Some time back, Aliya Whiteley mentioned on her blog that a few of the RAF folks she knows were glancing through my novel with interest. Even (gasp) threatening to buy the odd copy and pass it around.
I mused that it would be great if there were some way to donate some copies to the service, and, lo, Aliya found one. A few days ago I mailed off a dozen copies of Shock and Awe to the Armed Forces Library Service in Germany, from whence they will be distributed to various sites (including back to the UK).
I've added a little sticker on the title page which suggests that if the reader enjoyed the book, they should drop me an e-mail and let me know where in the world they are. I’m not convinced the little tag will tell me much, since if I don’t get answers, I won’t be sure if
1) No one is reading the book, or
2) People who read the book didn’t enjoy it, or
3) No one looks at title pages (I mean, do you?).
I doubt this move will boost my sales, but it may boost my readership, and that’s just as gratifying. And it’s intriguing to think of someone reading my book in some outpost on the edge of nowhere. (Though on reflection, I'm not sure it's the cheeriest book...)
If this works out, it might be something other writers want to consider. Morally, you can't go wrong donating books to libraries, can you?
Thanks to Aliya for all her help and suggestions. And if you read this and happen to be serving in uniform--hey, check the library.
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8 comments:
Nice idea, David. I don't see how you can lose.
Until we all the make the breakthough into stardom, most people aren't going to have heard of us. You're putting your book in a place where you can expect the readership to be interested in it. At worst you've given a few books away; you might get some fan mail back, or even have some RAF types looking out for your next book. Can't be bad.
Couldn't have worked it out without Ms Whiteley. She has connections.
It's working in libraries that gets you all the info... was glad to help.
Since it's been three months - have you gotten any replies, yet?
In case you're wondering why I'm posting here three months later, it was around this time that school last completely ate my life. I trust that blogger will shoot you a line...er, email... if I reply here, regardless of the time. (It should also notify me if you reply. I think. Guess I'll find out if I'm right on either of these assumptions.)
Aw, crap. Right, there's a little box I have to check to get follow-up comments. There, that's done - chalk up one more pointless post. (Even more pointless if you never end up reading this anyway.)
Hey, Jakester.
Nope, no noise so far. But I gather they only made it through the postal system and the military system in December. I don't know how long it takes to do all that magical librarian stuff (numbers on spine, plastic covers, stamps, and widgets) and get them on shelves.
Well! At that pace, they won't even be in the library yet. (Though I guess I shouldn't badmouth them, considering I may be working for the university library this semester...)
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