Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen Book Trailer
As much as I love this YouTube book trailer — the book is still better! I wish I were the girl laying in the field of flowers at the end…it just says summer like nothing else!
I collect signed books. What I really like are signed books from U.S. Presidents when I can get them. But I’ve got shelves of books signed by famous and not-so-famous authors that I respect. Some are for my own personal enjoyment.
Others of my signed or inscribed books I consider investments — I’ve paid up to $1,000 to go to an event specifically to get a sitting President to sign a book — whether I agree with his policies or not. I justify it by believing that if my kids’ kids hold on to these books and sell them when their children are ready for college, it might be a nice little sum to off-set some educational expenses.
What is the most valuable? To have a book signed by an author? To have a book inscribed to someone by the author? There are various points of view.
Empty Mirror Books says this:
An inscribed book (sometimes also called a presentation copy) has been signed by the author to another person.
From a collector’s point of view, there are 2 schools of thought about inscribed books. The first is that inscriptions detract from the desirability of the book.
The second is that inscriptions are great; the more the author wrote on the book & the more time he spent with it, the better.
Collectors of current modern literature currently tend to subscribe to the former school of thought. A collector named Mark may not want a book inscribed “For Jim,” preferring a book inscribed either to himself, or simply signed, without an inscription.
The other viewpoint (which I share) is that an inscription makes the book special. The book spent more time in the author’s hands, and there is certainly some story behind the signature. A simple signature is generic, and nothing exists to connect it to a particular day in the author’s life, or an encounter with a particular person.
Additionally, if the inscription can be shown to be to someone associated with the author (family, friend, editor, or another author, perhaps), its desirability increases. This is called an association copy. There’s always the possibility that, with some research, what first appears to be an unimportant inscription may be shown to actually be an association copy.
Timothy Doyle of Bayside Books of Pasadena provides this perspective from an article he wrote:
The assumption is that getting a book signed increases value. Why is this, and how do we define value? To begin with, I make a distinction between a book’s dollar value and something I call personal value. In simplest terms, dollar value is whatever amount a seller can get for a book. The auction format of eBay can result in sales within 5 to 10 days but often yields unusually high or low dollar values due to unpredictable factors like bidding wars, summer doldrums, inadequate descriptions, and pure good or bad luck. On fixed-price venues such as Abebooks, Half.com or Amazon the seller determines the price but may end up waiting weeks, months or more before making the sale. A more useful definition of dollar value might be the average final sale value a seller can expect for a given book within a certain period of time.
The personal value of a book derives from many factors. Some are easily measured and pertain to most collectors: uniqueness, availability, first edition status, condition, subject matter, and so on. Some value factors are hard to measure and can be very personal. I once found a hardback copy of the fantasy classic Silverlock (Dutton, 1949) by John Myers Myers, which reliably sells for over $100 when available at all. Coincidentally, the copy I found had the bookplate of a favorite high school teacher of mine. This bookplate, which would normally decrease both the personal and dollar value to most collectors, significantly increased the personal value to me.
As a seller, your inventory represents an investment of time, money, expertise, and energy. One approach to maximizing the return on your investment is to focus on stock with the highest potential for appeal to the collector market. To do this you must understand the collector mentality - specifically, the hot buttons that define the collector’s sense of personal value. Let’s take a look at some of these value hot buttons to see how they are affected by the author’s signature.
The bookselling world is not always logical but does tend toward consistency. For example, even if the second print run of a book is much smaller (hence rarer) than the first printing, the collector will consistently prefer the first printing. By the same token, a first printing with some condition problems will generally still command a higher price than a fine condition second printing.
However, the author’s signature can trump these value rules. For example, I have in my collection a signed copy of a second printing of James Watson’s The Double Helix (Atheneum, 1968). I’ve seen unsigned copies in Very Good condition sell for $20 to $30; I’ve never seen a signed second printing offered, but signed copies of sixth and eighth printings list on ABE for over $200. While I won’t commit to saying that a signed second printing is more valuable than an unsigned first printing, I’m quite comfortable saying that they are comparable in value.
A look at another Watson title illustrates another way the author’s signature can “cheat” the value rules: DNA, The Secret of Life (Knopf, 2003) is a new title available from Amazon et al for approximately $25; it sells on eBay for $10 to $20. But, signed eBay copies have sold for between $41 and $76, and one rabidly optimistic soul has a copy on ABE for $1000! The lesson is that an author’s signature can take an easily acquired, low-cost book and supercharge its dollar value. Another example: Clive Cussler’s Sahara (Simon & Schuster, 1992) is readily available online at eBay, ABE, etc., for less than shipping charges, and I often run across $1 copies in Fine condition at the thrifts and sales I attend. Signed, this same title routinely sells on eBay for at least $40 to $50.
