In Canada, as in Ireland, books seem to be a bigger deal than in my neck of the US of A. Granted I live in northern Wisconsin where fishing, hunting, logging, and supposedly outdoor sports like hockey and football more effectively captivate the interest of the general population. Here in the Hamilton/Toronto market (fifth largest market in North America, I'm told) there isn't a lot of hunting going on. (Unless you're stalking rival gang members.) There are a lot of bookstores though. Walking around "Fat City" (as some Canadians call it) tiny bookstore-fronts regularly leap out of the confusing glut of small shops lining both sides of every street and proclaims a sale on this or that title. In fact, right next door to my current domicile, resides one Bryan Prince, whose bookstore in Hamilton was benkighted with the honor of "Best Bookstore in Canada" just last year. Looking back on my transistion from logger to writer to publisher, reget has a way of infusing my body. In the land where trees outnumber humans by a gazillion to one (more or less) I chose to find life in publishing. If I'd been born in Toronto would I have taken to logging? Not likely.

Speaking of Ellen Baker's launch (see below) undoubtedly the most memorable book launch in SPI history was last December when Carl & Debbie Nelson launched Packers "Verses" Vikings. The launch party was at the Keyport, a local bar. The Nelson's were giving away little plastic Packer footballs as door prizes. The Packers/Vikings game was on the big screen. The place was packed, much hilarity ensued. Until near the end of the 4th quarter when a guy who had had his share of beer took umbrage (Packer's fans are always taking umbrage in our area) saying he'd been cheated out of a little plastic football. A fight ensued (fights at Packer/Viking games are de rigueur in our area), the cops were called. One woman was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. The offender was hauled off in handcuffs to jail, and, most importantly, the Nelson's sold over 100 books.

Met with old pal and SPI author Frankie Larson at the Anchor Bar today. Frank is an old Sourdough from Alaska who wrote two books for Savage Press. He self published the first book, Jackpine Savages, or Skinny Dipping for Fun and Profit, and then spun it off to Savage Press for sales and distribution. JPS is riotiously funny if you're from Iron River, Wisconsin and pretty dang funny if you're from anywhere else. His second book, Baloney on Wry is a collection of his best newspaper columns from Alaska and Tennessee and is also pretty dang funny. I dare you to buy one or "tuther" and not LOL at least once when reading it.

Book Launches

Went to Ellen Baker's book signing event last Tuesday here in Superior. There was a line about 200 people long and the report is that Ellen sold 300 books that night. Pretty dang good for a Superior, Wisconsin book launch. It helps that Ellen is tremendously talented and wrote a captivating narrative. I had the privilege of meeting weekly with Ellen when she was working on one of the drafts of the book. I was happy to see her success and I was a little sad. Sad to think that my own writing hasn't gotten a smiliar reception. I'm a little loathe to admit the jealous part of me, but it is there and there's no denying it. And on a more cheery note, Ellen's success reminded me of a couple of SPI book launches that were equally exciting. Jill Downs' book launch for The Awakening of the Heart at the Duluth Barnes & Noble sold 165 books in two hours. Phil Sneve's (Rhymes with Navy) launch of Eraser's Edge sold 150 books in a couple of hours. Rebel Sinclair's launch of The Devil of Charleston at the Old Jailhouse in historic downtown Charleston, S.C. sold 78 books in one afternoon. Georgia Post's launch of With Malice Toward Some sold 75 books in one evening. Plus we all had loads of fun. Cool.

Mid-year inventory is always instructive. We've created and sold over 30,000 books since starting this adventure. That's 30,000 books that weren't in existence before and weren't in the posession of readers. Industry literature indicates that every book sold is read, on average, by 4 people. That's 120,000 readers of SPI titles. Pretty cool.

BREAKING NEW GROUND

Have you ever had to break new ground? Think sodbusting. Think early American west expansionism. Think grasses taller than a man's head. Think thick roots a foot and a half strong and growing with a tangled vengance into the earth. Think a man and a woman and possibly some children with crude hand shovels. Think backbreaking labor to turn a small patch of ground from prairie to soil. All to plant a few potatoes, some corn, some beans...all to survive the coming, coming, coming soon, too soon winter. Think daily watering and endless weeding. Think watching birds pluck the fruit. Think locusts devouring your children's sustenance. Think defending your crops. Think harvest in the fall and the gratitude, the relief, and hope.

Think publishing. Think starting with a typewriter, a copier, a stapler. Think crude computers. Think media ignorance. Think reviewer incompetence. Think markets far, far away, and (really) in a different galaxy, speaking a different language entirely. Think aliens holding your book in clawed mandibles trying to discern the medium, to say nothing of the content. Think constant repeated efforts at communicating on multiple levels, different dimensions really. Think confusion, frustration, anger. Think hope, think surprise, think joy when a connection, even the tiniest, is made.

THIS IS REALITY

A long time ago in a galaxy far away an author told me she could sell 5,000 books if I published her. As of today that book has yet to sell 1,000 copies. I'm not complaining, any time we can sell a book, we're pleased. My point today is, selling 5,000 copies of a book to the end consumer is damn tough. As Jay Ford Thurston, author of two SPI books (Following in the Footsetps of Ernest Hemingway and Out of the Rainbow) knows, books get sold one at a time. Jay recently emailed WH (World Headquarters) to report that he'd sold 25 books in two weeks. If Jay plans on selling 5,000 books this way, it will take 400 weeks, or 7.69 years. If any author can sell 5,000 books, it is Jay Thurston.

Meanwhile, back at WH, we keep trying to get all our titles noticed. We send out hundreds of review copies, make hundreds of follow-up calls, dream up promotional plans, schedule author appearances, contact bookstore managers and buyers, mail out cataloges and sell sheets and promotional flyers, send posters to event managers, create our own events out of thin air, and generally hype, hype, hype, books in every way we can think of.

And the net result of all this dedicated (Thank you Nan and Beth) effort is, we pretty much get ignored. But not always. And when we do get noticed and someone buys a book or agrees to a plan or passes on information about one of our titles, it is pretty damn exciting.

When I worked in Nome, Alaska, the motto on the masthead of the local paper (The Nome Nugget) was, "Illigitamus nil carborundum," meaning, "Don't let the bastards wear you down." I've always transmogrified that to mean, "Wear the bastards down," when it comes to promoting books. Another quote I've liked for years is, "It's ten percent inspiration and 90% perspiration that grants success." Another I like is, "I"ve worked and slaved for thirty years to become an overnight success."

While I can't attribute these last two quotes, I can attribute the success of promoting Savage Press books to persistence, patience, determination, and persistence, and persistence, and..., oh yeah, persistence.

Keep the faith.