Sold “Best Dressed”s to a pick-up basketball buddy and a newer café acquaintance.
Shipped 35 copies to Brooklyn, 10 for a distributor to sell on his own and 25 for shops that acquire stock from him. Sent a copy to a book/zine store SF to try to interest it in stocking it. (An insider tips me, it will probably put it up for sale, and I will only hear from it if it buys it, interesting them in more.)
Most quotable reaction: “Wonderful! I loved the text, the drawings, the entire “essay.” Highly original.” (This from a notable artist/critic/friend, though not one who has spared me his negative feelings about the cartoonists and the works I generally write about.)
In other news...
Do you know about Google Alerts? They let you know anytime something you are interested in is mentioned on the Internet. I generally put in my book titles, hoping to be tipped off to reviews. Well, the other day one arrived in Spanish, which seemed to say that “Messiahs, Meshugganahs...” had been nominated for something. Now my Spanish pretty much taps out after “Un doppio espresso, poquito,” so I asked my publisher, It told me I was up for a Ringo Award, which is bestowed by the Baltimore Comic Con. “It’s frankly unusual for the award to acknowledge such a legitimately great work, so this was a great surprise!”
I’m up for Best-Comic Related Publication. Only comic pros can vote, so if you know any, ask them to cast a allot for me – and American culture.
Otherwise, going forward, feel free to refer me to me as “The Ringo Award nominated…”