Words of few men

Or women. I guess I was a little disappointed at the turnout (or lack thereof) at the [Words] bookstore in Maplewood on June 9. But it was a nice day, so perhaps people were more into being outdoors.

Nevertheless, it's never not fun talking about baseball and books with people who are interested in the topic(s). Thanks to Dave and his son, Isaac, for coming out, and Words owner Jonah Zimiles for hosting (as well as the gift bag!).

 FYI, I did sign a few copies of 501 for the store. I mean, Fathers Day is coming up... Just sayin'.
  

How'm I doing?

With apologies to the late Mayor Edward Koch. 

I'm frequently asked, "How is the book doing." The short answer is, I really don't know. My publisher tells me it's doing quote well, so much so that they ordered a second printing (although I don't know how many copies were run the first time). I signed up for the author's service on Amazon, which offers lots of information (uselful and not too).

For example, as of this writing, I learned that 501 is:

• #2 in Books > Education & Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Publishing & Books > Bibliographies & Indexes > Literature
• #38 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Reference
• #50 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Books & Reading > General

Not to appear ungrateful, but I do wish it was among the top 100 baseball titles.

Furthermore, I learned there are 100 "geographic regions" on the map (contiguous U.S.; I guess there are just no bookstores in Alaska and Hawaii). According to the map, the most copies have sold in the New York area. Again, I'm not sure what constitutes this info. Is it only books sold in physical stores, and doesn't include Amazon? Are these all the stores that carry the book, or only the ones polled by the outfit that supplies such data to the Amazon author service?

501 has sold in 74 of the 100 "markets." What's up with that? You folks in the other 26 are really letting me down. Thanks to the one person in Springfield, MA -- my home town -- who bought a copy. Also to those folks in Lexington, Altoona, Memphis, Mobile, Providence, Decatur, Dayton, Evansville, Spartanburg, Flint, Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, and Birmingham (among a few others) who bought the local copy.

As for the rest of you, get busy. Please.

Next up: Words in Maplewood, NJ

Hope some of you can make it!

In case you can't make out the address info, it's 179 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood, NJ; phone 973-763-9500. I'll be coming straight from a softball doubleheader, so if someone wants to bring a snack, that would be greatly appreciated ;)

Ronnie K. at the BEA!

UNP asked if I'd be interested in working an author autograph session at the Book Expo America trade show, held at the Javits Center in NYC last weekend. At first I was thrilled. Then I was worried: what if no one showed up for my time slot? What if no one likes the book. Everybody hates me! Very middle-school.

But it turned out to be a rewarding experience. The line stretched out quite a ways and the people were quite engaging. Even picked up a few invitations from book store owners and librarians.

A nice testimonial and another suggestion

Another suggestion comes from Dr. Donald McKim, who was kind enough to review 501 for Baseball-Almanac.com:

In an e-mail, Dr. McKim wrote:

I enjoyed this book a lot—what a wonderful guide to literature!

You were kind to include your email address for suggestions about books that might be included in a future edition. May I suggest Christopher H. Evans and William R. Herzog II, The Faith of 50 Million: Baseball, Religion, and American Culture (Westminster John Knox Press, 2002).

I was pleased to be the editor for this book when I worked at Westminster John Knox Press. I also was happy to have contributed an essay: “’Matty’ and ‘Ol’ Pete’: Divergent American Heroes” — a study of Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

This volume features a number of essays on the relations of baseball, religion, and American culture, as the sub-title indicates. And it has a number of stellar recommendations from baseball writers.

So I thought I would pass this along.

Thanks again for providing such a fine book, Ron. I’m sure it will be of wide interest to all who love the game!

Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, May 9 -- The real story

Took me awhile to get the photos, but wanted to say what a great time we had at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse with our host, Jay Goldberg. Thought-provoking questions from Jay and the audience went a long way into offering comfortable experience for someone who's not accustomed to public speaking.

Also took some video of the occasion, but that will have to wait until I learn how to work the editing program.

In the meantime...

Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, May 9 -- Intro