The big day finally came — a week ahead of schedule.
Yes, on Friday my book, Discredited: The UNC Scandal and College Athletics’ Amateur Ideal, was officially published by the University of Michigan Press.
The publication date had long been set at August 27. So why the change of plans? In short, there were some logistical hurdles to getting copies of the book to Raleigh in time for my August 30 event, so the press and I decided to go ahead and release ‘em from the warehouse. Why wait?
☝️ the beautiful view at Quail Ridge Books, in Raleigh ☝️
At some point I’ll write about how I’m feeling now that this five-and-a-half year project has reached its epilogue, but first I want to focus on the here and now. Please do these three things for me:
Read my book. Buy it or get it from the library. If you like it, celebrate it in your own way. Post a photo of your copy on Twitter. Leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. Tell your best friend to get a copy. Call up your local bookstore and suggest that they stock it.
Come to one of my events. For most of you, the best opportunity will be my virtual event at Park Road Books in Charlotte on Sept. 1 at 7 pm Eastern time. Yes, they moved it from in-person to virtual due to Covid. The big silver lining is that now you can hear me talk about it even if you don’t live in North Carolina. (Charlotte readers, I’ll still be in the store from 3-5 p.m. on Sept. 1 to do a masked meet and greet and sign some copies, which will be a truly surreal experience.) Register for the FREE, VIRTUAL event here! I’m extra thrilled about this one because Pam Kelley, author of the fantastic book Money Rock, is moderating.
Talk to me. Tell me if you liked the book, or if you thought it missed the mark. Assign it to your book club and ask me to call in and speak about it. Send me congratulations! I love those emails, and I’m not afraid to say it.
Oh, and before I go, a few practical questions you may be thinking of:
I pre-ordered the book, so when am I getting my copy? No matter where you ordered from, it should be shipping imminently. I’m told if you ordered directly from the press, those copies should be going out today or tomorrow. It may take a little longer for Amazon to catch up (it’s still showing the old release date), but it should just be a matter of a few days.
I live in the North Carolina Triangle. Can I see you speak in-person? Yes! I’ll be appearing at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh a week from today with John Drescher, a contributing editor at The Assembly, which is graciously sponsoring the event. Here’s the event page. And on October 19 I’ll be appearing at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill with Praveena Somasundaram, editor-in-chief of the Daily Tar Heel. Here’s the page for that one. I’d love to see you at either.
I’ll be in your inbox again soon with more thoughts, prompts, and self-promotion. For now, let me just say thanks for being here.
— Andy
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