Hi, all.  One of the loveliest moments in a writer's life happened to me today: I received a box of my new books from Fairwood Press, The Radio Magician and Other Stories.  They're uncorrected advance review copies, but they're still beautiful, as far as I'm concerned.

When my first collection, Strangers and Beggars, appeared in 2002, I thought I might be blase about seeing the books.  After all, I'd made a lot of short story appearances, and the kick-in-the-butt rush of being print would surely have faded, but it wasn't true.  Opening a box of my own books was like Christmas, my birthday, falling in love, and winning the lottery, all at the same time.

Being published never grows old.

So, here's the deal.  I asked my publisher, Patrick Swenson, if he could send me extra copies of the ARC so I could try this experiment.  I have eight more copies than I need.  What I would like to do is to try some word-of-mouth publicity for the book, which is slated for release in September.  The way this would work is that if you would be willing to write a review of the book before its release date and post it on your blog, I will send you a free copy of the ARC.

If you are interested, send me your snail mail address to Vvanp -at- aol.com (don't post your address in the comment section!).  I'll put the book in a mailer and ship it your way.  Then, some time before the end of August, you agree to put your review of the collection up on your blog (and if you're really kind, let your friends know about it).  Although I think it would be wonderful if you loved the book, all I want is an honest review.  I'd recommend mentioning in your review that you got a free copy of the book so you could do the review.  That way we're all up front about it.

The free copies are first come, first serve, so if you would like to be a part of this effort, send me an e-mail.

Also, I'm interested in other ideas you have thought or heard of to promote a book beyond the traditional signings and book talks.  Patrick is sending the book to the normal review sites (he's very good at this), so what I'm looking for are ways to leverage the Internet and other venues into helping to get the word out about the book.  As Cory Doctorow says, the greatest threat to an author is obscurity.