“Do you ever go shopping on Black Friday?’

“Ugh. Never. It’s consumerism at its worst.”

“I know, right? Did you hear about the lady who pepper sprayed her way to the front of the line? Unbelievable.”

“Small Business Saturday seems pretty cool, though. I definitely support that concept.”

“Oh, definitely.”

There was a pause in the conversation, and then it dawned on us at the same time…we’re a small business. Blank Slate Press is the epitome of a small business. We have Kristy carefully going over our authors’ manuscripts line by line, formatting the novels for print and ebooks, coordinating the printing and distribution, and taking care of a thousand other details that come with running a small business. We have Jamey coordinating zany techniques to get the word out about the books, working with authors to hone their social media presence, and processing new author applications. And Jason is behind the scenes the whole time supporting the company in other words.

But don’t buy our books simply because we’re a small business. Buy our books because they’re great books. Anene has received numerous requests to speak, as has Fred. Fred’s novel, The Samaritan, was even mentioned in USA Today yesterday. Our third author is wrapping up the third or fourth revision of his novel right now–we can assure you that it’s incredible.

On Small Business Saturday, root for the little guys who create beautiful things: Buy a Blank Slate Press book today. You can see all the different ways and formats here.

Condie proved to be an excellent, engaging public speaker. She’s a gifted storyteller, and she made the audience of a few hundred people laugh many times.

She didn’t read from her book, which I think is a good idea for the most part (although I think it’s also nice to hear the author’s written voice through their actual voice), instead opting to give a talk about how she came up with her ideas, characters, and world.

Condie used a projected slideshow to accompany her talk, which I thought was a nice touch. Now when I read the second book of her trilogy, I can think back to the visuals and understand exactly where she was coming from.

She concluded the talk with a lengthy Q&A, where it was clear that she had been asked the same questions dozens of times, and she had very good, well-rehearsed answers.

So all in all, a very nice author experience. With one caveat: There was nothing unique about the talk. And I don’t mean in the greater scheme of things–rather, among Ally Condie talks, this was the exact same talk she’d give across the country on this entire tour. The slideshow solidified that–she had a script (a good script), and she was sticking with it as she traveled.

Now, there’s nothing really wrong with this. She has a short amount of time to convey certain information, and so she might as well share the information the the fans want to know most.

But at the same time, I think you want to give your localized fans a localized experience. For example, Condie writes about a dystopian future. St. Louis might exist in that future–what would it look like? Would the Arch still exist? Would toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake find their ways into the food rations of the Society?

It’s those little touches that make your fans feel special. Condie probably got a speaking fee and sold a few hundred dollars worth of books that night–it’s worth taking a few minutes to research a city in advance and include a well orchestrated shout-out or two. They go a long way.

Oops.

I hope you’ll have patience and visit our new site as soon as it is ready. In the meantime, we’ll use our blog for updates and communications.

See ya soon.

BSP

Whatever the verdict, BSP’s debut novels now both have book trailers. The trailer for our first book, The Samaritan by Fred Venturini was created by me (Kristina) and our fellow publisher Nancy, of Stonebrook Publishing. The trailer for our second book, Dancing with Gravity by Anene Tressler, was created by Anene and her husband Jim.

Give them a watch and let us know what you think. Check them out here:

The Samaritan Book Trailer

Dancing with Gravity Book Trailer

When you were younger, did you ever find yourself so wrapped up in a book that the rest of the world melted away? Maybe that happens to you as an adult too, but I feel like we read in socially acceptable places now, even in public: coffee shops, the park, cafes. When I was younger, I could be walking through a crowd of people at Disney World, and would be considerably more aware of the world Roald Dahl created on the page than the actual world around me.

Kudos to books, because this is awesome.

I thought of this because I went to the Cardinals game the other day and saw something I hadn’t seen in a while. These days I see kids playing on their parents’ iPhones or the Nintendo DS’s. Rarely do I see a kid get as wrapped up in a book as I used to. But I know it happens, because young adult fiction is hugely successful right now.

As I walked to my seat at the game, I noticed a young girl–maybe 11 or 12–completely engrossed in a book. The game had started (Cubs/Cards; she was wearing a Cubs uniform), but she didn’t care. I craned my neck to see what book could compel a kid to read instead of watch the game, but I couldn’t see the cover.

She didn’t read for the entire game, but now and then she’d pull out the book. I know what it’s like to not be able to put a book down. It actually feels…good. Other forms of media don’t have that effect. (Okay, maybe True Blood.)

