maxbarry.com
Fri 09
Feb
2007

My Brilliant Publicity Schedule

Company It’s a big couple of months for my books. Here’s what they’re up to:

  • USA & Canada

    The paperback is out March 13, and I tour two weeks later. The early word is that I’m headed to Los Angeles, Denver, Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Austin, Phoenix, and San Francisco. So the result of that polite discussion seems to be that Phoenix beat out Dallas, Milwaukee supplanted Boston, and LA and Madison combined to defeat Ann Arbor. I’m not saying that necessarily reflects on the inherent worth of those places. But you could certainly read it that way.

    The dates and places should be confirmed shortly, and I’ll post ‘em here.

    Also in the US & Canada, an audio version of Syrup has been released. I wonder if that’s some kind of record, a publisher coming out with an audio version nearly eight years after the book. No, probably not. In fact it wouldn’t even be close. I don’t know why I brought that up.

  • Australia & New Zealand

    I’ve spent most of the last year moaning about my publishing troubles in Australia. Because it really grates on me that in my home country I am near-completely unknown, while in the US I am near-completely unknown, but not quite so much. This has nothing to do with wanting recognition for my artistic achievements, you understand. It’s about impressing chicks. But now I have a publisher, Scribe, and they’ve been crazy busy organizing publicity ahead of the March 5th publication. Seriously, you want your publisher to be enthusiastic, but this is almost beyond that. Just today, they’ve sent me… let me check… eleven emails. I have conversations with them that go like this:

    Scribe: “Wow. Company. It’s such a great book.”
    Me: “Thanks.”
    Scribe: “I mean, seriously. I own ten copies. Not for publicity purposes. For myself.”
    Me: “Oh, that’s… keen.”
    Scribe: “Sometimes at night, I take off all my clothes and rub myself with the pages.”

    Well it wouldn’t surprise me. Anyway, the result is I’m doing a lot of Aussie media and book readings and festivals. Here’s what I have details for so far: the Como Writers Festival in Melbourne on the 17th and 18th of February, a Sydney book reading hosted by supercool comedian Wil Anderson on Friday March 16, the Sydney Writers Festival in May, and the Melbourne Writers Festival in August.

  • The Netherlands

    The Dutch Company paperback is out in March, and the publisher has produced this incredibly slick Zephyr Holdings website. It’s got desktop wallpapers and email-your-friends cartoons and everything. I have no idea what they’re about, because they’re in Dutch. But I bet they’re frickin’ hilarious.

    Unfortunately I suspect that this means Company needs to sell about a million copies or Uniboek will collapse under the weight of its outlandish web design expenditure. But fingers crossed.

    They also seem to be re-publishing Jennifer Government under the title Logoland, and synchronizing the cover with Company’s. I love synchronized covers. They make me feel collectible.

  • United Kingdom

    Still bugger all. Sorry.

Comments

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Jeff T. (#2591)

Location: USA
Quote: ""WHO ARE YOU?!""
Posted: 6257 days ago

Good news! Hooray for you! Can't wait to see you on tour! Too many exclamations! Catchy slogan!

thewylddream (#1191)

Location: Montana USA
Quote: ""Always forgive your enemies -- Nothing annoys them so much." ~Oscar Wilde~"
Posted: 6257 days ago

Speakin of publicity... sort of, Max do you have a myspace account? I wouldn't mind adding you.

Heh.

Or I could wander over to myspace and *look* for you, but that is far too easy.

I hope I can catch your tour of the US! We loves ya mate!

Machine Man subscriber Bas (#723)

Location: Rotterdam, ZH
Quote: "Funny how the horrible crushing of hopes makes no sound at all..."
Posted: 6257 days ago

That's actually a cool website Unieboek made. Did you actually write the introductory note ("woord vooraf"; "Long ago I used to be part of a sales team under enormous pressure (...) You could be working for a company where a donut is thought to be the most important thing in the world") or did they just make that up?
I'll be buying the Dutch version, but I've never seen a translation that was quite as good as the original.
You should come over and sign a few copies. Now that would be good publicity.

Machine Man subscriber Danni (#357)

Location: England
Quote: "Eagerly awaiting the European Tour."
Posted: 6257 days ago

:(

You better get something sorted for the UK soon.

Machine Man subscriber Barry Mitchell (#1001)

Location: Saukville, Wisconsin
Quote: ""A hamster's like a small camel" - Ben Katz"
Posted: 6257 days ago

Yes! Milwaukee!

I think I owe you a beer for that.

