Selling Beowulf

In a perfect world, no one would have to sell books. Why should it be necessary to “sell” people on buying books? In a perfect world, people would be constantly searching for the best books to expand their worlds and a master list of the world’s supply of books would tell them all they needed to know.

Ours is not such a world. There are people in it who go for years without reading a book. Go into any place of public assembly – a train station, airport, subway car, doctor’s office – and you will see people sitting quietly without even a magazine in their hands.

How do they do it? Life without books? An oxymoron! To live is to read and to read is to live.

But it’s an imperfect world, and therefore having produced a book everyone should read, I have to sell it. I have been making my way from library to bookstore to library offering to read Beyond Beowulf to an eager audience (which they will provide) and to autograph copies (which they will sell).

The response runs the proverbial gamut. Some ask me to fill out a form and leave it with them. They say I will hear from them – which, being interpreted, means I will probably not hear from them. Others offer to take a few copies on consignment. Still others greet me as if they had been sitting there waiting for me to come. “Yes, wonderful, can we set a date for next month? We’ll provide wine and cheese.” These few, these happy few, are my reason for being. With them, I set a date and make other arrangements and await the event.

And if you have been waiting yourself to hear the cold type of Beyond Beowulf translated into living language, you can find the established dates by checking here from time to time.

Next up: Literary Coffee House in Bethlehem CT at 7 p.m. on May 8, then the Gunn Library in Washington CT at 7 pm on May 23, and the Stockbridge Bookseller (with wine and cheese) in Stockbridge MA on May 26 at 7 pm.

If you are in the neighborhood, drop in!

2 Comments

blogolodeonApril 22nd, 2006 at 3:14 pm

Thank you so much for writing this book. I just found out about it from Midlife Mama http://midlifemama.blogspot.com/ and ordered it forthwith. I wish you great success!

ChrisMay 7th, 2006 at 3:13 pm

Stillstruggling with the whole business of writing blogs – doing it wrong half the time – but appreciate your comment, and liked some of your postings too!

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