Ladies and gentlemen, it’s finally here! The day you can walk into your local bookstore, ask “Pardon me, but do you have a copy of Pressure by Jeff Strand that I might purchase?” and the helpful employee will say “We sure do! Right this way, sir or madam!” and you’ll dance out of the store with a song in your heart and stardust between your toes.
(Admittedly, my preferred scenario has the employee saying “No! They sold out within minutes, and people keep begging for them! I fear for my life, and I don’t think the barricade is going to hold much longer! Oh, dear God, they’re almost through! Noooooooooo[splattery death gurgle]!!!”)
The first week of sales are important, so I hope you’ll pick up a copy even if your To Be Read pile is the size of a Dairy Queen. Strong sales means more books available in nice affordable mass market paperback editions! It also means more name recognition, and so your signed copy of Werewolf Porno could skyrocket in value! Also, when I get my first mansion, you’re invited to the pool party. There’ll be awesome guacamole and all the Snapple you can drink.
Unless the bodies turn up or the celebrity sex scandal I’m planning works out (Marisa Tomei: Call me!), this is going to be a book that succeeds on word of mouth. So if you have a mouth, I encourage you to use it. Also your fingers, if you want to type things like “Whoa! Pressure rocked!” in e-mail or blogs or message boards or chat rooms and stuff. Remember: Pressure success = more cheap books!
You should buy Pressure from your favorite local bookseller; however, if that favorite local bookseller is Barnes & Noble, a portion of all sales between Tuesday, May 26th and Sunday, May 31st will benefit the Tampa Theatre, an awesome non-profit theatre. You may be thinking “I live in Seattle. Why should I care about benefitting the Tampa Theatre?” Because they play all kinds of cool stuff, including silent films like Nosferatu with live organ accompaniment, and when I did a booksigning there a while back they let me pick the movie that played beforehand, and so I got to do a signing after the uncut version of Peter Jackson’s Dead/Alive, which played to a crazed audience. THAT is something we need to support, kids!
This benefit is good at any Barnes & Noble location, and it’s good for your entire purchase, not just Pressure. You don’t even have to buy Pressure. I hope you will, though. (See preceding paragraphs.) Just tell the cashier that you’re using Bookfair I.D. Number 560714. Or print out a voucher from the Tampa Theatre website at http://www.tampatheatre.org. (This summer they’re playing Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3-D. I mean, c’mon.)
Okay, let me skim this post to make sure the key point is clearly established…yep, I think I covered “Buy Pressure!” I hugely appreciate everyone’s support so far, and I hope you’ll stick with me as we jump to the next big level!
Gleefully Macabre 