At my local branch of the San Francisco Public Library I happened to notice this little surprise on the New Arrivals shelf: A fresh copy of A Man Named Baskerville, all prepped and ready for checking out. (Here’s the online record, if you’re interested.)
If you’d like to read my books and haven’t yet, keep in mind your local library may have an online suggestions program for acquiring lesser-publicized titles like Baskerville or Bridge Daughter. Check your library’s web site, recommend some books, and you may soon be able to read and share.
The paperback proof of Bridge Daughter arrived on Thursday. I am, as the kids say, majorly stoked:
The paperback will be published through Amazon’s CreateSpace service. I must say, I’m impressed with what I’m seeing with this proof. I picked up a CreateSpace sample book a few years ago (at an AWP) and something about it didn’t “feel” right. This copy, however, looks and feels great. The cover photo is vibrant, the interior print is even and crisp across the page, and the binding feels firm. Print-on-demand technology had its problems when it was introduced, but it appears the technology has stabilized since then.
Still awaiting word from Kindle Press on the novel’s pre-release and release dates, which drives the availability of the ebook and paperback. I’ll be announcing those dates here on my blog as well as on my mailing list and Facebook page.
The final manuscript for Bridge Daughter was delivered to Kindle Press on Thursday and accepted by their editorial staff on Friday. The Kindle book is now officially in production. Everything is moving briskly.
Next from Kindle Press, they’ll notify me of Bridge Daughter‘s pre-order date and official publication date. If you nominated Bridge Daughter on Kindle Scout (thank you!) you’ll be able to download your free copy on the pre-order date—meaning you get to read the book before everyone else.
If you didn’t nominate Bridge Daughter (no worries), you’ll be able to order your copy on the pre-order date and receive your copy on the final publication date.
Paperback edition
I’m also happy to announce that a paperback edition of Bridge Daughter will also be available on Amazon. Conveniently, the paperback will be sold alongside the Kindle ebook (on the same page), so whichever edition is right for you is yours for the taking.
Pricing, dates, and other details for both editions are still in the works. Once I know, you’ll know, so stay tuned.
And now—miniature trumpet fanfare—I give you a cover reveal for the paperback edition of Bridge Daughter:
After a lot of scratching around in the dirt and a couple of heart-to-hearts with myself, I made the decision to ditch the old cover for Edward Teller Dreams of Barbecuing People. That cover attempted to capture the aesthetic of a classic Pee-Chee All-Season Portfolio that’s been doodled up with pencil and ink over the span of a school year. As much as I liked the concept, my artistic skills were simply not up to snuff for the challenge. I was never really satisfied with the final product.
The good news is, I’ve returned to the drawing board and come up with a cover I’m much happier with. The image to the above left is the result of that labor. I’m updating the ebooks on my various distribution channels as we speak. This is one of the great things about ebooks: if you don’t like the cover, you just change it. (For comparison, you can see the old cover in my original release announcement.)
Speaking of Pee-Chee, check out this great Flickr collection of folders marked-up and mutilated decades ago by school kids who were not altogether dissimilar to Gene Harland, the narrator of Edward Teller Dreams. My favorite in the collection? This one referencing Berkeley’s own The Uptones and featuring a ska sprinter taking the lead on the outside. In the 80s, you lived and died by a white pressed shirt and a skinny tie.
