I came back home late from the theatre last night (Phรจdre at the National Theatre with Helen Mirren – tragic and gory) to find that the first copies of God's Philosophers had arrived. It was quite something to hold it, feel it and see it for real. It's been a long wait. Icon Books has done a great job. The cover is really good – bright and distinctive – so it should at least get a second glance from shoppers. Copies have gone out to all and sundry in the hope that it will be reviewed as widely as possible. Being a full-format hardback helps, although literary editors are notoriously difficult to predict. God's Philosophers will be in the shops in the UK in two weeks and in Canada a couple of weeks later. It should also be published in Australia although I don't have a date for that yet. Americans will be able to get it from Amazon.com while we see if a US publisher will pick it up. That will largely depend on how well it does in other markets and what sort of reviews it garners.
Because this blog should not get too cluttered with news about the book, I've set up a dedicated Facebook page so that I can easily link to reviews as they appear. I'll also post other book-related stuff there, reserving the highlights for this blog. Anyone who is a member of Facebook (isn't that everyone now?) can see the page and they can even become a fan if they wish (I see that this blog has acquired a few unsolicited fans, which is very kind of those who have signed up). Reviews and honorary mentions will also be listed at jameshannam.com which is due a revamp when the book is released.
PS: The headline is inspired by Ben Goldacre's blog from when he first received a copy of his book Bad Science earlier in the year. By all accounts, it has done very well.
6 comments:
Can't find the facebook page. Looks like you might have mucked up the link or maybe it's my browser.
If you have found a way of getting your book reviewed at all (other than the much disapproved way of getting one's friends to rally round) , I am sure we will all want to know how you have done it!
It got a review in 'The New Humanist'. I don't know if that counts. They didn't like it because it wasn't mean enough to the Catholics.
Hi TJW.
Sorry that the link doesn;t work. I'm a bit new to facebook. I'll try to fix at the weekend. Is anyone else having problems?
Best wishes
James
James is doing us all a service by relaying reviews and comments as they come. Of course, as Humphrey has pointed out , James has no control over who reviews his book but no doubt he will have made sure that it has gone to respected academics who think along the same lines as he does in the hope they will find a place for it.
Once the big moment comes, you do become aware of just how many other books are jostling for attention and that no one else thinks your book is as important as you think it is!
They say that W.H.Smith selects its books on the cover alone so he should be all right there . . .
I've corrected the Facebook link so hopefully it works better now.
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