Calling all book clubs

The Center for Wooden Boats kindly hosted my book talk last month. It was a sunny summer evening. Along with several members of my Seattle community and three of the staff at the Center, a half dozen or so people came in from the outdoor loveliness to listen. We sold 8 copies of Shanghaied. Soon I will be able to post a link to my talk on the Center’s website. Was it a success? I think so.

There are more criteria to count than the number of books sold, but if I pay for a flight and a hotel room to give the talk somewhere to six people…I can’t afford that. Instead, I’ve started a “calling all book clubs” campaign to bookstores and libraries. I comb through booksellers’ associations membership lists and go to directories to libraries. I ask the clubs to consider Shanghaied and offer to do a zoom after they read it (at which point I may ask them to post their reviews to Amazon, Bookshop or Barnes&Noble). I expect to reach more people this way than by doing a book tour and this way is virtually free. Still, I always pack a book or two to give away when I travel.

It feels like waiting for the “spring thaw.” I hope something will eventually break loose, sales will gain momentum and this whole thing will start to “row gently down the stream.” And I will get back to writing.