I have to admit up front that this is a marketing email. Think of it like the author’s version of saying that the future of democracy hinges on your donation. But I don’t really believe in all the clichés – that the industry is collapsing, that nobody reads, that nobody buys books. I work in a bookstore and I can tell you that lots of people buy books, and even more people read them. The industry isn’t collapsing, not exactly – just lifting a wheel or two off its rails at every slight turn (or op-ed). But panic is a way of being, and some of us are used to it. The world could end tomorrow, after all – it’s been this way for an eternity. Someone should write a book about that.
Friends, it’s almost time. My new novel, The Future Was Color, is out June 4. That’s four weeks from today, which makes this a crucial time for the book’s success. I think we “launch” a book, these days – rather than simply publish it – because it takes a lot of resources to make sure it escapes the immensity of the media’s gravity; and the media, I think we know, is particularly dense lately. Someone should write a book about that, too.
About the Book
A dazzling novel about the inextricable link between the personal and the political set against the decadence of Hollywood and postwar Los Angeles, The Future Was Color stars George Curtis, a Hungarian immigrant working as a studio hack writing monster movies in 1950s Hollywood. While navigating the McCarthy-era studio system filled with possible communists and spies, the life of closeted men along Sunset Boulevard, and the inability of the era to cleave love from persecution and guilt, his friend Madeline, a famous actress, offers George a writing residency at her estate in Malibu. There, his world is blown open. Soon Madeline is carrying George like an ornament into a class of postwar L.A. society ordinarily hidden from men like him. This bacchanalia covers a gnawing hole shelled wide by the horror of the war they thought they'd left behind and the glimpse of an atomic future. It's here that George understands he can never escape his past as György, the queer Jew who fled Budapest before the war and landed in New York, all alone, a decade prior. Spanning from sun-drenched Los Angeles to the hidden corners of working-class New York to a virtuosic climax in the Las Vegas desert, The Future Was Color is an immaculately written exploration of postwar American decadence, reinventing the self through art, and the psychosis that lingers in a world that's seen the bomb.
The novel has received early praise from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Shelf Awareness, who said it “deserves to become a new lodestar in the ever-expanding constellation of gay literature.” I’ve done some fun interviews that will air soon, booked some radio appearances, and am working on events. We’ve also received some very, very exciting news that I wish I could share, but it’s still a secret. Keep your eyes open for that very soon.
What You Can Do
There are so many ways to support a novel. The most effective, of course, is to preorder it. Ask your local indie bookseller to set a copy aside for you – it’s really that simple. If that doesn’t work for you, you can easily preorder from Bookshop or, if you must, from Amazon. Preorders are important for books like mine because they drive early sales, help gauge reader interest, and inform booksellers of the novel’s popularity. They also help your local bookstores keep their doors open – which is far more important than any novel, even if it is “among the sexiest books I’ve read” (says Rumaan Alam).
But what else can you do?
Request the book through your local library. This one is easy and free, and increases library sales for the book – which are hugely important and often overlooked. Even if you don’t read it, just check it out and return it. Really, it helps.
Give the book five stars on Goodreads. There’s nothing stopping you, absolutely nothing at all. I promise you it’s five-star material. Just do it – it will feel amazing. Think of it like dropping a quarter in my little bucket. I’ll ring a bell for you.
Post about the book. Social media is evil, of course, but not when it helps me promote my book. If you have a copy, let the world see it. If you’ve ordered a copy, don’t hesitate to post that screenshot. Tell people about it. Show people how beautiful it is! Tag me. Tag the publisher. Swoon in public. Do it all!
Suggest the book for your book club. What a miracle, book clubs. They help drive interest, sales, discussion, and dissent (also helpful, we must concede). And what better summer book? It literally has a pool on the cover. You can’t miss.
Coming to a Bookstore Near You
As of today, we have a handful of events on the calendar for the novel, and more in the works. If you live in Minnesota, I’ll be at Magers & Quinn on launch day, June 4, in conversation with Mark Haber. If you miss this one, I’ll be at Moon Palace Books on July 16, to introduce the incredible José Santiago Sanchez, whose novel, Hombrecito, is out June 25 (and which you should preorder – we’ve discussed this).
If you live in New York, I’ll be at Book Culture (112th) on June 11, and at Lofty Pigeon, in conversation with Isle McElroy, on June 13. As a bonus, Isle and I will be at the Parkside Lounge for Wet Spot on June 14. More on that soon!
If you live anywhere else, let me know and we’ll see what I can do. A Los Angeles trip is in the works, but I don’t have any dates pinned down yet.
I do want to say that I’m very proud of this book, and so grateful for all the hard work that Counterpoint put into it to make it what it is. And of course a novel is nothing without its readers, so thank you so, so much for everything you’ve done and continue to do. Wish me luck over these four weeks. An author always needs it. It’s the only thing that works.
With that, I’ll leave you with a first page. Talk to you soon.
While you're planning that Los Angeles event, please consider a quick stop in Palm Springs as well. I'm sure our indie shop—The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs—would welcome you, and there is an audience here that I think would connect with your work. xo
Patrick, first of all, hearty congratulations.
Second, re this: "The world could end tomorrow, after all – it’s been this way for an eternity. Someone should write a book about that." - Someone has written such a book, quite recently: In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility by Costica Bradaton - it seems like a book you in particular would find intellectually and spiritually enriching, as I did: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674970472