how to sell bukes

[realthog]

Recently Pam's and my dear friend Vera Nazarian (norilana) very kindly sent me a PDF of her (and Jane Austen's) latest novel, Mansfield Park & Mummies. Its publication represents something of a feat for Vera, who wrote her part of the collaboration in double quick time; even more of a triumph for Jane Austen, of course, her having been dead for a couple of centuries, an' all.

Whatever: I must confess I approached the PDF with a certain amount of caution. I have the highest regard for Vera as a writer, but catching the voice of Austen is a difficult enough trick for an English writer, let alone one who's a Russian immigree, now naturalized here in the US. Might I be in for one of those embarrassing moments when one has to explain to a writer friend that their latest little darlin' is differently good?

As I should have known, because Vera's a disgustingly clever sprout, I needn't have worried. After a couple of chapters I was grinning with pleasure . . . and promptly rushed off to Amazon to buy myself a copy of the print version.

But stay. Is this not the Season of Good Will? Am I not Father War On Christmas? Is Amazon not offering free shipping on orders over 25 bucks? So there's a friend who's going to get an extra little delight in their Solstitial Stocking.

The book, to judge by my reading so far, really is that good.

Once I'd ordered my copies, I reflected in this wise: Clearly, if sending a single PDF of a book can sell two copies of the printed version, Vera should be sending out the PDF to thousands and thousands of folk. She might be wise to investigate the possibilities of hacking into one of the really big e-mailing lists -- like the one at the New York Times, for example. Further, if this can work for Vera, surely I too should be sending out billions of PDFs of each new book of mine own?

It's all food for thought, innit, and I shall indeed think about it in bed tonight. When I wake up, it'll be Thanksgiving, this year foolishly displaced by a few days from its natural scheduling of coincidence with my birthday. So, Happy Thanksgiving, all!