Yesterday ASTOR came out in paperback! Hurrah!
A paperback release does not, as a rule, generate as much frisson as a hardback release, for obvious reasons. Paperback editions usually come out about a year after the hardback of any given book, and so the first blush of excitement and enthusiasm has typically already exhausted itself. Although it’s worth noting that not all books get to be both. Some hardbacks sell so poorly that the publisher deems it not worthwhile to release a paperback at all (oof). Some books - usually novels with smaller budgets - go straight to paperback and skip hardcover entirely. So, the publishing landscape being the fickle beast that it is, a paperback release day still counts as something to celebrate.
As an author, part of my job is to help support and publicize the book that I have written, to the best of my ability. Some authors are very good at this.
I am not one of those authors.
A publicity firm recently took the time to analyze my social media presence and informed me that you know, it could be worse. But not much. Have I considered doing unboxing videos?
I don’t entirely understand the mystique of unboxing videos, which strike me as a sign of end-stage capitalist commodity fetishism and also boring. But then, I find 19th Century ship logs gripping reading. It’s possible I do not have my finger on the pulse of contemporary American culture. (Me: “What if I do the whole novel as if it’s primary sources!” My agent: “No.”) This is why it’s for the best that I write historical fiction.
Check out the “unboxing video” that I attempted to do to tease the release for the ASTOR paperback.
“You need a tripod,” my friend Alex said.
Obviously that’s not all I need.
If you are very fortunate, your publisher will stand ready to help you with the daunting task of informing the world at large of the existence of your paperback release by providing you with “assets.” Assets are images made to be well scaled for social media sharing, featuring nice things people have said about your work. But there’s a delicate balance, to sharing nice things people say about you. Overdo it, and you run the risk of the authorial equivalent of the overbearing family holiday letter, full of glamorous vacations and successful children, as exhausting to read as it is off-putting. As a result, there is a temptation to deflect from apparent self-celebration in these kinds of posts by pretending to seem astonished, or abashed. The phrase “happy dance” gets used a lot.
The assets for ASTOR in paperback are lovely and flattering, and definitely look better than me nearly slicing my thumb off with a wine bottle opener. See, some people are very good at this stuff.
So what’s next?
It’s getting to be spooky season, when I am often called upon to talk about witches. This week I’ll be recording a podcast for Marvel Studios, talking about Salem witchcraft as part of their “Ask an Expert” series.
Then I’ll be in Richmond, Virginia doing panels on nonlinear storytelling and collaborative writing for the James River Writers Conference on October 5.
Then I’ll be stopping by Manchester-by-the-Sea on October 10, and a few more tidbits to come in November, when A TRUE ACCOUNT comes out in… you guessed it….paperback.