Welcome to The Spot
Writers. This
month’s prompt: a book keeps appearing out of the blue in the most unexpected
and unusual places.
This week’s story comes from Phil Yeats. Phil (using his Alan
Kemister pen name) recently published his first novel. A Body in the Sacristy,
the first in the Barrettsport Mysteries
series of soft-boiled police detective stories set in an imaginary Nova Scotia
coastal community is available on Amazon.
Rogue
Copies
Yesterday, I saw a copy of Tilting at Windmills sitting abandoned
on a park bench. I sauntered by perusing the cover. It was definitely my cover,
my title and my pen name.
I’d recently distributed
electronic copies of the manuscript, including jpegs of my proposed covers, to
eight writing colleagues for final comments before I formatted it for
self-publication. I’d also sent the first fifty pages, no covers, to several
publishers. But I hadn’t published it.
After sneaking
down another path, I approached the bench from a different direction. I stood
behind one of the Public Garden’s giant rhododendrons and noted everyone within
sight as I tried to understand this strange event.
Had someone
stolen my manuscript, printed copies of the book, and placed them for sale in
local bookstores? Or had someone left a mock-up of the covers with blank pages
where I’d find it? A none too gentle reminder from a colleague telling
me I’d taken too long getting this manuscript finished.
I watched for
half an hour, but no one approached the book, and no one I recognized loitered
nearby. I picked the damn thing up and leafed through it.
Two things were
obvious. First, it wasn’t laser printed covers around blank pages. It was a properly
formatted and printed versions of my book, one I’d have proudly displayed if I’d
produced it myself. Second, someone had sliced out the page that identified the
printer.
This morning, I
looked for a listing on Amazon—nothing. I
stopped by two bookstores to see if copies were on their shelves—again, nothing. Finally, I visited the library to search for it in their
catalogue.
I saw the second
copy on a display table of books by local authors. I picked it up and rushed to
the information desk.
The librarian
on duty shook his head. “Not ours. Someone must have slipped it into our
display.”
I now had two
copies of my unpublished book and no idea where they came from. I wandered into
the library’s busy café, ordered a coffee, and tried to unravel my little
mystery.
A woman
appeared, plunked a third copy of Tilting
at Windmills on my table and disappeared into the crowd near the café entrance.
I grabbed my backpack and chased after her, but realized the futility as I
pushed through the crowd inside the café into a larger one outside. I’d only
managed a brief glance at the woman, enough to conclude she wasn’t anyone I
knew, but little else. She’d been wearing a colourful cape, but she could easily
have slipped it off and blended into the crowd.
I returned to my
half-drunk coffee slightly wiser. I was now certain someone targeted me with
these copies of my book, but I didn’t know why or what to do about it.
An idea popped into
my head. I could format the authentic version of Tilting at Windmills and rush it into print. In the meantime, I
could write blog posts describing the strange occurrences of rogue copies of my
as yet unpublished book. If they caught on, they could form the basis of an interesting
publicity campaign.
A week later, I
passed George Foster, one of my eight beta readers, on Spring Garden Road. “I
see your manuscript is finally published,” he said without stopping.
I stared at his
retreating back. Was he referring to the e-book version I’d posted on Amazon three
days earlier, or more rogue copies floating around Halifax?
***
The Spot Writers—Our Members:
Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/
Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/
Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com
Chiara De Giorgi: https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.com/
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