What’s the last book that you got so wrapped up in that the rest of the world melted away?

I’ll follow up soon on how you can follow Steve on Facebook, Twitter, and his blog.

Now, Borders closing might have a positive impact on independent bookstores…if those bookstores learn from (a) human nature and (b) Borders’ mistakes. Here are a few ideas:

• Don’t give away wi-fi. But also don’t charge for it. Give people access to wi-fi after they buy a book or coffee.
• Same thing with author events. Don’t allow people to attend author events for free, but don’t charge them directly. If people buy a book before the event (any book), they get access to the event.
• Work with e-retailers. It’s easy for anyone to walk into a bookstore, browse for a book, and then hop online on their Kindle or iPhone and buy the book or ebook for cheaper. So make deals with the major online retailers so that when someone uses your wi-fi to buy a book, you get a cut of the profit on the back end.
• Anene points out that some people bring books and magazines into Borders to read, then they leave. I don’t know how you prevent that without looking like an ass, but frankly, that’s not cool, and there needs to be a way to cut down on it.

Overall, though, I think we need to remember that books are entertainment. Us publishers can’t simply expect people to buy our books because they’re there. We need to publish books that exceed the entertainment value of the alternatives–books, movies, music, etc. That doesn’t mean that we stop signing literary authors. It simply means that we need to publish books that immerse people into a world in a way that movies and TV cannot.

If you think about it, it takes two hours to watch the Captain America movie (which is actually quite good). But it takes 6-8 hours to read your average book. In terms of hours of entertainment, the book is the clear winner. So let’s keep publishing books that make people not want to put them down for 6-8 hours. If we keep doing that, people will go to bookstores to find those books, and bookstores will survive.

Then, nervously, I hit send.

Right away, I got a note back from Don saying that Fred’s book sounded right up his alley and that he’d be happy to give it a read. (I eventually was contacted by four of the seven authors, two blurbed the book, one said it was a little too far outside his traditional genre, and one was a little late on replying but has been a big supporter of BSP and Fred ever since publication.) The others I never heard from. After the ARCS were ready, I sent the book out to the readers and in no time at all Don had read it, written a fantastic blurb, and had given BSP and Fred an adrenaline rush from which we haven’t quite recovered. (And talk about adrenaline, have you seen our new trailer for The Samaritan? Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V7sIYki_Eo&feature=related.)

So…when I heard that Don’s new book was coming out and that he would be reading at Subterranean Books in St. Louis, I knew I had to be there. And I was not disappointed. (By the way, the folks at Sub Books are awesome.)

Don is friendly and gracious (even when a fan girl–a.k.a., me–barges through the door and starts blathering on and on about how much we loved his book and how excited we were to meet him and thank him in person for giving BSP and Fred a chance, yada yada yada…) in a quiet, unassuming way. His soft, southern drawl is pitch perfect for reading the tight, spare and yet rich, descriptive sentences that characterize his writing. Sentences like these that set the stage for book:

Willard eased himself down on the high side of the log and motioned for his son to kneel beside him in the dead, soggy leaves. Unless he had whiskey running through his veins, Willard came to the clearing every morning and evening to talk to God. Arvin didn’t know which was worse, the drinking or the praying. As far back as he could remember, it seemed that his father had fought the Devil all the time.

Don read several passages, each one shedding a little light on one of the narrative threads woven through the book. The Devil All The Time is populated by characters who are sad and pathetic, misguided and deluded, or even downright evil, but he somehow imbues them with flashes of humanity that makes the reader care about even the worst of them.

As an admiring reader (and as a fan of the guy as a plain ol’ person), I think part of his ability to make the reader care about these hard-luck cases is the down-to-earth sense of humility that comes through in his writing. He’s not judging his characters; he’s simply telling their stories. He never lets his authorial voice intrude, never tells the reader, “Hey, watch out for this guy, he’s a son of a bitch.” Instead, we see each flawed character struggle with love and hate, fear and longing, and we come to understand something about their motivations, how they came to be so fuc*ed up. We get to know these people on their own terms. And once you know someone, it’s not so easy to dismiss them.

Don’s work isn’t easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Pick up a copy of The Devil All The Time and see for yourself.  As Willard says, “They’s a lot of no-good sonofabitches out there,” and all we can do is hope that Donald Ray Pollock keeps writing their stories.