Buy a Book Today, Get a Personal Thank-You Video

SUMMARY

Buy a paperback copy of GRAMMAR GIRL’S 101 MISUSED WORDS YOU’LL NEVER CONFUSE AGAIN ($5.99) by midnight, Saturday, July 9, 2011;  send a screenshot or scan of your receipt to [email protected] by noon (PST) Sunday, July 10, 2011; and I’ll record a personal video thank-you for you and post it as a private video at YouTube.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, IndieBound

DETAILS

This book has been on a tear since my Thursday interview on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.” The book actually has a decent chance of making the New York Times bestseller list, which would make me deliriously happy. This is the week the book has the best chance it will ever have, not only because of the NPR interview, but also because preorders that happened before the book launched get rolled into this week’s sales. The cut off for this week’s list is TONIGHT. I need as many sales as I can get…now, so I’m pushing it hard online.

Some people have asked if I will sign books, and because they’re helping me with this deadline—this goal that I covet—I really, really want to be able to say yes, but the logistics of signing books for people are difficult. It takes a lot of time and for a book that’s only $5.99, we’d spend more in shipping it back and forth than the cover price. So I was thinking about what other nice thing I could do for people, and the idea hit me that I could record a personal video message. I truly am grateful to everyone who buys a book, and it would be cool to be able to say thank you  to each person as face-to-face as we can get these days.

Also, a few of you have asked why I want the book to make the list or what difference it makes to sales. I’ll admit that the biggest reason is just pride and excitement. It would be so frickin’ cool to make the list that my head would metaphorically (not literally) explode. I want it. (Imagine me whining on the word “want.”) However, it also does help long-term sales. The book gets extra exposure now, and “New York Times Bestseller” gets printed on the cover in future printings, which helps people make the decision to buy it when they pick it up in stores. It may have other effects on sales that I’m not aware of, for example, it could make bookstores more likely to stock it. I’m not sure. Also, it’s great for everyone associated with the book such as my editor, agent, and the marketing and PR people at St. Martin’s. I feel a deep responsibility to all those people because they believed in me. Finally, this book making the list should be good for everyone in the Quick and Dirty Tips network who wants to write a book. It should help people at St. Martin’s think happy thoughts when they think of us.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, IndieBound

So now—you know I have to ask—will you buy a book today?