Media, media, media

Our authors have been getting some great media coverage recently and we wanted to start sharing it on our blog. We (primarily I, Sara, aka the CHC digital maven) are going to be doing this a couple of times a month, but will post more frequently with big hits come in.

Last Friday night Stall Points authors Derek van Bever and Matt Olson were interviewed on Fox Business Network's "America's Nightly Scorecard." We've just started using RedLasso.com to get clips, and highly recommend it if you can get a beta invite. Here's a link to their interview here. Derek and Matt are blogging and the book also got some nice online attention as well: here and here.

In her June 26 "Ask Annie" column last week, Fortune's Anne Fischer had nice things to say about Steve Little's The Milkshake Moment. The discussion continues on her blog, where people are posting their own "milkshake moments" or (or lack of them).

Finally, last week also saw the debut of CNBC-TV producer extraordinaire Gloria McDonough-Taub's new business book blog, Bullish on Books. The woman is inundated with business books everyday, so she really knows what she's talking about! Our own Jack Mitchell's Hug Your People was mentioned in her inagural post.

Connecting with our community

I've been attending BEA, the annual book convention, for more years than I care to admit -- I remember when it was the ABA, recall the year it rained through all the outdoor parties in Miami, and even recollect the year that Oprah announced her own book, a deal she famously pulled out of before turning around to be the biggest advocate for reading and books the country has ever seen.

It never gets old to me, spending time with tens of thousands of people who passionately love books -- it's like getting a snapshot of the many talented hands it takes to turn a great author's idea into an equally terrific book.

Dennis, Sara, Lew and I holed up miles from the convention center at the boutique Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, a place we highly recommend if you're heading west and have any concerns about your environmental impact -- a very green hotel.

Our convention highlights and a few photos:
**World Cafe in Santa Monica where we celebrated with our friends from 800-CEO-READ (their book is coming out from Portfolio in early 2009).

**We all are forced to live vicariously through Sara, who wrangled an invite to the exclusive book party at Prince's house. We were jealous, but I helped out on wardrobe and at least my dress got to go to the Purple One's backyard and party until the wee hours of the morning.

**Lew scored Rick Riordan's autograph for her son Cody and tells us it was a huge thrill to meet the man "who inspired my son not only to read, but to become an avid reader."

**Barbara waited 30 minutes to say hello to Ethan Canin who was signing his new book America, America. She worked on Blue River with him in 1991 and reports he's still the "nicest and most talented novelist I've ever had the chance to work with."


Our goodie bags -- Sara made her famous toffee and marshmallows and my son posed for our promotional photo along with stacks of our great books.


Dinner at the Wilshire Restaurant with our friends from Gallup.


Dennis and Gallup editor Piotr Juszkiewicz with their selected reading material picked up on the convention floor.



We share a moment of levity before boarding our planes back home -- to the east coast and the heart of Texas.

Good show, good memories, always a great time.