A third rule: collectors don’t buy ex-library copies. Exceptions usually involve titles that are so scarce and high-priced that an ex-lib copy may be the only option for the collector on a budget. I recently sold a signed, ex-lib copy of Jeffery Wilds Deaver’s Hard News (Doubleday, 1991) on eBay. I was lucky enough to find this title for $1, and I held on to it for a couple of months until I was able to get it signed. I’ve never seen a signed collector’s-grade copy of Hard News on eBay. An unsigned copy sold for about $250, and signed copies list on ABE starting at almost $700. I’ve seen an unsigned, ex-lib copy on eBay fail to sell because collectors wouldn’t spend $50 for it. Had I auctioned my copy unsigned, I might have gotten $30 or $40 after relisting. Instead, I got it signed and made an immediate sale for $125.
These three examples illustrate how author signings function in a business strategy of “buy low, sell high.” With a relatively minor investment, you can buy lesser-condition, second printing, or ex-library copies of highly collectible titles or Fine condition first printings of mid-range titles of a highly-collectible author. If you’ve done your homework properly and picked the right titles, getting these books signed will allow you to turn a healthy profit.
Sample prices on the internet now:
War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells:
Signed Copies: $2,950.00 - $14,877.68
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee:
President Jimmy Carter is such a prolific author and signer of his books, that right now they don’t necessarily have great value — I easily found books for $100 or less that he has signed.
The first President Georg W. H. Bush has signed some books, but not as many and you can buy books signed by him at around $1,000 a piece.
Of course, when an author dies then the value of the books may change dramatically.
One of the best and most insightful reviews to date has just been published in the backyard of the home office of Dairy Queen International — a Minneapolis/St. Paul area newspaper. Read and Enjoy!
Submitted by Melissa Gilman on May 23, 2008 - 1:20pm.
Reviewed by Andrea Sisco
It’s the 1970s in small town Riggold, Georgia. There’s not much in Riggold, a thousand plus citizens, one traffic light, one Dollar General Store, one losing football team, one diner, one Baptist church, and one Dairy Queen, thankfully.
Oh, and there’s Catherine Grace Cline, daughter of the Baptist minister, whose greatest ambition is to turn eighteen and walk right out of that town, forever. For most of her life she’s been sitting at that picnic table at the Dairy Queen planning her escape. You see, she’s aiming for bigger and better things in Atlanta, which is a hundred miles or so down the highway.
When Catherine turns eighteen she leaves Riggold. But life has a way of slapping you up side of the head and when tragedy strikes, Catherine finds herself back in Ringgold where grief is like a hot wind blowing and the past drop kicks her into reality. And the lesson learned is that maybe home is where dreams are made.
“Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen” is a delightful fast-paced read that is much more than a fun-filled quirky novel. Susan Gregg Gilmore deftly weaves a southern story with full-bodied characters, a rich multi-layered plot with a twist that will leave you breathless, and life lessons galore.
Oh, and there are some wonderful characters we’re introduced to that we hope to see again. My favorite is Gloria Jean. I hope to hear a great deal more from her in the future.
Armchair Interviews says: Pick up this novel for a wonderful respite into the quirky mind of Susan Gregg Gilmore.
Cringe or laugh…it’s the reason that we publicists do what we do! Every author’s worst nightmare — telephone conversation
It’s difficult to explain what Mary Gay Shipley has created in Blytheville, AR. A fabulous bookstore? Too generic. A quaint shop? Totally misses the point. Heaven for Bibliophiles? Now, we’re getting close.
Not a wonder that John Grisham and Bill Clinton (among dozens of other authors) put That Bookstore in Blytheville at the top of their booktour schedule! For 32 years (this fall) Mary Gay Shipley has been selling books, creating a community and fostering the talents of authors in such a smart, kind and nurturing way that you really don’t want to leave the store.
For Susan Gregg Gilmore’s booksigning the other night, Mary Gay made sure there was a crowd even though we didn’t know a soul in town. And she served everyone Dilly Bars.
The seats the audience sits in are signed by various authors (each year she dedicates a new chair to the authors appearing in the store). Susan got to sign on the same chair with John Grisham, which is totally cool.
Marvel, just the kind of person you want to meet when you go to a bookstore, sent us in the direction of the Sharecropper Restaurant. We had dinner with Kay Richardson, the most delightful, funny woman from Little Rock who reads voraciously. The chicken-and-dumplings were out of this world! And the merangue on the top of the homemade chocolate pie was fluffier than clouds.
I’m organizing a mother-daughter trip to That Bookstore in Blytheville for this summer that will enchant and open the eyes to our friends of some of the finer things South of Nashville.
Camille, at BookMoot, wrote a colorful and insightful review of The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones — a delightful comparison between the artistic talent of Dutch Portrait painters and the author of the story of an African-American cowboy. Check it out:
On a totally twenty-first-century-note, YouTube viewings of the book trailer have been enjoyed by a couple hundred people since it was posted just a few days ago!
Susan Gregg Gilmore and I head out tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. on a media and book signing whirlwind. We anticipate getting back home Thursday night/Friday morning at about 1:30 a.m.! Susan will be interviewed on Live At 9! on WREG-TV, the CBS Memphis affiliate, in the morning. Wednesday night she’ll do a reading at Davis-Kidd at 6:00 p.m. Then it’s off to Arkansas and a reading at That Bookstore in Blytheville at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Mary Gay Shipley, the owner of the bookstore, told me that her booksellers pull Susan’s book off the shelf and say, “this book is calling me.” We can’t wait to meet everyone in Memphis and Blytheville! 
