Let’s face it. Most books are as much subject to vanity as their readers are. What book doesn’t wish to be released in October or November to experience the full spotlight of the holiday rush? Yesterday was Jan. 14 and we decided to ask the top books going on sale today for their perspective on being published during the doldrums of retail. Each book was asked why they thought they were being published in mid January and how they felt about it.
Oh so you think I’m as much of a fraud as those self serving, morally bankrupt, charlatans I endured working with in Washington. I hate you for asking. Why don’t you just read the book and stop trying to be so damned clever?
I don’t mind at all Kenny. As an intricate, complex, thought provoking book I prefer to enter a relatively quiet room. I much prefer to be the subject of sustained, intelligent focus to having been just one more barking voice in the throng.
I take it as a mark of respect. As the latest in a very well established series, well, I’m not exactly just some nervous debut novel dreaming of splendor but fearing the guillotine. My audience expects me and I appreciate the mature pleasures of certainty.
Let’s cut to the chase. For a short story collection I’m a pretty big deal. I have a great title, a great cover, and my author’s last book, Swamplandia was a huge hit. I got to staying hardcover through the holidays and am just fine with going paperback now.
If you are going to be the sequel of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and if the girl on your cover is going to have a giant hole where her stomach should be, why would you expect a mainstream release date?
Success comes from overcoming obstacles, such as being published on January 14th. Once I dominate the bestseller list for 18 years running people will look back and see how much I was able to accomplish from humble beginnings.
Hmmm, thanks each one of you, namely….
Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War
By Gates, Robert Michael
2014-01 – Knopf Publishing Group
Andrew’s Brain
By Doctorow, E. L.
2014-01 – Random House
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel
By Bradley, Alan
2014-01 – Delacorte Press
Vampires in the Lemon Grove: And Other Stories
By Russell, Karen
2014-01 – Vintage Books
Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Children
By Riggs, Ransom
2014-01 – Quirk Books
Wooden: A Coach’s Life
By Davis, Seth
2014-01 – Times Books
