Most know that I am part of a 6 member book club. We have a book club blog and some of us keep personal blogs as well. The most interesting thing happened. It was Amberly's turn to choose the book this time. She posted on her personal blog the several books she had considered and the one she ended up choosing for us to read. The author of one of the books she had considered somehow saw this post of hers, and found our book club blog. He left the following comment:
"Hello B.A.D. girls, This note comes a little out of the blue, but I wanted to convey thanks for considering "An Ordinary Man" for your next book club pick. It was an honor to be included in the list, and "Left To Tell" is a very fine choice. If you should decide you want to read more about Rwanda, and if you wanted to reconsider "An Ordinary Man" for a future pick, I would be happy to answer questions about the book via phone or email. Paul was the primary author, of course, but I played a helping hand in the creation of the book and can talk about it to a limited degree. Anyway, forgive the intrusion and happy reading! All the best, Tom Zoellner tom@theheartlessstone.com "
I was floored when I read it. I can't imagine the co-author of a popular book like An Ordinary Man (which by the way has a perfect 5 star rating on amazon.com and inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda) contacting us with such a generous offer. I am not sure if we will end up taking him up on his offer or not, but it sure would bring a personal element to the experience. Amberly said it makes her wonder how many other authors out there would be willing to do the same. Perhaps authors are more accessible than I imagined. Or maybe Zoellner is a refreshing exception.
5 comments:
Oh, I really do hope we end up taking him up on his offer. How many times do you think an opportunity like this will come along??
Wow!! That is amazing!!
very cool - you guys should totally do it. I've heard of this before - but never via blog!
Not sure how I came across your blog, but in any event, I know Tom and am a book author myself. We're often very accessible because we want people to read our books! Besides that, from a strictly financial point of view, we make more money when more people read our books. So, promotion is part of the deal. But primarily, it's about wanting to be read and heard. Don't hesitate trying to contact authors because I think you'll be surprised to find that many are very receptive. All the best!
One more thing - the book was actually written after Hotel Rwanda came out.
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