Machine Man subscriber Barry Mitchell (#1001)

Location: Saukville, Wisconsin
Quote: ""A hamster's like a small camel" - Ben Katz"
Posted: 6257 days ago

Oh... here's what I said in that "polite discussion":

"But my invitation to take you to a great brew pub in Milwaukee is still open! AND - I'll guarantee that I'll buy at least three of your books if you make it here. That's gotta be at least $3 in royalties for you, right? ;) 3 bucks and a beer on me - how can you beat that? If Martin comes along, I'll buy him a beer, too!"

Wow. Guess I better cash in my pocket change and put my money where my... er... fingers are? What?

Dan (#2673)

Location: USA
Quote: "Trust your stuff."
Posted: 6257 days ago

Ouch! Nothing on the west coast? Darn it all. Oh, west coast of Namibia, I mean.

Too bad you could not have made it to the US east coast.

Machine Man subscriber Marleen (#2741)

Location: Canada
Posted: 6257 days ago

Sure, any loser can make a web site. But do their sites have little pictures of your head on them? Yes, one of them now does, actually.

Way to go, Max(x) :D

Machine Man subscriber Katrina (#847)

Location: SF, CA
Quote: "Good sex is like good Bridge: if you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand." -- Mae West"
Posted: 6257 days ago

Woooo SF ^_^ See ya in April!

HAL 9000 (#271)

Location: Boston
Quote: "Let them hate me, so long as they fear me."
Posted: 6257 days ago

Arrgh... NOTHING on the East Coast? Are you trying to avoid me?

Justin (#2009)

Location: Halfmoon, NY
Quote: "Max(x) is awesome!"
Posted: 6257 days ago

Dude... Dutch ecards rule all! Hours of fun for the whole family!

Justin (#2009)

Location: Halfmoon, NY
Quote: "Max(x) is awesome!"
Posted: 6257 days ago

Ah... yes... and, um... Madison? Wisconsin? That wouldn't happen to be scheduled for April 1, would it? Because, well... it's Madison, Wisconsin. Not exactly a bustling metropolis, nor a trendy tourist destination. Hmm... Good luck with that.

Machine Man subscriber Adam (#24)

Location: Morristown, Indiana
Quote: "Why do I blog? Simple, because Max Barry blogs."
Posted: 6256 days ago

2/9/2007

MAYBE I WILL FINALLY GET TO MEET MAX BARRY...

...probably not though.

-adam speicher

PS I think the Bible has the record for having an audio version be published years after it was written. It's like 2000+ years old.

Adam A. (#256)

Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Quote: "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." -George Carlin"
Posted: 6256 days ago

Phoenix is awesome in March. That's considered part of our "not-summer" season.

Emily (#609)

Location: New York
Quote: "When in doubt, fuck it. When not in doubt, get in doubt!"
Posted: 6256 days ago

Gah, finally I'm actually IN the New York area and could make it down... oh well. Next time. I hope.

Nick (#2620)

Location: Amersfoort
Quote: "Am I dreaming this?"
Posted: 6256 days ago

Way to go, Max!

The Dutch site indeed is flashy as hell. Reading it makes me want to buy Company/Logoland. Funny thing: on the site the promotion for the book aimes at managers, not novel readers. But perhaps managers can also read novels. I sure hope so.

Cheers,
Nico Voskamp


Charles Lee (#2518)

Location: Dallas, TX
Quote: "If at first you dont succeed, why try again?"
Posted: 6256 days ago

How does Phoenix beat Dallas? You should come here anyways.

austin (#2462)

Location: rhode island
Quote: "hmmm...bleh..."
Posted: 6256 days ago

Who doesn't do that with their copies of Company?

But anyway, how will I see you if you scrap Boston?? Not to be rude, but I don't want to have to drive like, 200 miles to go see you.

Keith Dotson (#1697)

Location: Detroit, Mi
Quote: ""I like to use 'I Can't Believe it's Not Butter' on my toast in the morning, because sometimes when I eat breakfast, I like to be incredulous. How was breakfast? Unbelievable." --Demetri Martin"
Posted: 6256 days ago

How in bloodly hell did Ann Arbo not get on the list? I said I would do anything....That does include driving 5 hours to Chicago just to see you. *sigh* DAMN YOU LA!
*lol*

ryandake (#2199)

Location: scenic monterey, ca
Quote: ""The rest is not our business.""
Posted: 6256 days ago

woo-hoo! i'll be seeing you in SF! happy dance happy dance happy dance

towr (#1914)

Location: Netherlands
Posted: 6256 days ago

Of course it's a nice site unieboek made. And I like the cover of the book. But like hell I'm gonna buy a translation and miss out on the True Unadulterated Words of Max Barry.
Luckily the US paperback version is out march 1. And it's cheaper too. (And out nearly two weeks earlier too)

James W. G. Ford (#1437)

Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Quote: "Never allow yourself to be limited by tradition. If we all did that, we'd still live in caves."
Posted: 6256 days ago

What the heck? Why no Canadian stops on the tour?

