Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The only real Metropolis

In Superman mythology, there is only one Metropolis. In the United States, there is also only one Metropolis. Superman's Metropolis is in an unspecified state. America's Metropolis is in southern Illinois. Tomorrow, I'm going to the real one for the 30th annual Superman Celebration.

Naturally, I planned this trip to sell books. However, we will not have books there. An order was placed for 500 copies but we were unable to get them shipped from China (the book is scheduled to be released on July 22).

But I will still be selling books. I have several speaking slots over the four-day event. I have hundreds of postcards to distribute. (It will be sweltering and they'll make great lightweight little fans.) I made simple bookplates with a custom logo that I will sign and hand out; these may prompt people to buy a book next month (or pre-order online now) or else they'll have no logical place to stick it. I will also be raffling off two copies of the actual book, two of the three advanced copies I was sent.

I will report when back and possibly also when there. One thing I can already confirm: selling books without having books does have one advantage. No heavy lifting.

No comments: