Tuesday, April 12, 2011
A Full Day in New York
There was lots of rain today, and as I walked downtown from uptown I smartened up and stopped at a camera store that was wisely also selling umbrellas (one of the short ones for only $4, which is fine as long as it makes it through tomorrow).
I dropped by the one Borders I could find that was still open, but, surprise surprise, they didn't have my book. The four Barnes & Noble stores I hit did, though, and all were keen to have me sign their copies. In fact, Karen at the Union Square store told me that they'd already sold out and had to bring them back in (not that this was huge quantities, mind), and it turns out she'd also a huge ChiZine fan, and has set up a special end cap devoted to their books. This was a delightful turn of events. One of the other B&Ns had me on their New SF shelf, and the other also had me on an end cap, while the 4th had my book mixed in with all the other SF; I'm hopeful that now that it has an "Autographed Copy" sticker on the cover, it'll go face out.
To tell you the truth, I was surprised at how non-blase everyone seemed when I came in, how genuinely interested they were. One woman was even halfway to excited. These are stores that are advertising events and signings by Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe, for crying out loud, and even some real authors in the mix.
After all that I had lunch at Punch with Amy, my agent, which was a nice time. Great to finally meet her in person, and while we chatted lots about life in general, there was business talk and a couple of potential ideas. And then after that I rushed back uptown and met for a short visit and a cup of tea with Jane Yolen, who was herself in town meeting with agents and editors. I hadn't seen her since Jo and I were in Scotland in 2003, and it was lovely to talk, about both life and business.
Finally, I spent the last hour and a half it was open wandering the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had a free pass and may go back tomorrow; I do love that place.
Tonight, I am waiting for my host Mark to come back to Astoria from work, and we were going to find a place to eat nearby since his wife Sue is working late, but I have just received an invite to attend dinner in SoHo for Carol Emshwiller's 90th birthday. I just may head out there.
I dropped by the one Borders I could find that was still open, but, surprise surprise, they didn't have my book. The four Barnes & Noble stores I hit did, though, and all were keen to have me sign their copies. In fact, Karen at the Union Square store told me that they'd already sold out and had to bring them back in (not that this was huge quantities, mind), and it turns out she'd also a huge ChiZine fan, and has set up a special end cap devoted to their books. This was a delightful turn of events. One of the other B&Ns had me on their New SF shelf, and the other also had me on an end cap, while the 4th had my book mixed in with all the other SF; I'm hopeful that now that it has an "Autographed Copy" sticker on the cover, it'll go face out.
To tell you the truth, I was surprised at how non-blase everyone seemed when I came in, how genuinely interested they were. One woman was even halfway to excited. These are stores that are advertising events and signings by Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe, for crying out loud, and even some real authors in the mix.
After all that I had lunch at Punch with Amy, my agent, which was a nice time. Great to finally meet her in person, and while we chatted lots about life in general, there was business talk and a couple of potential ideas. And then after that I rushed back uptown and met for a short visit and a cup of tea with Jane Yolen, who was herself in town meeting with agents and editors. I hadn't seen her since Jo and I were in Scotland in 2003, and it was lovely to talk, about both life and business.
Finally, I spent the last hour and a half it was open wandering the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had a free pass and may go back tomorrow; I do love that place.
Tonight, I am waiting for my host Mark to come back to Astoria from work, and we were going to find a place to eat nearby since his wife Sue is working late, but I have just received an invite to attend dinner in SoHo for Carol Emshwiller's 90th birthday. I just may head out there.
Labels: agents, ChiZine Publications, publishing, travel, writing
// posted by Derryl Murphy @ 4:17 PM 
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