Blockhead is now a First Book

I got a nice surprise last week. My math picture book, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci has been accepted into the First Book Program.

First Book is a nonprofit org that helps teachers and schools buy books for kids in need. First Book makes tons of titles available to select schools at astounding discounts of 50 to 90 percent below retail. That’s a huge discount. I was clicking through First Book’s online store and I came across brand-new books by major authors that are going for as little as a buck a book. That price is only available if the teacher or school has been vetted and accepted into the First Book program.

When Blockhead first came out, I used to get emails from teachers, parents, and librarians asking if I could donate a book to a classroom or library, because they just didn’t have the funds to do so.

That’s a hard thing to ask of an author. In the first place most of us just don’t have the money to help schools out in this way. For a while I donated a few, but it wasn’t something I could keep up forever. While I do get a discount from the publisher, every book I mail out costs me darn near retail price by the time I cover the distributor’s sales tax and shipping and my own re-shipping. It just wasn’t smart for me to continue doing that, as much as I want kids to have my book. On top of the cost, authors like me are simply not equipped to assess whether a school or library is truly needy. No matter what I did, I felt guilty.

LaToniya A. Jones loves her kids—with math!

A few years ago, I did a Skype visit with some classes led by LaToniya A. Jones, a former middle school principal and math specialist in Detroit who founded an 501c3 organization called P.O.W.E.R., which, among other things, runs workshops to teach parents how they can empower their kids through math. LaToniya, who uses a bunch of “math-lit” books in her seminars, wrote to First Book, asking that they add Blockhead to their menu of titles.

I’m really touched and glad that she did that. I had heard of First Book, but it would not have occurred to me that I could propose that the org make my book available. When Blockhead finally hits the First Book store, I’ll add the link to my site permanently so teachers and librarians will know that they have options that are cheaper than even the big online retailers. (If you are a children’s book author, you might consider looking into First Book.)

In any case, thanks, First Book. Thanks, Ms. Jones!

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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

When Chimpanzees Dance

I got a mention this week on the blog of a chimp sanctuary in Washington state.

In the wild, chimpanzees will sometimes appear to “dance.” The chimp in this video does this briefly; it’s the first time his caregivers have spotted him doing such a thing in captivity.

I mentioned chimp rain dances briefly in an article I did on one of these facilities for Discover magazine, back in 2002. The rain dance was just one of those bits of trivia you toss into an article when you’re writing it that ends up taking on a life of its own. In this case, that factoid came back around and made the piece. Even today, I occasionally get notes from people referencing that article, and they always say how the last line touched them.

Paging through the website of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, I discovered that my article actually inspired founder Keith LaChappelle to start his sanctuary. I love hearing stories like that. There aren’t many moments when a writer can say that his or her work has made a difference in the world. This is my, like, one time. I’m proud of it.

My chimp piece was later featured in the Best American Science Writing anthology in 2003. The piece is also included in my collection of nonfiction science pieces, The Scientist & The Sociopath. But you can read the whole chimp piece for free on Discover’s website.

Related: The Death of a Chimp

The Making of "The Suspect" with Mekhi Phifer and Sterling K. Brown

A message today on behalf of my buddy Stuart Connelly, who’s running a Kickstarter to raise some funds for a film he’s just completed in rural Pennsylvania.

Wait, you’re asking. He’s completed the film? Why’s he need money?

Take it away, Stu:

Here’s the pitch: Confusion & stress engulf a small all-white town when an African-American stranger appears in the wake of a masked armed robbery.

Bring Hollywood talent to our rural town in Pennsylvania and shoot a crime drama involving racial tension, hair triggers, car crashes? 

Convince a famous musician not only to score the film, but also write and record original songs — lyrics and all? 

Shoot it all in nineteen days?

Are you kidding?

But… with a lot of help… 

We did it.

We put every penny of our investors’ money onto the screen, and there are critical components still to tackle that we don’t have the financial resources for. That’s where you hopefully come in. To get The Suspect over the line and secure a meaningful distribution deal, to get on the radar of influential decision-makers in Hollywood and beyond.

We are looking for your help to offset some of the on-going promotional expenses associated with raising awareness for

The Suspect

. This includes costs associated with entering and attending film festivals, renting space and coordinating industry screening events to allow distribution companies to experience our film, creating and producing a professional press kit and other communication materials.  All key activities to help differentiate 

The Suspect

in the marketplace.

