Email Newsletter Goes Out with June Events and July Preview.

The email newsletter went out! Here is the link.

As I mentioned before, writing our email newsletter is all consuming. It takes at least one full day (starting at 5 am) if I paraphrase a lot from our press release and other materials, two if there is a lot of original content.

We had three folks proofread it, plus I looked over it several times as well. There will be a mistake, but we hope it isn't major. It takes something really outrageous for us to send a correction, like a completely wrong day for a very major event.

For a lot of folks, it's also their first look at our July events. I'm sort of shocked how busy our July is, and it's not all locals either; we're on several major tours. It's those where we really have to get busy and get a crowd. That's part of the contract with the publisher--you turnout, sales, and media response needs to be greater than or equal to publisher and author investment.

For those too lazy to link (or perhaps the link is broken, who knows?), here is our first look at July:

Monday July 9, 7 pm:
Sheila Kohler, author of The Bay of Foxes and Becoming Jane Eyre.
Being that several of our customers are involved with Jo McReynolds-Blochowiak's Jane Eyre Literary Journey class at Cardinal Stritch on Monday evenings, we're hoping that Kohler will do a Jane Eyre presentation before her talk about her new book. If this happens, we'll let folks know.

Meanwhile, if you want to enroll in the class, you have until tomorrow (June 1) to do so. You can register by phone at (414) 410-4428. Class meets June 11, 25, July 9, 23 from 1 to 2:30 pm. Fee is $60.

Tuesday, July 10, 7 pm:
Alexandra Fuller, author of Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness and Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.
Yes, I did ask the publisher if we could have an evening of South African authors, hosting Kohler and Fuller on the same night, but we were not able to get the schedules to work out.

Wednesday, July 11, 7 pm:
Patrick Somerville, author of This Bright River, reading with Dean Bakopoulos, author of My American Unhappiness.
We are calling this event "American Male." There were also suggestions of "Midwest Male" and event "Wisconsin Male" but of course the best pun would be "U.S. Male." Shane is reading the new Somerville (update: he just finished it) and thought it was great. I got a little bogged down and gave him my advance copy; he assured me that I didn't get past the setup and it pays off big time. Very exciting!

Monday, July 16, 7 pm:
Chris Cleave, author of Gold and Little Bee.
This is a fundraiser for childhood cancer org Pablove. We will have $5 tickets on available June 5. Folks may have noticed that our tickets are now taxable. We were previously declaring the tax off the tickets, but that meant we were paying taking in $5, donating $5, and paying 27 cents in tax. This makes more sense. And why do you pay tax on the ticket? Because you are buying a ticket; we are making the donation. So confusing!

In any case, I'm excited about the new novel, which is about competive cyclists. If I haven't missed the deadline, we're doing an ad at the Downer Avenue bike race. Hope I get it to them in time.

Tuesday, July 17, 7 pm:
Donald Ray Pollock, author of The Devil All the Time and Knockemstiff.
Pollock is doing a midwest tour, partly due to over-the-top bookseller enthusiasm. We have three fanatics on staff and they did a great job selling the hardcover. I think Pollock will also be at Magers and Quinn in Minneapolis. So folks in both states can mark their calendars.

Wednesday, July 18, 7 pm, at Milwaukee Public Library's Centennial Hall.
David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story.
We almost had this booked in the store when I thought, "No, this is a perfect library event" and I'm thrilled that everything came together. The new book is getting great advance press. It goes on sales June 19th.

Tuesday, July 24, 7 pm:
St. Sukie de la Croix, author of Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall
in conversation with Gregg Shapiro, author of GREGG SHAPIRO '77.
The caps are intentional. de la Croix's history of the the Windy City goes from the 17th century to the 1960s. Shapiro recently appeared at Outwards for his first poetry chapbook.

Wednesday, July 25, 7 pm:
Nick Weber, author of The Cirucs that Ran Away with a Jesuit Priest.
It's true. For 22 years, Nick Weber crisscrossed the country with the order's Roy Lichtenstein circus.

Monday, July 30, 7 pm:
Robert Goolrick, author of Heading Out to Wonderful and A Reliable Wife.
We're pleased to welcome Mr. Goolrick back to Boswell. Interesting that he and Cleave above dominated the bestseller lists together in the winter of 2010. Now all we need is Abraham Verghese. We have a great rec from Stacie already, but I don't want to waste it at the end of a long list. And I should have more recs before our event happens.

But I will share this excerpt from the Booklist review: "Goolrick effortlessly creates a timeless, erotically charged tale of illicit passion and peoples it with a unique cast of characters, ranging from a gifted black seamstress to a country girl besotted with Hollywood movie stars and fashion. Finely crafted fiction from a captivating writer."

The month isn't quite closed out. There may be a couple more events added.