The Perils of a Newly Released Book

Now I start getting first reactions to my book. It’s nervous time. 

Now that FINDING MOOSEWOOD, FINDING GOD has been released and people have started getting their pre-ordered copies via Amazon or B&N or whatever, or are heading to bookstores for copies there’s a danger lurking. 

I got a foretaste today. A person who got an early copy dashed off a note to report: “Got it, read it, loved it. It’s a great read.”

I should be pleased. And, yes, I am, BUT ....

But I hate to have this work I labored on so long, so carefully, so thoughtfully, to be devoured like a hot dog gulped at a ball game. I much prefer the sort of email I got today from a man, a stranger who reached out to tell me he just his copy and glanced it quickly and it looked great but he looks forward to reading it slowly and really absorbing it. I’m sure it has a lot to offer. 

Well, from the reviews it’s received so far, it does and I love that he chooses not to gulp.

The other thing -- and I really am being picky and prickly -- I do in this, the most important work I have ever undertaken, aspire for something more lofty and I hope inspiring than simply “Great read.”

Maybe I still think of the endorsement the great American preacher, Fred B. Craddock wrote for the book, saying:  You will want to pass this book along to your friends.

But before you do, you may want to read it again yourself. Jack is on to something; you can sense it. He moves past the apparent to the Truth, to God.

Love that endorsement and love his suggestion to read it again ... Though I’m not too hot on the idea of your passing your copy along to friends. Why deny them the joy of buying their own?