Hot Little Hands

Here it is... well almost. This is the uncorrected proof that gets used for promotional purposes. I've had them for my books before but not without a colour cover. They were made for Lab Rats but I don't think the sales reps ever saw them. It's good to see it in it a physical form for the first time. It's now a thing, an object in the real world. However that means it's also an object that has to be sold, assessed, reviewed... discounted.

Right now is the moment of hope. The moment when I foolishly allow myself to think that this might be a success. I always hear something positive about the book at this stage - 'it's had great feedback', 'the sales conference was very excited', 'certain influential booksellers are very keen'. I get a bit carried away and light a candle of flickering hope in the maelstrom that is Australian publishing.

Leading Edge Title
This time round it's the news that The Trouble with Sauce is to be a Leading Edge book. Leading Edge is a buying group of independent book sellers. Each month they select a number of books which are offered at a slight discount and pushed within their stores. It tends to be known best sellers or books which are more suited to the 'independents' than to the big chains. I think I fall in the latter category. It's certainly a plus being on the list and apparently they don't often do ABC Books. This may be part of the new age of Harper Collins.

First rule of being a minor author: be nice to the reps
I found out about Leading Edge from one of the Harper Collins reps. In my relentless pursuit of self-promotion I engineered a lunch with him via one of the Allen and Unwin reps. It was like a informal handover, from the person who used to sell my books in, to the one who was just about to start. In Australia where there are lots of independent book stores and all books aren't sold on group deals, the reps still play an important role. Book stores listen to them so if they say stock Bruno's book, they probably will. Now, at least I know one of the reps selling my books, or more the point, he knows me. The manager of Kinokunyia was also there - again a big plus. He asked if I wanted to come and do a library talk with him in September. I said YES of course.

Second rule: Pity the Publicist
The big mistake Harper Collins have made in giving me a copy of the uncorrected proof is that it lists the contact details for the publicist on the back. Poor Monica - she's about to get flooded with good ideas and fabulous suggestions on a book for which she probably has about 2.5 hours of work allocated.