Hey everyone. Friendly helpful PSA time.
I ordered a physical book but was just told my ebook is ready to download. What happened?
Don’t worry. If you backed These Are My Friends on Politics, you’ll either have received or soon will receive an email informing you your ebook download is ready. That’s not a goof — every physical book comes with a complimentary ebook version you can load onto your preferred e-reader of choice. So you’re getting that right now while the physical books are being prepared for shipment. If you ordered a physical book (or three, or ten), that package will be heading your way before long. This is just a pre-order bonus.
Sounds good. So what’s a .mobi file?
If your experience with getting ebooks comes from buying them straight from Amazon’s or Apple’s store, you might be a little thrown by seeing two different formats presented for your consumption. The download page has all the instructions you’ll need, but here’s a bonus quick cheat sheet.
ePub version: This is the .mp3 of ebooks, and it works on anything not called a Kindle. So if you’re using iBooks for iOS/Mac, Google Books for Android, or a Sony Reader/Nook/Kobo/basically any e-reader ever made that isn’t a Kindle, this is the format for you.
Kindle (.mobi) version: This one is for anyone using a tablet made by Amazon -- be it a Kindle Fire, the regular monochrome Kindles (Paperwhite, whatever weird name that new one is called) or anything else that has the word "Kindle" stamped on it. It also will display nicely on the Kindle desktop app for PC and Mac. The one place it won’t load: the Kindle app for iOS, which uses a different file format that’s laden with DRM and requires purchase through Amazon’s own store to display books properly. Fortunately, if you’re an iOS person, the ePub version plays perfectly with iBooks.
So should I read this ebook now or wait for the physical book if I ordered one of those?
Honestly? If I’m being candid, I’d wait, because I think the physical book is the best experience. I love ebooks, but I don’t think heavily-illustrated books are best served by that format. I also hope this is the kind of book people open up and enjoy together, which is something the physical book better allows to happen. It’s up to you, of course, but if you’re waiting on a physical book and choose to ignore the email about the ebook as result, you’ll get no argument from me.
Less than 100 orders to go!!! We are still just on pace to get those 750 preorders by the Oct 20th deadline. I’m confident we will make it and get a full publishing deal but it’s going to come down to the wire and every order is significant. Please do continue to share with friends; conversing in person or sending a personal email is always great and if you have Facebook you can invite friends to this nifty event I created that gives a pitch for the book: https://www.facebook.com/events/336202026717097/
As always, thanks for making all of this possible for me. I’ll leave you with a photo from Illegal; I took this from my front door in Latacunga, Ecuador at the start of what is now referred to as the ’citizens revolution.’ The entire city had been cut off from the rest of the country for three days and every intersection downtown burned. Within the week the government would agree to the protester’s demands and abruptly stop all trade negotiations with the United States. 
Dear Sweethearts,
Happy Tuesday! I am writing you from a very comfortable seat on an Amtrak train on my way from New York up to Boston. I was asked to speak at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, to college students about How to Get Run Over by a Truck and the importance of resiliency, and I have been staring out the window during this whole trip trying really hard not to cry. I am failing miserably.
I’m crying because I cannot believe that this is my life. Gratitude sometimes spills out of me via tears - which in this particular case makes people very unlikely to take the seat next to me!
Right now, some of you are already reading the ebook of this memoir, many of you will be receiving the hard copy of the book in a few days, in one week it will be in bookstores and in five days I will go with my family, my boyfriend and few friends to the corner where I was run over by a truck and I will drink champagne, I will cry, I will laugh and I will pour out some champagne for old Katie. Its going to be a full week :)
Thank you again for being a part of this process, and for joining me on this incredible journey. I cannot believe that just 9 months ago I went from being told that no one would be interested in reading this book, to having over 2,600 copies sold before its release date! You are the people who made this dream a reality. Without you, it would’ve stayed in the bottom drawer of my desk,collecting dust. You let it come into the light.
I hope that I will see many of you who are in the New York City area on October 4th at KGB Bar for the Book Launch party. I would love to hug you and thank you in person for believing in me and in this project!
I’ll be thinking of you on October 2nd, with gratitude in my heart, and champagne in my hand. Thank you for making my life a celebration.
Heart,
Katie
My memoir, Illegal, is getting very close to 750 preorders but there’s only three weeks left and I thought I’d offer some giveaways to get me over the top.
The big prize: if you order eight or more books I’ll buy you a drink in the diplomat’s lounge within the iconic headquarters of the United Nations in New York. This is a private bar only open to some UN employees and diplomats. I currently work in the UN press office and can bring in a guest.
Smaller prize: I have had moderate success funding world travel by doing freelance journalism for UK and US publications from abroad, including numerous bylines in places like The Guardian and VICE. Recent examples in The Guardian, The Diplomat and Quartz. I’m often asked how to get started and how writing can fund travel. Buy one or more copies and I’ll do my best to answer any questions and get you started.
Onward!
John