Katy (#2345)

Location: Los Angeles
Posted: 6256 days ago

THANKS!

I'm so excited that you're coming to LA.

THANKS!

Mike Reason (#2743)

Location: Rhode Island, USA
Quote: ""Carpe Diem!""
Posted: 6256 days ago

What donut shop or bakery is that donut on the cover of Company from. Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, or a local business. Also, why'd you drop Boston. Is it the fact that the police can't distinguish a light bright from C-4 explosives.

Kit (#850)

Location: UK
Posted: 6256 days ago

UK: "Still bugger all. Sorry. "

BUT IT SNOWED HERE THE OTHER DAY, HOW AWESOME IS THAT?

Machine Man subscriber David (#1456)

Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Why are the pretty ones always insane?"
Posted: 6256 days ago

Great to hear you'll be at the Sydney Writer's Festival, I've missed the last couple unfortunately, but not this year matey, not this year...

The UK can have you when they learn to play cricket at above junior grade level. And stop being impressed by snow.

Machine Man subscriber SRD (#2889)

Location: Ogden, Utah
Posted: 6254 days ago

Nowhere on the East Coast? Bummer.

Jonah (#1462)

Location: Morristown, Indiana
Quote: "That little story your writing... with the developing plot... and the antagonist..."
Posted: 6253 days ago

Chicago eh? Dangerously close to where I am. Adam (#24) and I might come together.

Qaaolchoura (#226)

Location: Korea
Quote: "Treason never prospers, and what is the reason? If it does prosper then none dare to call it 'treason'"
Posted: 6253 days ago

Dammit.
Should had bothered to respond, didn't think they'd kill Boston.
Why the hell did they book you for Madison, Milkwaukee, and Chicago? And why can't you do Brattleboro or Northampon of something if you can do places like that? Springfield's a mid-size city and both those are towns, but Springfield's so decrepit people from there go to Northamton when they want to eat out. And Brattleboro is the largest Bohemian center in the area.

For that matter Amherst is about as important as Madison and Ann Arbor, (smaller, but five colleges in the immediate area, and a dozen within half an hour or so), and it's accesible from Albany, Boston, Springfield, Hartford, Concord, Providence, and, if you want to push it, the rest of the NE.

I'm quite certain that you'd get more people from either town than you'd get from the average of those three.
Three towns in one urban area, and not one in the eastern seabord states. Though Boston, Albany, and Providence are the only big cities I'd have a chance of making. Well, maybe New York and DC (which I've been pushing for for a while), chancy though.

The problem is that Midwesterners are swing states, which gets politicians to pay attention, which gets everybody else to pay attention. And they're at least as arrogant as we Yankees are, all the while claiming humility.

I'd boycott your tour for this insult. . . except that if I /could/ make it to the Midwest I would. Maybe I should learn to drive someday. . .

Damn all Hoosiers, and all the other funny names they call themselves. Actually, the overrepresentation of the Midwest probably has to do more with their self-confidence.

Kelsey (#2959)

Location: Canada
Posted: 6253 days ago

If you are doing a tour of Canada and US should you not actually include a Canadian City?

JB (#2465)

Location: Southern Illinoise
Quote: "I love you so much, now let's get something to eat."
Posted: 6253 days ago

Stay clear of Salt Lake City malls....

austin (#2462)

Location: rhode island
Quote: "hmmm...bleh..."
Posted: 6252 days ago

That would be so awesome if you came to Proviedence, I Could like, walk there to see you. It'd take me like 4 hours from where I live, but, it'd be so worth it.

austin (#2462)

Location: rhode island
Quote: "hmmm...bleh..."
Posted: 6252 days ago

And besides, I got Rhode Island hooked on your books...well, maybe not all of Rhode Island, but at least Exeter and West Greenwich...but, that's not important. Come here, or I'll sacrifice babies. A little harsh?

Karan (#1376)

Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Quid Quid Latine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur - Anything said in Latin sounds important"
Posted: 6252 days ago

Going by the comments, it's like you're only published in America...

anywho, one for the aussies! will do my best to show up in Sydney =D Good to finally see some publishing action, Max!