The Suspect has just secured a place in its first major film festival. Our film was selected to be one of five narrative features in competition at the 17th Annual American Black Film Festival in Miami, June 19 – 23.  We are thrilled that the Festival’s Grand Jury has nominated The Suspect for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor - Mekhi Phifer and Best Actor - Sterling K. Brown.

We know we are close to our goal of being securely positioned and on the radar of key industry players looking for smart, stylistic films. We are looking for $25,000 to take us to the finish line. Yes, it’s a mere fraction of our film’s budget… but it’s a fortune when your production bank account is circling the drain.

Your support and contribution will help ensure that the wonderful performances of our amazing cast, the impressive talents of our core creative team and crew, the masterful work of our composer and the tremendous support we received from our community — which collectively became The Suspect — will be available to a broad audience.  To entertain, to inspire, to start a conversation…. 

Read on to learn more about the project and be sure to take a look at our list of rewards.  We tried to offer a little something for everyone — you’ll find props from the movie, books, music, clothing, artwork and more.  

Thank you for considering The Suspect.

Making Up for Zero Days

Since March I’ve been writing sporadically, and it’s been killing me. I keep a journal of my daily output and for much of spring and early summer it’s looked like this:

Since March I’ve been on the road a lot with Denise. I accompanied her on her book tour throughout the east and southeast, and while I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, I’m forced to admit that I wasn’t very productive at all. I’ve never gotten good at writing for myself while on the road.

In contrast, I’ve always been able to force myself to crank out client work and meet their deadlines while on the road. When it comes to my own stuff, I just tell myself I can skip a day. So while my ghostwriting clients can happily say their projects have moved forward—the scientists, the business dudes, the diet docs all got their proposals done this spring, yay for them—but on the Joe-fiction-writing front, this is the result: a long line of zeroes.

I started off great in January and managed to get about 75,000 words done on the new project before things went haywire. And when Denise hit the road solo in mid-June, I locked myself in the house and managed to write 35,000 words—Joe words, not client words—in a week. I now have a good rough draft on that book. It’s big, sloppy, and longwinded, but I’m ecstatic. It means I’ll be able to march through the next draft solidly knowing where I’m headed.

I’ve also decided to share this book with my agent and not automatically self-publish it. You can read that as a sign of how excited I am about this project. But bear in mind that I’m still at least one good draft away from sharing it with anyone. Since this is historical fiction, there’s a lot more research ahead.

If you think you might be interested in being a beta reader on this work, please let me know. The genre is historical fantasy, by which I mean that an element of magic has been inserted into a real-life historical setting. I’ll post again when I’m ready to share it.

By the way, here’s what I can say about any kind of historical fiction: don’t. Just don’t. You can barely write a sentence of your book unless you’ve researched a ton of stuff. Knowing how much I procrastinate, it’s a wonder I’ve gotten this far with this book.

I managed to write a decent short story this week, so I think I may have broken through the logjam. This week I’ll be starting the next book in The Mesmerist series while revising the historical fantasy. Should be good. Just don’t tell my ghosting clients, whose work may or may not be due this week.

* * *

In other news:

* It’s Fourth of July week here in the States. My most best-selling nonfiction book, Signing Their Lives Away, tells the story of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. That book and its sequels have sold pretty well in historic site and museum gift shops. Learn more about them here. Follow the Facebook page here.

*  Back when we had more time on our hands, we did a line of Signer-themed Fourth of July T-shirts. Check them out here.

* Lastly, Google Reader was discontinued July 1. If you’ve been following this blog via that service, it’s time to migrate over to something like Feedly or what-have-you. All I ask is that you take me along with you. It’s been fun, hasn’t it? I haven’t been excessively annoying or needy, have I? Please take a moment to bookmark this page to your new reader, whatever it is.

"Bloody Signorina" in Hitchcock's!

Look for my short story in Hitchcock’s Mystery Mag!

I have a short story in the September 2013 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM), on newsstands now. Can’t believe I got a cover mention!

Truth is, I’m a little surprised how this story, “Bloody Signorina,” turned out. I’d call it an experiment. It doesn’t sound like my voice at all. It sounds like me pretending to be Jane Austen, an Italian Jane Austen, or something. Anyway, check it out and let me know. The detective who makes a brief appearance in this short goes on to bigger and more horrifying things in my next book, The Marshal of the Borgo. More on that book soon, I hope.

You can find a hard copy version of AHMM wherever magazines are sold. (My local B&N tends to carry it.) Failing that, in a few days you can download a single digital issue via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Zinio, Magzter, Sony, and Google Play. Just make sure you are downloading the September 2013 issue.

