That Which You Manifest is Before You

You might want to read my previous posts, Meet my new friend Enzo (2) and Somewhere the zebra is dancing (1), before proceeding.

As previously stated, we believe The Art of Racing in the Rain is going to be incredibly popular. I'm having a hard time imagining anyone who won't be entertained by this one. It's neither low-brow nor high-brow, and yet it's accessible in a widely popular way and deeply philosophical, even spiritual.

The people who will love this book can't be pigeonholed because everyone is going to love it. Now, there will be people who, like me, just hate it when the whole world is saying "you have to read this book." That's a dead-certain prescription that will have me refusing to read it. But for those who will give just page one a chance (although I recommend reading the first three chapters in the store - it will take 5-10 minutes, tops), they will be richly rewarded.



I've read no reviews as of yet, but word of mouth will sell this book. It's what we call a "hand sell" independent favorite. The best books are usually the ones recommended by your bookseller. Those are the books that don't open at the top of the lists (James Patterson, etc.), but then those books hardly sell at all in independent bookstores, where the standards of our patrons are higher.

This is also one of those books that probably won't be in paperback for a loooong time because it will continue to sell and sell and sell in hardcover. It will be just the right book for Fathers' Day and it will still be growing when Christmas rolls around. It's actually a tad shorter than most hardcovers, too, so even those who complain about how difficult it is to read hardcovers (an excuse, sez I) will be able to handle it. At 324 pages, it should be easy to finish in about a week, no matter how busy you are. And once you finish it, you'll be recommending it to your friends and family. I hope you'll refer them here.

This is probably a good time to tell you about our new Web initiatives. Alert visitors to http://www.destinationsbooksellers.com/ will have learned about this already, but we've added massive research-and-buy capabilities. Any hour of the day you can log on and find millions of books, CDs, and DVDs, pay with a credit card, and have them sent directly to your home.

But for most of you, we have an even better way to go. Go ahead and research the items you want. Then e-mail us to see if we can't save you money (no discounts on the Web site). We can usually have your books in a day or two, and depending on your current rewards level, you'll get your regular discount. And if you want to send the book to a friend, we can have the book drop-shipped directly to them. We'll pay shipping on hardcovers by media mail --- or you can pay the shipping for expedited delivery.

I honestly think you'll want to send this book to others, so why not just have it shipped? We even have gift-wrapping available on those books shipped from warehouse to "your" house.

LATE BULLETIN: Over the weekend I'll tell you more about The Art of Racing in the Rain, including why that's the title. We sold all but one copy from Friday's shipment. First come (or e-mail), first served for the holiday weekend, but we will reserve copies for delivery next week.