One Last Video—and Thanks for Watching!

I’m sharing another short video that we shot for a work-in-progress documentary about the lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Before we jump in, just a reminder that you can find out about the two new paperbacks at one of the links right here.

The goal of our video project was to visit all the historic sites associated with the 56 Signers of the Declaration. In this installment, we’re visiting the birthplace of Signer Arthur Middleton. Today Middleton Place is a stunning and thoughtful tourist destination located in Charleston, South Carolina. Well worth visiting if you’re ever in the area.

Just reminder: The road trip URL referenced in the trailer is now defunct. I haven’t had a chance to update it.

I hope you like it. We have a few more videos to share but we haven’t made them public yet. I’ll post them when they’re released. Thanks for watching.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your free ebook, go here. Thanks — Joseph D’Agnese

Day 3—and Another One of My Videos!

So anyhoo—I’m back with another of the videos we shot looking at the lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. I know, I know: you’re dying to check out our two new paperbacks on the men behind these founding documents. Grab them at one of the links right here.

The goal of our video project was to visit all the historic sites associated with the 56 Signers of the Declaration. This time around, we’re visiting the birthplace of Signer Thomas Lynch Jr. Today Hopsewee Plantation is a tourist destination located in Georgetown, South Carolina.

Just reminder: The road trip URL referenced in the trailer is now defunct. I haven’t had a chance to update it.

I hope you like it and are moved to visit Hopsewee. It’s a lovely place, run by great people who are dedicated to its preservation.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your free ebook, go here. Thanks — Joseph D’Agnese

Book Launch Day—and Here's Another Video!

Our two history titles are finally out in paperback today! The world rejoices, ‘cuz, geez, it only took eight years. Grab them at one of the links right here.

To celebrate the launch, I’m running some videos of a documentary project we started working on ourselves some years ago. The goal: to visit all the historic sites associated with the 56 Signers of the Declaration. This is a lovely video shot in Charleston. South Carolina, at the home of Signer Edward Rutledge, which is now an inn. Rutledge was all of 26 years old when he signed the historic document. His other claim to fame? He’s an ancestor of actress Goldie Hawn and her daughter Kate Hudson.

Just reminder: The road trip URL referenced in the trailer is now defunct. I haven’t had a chance to update it.

Less comedy this time around, but still interesting.

By the way, the books look fantastic. The publisher, Quirk Books, did a lovely job.

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Above photo by Mallory Cash.

Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your free ebook, go here. Thanks — Joseph D’Agnese

My Video: In Search of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence

To celebrate the launch of our paperbacks this week, I’ll be running some videos of a documentary project we developed years ago. The goal: to visit all the historic sites associated with the 56 Signers of the Declaration. This is the first and probably the funniest trailer we put together.

And a quick reminder that if you’re interested in grabbing a copy of the new newly revised and updated paperbacks, you can check out the links to all my titles right here.

Another quick note: the URL referenced in the trailer is now defunct. I haven’t had a chance to update it.

And now, please enjoy, and let me know if you think I have a future in comedy.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your free ebook, go here. Thanks — Joseph D’Agnese

Bobbleheads Agree! Our New Paperbacks are Awesome!

Our new paperbacks came in the mail the other day, and I couldn’t wait to share them with our resident statesmen. Reminder: the books are out April 30, 2019, and you can pre-order them here.

People always ask what the books are about. Here’s the deal: 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, 39 signed the U.S. Constitution. Our books offer pithy, often-hilarious mini-biographies about every single one of the men, from the famous ones to the most obscure.

Other cool factoids:

* So much of what people know about the Declaration Signers is based on folklore, exacerbated by the Internet about how much they suffered for our freedom. The truth is far more complex. (Example: None of the signers lost his life because he signed the Declaration of Independence.)

* The Signers of both documents are a hilarious mix of great men and scoundrels. A lot of the Signers ended up broke from bad land investments. Two signers of the constitution were outright embezzlers. One was such a crook Congress tried to arrest him—but he skipped town. So their stories are relevant today because they touch on subjects such as political corruption, sex scandals, or being “upside-down” on loans.

* The Signers were fallible men, like our politicians today. Rather than insist on revering them, it’s probably wiser to accept that "imperfect men created a more perfect union.” It is easier to relate to people who had real issues, real faults, and made real mistakes, yet were still part of an incredible moment in history.

* The documents we revere today grew out of debate and compromise. The Signers fought and argued constantly. The Constitution we regard as sacrosanct was viewed as suspect by many Americans in 1787, the year of its presentation to the American public. Modern Americans think that once the Revolutionary War was over, so were our troubles. Not true. The US was a fragile, brand-new country, with serious deficiencies that only a strong constitutional document could resolve.

* Most people can name about five famous signers for each document. For every Adams, Franklin, or Hancock, there’s a Hart, Morton, or Morris that most people have never heard of. History is often made by so many more people than those highlighted in the history books.

I know: The books sound awesome to buy, don’t they? Head on over to this page to pre-order online, or call my local bookstore for autographed copies.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your free ebook, go here. Thanks — Joseph D’Agnese

Pre-Order Now: Signing Their Lives / Rights Away!

Just a quick and dirty reminder that paperback versions of two of our most popular books are out in just 15 days! We’d love to make as big a splash with them as we did when they first came out in hardcover, so please do pre-order them if you’re interested.

I’m pretty proud of this duo. We spent a good chunk of time last year revising both books with some new tidbits and details that came to light after the first series pubbed nearly a decade ago.

A reminder:

• Signing Their Lives Away was the first in the series, and tells the true story of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

• The later book, Signing Their Rights Away, tells the story of the 39 men who signed the Constitution. Both books are illustrated with portraits of the men.

