With a Lot of Help from Friends

06 Dec With a Lot of Help from Friends

“Sometimes a book finds me. I know you have your own tales to tell, but occasionally I like to share the path by which a particularly fine work made its way into my hands and, subsequently, my life. This story begins in October during the author reception at the New England Independent Booksellers Association’s Fall Conference.” –Robert Gray, “How a Great Book Found Me at #NEIBA2015”

Robert Gray begins his December 4th column in Shelf Awareness with these words, reminding me how very lucky I am to have supportive friends.

Thanks to Counterpoint Press, I attended the authors’ reception at the New England Independent Booksellers Association’s fall meeting in Providence, RI.  Joan Grenier, owner of the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA, was a one-woman dynamo putting copies of Trace into the hands of bookseller after bookseller and guiding them to my table.   The line quickly grew.  I met Robert Gray.  I met booksellers from Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.  And I understood for the first time how important word of mouth is.   Joan’s support meant all the difference!

The story doesn’t end at NEIBA.  Joan and other enthusiastic booksellers like Stephen Sparks (Green Apple Books in San Francisco) and Percy Sutton (Brown University Bookstore) helped to make Trace one of the Indie Next Great Reads for November.  I am deeply grateful.