I have two areas I want to address in this post. I first want to thank all those who came to my book signing yesterday at the Barnes & Noble store in Waterloo, Iowa. It's nice to sell books, but what I love most about signings is the people I get to meet and visit with at those very special times. Yesterday I got to visit with everyone from one of Waterloo's oldest residents (a delightful woman nearing a hundred years old!) to one of my former students who is now a gifted English teacher in northeast Iowa. I was also able to visit with presidents/chairs of several book clubs and literary associations who would like me to come visit with their groups about the new book. Also at the signing, Ain't No Harm to Kill the Devil nearly sold out -- and copies of my other books also flew off the table (I was told that Shell Games has developed something of a "cult following" now, and many people showed up to get signed copies of that!). I'd also like to thank the B&N store manager, Steve Olsson, who has to be one of the best managers in the entire country. He not only did amazing publicity for the event, but he also made sure there were plenty of copies of all my books -- and I even had a great table right near the front door of the store. As a manager, Steve is tops.
I also wanted to say a few words today about "publicity" for new books. Working with the media is always fun, but there are times when the fun gets to the point of being hilarious. Such an instance took place this past week. My local newspaper ran a review of Ain't No Harm, and the review was splendid. However, the paper chose to place my picture and a shortened version of the title of the book on the front page -- with directions about where the rest of the story could be found inside the paper. The problem? Well, I'll attach a picture of that part of the front page so all of you can judge for yourselves. Doesn't it look like *I'm* being called THE DEVIL right on the front page and for all to see!!! All week long I've been teased. I've lost track of the number of those who came up to me and said, "Well, we knew it all along, but we now have confirmation...." Very funny -- very, very funny.......... Still, at least they spelled my name right, so I guess I'll just laugh along with everyone else.
I'm going to attach two pictures with this post. One is of the book signing event yesterday, and the other is a picture of THE DEVIL (at least according to the newspaper).
More news coming soon, so please check back often. In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying Ain't No Harm to Kill the Devil: The Life and Legend of John Fairfield, Abolitionist for HIre.
Happy reading!
JSC
