When I last wrote to you, we had a release date — August 27.
Now we have a book.
The arrival of 👆🏻 review copies 👆🏻 — advance editions of the book that go to media outlets and other Friends of Andy — signals one thing: There’s no stopping this now.
There have been a lot of different stages since I first submitted my manuscript a year and a half ago. First I incorporated my editor’s edits, then copy edits and notes from the legal review, and finally — last week — I did one last proofread and signed off on the final text.
It’s odd to behold my book in this premature form. It looks and reads like what it’s supposed to be, but it hasn’t yet performed its function. Because you haven’t read it yet.
The shortage of outside opinions about the book lends every new one outsized importance. I’m warning you now: When you tell me what you think of the book, know that I will be weighing and examining each sentence, each word, every letter. (Just recently, my indexer: “It was a very interesting book!” Me: *looks up “interesting” in the Oxford English Dictionary*)
More opinions should be coming in soon. Yesterday I got messages from a few people who got their advance copies in the mail. I am nervous and excited to hear what they think.
This boat has been sitting on the shore for a long time. My final authoring task is to push it out into the surf and see how well it floats. To do that I’m adapting excerpts, drafting op-eds, and working on arranging events.
On that note, a few updates:
I published my first excerpt this week! For The Chronicle (where I work) I adapted a section of Chapter 6 into an essay about one of the lesser known consequences of the fake-classes scandal: the scapegoating of Black-studies scholars. (You should be able to access the article for free, but email me if you can’t.)
For my Charlotte-area readers: Mark your calendars! I’ll be doing an event at Park Road Books at 7 pm on September 1. More details on what it’ll look like to come (it’s not listed on their website yet). I would love to see all of you out there!
I’m in full promotion mode now, so I’d welcome any and all ideas. Know someone at a media outlet who might be able to get the word out? Know someone at a book store that would love to stock my book? Have a friend with a book club who’s looking for a title to feature this fall? Please let me know!
I should have more to share next week, including a new excerpt and an interview pegged to this week’s Supreme Court decision.
— Andy
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