In its review of the second book, The Wall Street Journal said:

“[The authors]...maintain a refreshing reverence for the Constitution itself. Rather than ask readers to believe that an ‘assembly of demigods’ (Jefferson’s words) wrote the Constitution, Ms. Kiernan and Mr. D’Agnese challenge the notion that the group that crafted this document of enduring genius was uniquely brilliant or visionary. If this raises the question of how exactly the miracle was accomplished, it should at least give readers some hope for our own seemingly uninspired political era.”

To which I respond: Yep. Pretty much. The amazing thing about both sets of signers is how they break down into the famous and the obscure. You have greats like Jefferson, John and Samuel Adams, Hancock, Ben Franklin and so on, and then you have men like John Morton or John Hart who signed the Declaration and went on to do very little else on the national stage.

And you have men like Gouverneur Morris, who wrote that beautiful preamble to the U.S. Constitution and who was a colorful figure in his lifetime—a playboy Casanova with a wooden leg!—but whom I venture to say most people have never heard of.

So that’s the breadth of these men. The bright, the clever, the unknowns—all cheek by jowl with absolute scoundrels, some of whom stole money from Congress or ended up in debtor’s prison thanks to their own greed or stupidity.

And they all founded the U.S. of A.

Both books were written with a good deal of humor, but I hope you can feel the reverence amid the irreverence.

Please do check them out. You can find all your buy options here. If you want autographed copies, please PHONE our local bookstore, Malaprops, and give them the specifics.

Just don’t expect me to sign with a quill pen.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your free ebook, go here. Thanks — Joseph D’Agnese

Reviewed in the Wall Street Journal!

Things settled down last week after we conducted more than 30 radio interviews during the launch week of our new book, Signing Their Rights Away. Since the book is tied to Constitution Day, we thought the excitement would die down after that little-known holiday, held this year on Saturday, September 17. 

But no. A number of reviewers and bloggers are only now discovering the book. That’s typical of the industry. You never know when someone is going to discover your book and do a review on it. (One of our books — an influential book about how freelancers can manage their money —came out two years ago, and was reviewed only last night on a prominent personal finance blog, The Simple Dollar.) Love when that happens.

This past weekend we were surprised to learn that our new book, Signing Their Rights Away, had been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal’s weekend book section. The reviewer seemed to hit on the all the key points we were trying to make about the signers. To quote part of the review:

“Though Ms. Kiernan and Mr. D'Agnese clearly delight in noting the warts and blemishes of the Constitution's signers, they maintain a refreshing reverence for the Constitution itself. Rather than ask readers to believe that an ‘assembly of demigods’ (Jefferson's words) wrote the Constitution, Ms. Kiernan and Mr. D'Agnese challenge the notion that the group that crafted this document of enduring genius was uniquely brilliant or visionary. If this raises the question of how exactly the miracle was accomplished, it should at least give readers some hope for our own seemingly uninspired political era.”

Cool.

If you haven’t already watched the book trailer, it’s right here. Denise outdid herself this time around. The new video is hilarious.

Thanks to everyone who continues to support this book with reviews and word of mouth. 

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!

Insane Week Ahead!

We’re doing a record (for us) 26 radio interviews this week promoting our new book, Signing Their Rights Away. Though the book officially pubbed last week, today begins our major promo week since the U.S. celebrates Constitution Day on Saturday, September 17. 

This is one of these holidays only federal workers seem to celebrate. Constitution Day commemorates the actual day in 1787 when 39 founding fathers signed the U.S. Constitution.

Our book is about those 39 men. Some were supergeniuses, others quite mediocre. At least one was an outright scoundrel who became the first person impeached in the U.S. government. No one ever seems to know that these men existed, while we routinely and slavishly fete the signers of the Declaration each Fourth of July.

I’d argue that the men in the new book are every bit as interesting as the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

If you haven’t already watched the book trailer, it’s right here. Denise outdid herself this time around. The new video is hilarious.

Thanks to everyone who’s supported this book with reviews and word of mouth. The book is available wherever books are sold, and our local bookstore has plenty of copies in stock, available for autographing.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!

New Book Out Tuesday: Signing Their Rights Away!

Tuesday, September 6 marks the publication of my new book, Signing Their Rights Away, with my coauthor Denise Kiernan. It’s a nonfiction history book about the 39 men who signed the United States Constitution in 1787. More notably, it’s the follow-up to our earlier book about the Declaration signers. The first book has done phenomenally well, so I’m really excited about the new one.

I’d argue that the men in the new book are every bit as interesting as the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, but they are probably less known than the Declaration signers. The book consists of 39 short biographies on each patriot, no more than three to five pages, tops.

Some of their stories are inspiring, others hilarious. You can get a sense of our approach in handling this material in the new book trailer we’re rolling out today:

People always ask how they can support us when a new book comes out. The most obvious thing is BUY THE BOOK, but you knew that already.

Knowing that not everyone loves history, even our humorous take on it, we point out that you can help us in other ways: mentioning the book to history buff friends, booksellers, librarians, book clubs, or social studies teachers.

You can share the book title with your Facebook or Twitter fans, or just watch the video and have a laugh. If you do read the book and like it, please consider leaving a review for us somewhere online. It really helps. I’ll be back next week, on pub day, to talk about other ways you can help us.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!

On the road...in Boston, MA

We continued our tour today in Boston, where we signed at the Old State House, site of the Boston Massacre in March 1770. Our hosts for this two-day signing is the Bostonian Society. Our thanks to Chuck Gordon, Peter Leavitt, Nick Trainor, and the rest of their staff for making this event possible. 

We were encouraged by the number of visitors to this shop who knew of the book and had actually read it before. We made a lot of new friends whom we will no doubt call upon to get the word out about the sequel, Signing Their Rights Away.

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!