We asked Patti Vunk, owner of the Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington, what titles she’s been recommending lately. Here are a few of her favorites:
BOOK: “Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen” (Shaye Areheart Books, $23)
AUTHOR: Susan Gregg Gilmore
THE PLOT: A young girl, growing up in small-town Georgia in the 1970s, dreams of escaping to Atlanta.
WHY READ IT: “This is great Southern humor. It’s fun, it’s poignant, it’s a well-drawn story.”
FOR FANS OF: Fannie Flagg, Southern fiction
Today Mike Freeland shared the most amazing story at lunch. This author of Blood River To Berlin has sold copies of his book for more than 4 - (YES - FOUR) times the published list price of the book! How could that be?! It’s obvious after spending a couple of hours with this gentleman and his bride of nearly 60 years, Ellen, that folks are simply drawn to him for his self-deprecating humor and charisma as well as the topic of the book.
I’m going to write more about this book in future blogs because I’m going to being working with Mike and Ellen, but let me say briefly that it is a joltingly unvarnished recounting of the realities of soldiering in World War II. Mike was a Medic in Berlin and shares the stories of those he knew at the time and those he met when they all returned to Europe several years ago to tour the battlefields as a group celebrated as The Greatest Generation.
The book is not written in a voice to evoke warm feelings neatly wrapped up at the end — it’s pretty much an endorsement that “war is hell.”
Mike said that after folks have heard him talk they will insist on paying up to $100 per book(!) because that is the value they believe it has as a historical view that has not been explored — WWII first-person accounts as told from the perspective of a regular soldier. Some book buyers are insisting on paying more for this book than a first-edition of The Rainmaker by bajillion best-selling author John Grisham is going for in highfalutin collector circles!
Check out Mike Freeland’s website. His book is available for purchase on his website and at his official appearances.
Debbie Alan got an earful this week on On The Home Stretch…Susan Gregg Gilmore, author of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was a riot when she talked about the “glamor” of being a published author and amazing meals you grab at truckstops. Probably the most provocative part of the interview had more to do with what happens when Susan gets home from touring than what happens on the road…her friends at FOXTALE BOOK SHOPPE, in Woodstock, Ga, had no idea when they gave her a gift of about-the-best-fitting-t-shirt in the world that it would cause such a stir in Nashville.
Hear Susan Gregg Gilmore at www.OnTheHomeStretch.com with Debbie Alan:
http://www.wsradio.com/player/wsradio-player2.cfm/type/windows/show/On-The-HomeStretch/segment/17693.html
On The Home Stretch is an internet radio program that has the capacity to reach more than 63 million women around the world! The host Debbie Alan is a total hoot. When I’m working in my office M-F 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (CDT) I have the audio on for her show. At other times I try to catch up on what I miss by clicking on the archives and picking out something that sounds good (click on http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk-radio.cfm/shows/On-The-HomeStretch.html) and fits the mood I’m in while working on the computer.
I don’t intend to use this blog for political statements in general. But, Yippee! One of my all-time favorite people in the world, Kay Hagan, has just had a decisive victory in the Primary in North Carolina. She will be running against Elizabeth Dole in the general election in November for the United States Senate. I used to work for Elizabeth Dole when she was the Secretary of Transportation. I have worked side-by-side with and on every one of Senator Kay Hagan’s (she is currently a NC General Assembly Senator - and the powerful co-chair of the Appropriations Committee of the NC Senate) campaigns and have worked with her on countless issues and projects.
I can’t recount all of the moist-eyed TarHeels who have told me the most gut-wrenching stories about how Kay, through pure grit, made sure that they or their families were safe or protected because of something Kay did personally for them or an action she took as an elected official. There are several people who owe their families to Kay. When nobody in Washington, DC would listen or answer their calls when they were stuck in other countries with neglected children that they were adopting and the US Customs wouldn’t allow the children into the United States, Kay, according to each of these mothers’ stories, would personally call officials in the middle of the night and rattle cages until these parents could safely whisk these young children, who had been through enough, into this country and into safety. Kay never tells these stories herself, I’d hear them from the families or friends. It’s just what Kay does.
Kay Hagan talks to North Carolinians
Kay doesn’t run from a fight in which she has the moral high ground. She doesn’t talk out of both sides of her mouth. I’ve known her for years. If she says she’s going to show up somewhere, by gosh, it doesn’t matter if there is a Tsunami, she is there and she is ready.
She bleeds Carolina Blue (which includes Duke blue, since she has children who have attended UNC and Duke). Another cool thing she has going for her is that her husband can vote for her! Unfortunately, her opponent’s husband won’t be voting for his wife…they don’t live in North Carolina and he’s a registered voter in Kansas.
This is a really exciting night for me and for North Carolina! Go Kay!