Discussion

Dear all,

It has been a month since the official release of the book. I know that there have been some delays with the international delivery of the books. Though most of the orders have been delivered, if you still haven’t received your hard copies, please tell the publisher about it on hello@inkshares.com, they will check with the courier service and will get it fixed.

I’m starting to receive many good reviews from the readers. It is very pleasing. The book is now 4.73 on Goodreads based on 51 reviews and 4.9 on Amazon.com based on 26 reviews.

When the book gets to 100 reviews, Amazon and Goodreads start to suggest it to readers.

Can I ask you for one small favour?

If you haven’t already done so, could you please put your rating or review on Goodreads and Amazon. It will take just a few minutes. Here are the links:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1942645902/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39068789-everything-is-normal

Thank you very much!

Regards,

Sergey

Dear all,

This is the final pre-publication update about " Everything is Normal: The Life and Times of a Soviet Kid"

·      The book is now being printed in the US and various ebook versions are being finalised.

·      Ebooks will be sent to pre-orderers ahead of the official publication date – on March 16th.

·      Printed copies will be mailed to pre-orderers on March 16th too and should reach you within a week or so, depending of the speed of mail in different countries.

·      IMPORTANT: If you have moved address since you ordered books in April-May 2017, please log into Inkshares and update your shipping address.  https://www.inkshares.com/

·      On a separate note, I’m happy that the book is getting positive reviews from the advanced readers and some interest from the media. Got a great blurb two days ago. Will show-off a bit now:

"Everything is normal" is a wonderful, funny and evocative account of growing up in the Soviet Union. It brings vividly to life the stodgy food, the dead hand of the state, and the lure of the west, all told through family life in late communist Leningrad. Some of the gags are hilarious. Who knew that that The Empire Strikes Back was released to USSR audiences as The Empire Returns the Blow? Sergey Grechishkin is a major new talent and a writer of humour and verve." Luke Harding, author of  #1 New York Times best-seller "Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win"  

The long journey is finally over. Thank you again for all of your support!

Regards,

Sergey

Dear all,

This is a short update about the publication of "Everything is Normal."

The book is fully finished. At this stage the publisher is reaching out to relevant authors for "blurbs" – quotes about the book to be printed on the front and the back covers. Here are a couple examples received:

“Like walking through the looking-glass into 1970s-80s Leningrad... funny, shocking and occasionally even tender... prepare to be transported back to the CCCP.” —Lisa Dickey, author of Bears in the Streets

“A rare glimpse of life in Soviet Russia before and during perestroika. Everything is Normal is the tender and often funny story of a personal journey paralleled by seismic changes in the country itself. A captivating read.” —Elena Gorokhova, author of Russian Tattoo

In January, the publisher will be sending electronic and physical copies of the book (first off-set print run) to various media players in the book world (editors at the NYT, WSJ, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, etc.), as well as to top influencers, book reviewers, librarians, etc.  Fingers crossed, it will generate good reviews and interest.

The book is already getting orders from small independent bookstores in the US  almost every day. This is pleasing. It is also already available for pre-orders on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., and for reviews on Goodreads.

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Normal-Life-Times-Soviet/dp/1942645902/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1511930598&sr=8-5&keywords=everything+is+normal

So, so far so good. It has been an interesting journey, which is now coming to its conclusion. Thank you very much again for your support, pre-orders and patience. As planned, you will be receiving the books in March.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy New Year, and Happy Festivus for the rest of us.

Cheers,

Sergey

Polinapilipenko · Reader · added over 6 years ago
Dear Sergey, 
The new cover is rather provocative. I wouldn’t buy the book with such a massage. 
Sorry to see how your book becoming another propagandistic tool.
Regards, 
Polina 

Dear followers,

This is just to update you on the progress of "Everything is Normal." Last 2 months saw heavy developmental editing: the editor and I advanced the main themes and trough-lines of the book. That also included lots and lots of restructuring and writing 3 entirely new chapters.

But the most painful thing was cutting. We ended up decreasing the original manuscript by 25% or by 34,000 words. (This is more than the entire "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".) Ouch!

Now that this stage is over, copy editing will start. Also, designers have finalized the cover for the book (below). A lot of clever marketing has gone into it. Inkshares has set the official release date for the book for March 6.

I will keep you posted. And thank you all very much again for your support.

 Regards,

 Sergey

Dear all,

This is a quick update on the progress of "Everything is Normal". Since I reached 750 pre-orders a few months ago, first, I was waiting for a couple of months for the developmental editor to be appointed and to be available. Then, we were deliberating for some time on the overall question of what this book is about. Now we’ve turned this page and agreed and are now starting the real developmental editorial work.

It is not a fast process and a lot of things need to be added and redone, but it will surely be a much better book.

At present Inkshares are giving me March 2018 as the official publication date.

Thank you very much again for your support. I will keep you posted.

Cheers

Sergey

Dear all,

This is a quick update. It has been 3 months since we started to collect pre-orders for "Everything is Normal" and over a month since we reached the magic number of 750 pre-orders. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRE-ORDERS AND SUPPORT!!!

The last few weeks were taken by filling different creative and marketing forms with the publisher. I expect that the publisher will assign a developmental editor in May and the production process will start. The next steps will be line and copy editing, cover and style design, marketing and getting pre-orders from book distributors and stores.

It all sounds exciting, but it seems to be taking more time than I originally expected, given that the book is finished. At present the publisher estimates shipment of books to you and to bookstores in early 2018.

With thanks and kind regards,

Sergey

Viah71 · Reader · edited almost 7 years ago · 2 likes
Ура!!! Поздравляю!! :) И с нетерпением жду свой подписанный экземпляр!!
//Вичка

Yes !!!!

750 !!!!!!!!

We made it !!!!! 

I wanted to sincerely thank each and every one of you for making it happen! Now it is going to be a real properly published book! For me, it has been an important project of almost 5 years and it is hard to describe how happy and thankful I am! 

The book is finished, so, hopefully, it will not take too long for Inkshares’ story editors, line editors, copy editors, designers and marketers to turn it into the final real deal. I will keep you updated.

Thank you very much again ! 

It has been 4 weeks into the book project.

Bing, bing, bing!

Thank you all very very much for your support and enthusiasm! It has been a very interesting and sometimes unpredictable experience. Often, I got neither help nor interest from people whom I expected to be passionate project supporters. And in many  cases I received tremendous attention and involvement from totally unexpected people.

There was some media exposure last month:
* Article about my book and Inkshares on FinBuzz (in Russian) http://finbuzz.ru/sergej-grechishkin-vspomnil-sovetskoe-detstvo/

*  My article about loving and hating Soviet childhood on Republic.ru (In Russian) https://republic.ru/posts/80271

Also, I was approached by 3 Russian publishing houses, who would be interested in Russian translation and publication. This is early, but nice to know!

Today we already have 555 copies pre-ordered out of 750 target (so 195 still left to go). Now I believe that it can really happen !!!
 
Could you please think about your friends or connections who may be interested in pre-ordering another copy and share it with them!
 
https://www.inkshares.com/books/everything-is-normal-the-life-and-times-of-a-soviet-kid-a33d0d
 
Thank you again and have a great weekend!

Regards
Sergey

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