I don't do it as much any more, but every so often I Google the title of my book, to see if anyone has written anything new about it. If I let a month or so pass between searches, I usually get a few new hits, typically blog entries by some stranger out there who's reading the darned thing. It's kind of satisfying, in a narcisistic sort of way.
Anyway, that's all a long-winded way of saying that tonight's search turned up a full-length review that came out when I was on my honeymoon. I can't recall having read it before, but it's a good one. I liked it so much that I clicked on the link from the writer's name, trying to find an e-mail address, and I discovered it was written by a guy who appeared with me on this weird-as-hell late-night radio talk show in New York, back at the beginning of my tour. His name is Joe Williams, and he's also written an important book about public education.
In other book news, we're gearing up for release of the paperback on October 2.
It did decently in hardback, but I have a hunch it's going to do a lot better in paperback. The publisher is Picador, and they tend to market their books pretty well. But even if they didn't, it's been my sense that the natural audience for it -- teachers, schools, college education departments, high school kids, book clubs -- tends to buy paperbacks. So, who knows? Maybe I'll sell 20,000 or so, and it'll remain on the shelves for a decade or two.
None of which means I'll make any more money on the deal; I'll never buy my way out of my advance. But it does mean more people will read it.
And, after all, that's what we write for, isn't it?
To be read.
So you can Google the title every now and then and discover that someone out there has spent a few hours of their life immersed in your work, and that they thought enough about it to write a note on the Internet.
Worth more than a big, fat royalty check, doncha think?
(Me neither.)
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
2 comments:
And if we take a few minutes to blog about it or otherwise write about it, most likely we've talked about it, too. I can see how one might become obsessed with googling the title.
I read it and thought it was interesting. I coach college parliamentary debate (or, did until this year) and found much of the same BS existing on a class-basis in college. Coaching at both a selective college and a community college showed me the academic reputation effects.
I recently gave your book to my debater who is now on full scholarship at Western Kentucky U. He's a suburban kid from a challenging home life, so I suspect it will resonate with him.
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