I sold more books than Joe the Erstaz Plumber! But, then, again, I'm sure that most authors have - according to The Washington Post, a total of 11 people showed up to "Joe"'s (his name isn't Joe either) book signing at a Border's in Washington, DC, yesterday - and only 5 books were sold!
Now, book signings are not easy. Many any author will tell you the time they drove hundreds of miles to a reading and signing, only to find that the books didn't arrive at the book shop. Or, only three people were in the audience - two of whom were drunks who wandered in, and the third a book store employee.
But book signings in or near big cities always do a least a little better than Joe. Last signing that I did for The Plot to Save Socrates, at a Barnes and Noble in Yonkers, NY, brought in 27 sales (yeah, I was counting), and, let's face it, I'm not exactly a household name...
Somehow, Joe, who isn't a licensed plumber, is almost a household name - because the media couldn't resist giving big coverage to his know-nothing views (for example, that Obama's election would be "death" to Israel).
It's good to see the book buying public is a little smarter. Here's to Gutenberg and literacy!
6 comments:
Congrats! Hope you sell a lot more! (Surfed on in from Buzzflash.)
:) thanks, jurassic - welcome to Infinite Regress!
Funniest title for a blog post I've seen in a while, Paul! It may spread across the blog-o-sphere
Paul,
the next time you have a signing in the city let me know , I would definetly love a signed copy of any of your books. In my sons elementary school now i'm talking about 5 years ago we started a literacy program where we brought the authors in to lecture the kids and would sign the books. It was a wonderful inspiration for the kids. My hats off to all you writers
Paul: i think Joe the Icon is just Bid(en)ing time before Sarah Palin anoints him as her 2012 Veep selection.
btw, i can see it now -- "I sold more books than Joe the Plumber" emblazoned on bumper stickers all across the country.
as always, enjoy your take on all things political & cultural.
/jimy_max
Thanks, Poppak, Dawn, and Jimmy!
Dawn - I'll definitely let you know about my New York readings and signings - I'm sure I'll have some for New New Media this Fall.
In the meantime, if you'd like personally autographed copies of any of my books, you can buy them on Amazon, have shipped to me, and I'll autograph and put back in the mail to you. (Let me know by email, and I'll give you the address.)
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