You guys.
Seriously.
Seriously, you guys.
I am so excited. Next week, I get to go to my first book expo.
“What’s a book expo?” you ask? (If you didn’t ask, you should, because that would make a delightful segue into the answer I’ve already prepared.)
Great question! And I’m not exactly sure of the answer!
But here’s what I know. Book Expo America is an annual event where tens of thousands of authors, publishers, bloggers, booksellers, librarians, agents, and other people who care about books all gather to discuss what’s hot and what’s coming next. Apparently it’s a pretty big deal.
If you follow my blog, you know that my first book, Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate, is out later this year, and my publisher, Jericho Books, is flying me to New York City (read “New York City!” like in those old Pace commercials) to spend a day attending the expo and signing copies of my book!
Wait… I’m signing copies? But it’s not out until November!
Ah, but here’s what I’ve learned, young Jedi. You know how, the first day a book comes out, there are already reviews of it online and in the paper, and quotes on the jacket from authors and other famous people saying how great it is? That’s because publishers put out ARCs, which, according to the interwebs, stands for Advance Reading Copy or Advance Reader Copy or Advance Review Copy or Advance RwhatheheckdoestheRstandfor Copy or something like that. Anyway, these ARCs are pre-release copies of the book, often what are called “bound galleys,” which haven’t been through the final proofreading stage yet. They may still have some typos and the text may differ slightly from the final book, but they’re close enough to finalized for reviewers, and they’re typically given away, not to be resold.
And that, dear friends, is what I will be signing.
On Wednesday, June 6, at 2:00, to be precise.
Also, did I mention there will be cupcakes and beer?
Yes. Cupcakes. And beer. That classic American combination of foods that no one has ever combined before to my knowledge.
The great irony is that I don’t drink beer (though there is a cool illustration about beer in the book). I do, however, eat cupcakes, so my apologies if there are none because I’VE EATEN THEM ALL.
So the plan, at least, is that tons and tons of people will come to the Jericho Books table to see me sign books with other cool authors, consume cupcakes and beer, and find out about this awesome new book about how we can end this “Gays vs. Christians” mindset and realistically get to a cease-fire in the culture war. Because let’s face it, we’re all sick of the fighting, but the folks on each side don’t quite know how to dialogue with the other side. And this is the work I’ve been doing for the last ten years, with a lot of success, actually.
So as you can see, I’m super excited about this book, and about this book expo. This will be the first time I’ve ever seen a bound copy of a book that I wrote, and it’s a book that I really believe could change a ton of hearts and minds.
Also, cupcakes, you guys! Cupcakes!
