Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: (More than) a Little Help from My Friends

Just after publishing last Thursday’s post, which featured John Kremer’s list of “30 Ways to Help a Book Author You Love,” I became the grateful recipient of still more support and encouragement for my own new story collection, Quiet Americans.

Examples:

  • A new acquaintance, following up on an email I’d sent, invited me a) to present a reading/discussion on her college’s campus and b) to participate on a conference panel. (More details about both of these events as they become available.)
  • A former colleague, having noticed Josh Lambert’s mention of Quiet Americans online, emailed to ask if I’d like him to query a contact about the possibility of a reading back in Cambridge. My answer: YES, PLEASE (AND THANK YOU!).
  • News trickled back to me about a reader who was apparently so caught up in Quiet Americans that, at the conclusion of her New-Jersey-to-New-York train ride, the conductor had to knock on her window from the Penn Station platform to remind her to leave the train. (She’d received the book from a family friend of ours, who had gifted copies to all the members of her Mah Jongg group!)
  • And, in a glorious gesture of generosity and friendship, four of my co-workers lured me into an office late one afternoon to surprise me with their four, just-arrived copies of Quiet Americans, which they promptly asked me to autograph. (They were not, by the way, the first co-workers to order the book and surprise me with an autograph request, but they were the first to do so en masse!)

What’s really kind of astonishing is that I doubt that any of these instances resulted from the people involved having read last week’s blog post. I’m just that blessed.

My Awesome Co-Workers (with Autographed Copies of Quiet Americans)