It's getting close! Just a few more weeks until Marysvale is available. I have, what I consider good news, although some may consider it a bit of a delay. My book will be ready to purchase the beginning of October. However, I'm not sure in what book stores you'll be able to physically go in and pick up a copy, at least not until January. Here's the deal. I carry as much weight in the publishing industry as a gnat, maybe less. Our advertising budget isn't much better. So, I'm told that all the 900 pound gorillas are all competing for your glorious holiday dollars and using what weight they can throw to get it. This tends to make if difficult for an unknown, such as myself. I know, it's a shock for you all to find out that I'm an unknown, and at the risk of bursting your image of me, I have to confess it's true. It's hard for an unknown to get shelf space, ad space, etc.. In January, they've all blown their ad money, and book stores are looking for fresh stuff. I've been told that quite a few new authors have had success at that time.
Our plan is for a rolling start. Ingram is one of my distributors, so you should be able to walk into just about any book store and ask them to get it for you in October. But then, if your going to do that, why not just order it through Amazon? Of course, you could support your local book store, which is the method I prefer. But it may be a pain to wait for them to get it in, so I'll understand if Amazon is your thing. In January it will be more widely available.
So, how is this good news you ask? Well my loyal followers, it's because I was sooo stressed out over October. They want me to do at least 3 signings a week, or as many as I can do without ending up in the corner and wrapped up in a blanket chanting "All work and no play makes Jared a dull boy." It's not that the book signings are worrying me, its the book signings, on top of work, and on top of getting book 2 finished, on top of all the other life stuff, that worries me. Putting those signings off until January means I'll have three months to finish Alyth. Thereby, removing one thing from my plate so I can enjoy the fun of meeting you all.
