… nothing has been as personally gratifying as the response to my book on Lakehurst. I’ve written about legendary film directors, relationships, geek culture and more, but this is something special to me — and it’s made even more special by the fact that old friends, teachers, people I knew in my youth, their parents, and many others are getting it and are interested in it and are reading it. I’ve gotten random calls at home, emails from people I’ve never met, invitations to do presentations and interviews, requests to sign books for the holidays, and more.
Considering I just sort of quietly slipped it out there at the last minute, no adverting or promotion outside this blog and Facebook, the positive response has been both surprising and thrilling. I mean, heck, look at how things looked for the book on Christmas Eve:
Wait, #2 in its category and #10 for all history books? How did that happen?
Granted, those rankings suggest much higher numbers than reality. Maybe one of these days I’ll do a “business” post and break down actual sales figures for people. They’re not nearly what #10 would imply. But still … pretty cool.
More important to me, though, has been the response from people with a personal connection to Lakehurst. People seem genuinely eager to dive in and see what their town is all about. That’s amazing and wonderful and awesome and makes all the work to write this book worthwhile.
Because ultimately, neither bylines nor money nor praise are worth a damn if people aren’t reading and appreciating what you do. And if they are, you’ve already accomplished everything worth accomplishing.