Machine Man subscriber Barry Mitchell (#1001)

Location: Saukville, Wisconsin
Quote: ""A hamster's like a small camel" - Ben Katz"
Posted: 6251 days ago

Even though I'm in danger of becoming a stalker on this thread... I'm going to post again...

Harry Schwartz Bookshops in Milwaukee says you're coming March 27 to the Bay View shop. The link to buy an autographed book is active, but it goes to a listing with no price, so I'm guessing they just set this up and didn't expect a freak, I mean, an eager fan like myself to be looking for it yet.

But I will be there. And I'll be calling ahead to reserve some hardcover editions to have you sign.

While I agree with the rest of the people here that it's odd to have Chicago, Milwaukee, AND Madison on that list, I suspect Max will have a great showing at all three locations.

C.J. Kershner (#2969)

Location: New York, NY
Posted: 6249 days ago

I totally understand your publisher's cost-effective decision to pick one major city on either the US East or West coast, but I'll let you in on a little secret that you can pass along to your higher-ups: People in California (LA especially) can't read.

That's right. The whole state is completely illiterate. Just look at who they elected as their governor and tell me that they weren't squinting at the ballots.

Come to New York. Not only can we read, we do. And we're über-pretentious about it.

Machine Man subscriber eldpollard (#1687)

Location: Blighty
Quote: "So it turns out the only only way to stop the butler running is to cut off his legs."
Posted: 6248 days ago

You should be sorry. We need you in the uk max. And why is it i have to buy your books apart from jennifer govt from amazon? UK release is a must for syrup and company, even though i have bought them. But on the plus side Jennifer Government is at my work (I work in a library) for rental.

Sudi (#2895)

Location: Ithaca, 10 square miles surrounded by reality
Quote: "Mostly lucid"
Posted: 6248 days ago

New York, New York, New York!!

Please?!

Scott (#354)

Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Quote: "Max Barry tastes like awesome"
Posted: 6248 days ago

Aww Max, please come to Michigan. Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids. It matters not. Though Chicago isn't too far... maybe I can make it to that one.

Machine Man subscriber Yawnder (#1840)

Location: Brossard, Qc, Ca
Quote: "Smile, Tomorrow Will Be Worse... - Murphy"
Posted: 6247 days ago

Same comment as Kelsey:
This ain't a "USA & Canada" tour. By the distance you'll be from canada, its about the same as if you go to southern germany and say you've toured from UK, France, Spain, Austria, Polland... (you get the picture) and I'm exagerating only a little bit.

STILL, I understand the low importance Canada has to your publisher!

Gud (#228)

Location: Melbourne
Posted: 6232 days ago

I just started reading Company and I can't stop reading - it's so addictive! I love this book!! It's like Alice in Wonderland meets Dilbert! It's amazing! But I just really wish I could stop thinking about this book long enough to get some work done!

Matt (#2935)

Location: Melbourne
Quote: "If you cant handle the heat, get out of the volcano"
Posted: 6232 days ago

YAY!
got company today in melbourne! :D
good so far, jsut got to october! :)
max, any chance of a meet n greet in melb?

please? :D

Karan (#1376)

Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Quid Quid Latine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur - Anything said in Latin sounds important"
Posted: 6231 days ago

fresh copy of Company in my hands from Dymocks, Sydney (city)! Now to get home so I can start reading... =)

Ilya Popov (#2995)

Location: Moscow, Russia
Posted: 6230 days ago

Max, question:

I'm not quite sure how to phrase this, since I think legalistic terms need to be applied here, but nonetheless, I'm curious:

When a book of yours is translated into a different language, with a different title (ala Jen.Gov./Logoland), is the title of the translation recognised as being somehow the same as the original title? So if say for example, in a year, someone published a book in English, called 'Logo Land,' would it be copyright infringement somehow, or in violation of something or another?

Cheers,

Ilya

Machine Man subscriber Guy Wright (#2861)

Location: Toronto, Canada, eh
Quote: "push the button max! (Jack Lemmon as Prof. Fate)"
Posted: 6229 days ago

I was going to slag you and your publisher for not scheduling any stops in Canada (specifically Toronto where I live) but after reading your heartrending comments about your incipient separation anxiety I think you are probably beyond anything I can say to get you here. Dude, it's "Roll up the Rim to Win" time at Tim Hortons! A great moment in every Canadian's life. If you do reconsider, I'll buy you a Tim's coffee. How do you take it?

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