazing how real they are! They totally look like every con I’ve ever been to.

  17. I suggest an email campaign to Teri Gross. I think you would be a perfect guest for “Fresh Air.” Your combination of acting/celebrity experience and your thoughtful perspective on modern culture and technology make you a perfect fit for her show. She’s done great interviews with voice actors (the show with Tom Kenny/Spongebob was amazing). She’s also interviewed many of the Simpsons voice actors. There are clips of your performances and speeches she could review to be sure you didn’t suck. I have thought often of writing to her show and suggesting it, but I’ve been embarrassed by the fangirl aspect…
    But if lots of people wrote – if you are cool with the idea – maybe we could spark their interest.

  18. SO a quick question….since the Canadian orders have been suspended..does that mean that those of us who have already bought the book won’t be getting one? Just wondering, as i haven’t received the book yet, and it has been a few weeks….just wondering..not complaining…and i will wait as long as it takes….
    thanks!

  21. Word of mouth is always better. The stuff I read here has (sort of) made me take another look at comic book/graphic novels, and I would really like to find a group to try some D&D type RPGs.
    Except for the fact that I was more or less forced to grow up a loner, and now really suck at the going-out-and-meeting-people thing, meaning I keep to my computer games. Heh.
    I so need that “Cooler in the Mirror Universe” Trek Life Tee.

  23. I’m swamped with writing commitments right now (and in the middle of a cross-country move), but I plan to write a review of the book for Blogcritics.org sometime soon. Maybe even before the Christmas shopping season is over.

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