As is so often the case in life, or at least my life, things that seem to drag on forever often come to a surprisingly fast conclusion. The last few days have been no exception to that rule.
My new novel (I’m not used to writing that word) has been “in progress” for so long I can’t even remember when I started it. This past summer, I finally finished writing the initial manuscript. Then we had months of editing and proofing to do.
Finally it was submitted to Outskirts Press and received with high praise.
We had a cover to finish, and Todd Myers and I got that done. He’s an artist, an expert, a genius with a vision, and a great friend.
When that was sent along to Outskirts I knew we were close, but they tend to always err on the side of caution when it comes to estimates about timing. It took just days, not weeks.
The book was officially published for public consumption just a couple of days ago. The next big question was, “When will it be on Amazon?”
My author’s rep, Jennifer, had told me “Once we get the cover and approve it, it should be out in the world in 12-15 business days.”
I scheduled yet another phone call with her yesterday. She is great about accepting those invites and always calls right on time. One of my questions had to do with the timing of the Amazon release, since Elon Werner (my publicist) and I wanted to get that ball rolling right after it was available for purchase. It doesn’t make sense to pitch a new book nobody can buy yet. You’d be counting on them to remember to do that, and since we didn’t have the capability to offer a Pre-Order window, that would be a tough sell.
Jennifer said, in a somewhat excited voice, “Actually, I’d say Amazon should have it up and running within 48 hours.”
That kind of blew me away. It was about to be real.
Those 48 hours turned into 45 minutes. I’m a little obsessive about keeping an eye on things I can’t control. I got a lot of that from my dad. Always early, always watching, and generally always worried. When my mom would be five minutes late coming back to the house, he’d take his post in the living room watching to see when her car would come down the street. I’m like that with the pizza delivery guy. I’m definitely like that with the actual publication of something I’ve worked so hard on for so long.
When I checked Amazon for the 155th time yesterday, there it was. A chill ran through me. I had to compose myself a bit just to go upstairs and say to Barbara “We have a book! It’s live and on Amazon.” The hug was epic.
You can buy it by simply clicking on this link:
BREAKING UPDATE. Late on Tuesday night we added BarnesandNoble.com as an optional place to buy the printed version of “How Far?”
Since Elon and I were still thinking we had maybe a week to get all our ducks and/or kittens in a row, I knew we had to bring out our Plan B for a day. We had to saturate all of our social media platforms with the announcement.
On Facebook, I should acknowledge that Florida friend and fine drummer Bob Cole was the first to reply with the word “Bought” only minutes after I posted the news. After that, similar such replies kept coming in. It was pretty surreal.
Today, I posted what is below on Facebook. The reason? I couldn’t do this alone. Oh, I could develop the characters and write the book, at least in its first unedited version, but none of it would have been possible without the help and support of countless people, and not just now but throughout the years. So many people have had major positive impacts on me.
Here’s the transcript of that Facebook “Thank You” post…
……………………………….
It’s a new day, and although I did get a good night’s sleep there was no way to stay in bed after 6 am. I just had the feeling that the big machine was about to get seriously rolling and I wanted to be ready.
The key thing on this post is to thank all of those who supported me, encouraged me, and directly helped with the completion (and now, publication!) of “How Far?” It took forever, didn’t it?
First, of course, is my wife Barbara Doyle. She supported this effort for more than two years and was as emotional as I was when it hit Amazon yesterday. I could not have done this without her unselfish support and love.
The book couldn’t have become a reality without Greg Halling, my esteemed editor, mentor, and motivator. He doesn’t know how important he’s been with regard to my writing development.
The clunky number of commas might never have been fixed without Terry Blake doing the dirty work to find them and eliminate them. I love commas, apparently. (See what I did there…)
Todd Myers stole the show with the book cover design. It was an honor to collaborate with that kind of genius.