(BTW: I’ve been reading and downloading these magazines via the Magzter app on my iPad, and it’s been great. Good customer service, too. Highly recommended.)

* * *

Speaking of magazines, my piece for Plots With Guns got a little mention on a blog by Andy Henion, who is always “searching for the perfect sentence.” I hope the other sentences in the story added up to something equally enjoyable!

My Own Blind Spots

My Own Blind Spots

I haven’t had much time to post here lately. But Denise is on the road this weekend and boy, do I need to get stuff done around here. I can’t help thinking about how her recent success is rewriting the way I think about books. I see now that I’ve been a victim of my own blind spots in certain areas. Two things used to take as fact:

A. “No one comes to book signings”: One of the sad-sack author memes talks about sitting at some table at a busy B&N, waiting for someone to come buy your book. Or showing up to give a talk somewhere and having only two people in the audience. I’ve been there. Not at the B&N maybe, but at a bunch of other stores up and down the east coast. In the past, we’ve sold our history titles at events like these and though the books did okay, I could never help having the feeling that we were wasting our time. If I have to drive out of town to give a talk on my own dime, how do I measure the benefit to me? If I have to educate someone about my book 50 times in an hour, how is this a good use of my time? I saw my predicament as an extension of the fact that the majority of people don’t read. They’d sooner buy a rake or a sandwich than a book.

But—people are showing up at Denise’s signings these days in droves. The angry little man inside me watches the hordes pack standing-room only bookstores and auditoriums, and thinks, oh sure, now you come. But I shouldn’t judge. When I can quash the little man, I can manage to be both stunned and grateful. Naturally people come when they’ve heard about the book or the author. But some part of me wants them to understand that they’re only getting pitched a fraction of the books published each year. The imprimatur of the media does not mean you’re going to get a better read, just a better marketed one.

B. “No one buys hardcovers”: This one is totally me. For years I’ve avoided buying hardcovers because of the cost. I bought paperbacks and used books instead. Who can fault me? More bang for your reading dollar, right?

But—watching all these people throw down $30 a pop for multiple copies of Denise’s book has made me realize that this frugal rule of mine is not shared by many. I’ve always been a heavy reader, and I needed to economize in order to stoke my habit. If you don’t read that many books in a year, springing for an occasional hardcover might well seem like a reasonable cost to you. A good number of people at signings are also seeking an autographed collectible for themselves or others. That’s cool. (I’m actually seeking to divest my shelves of signed books these days; I have too many.)

My no-hardcover rule was also formed in the pre-Amazon days. Back then, if I wanted to read a book that was only available as a shockingly overpriced $17.95 hardcover, I trained myself to wait for it. Today, there’s no reason to wait. That cost obstacle has been eliminated by Amazon, B&N, and ebooks. Rationally I’ve known this for a while, yet I have been weirdly living by my old rule. Still, someone must be buying hardcovers like Denise’s at indie bookstores, paying full price, or else the NYT Hardcover Bestseller List—theoretically culled from sales at multiple bookstores around the USA—would be 15 slots of blank space. Maybe this is simply an extension of point A, above: people shell out the premium bucks for the books they’ve heard about the most. Period.

Which somehow just depresses me further.

On the road: Raleigh

Denise is speaking and signing tonight at 7:30 PM at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC. If you’re in town, come on by. Tomorrow, Country Bookstore in Southern Pines. Saturday, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill.

New crazy haircut!

Also: Shaved my head for summer!

On the road: Nashville

What’s up? Well, Denise is speaking at Parnassus Books in Nashville today at 6:30 PM. At least one of the women from her book will be in attendance. I’m on the road with her, looking forward to visiting some of the indie bookstores I’ve heard so much about. Later this week: Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Southern Pines, NC.

Remembering Zelda Fitzgerald in Asheville, NC

Zelda Fitzgerald gets a lot of play in Asheville, since she lived and died here. (A stone apparently marks the spot of the hospital fire, though I’ve never been able to find it.)

Our local indie bookstore Malaprops assembled a clever diorama of props—gin bottle and pearls—to celebrate this weekend’s talk by Therese Anne Fowler, author of Z. And their cafe magicians whipped up a special Zelda-inspired coffee.

If you haven’t seen my earlier post on what F. Scott was doing in Asheville while visiting Zelda, check it out here. Contact the bookstore for a signed copy of Fowler’s book. They should still have plenty.