My undergraduate degree in college was in Business with an emphasis on Marketing. I wish I could say that my degree has been helpful in promoting A Presidents Story but it really hasn’t. My son’s Masters in Marketing, on the other hand, has been very helpful. After a few months at this, I can safely say that Marketing now bears little resemblance to Marketing 35 years ago.
One thing that has survived over the years is book signing events by authors. The head of History Publishing Company, the publisher of my book, told me that the most fun of the whole process is the book signings. He said it is a thrill to meet new people who share an interest in the topic of your book. While my first book signing at the Crook County Library consisted mainly of local friends and neighbors, my publisher was right. It was a blast. I have scheduled several more signings and am working on others. Keep checking the “Events” tab for updates.
My focus so far has been on local events with some events in the Midwest. This Fall I would like to get to the East Coast and to Southern California. If you know of a possible location for a book signing (or heck, if you own a bookstore!) please let me know.
A few interesting reactions to the book so far:
1. After reading the book I have had a few people tell me who their favorite President was in the novel. Since one of my goals was to highlight these Presidents, obviously, I was delighted to hear about these readers’ selections. I am equally interested to hear who you liked most (or least).
2. I have had several people ask “Why is James Buchanan on the cover” of A Presidents Story? The answer is I don’t know. But the publisher sent the proposed cover and it struck me as right. Prior to that, I contemplated a cover with some sort of montage of pictures of all 14 Presidents featured in the novel. When I received the publisher’s proposed cover, however, it occurred to me that Buchanan was an interesting choice and made the book less likely to be viewed purely as a history book. I never discussed it further with the publisher because it made sense to me and, apparently, also made sense to the publisher. I doubt that the cover will ever engender a debate like the meaning of the lyrics of “American Pie” or the symbolism in “Waiting for Godot” but, for my purposes, it added a bit of intrigue to the process!
3. A couple people caught a few minor typos in the original edition. The publisher has sent in revisions to try and correct those for future versions (so, who knows, if it becomes a bestseller, maybe the typo versions will be more valuable someday!). The only egregious typo, however, occurs late in the book where the results of the election of 1856 are set out. Those results got lost in a formatting vortex so, when you get to that point, here is the table as it should appear:
Buchanan Fremont Fillmore
Electoral Vote 174 114 8
Popular Vote 1,836,072 1,342,345 873,053
Thanks again to those of you who have bought the book and once more to those of you who have read it. I will add pictures and stories from the signings as we go the rest of this year. Have a great summer!
Brad