Received this morning after financial stress made for a sleepless night, and 2) after having the conversation linked to in the tweet here.
Okay, so maybe that’s implied comment.
The email:
Subject: Need free copies of Walking With Zeke ASAP please
Date: February 25, 2012 3:18:25 AM PST
To: [Email Redacted]
Return-Path: [Email Redacted]
Delivered-To: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
[Received headers Redacted for my privacy]
Message-Id:
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=00151747b5d2e94e5104b8720df5
Dear Mr. Clark;
I belong to a very popular book club in [Location Redacted] with 40 members, and we are considering adding your book Walking With Zeke to our schedule for 2012.
In order to do this, I will need 45 complimentary copies of your book shipped to me at [Address Redacted].
This would be an excellent opportunity for exposure for your book. Our club caters to affluent taste-makers and opinion leaders in [Location Redacted] and your book will be read closely by people whose opinions matter.
We will need your book soon, so expidited shipping would be a must.
You can reach me at [Phone Redacted] if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
[Name Redacted]
My reply involved a reference to garden tools.
How about asking those “affluent taste-makers and opinion-leaders” to pony up the cash to support the writer? Do book clubs really have to the gall to ask for complimentary copies for each member like this? Amazing.
I should hope so.
(That was a response to Chris’ initial comment!)
But yeah, people who are described as “affluent” can buy their own books, and help the writer in a much more immediate and practical way!
Madhu, I’ve never heard of anything like it before.
Is there any chance this is a joke? The initial request is bad enough, but the bit about expidited shipping makes it seem like it CAN’T be serious….
I wonder if this person is used to having such requests fulfilled.
F them, wow. At the very least they could offer to take you to dinner, sheesh.
I’d love for this to go viral. Definitely needs to be “leaked,” WITH name, email, and address, to the appropriate places. The rich are assholes AND they have no shame!
BTW, love the tags: “idiots,” “fucking idiots,” and “entitled fucking idiots.”
Also, Mr. Clarke, if you would kindly tuck a $50 bill in each copy, I’m sure our members would be ever so grateful.
This has gotta be a troll. If it is, well played sir/madame! If it isn’t the redactions are more than they deserve.
Absolutely ridiculous.
I’m a painter and I get asked for freebies all the time, usually for fundraisers, always with the the promise of “exposure” to this excellent audience. It took me several years to realize that I had never once (to my knowledge) sold a piece to someone who first saw my work at a fundraiser. Now when they ask, I say if they or their organization would like to buy a piece, I would be happy to donate one of the same value. It’s a very generous offer, and no one ever accepts it. Win/Win : )
I should say that I am still happy to donate work if the cause is close to my heart.
“We will need your book soon, so expidited shipping would be a must.”
No, they WANT your book soon. The book they NEED soon is a dictionary. Any edition of Strunk & White’s style manual comes in a close second.
Are you fucking kidding me? The nerve of some people. . .
“Exposure” is really underrated, Chris. I would FedEx 90 copies immediately.
Wow! I’m speechless.
Thanks for sharing this!
When my landlord starts letting me pay him in “exposure,” I’ll start working for it. When the grocery store starts letting me buy food with Twitter followers, I’ll accept it as payment.
So they’re saying “give us stuff for free because we’ve got money”?
...huh?
I remember a writer’s response a long time ago to a similar request: “If I wanted exposure, I could go down to the mall and drop my pants”.
Why all the redactions? Expose these rich, fat ass entitled wannabe freeloaders already.
You don’t affluent by frivolously wasting your money on books. Remember Mark 4:25.
I think you get enough exposure with your blog that you don’t need their stinking “charity.”
Is the “complimentary” supposed to mean “as a compliment to their taste in books”? Or just because they are soooooo frickin’ amazing (they read books! They have a book club!?! OMFG!)
Dear Mr. Redacted,
I’m neighbors with some hungry coyotes who never have enough to eat. I would like to help them out.
In order to do this, I will need your brain and heart shipped to me at [Address Redacted].
You clearly have no use for either, so I’m sure you wouldn’t mind donating them for such a good cause.
The coyotes are very hungry, so expedited shipping would be a must.
Dear sir or madam, I would be happy to ship you 45 copies of my books. They are normally x.99, but for you I will give special volume discount of 2 for $[(x times 2) +1].00. Expedited shipment is $5 per copy. I look forward to shipping my excellent book to someone of such good taste, as soon as your credit card transaction is verified or your cheque has cleared.
Real riches will be the riches possessed inside.
There isn’t any secrets to success. It is the consequence of preparation, effort, and learning from failure.
head → desk
(alternatively: 5 lbs manuscript → retroperitoneum)
The year 2008 i sent about 200 of my books to various reading clubs and bloggers. Hoping for more exposure and a wider audience. Got some good and some bad reviews. Many of the books i sent were sold back on Amazon Market Place for much less then what i could have sold them new as the publisher. To this day i still have to compete with those books for a sale on Amazon Market Place listed by fans and others.