“As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma.”
-Sri Guru Granth Sahib
Ann “A.C.” Crispin’s heavily promoted book signing event for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom, which was held Saturday June 25, at the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda, MD., resulted in an epoch double flop for the author. Ann “A.C.” Crispin, in a recent Facebook posting stated:
The booksigning [sic] at B&N today in Bethesday [sic] was a disappointment. Lovely, gorgeous, beautiful day with a street faire across the block and a bbq cookoff [sic] competition on the Mall in DC. Not a day for being inside, and so there were few books sold.
It’s interesting that beef, pork and street faire beat-out the corpulant Ann “A.C.” Crispinand were the more attractive formidable competitor of the day. Nevertheless, but wouldn’t one think that the influential Disney Edition’s PR and promotional staff representing Ann “A.C.” Crispin would have the foresight to research potential competing events in the area prior to scheduling? Or, could it be that Ann “A.C.” Crispin hasn’t fully engaged herself in the promotional legwork that needs to be accomplished? Ann “A.C.” Crispin wrote about this responsibility in a March 9, 2011 Writer Beware posting:
For most of the time I was writing it, I was uncomfortably conscious of the fact that when I finished the actual writing of the book, my work would by no means be finished. I knew that, for the first time in my life, I’d really have to work at promoting a book.
Obviously, the “writers write and publishers promote” mantra has once again reared its fallacious head. Excuses and negativity seem to be the norm for Ann “A.C.” Crispin. On a walk through BEA recently with Victoria Strauss, Ann “A.C.” Crispin commented how dismal the turnout was for Strategic Book Group authors:
“Not many people in the aisle, and nobody lined up for autographs. It was really sad. I felt so sorry for them.”
(Click here.)
The Write Agenda produced photographic evidence proving Ann ”A.C.” Crispin’s comments were disingenuous. The Write Agenda also posted photographic evidence which further questioned Ann “A.C.” Crispin’s own BEA turnout. Consequently, Strategic Book Group Author, Mike Saxton offered a unique response to Ann “A.C.” Crispin’s negativity (Clickhere). Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom has a dismal Amazon lifetime sales ranking of 3,571,521.
Speaking of legwork, if one flop wasn’t enough for Ann “A.C.” Crispin, the Disney Edition’s author reported falling “arse over teakettle” sometime after the book signing event:
“Last night I managed to fall down 1 and a half stairs while at the free concert in St. Mary’s county. Beautiful baroque music, and a sprained ankle for me. <sigh> I did not need this!”
Karma has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it . . . sometimes twice in the same day.
“Whatever we do lays a seed in our deepest consciousness, and one day that seed will grow. “
- Sakyong Mipham
References
“Ann Crispin | Facebook.” Web. 27 June 2011. <http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=841845439>.
“Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks? Internet Book Promotion.” Writer Beware™ Blogs! 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 June 2011. <http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/03/can-old-dog-learn-new-tricks-internet.html>.