Kerry B. Smith did a photo shoot with me that actually (not kidding) made me look good and maybe even a little like a real author or at least a serious kind of guy.
Jeff Morton was a key for me to understand high school baseball in SoCal. For nothing more than the love of the game, he filled me with information and helped me envision how that character would’ve have grown up.
Paul Broten and Tracy Ostby were fountains of info for what life, and hockey, are like up in Roseau, Minn. I could not have come up with the rich details about that part of the book without their input.
And my two research visits to Roseau were invaluable as well. Just meeting the people and so many legends.
Brian Raabe was my conduit for life at the U of Minnesota as a baseball player. More rich details I could not have made up, and always ready to help.
Larry Guggisberg was the first Roseau resident to step in and help me. He was Superintendant of Schools at the time. Without him, the interviews with all the people up there would not have happened.
And my family, friends, and longtime readers. You encouraged me, followed my progress, and were patient. It is not lost on me that this may never have happened without your positive support and motivation.
As soon as the book was released (not even 24 hours ago yet) people like Alan Reinhart, Elon Werner, and Kelly Wade were diving in to support and retweet on social media. Many others did as well.
Elon Werner has inspired and taught me the publicity game by osmosis, for years. He’s quarterbacking the effort to publicize “How Far?” and I know it will be stellar.
Phil Burgess also probably has no idea of the impact he made on me throughout my NHRA career. He never demanded anything, but always showed me ways to improve. And, over time, he gave me more responsibility and his trust, whether it was press releases, the blog, or my column in the magazine. That was all priceless.
I know many authors slave away at this passion on their own, locked in a room. I believe it takes a team. It takes a village. And I’m so fortunate to have one helluva village on my side.
And Outskirts Press. My author’s rep Jennifer was priceless and always there. The “fast track” they put this book on amazed me. And within a few days I’ll be holding it in my hands.
Thank you all.
Now back to work promoting it and selling it. With Elon Werner on my team, doing the publicity and PR work, I think I’m golden.
Long post, but it needed to be said. I’ll get a blog up later today, just to write about yesterday and how it unfolded. Still pretty surreal.
Now I guess we have no choice but to see if anyone actually likes it…
I mean all of that very sincerely, and just wish I could have rambled on for an hour thanking every person who shares some credit. Not just in the “nuts and bolts” of getting it written, designed, and done, but in shaping me throughout the years.
I can look back as far as grade school and remember my teacher, Mrs. Luna in 6th grade, giving me confidence in my writing abilities, or whatever you would’ve called it then. In high school, the Jesuits realized my world wasn’t going to revolve around math or science, so they kept encouraging me to write and adjusted my class schedules to adapt to that. As a senior, they gave me the responsibility to be an associate teacher for freshman creative writing. The list of people who have helped shaped me, and given me the confidence to write not one, but two books, is enormous.
And I won’t let the Roseau, Minnesota impact be taken lightly, as mentioned above. I went there twice. I met everyone from the guy who runs the Roseau Memorial Arena to the mayor. They were all so generous with their time, and I loved my time there.
And Roseau folks, just so you know, this book is “historical fiction.” That means my Roseau hockey character, Eric Olson, is fictional, but the teams, the wins, the losses, the arena, and the town are all very real. The same goes for my baseball character, Brooks Bennett. He’s a made-up guy, too, but the world around him is very real.
It’s a fascinating way to write! Especially letting them get inside my head so I could write it in their voices. Of course, being fictional they don’t have actual voices, but I could hear them both.
And, I’ve just learned, tonight Roseau plays Warroad in hockey. It’s a rivalry that is so classic in a very unique part of the world. I wish I could be there for that.
So it’s out there. It’s real. It can be held in your hands although only after Amazon processes the orders and gets them in the mail. What an amazing journey. And we’re not done yet…
If you like all this news, PLEASE click on the “LIKE” button at the bottom. I’ll be back soon. There’s just a heckuva lot going on right now.
Bob
