Rick Simonson

First, Those Yellow School Buses
September 5, 2007

So the day after Labor Day does not automatically mean the onset of fall, even though yesterday in Seattle felt that way, as a sunny, warmish weekend gave way to cool and steady rain, certain lamps had to be on much the day, signs of the times to come. There were still out of town visitors in the store. And there were still ... children out loose and about. Some of us do forget: it isn't until today, Wednesday, that most schools hereabouts get in gear. This was all the more evident on an early morning saunter: children accompanied by parents out walking, waiting for a bus, the arrival of such, big and squeaky, the red stop-in-all-directions signs flipped out. And the buses lumbering off. Those big, it's a new year moments. There was even the sighting of a rite some of us went through long, long ago: the posed photo (by a tree, always) of going off on that first day.

In the bookstore, it was fairly quiet on the New York front, too, one's preparations and expectations notwithstanding. This happens every time, both at New Year's and here after Labor Day - one girds for this onslaught of calls and email - tracking titles, add-ons, immediate attention needed for some author on tour as we speak, immediate attention for some author to be on tour in February ... It just doesn't happen the day after Labor Day (or after return at New Year's). Then, here, the guard is let up. Other projects get taken on, other commitments get met. Today, for example, much of the day's time and attention will go into the Harper winter list and working with rep Seira Wilson, who will be presenting it. Today, that means, there willl be calls and email, attention needed in the moment for this or that.

Yesterday was a big day, speaking of New York, for getting new titles out of boxes and onto the shelves. Bill Clinton's Giving was certainly among them. There was some attention paid, but nothing like what is happening to the stores who will be hosting him for a signing - as we did three years ago for My Life. Then you have another being on your hands, entirely. One friend from such a store wrote to say how odd it was to 'sell' the books, but not see the books go anywhere, as the system to be used is a voucher one where you buy the book now, but get it at the signing. That generally takes some explaining, especially for the odd soul who might want to actually read the book.

That also ventures somewhat into Giving's longterm prospects. Embargoed as it was, it first takes whatever publicity will give it, along with Mr. Clinton's obvious visibility and star power. At the same time, no one about has yet had a chance to read this. Though a good number will buy it because of who it's by, this book's longer place in the scheme of things will come if people really read it, find it compelling enough to talk up, buy copies for friends and others. This happened back in 1992 with then-Senator Al Gore's Earth in the Balance - it got some play as a book by a reasonably well-spoken and active U.S. senator. It went somewhere else once people read it and word-of-mouth took hold.

As it was, there was a little more flurry in our place about John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, just out from Farrar. And also from Farrar, Denis Johnson's big new novel, Tree of Smoke - helped along by its New York Times Book Review front page review this past week, and with us, Denis Johnson's place as an author whose fiction and poetry have always done well. For whatever reason, we didn't have our direct shipment of Tree of Smoke anywhere in sight (hello, Holtzbrinck ...), but we are fortunate, not only that Partners West is a terrific wholesaler, but that they are here in the Seattle area, and omissions such as we faced can be, and were, quickly remedied.

Now, here we go ...

Posted by Rick Simonson on September 5, 2007 | Comments (0)