Critical Mass

I want Built From the Fire to be a success, but I need your help

Built From the Fire has been out in the world for more than a week now! You may have heard me discussing the book on NPR’s Morning Edition or MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and I hope you’ve read the New York Times review. I’ve also published original pieces about the early Greenwood economy and the state of Greenwood today which Run It Back heads should appreciate, as they expand on some of the themes in this newsletter. Thanks again to everyone who’s been reading for years, and welcome to all the new subscribers.

I’m making a major push for sales by the end of Saturday, June 2, which is the end of the tracking week for the New York Times Best Seller List. Sometimes I feel like part of my persona as a writer is supposed to be pretending that I don’t care about things like sales, but in fact being a writer is an extremely precarious career, and being an author is more precarious still. So I actually care quite a bit whether my future career will be writing books, stringing together freelance assignments, or being slung back into the content mines of digital media to aggregate pop culture ephemera. Sorry Not Sorry (I was also on that podcast).

You can really help me out by going ahead an ordering a copy of the book from your local indie, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop right now while you’re reading this. Tell a friend who would be into learning more about Greenwood, or buy it as an early Christmas gift. I know y’all got book clubs—hit me up and I’m happy to make time for a visit with any club that includes Run It Back readers, free of charge.

I hope to see some of you out on the road as well (shoutout to Adam, a Run It Back reader, who introduced himself at my reading in Brooklyn last night). The Built From the Fire tour is still just getting started, so I’d love to have the chance to meet many of you in Savannah, Seattle, Oxford, Birmingham, and Dallas. You can find all the details about the tour right here.

In closing, here’s a photo of my family, all of whom visited Tulsa for the book launch, holding Built From the Fire in their hands on the day it debuted in the world. Pictured: My mom Shirley, my girlfriend Ariel, me, my cousin Stanley, my Aunt Claire, my Uncle Stanley, and my father Luke.

Thanks to everyone for their support.