The official release date of my book is now palpably close. I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous about this. It's a different process to academic writing where you submit a paper to a journal, wait the 2 or 3 months for some kind of puff of smoke, and then bear down for the comments of the anonymous reviewers. Nastiness isn't unusual, but at least if you are completely hammered you have the option of slipping the reviews into the bottom drawer of your desk, where nobody ever has to know about them other than you, an editor, and the reviewers. In the case of a trade book, everything is different. First, there's no obligation that your book be reviewed at all. It could be ignored, completely, which would be unhappy. Second, if you are lucky enough to get a few reviews, they could be bad ones, and if they are, anybody -- your best friend, worst enemy, Uncle Henry and cousin Betsy can all read them. There's no hiding them in the bottom drawer. You're out there.
On the other hand, with academic publishing, you don't really get to do fun things like
this. I might be too nervous to eat much brunch, but it's a very cool event and I'm glad to be going.
In other book news, I'm hard at work designing a new page for my website which explains how QR codes work (I've spoken about these before and will again soon). There are a couple of good reasons for doing this. For one, there's a QR code on the jacket of my book. You can use it to check for updates, find out where I am or if I'm lost. You can even use it to let me know if you're lost. We're pretty excited to have the first book published in at least North America (possibly the world) with such a feature. Also, QR codes will play a role in some of the fun activities I'm hoping to mount over the spring and summer. If you play you can win some nice prizes, including signed copies of my book and a few other things as well. If you want to get started early, you can get involved by sending me short stories of your own wayfinding fiascos. Where have you been lost? Where are the Bermuda triangles of your own life? Is there a place where you
always seem to lose your bearings? What the worst thing that ever happened to you because you lost your way? All entries will be eligible to be entered in a weekly draw for a free signed book. Particularly clever or creative entries may be selected for larger book prizes. You can enter the contest in all kinds of ways. Send me a tweet at the
official Twitter site for the book. Post a comment on this site. Send me an email. Extra points awarded for photos, maps, or other cool geo-info.
Comments