Shelfish Exhibitionism!
I did some freelance magazine work in Manhattan yesterday, and there were a few bookstores on my way home. Well, if you define “on my way” very loosely. In any case, I decided to check them out to see if they’d gotten Plunked yet. First up, a brisk walk to the Union Square Barnes & Noble: Success!
Four copies shine out with their spine out in Union Square!
And onto Brooklyn, where I Quietly got off the Q train a few stops earlier than usual. A stroll down Seventh Avenue revealed:
Plunked has Park Slope covered!
Four copies again—I suspect this is not a coincidence—but this time face out in the “Top Picks for Young Readers” section. Hooray!
Of course, it’s possible that there were a few other bookstores along the way that didn’t have it. I still love them—shelf space is limited, and both stores order books with a blinding quickness—but I am thrilled to be on the shelves at B&N. A quick trip through their nifty “Pick Up in Store” feature this morning shows Plunked from coast to coast!
It’s exciting, because at this point a year ago, Trapped was only in a handful of their stores. But that was YA, and there were other ways to reach the readers. Things are much trickier with middle grade—10-year-olds are not on Twitter, and almost certainly aren’t reading this blog—and that makes being on the shelves enormously important. And so, after an evening of walking around NYC, I came away with the same lesson so many others have: location, location, location. Unlike most of them, though, I was grinning like an idiot.
“Plunked” is two books away on my TBR list right now. I’m going to read the digital version, but the print book looks great.
Must’ve been an awesome feeling to see them! You should’ve done what JA Konrath suggests and brought them to the counter, signed them and asked for the signed author copies stickers for them… a drop-in signing is usually fine with the store manager and your publisher…
Armand
Thanks, Ryan! I definitely hope you enjoy it. I need to get back to my TBR list, but I’m reading this monster 500-page biography right now, and it’s an epic slog—I’m like Frodo trying to get to Mordor.
Hey, Armand. We were leaving comments at the same time. Thanks for the tip! Yeah, I thought about it both places. I should’ve done it. I need to be less frickin’ bashful about that.
I think I was just having flashbacks about that scene in Young Adult:
http://www.filmonair.com/video/mavis-signs-her-own-book-in-young-adult