Saturday afternoon the banks of the Cumberland River were teeming with treasure hunters searching for the replica of the gold coin hidden by Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers.
The media was there and the winner was announced on the NBC affiliate Channel 4 at 6:00 p.m.
Mahsa Kariman was the lucky hunter who found the coin under a metal ledge in the shadow of the “ghost” on the east-side of the Shelby Street Bridge. She will turn the replica in for an authentic 1/2 ounce gold coin which she can keep or sell back to Cashville Gold for $500.
Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers may be doing another treasure hunt just in time for Christmas, check their website at www.cashvillegold.com.
Lots of really wonderful stories coming out of this treasure hunt.
The neatest one is that Dawn O’Kieff and Tricia Price of Donnelson, TN were searching the week before on the Shelby Street Bridge when they looked down into the water and saw someone drowning. They raced down to the edge of the river and found a fisherman who had fallen in and been stuck in the water for 2 hours barely holding on. Dawn called 911. Tricia and a man, Tony, who had been riding bikes with his kids in the area came over when heard the commotion. He and Tricia together pulled the man out of the water. Isn’t it great to know that there are such care people in the world?!
Here are some photos of the fun on Saturday…
Dawn O’Kieff and Tricia Price at the site of their rescue of the fisherman
the week before while hunting for the coin
Mahsa Kariman and others as she found the gold coin
Book tours are passe says the Christian Science Monitor. Not so fast I say.
The authors I work with were ahead of the curve in having book trailers. There are some terrific sites on the internet that promote books through short movies such as: bookvideos.tv, expandedbooks.com, David Wilk’s LiveWriters.com among others.
BUT, there is more than one reason as an author to make sure to go on some sort of book tour to promote a new book. Sometimes a crowd will appear at a bookstore for an author event and sometimes nobody will show up. An author doesn’t spend the time, energy and money to sell 5 or 10 books in one evening at a particular bookstore (250 copies, OK, yeah that’s incentive enough) but bookselling, especially at independent bookstores is about connecting as people.
Susan Gregg Gilmore
Helen Hemphill
Gary Slaughter
It makes sense to get out and meet the good folks who hand-sell your book every day. When I go to bookstores on book tours with the authors I represent, I always ask the people working that night what new books they are recommending. Virtually always, it’s several books with authors that have been in the shop recently. So, the bookselling doesn’t end at the end of an author’s event, but continues through the word of mouth buzz directly to the public by the bookstore folks they have come to depend upon to steer them in the right direction for the next read.
Another reason to go on a book tour is the local and regional publicity for a book. Oprah hasn’t called you?! There are many, many, many morning tv programs, talk radio shows and local newspapers that are still terrific outlets to help build enthusiasm for authors and their books. BUT, if you don’t go on the book tour to that area, most likely you won’t get an opportunity to pitch your book to the local media. If you have a radio program, one of my all time favorite is of course Book Talk in Memphis, a Q&A with the daily newspaper or arts weekly, and an in-store book event, then you’ve reached a number of different potential bookbuyers in various ways.
Susan Gregg Gilmore on Live at 9!
Helen Hemphill on BookTalk
Authorless book events are become popular at bookstores, but the first-hand reports I’ve gotten back on the “Prom Parties” to launch Stephanie Meyer’s latest book have been somewhat uneven. Sometimes great crowds, sometimes very tired booksellers who didn’t ring up enough purchases to make it worthwhile. Of course, unless it’s a J.K. Rowling or a Stephanie Meyer, most likely the bookstore isn’t interested in creating and footing the bill for less well known authors for “authorless events.”
A traditional book tour (well-planned) and a virtual book tour (including Q&A on literary blogs), has proven to be a winning combination for us.
PWon-line chose a Southern Festival of Books moment for its Picture of the Day.
PICTURE OF THE DAY
Book TV
Scott Peterson, Book TV on C-SPAN, interviews Helen Hemphill, author of The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones (Front Street, Nov. 1, 2008), about her new book and what she’s reading now. Peterson conducted author interviews at the Southern Festival of Books outdoor site. The Bookin’ It C-SPAN tour bus was parked for tours at the Festival during the week-end.
Today on Tennessee Mornings on Fox 17, it was announced that Cashville Gold will release it’s final clue for the current Nashville Treasure Hunt at 2:00 on Saturday. Charlie Chase and Kelly Sutton got the scoop. The hundreds of people that participated when the coin was found in Centennial Park during the first hunt, know that when they say it’s the final clue, most likely the gold coin replica will be found within a matter of minutes.
What a wonderful week-end for bibliophiles in Nashville!
Serenity Gerbman and Emily Masters created, yet again, an great menu of author presentations from which to choose for the 25,000 estimated guests who attended this free Southern Festival of Books in downtown Nashville.
Friday night was a dazzling gala to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the inaugural literary event. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, the canapes were divine and the mood was fun and festive. John Seigenthaler was the Master of Ceremonies and Todd Bottorff, owner and publisher of Turner Publishing, was the Honorary Chair. Doug, my husband, and I were the guests of Helen and Neal Hemphill. Helen is the author of The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones (Front Street, Nov. 1, 2008). We enjoyed meeting other authors at the table as well, Sarah Sullivan, author of Root Beer and Banana (Candlewick Press), and her husband Rick and David Macinnis Gill , author of Soul Enchilada (HarperTeen, April 7, 2008). Fun to catch up authors Darnell Arnoult, Dawn Shamp and Michael Lee West as well as the head of Davis-Kidd, Bev Perry, during the cocktail party.
More than 200 authors participated including: Sherman Alexie, Darnell Armoult, Richard Bausch, Rick Bragg, Martin Clark, Katie Crouch, Frank Durham, Clyde Edgerton, Bob Fisher, David Macinnis Gill, Susan Gregg Gilmore, Helen Hemphill, Scott Huler, Billie Letts, David Maraniss, Lee Martin, Fredrick and Patricia McKissack, Ann Patchett, Tom Piazza, Ron Rash,M.L. Rose (Myra McLarey and Linda Weeks), Dawn Shamp, Ann Shayne, George Singleton, Gary Slaughter, Quite the good sport to drag a cast around with a broken leg- Elizabeth Strout, Sandra Tsing Loh, Michael Lee West, Steven Womack, and author of Oprah’s current Book Club Pick David Wroblewski among many other terrific authors.
Serenity Gerbman and Emily Masters celebrating the success of the event
Julie Schoerke with authors Gary Slaughter and Susan Gregg Gilmore
Emily Masters with authors Helen Hemphill and David Macinnis Gill at the Gala
Joanne and Gary Slaughter with the Nashville Symphony book that was one of many fabulous gifts that Joanne included in the “welcome bags” for authors — an effort that she spearheaded and really kicked up a notch from previous years
With bleak economic news everywhere Nashvillians turn, it’s been a fun distraction for the gold-diggers who are hunting for the gold coin in the Nashville Treasure Hunt sponsored by Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers.
It seems that gold is the only commodity that keeps going up in value these days. And there is a 1/2 ounce gold coin at stake in this treasure hunt. Although the winner gets the choice of keeping the gold coin or selling it back to Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers it will be interesting to see if the person who finds it will decide to sell it back for $500 immediately or hang on to it as gold prices increase.
This is Clue #2 (for more information on rules and future clues, visit www.cashvillegold.com):
Bet you got some exercise on the bridge.
We hope you enjoyed the view;
for what you saw is the next clue.
We couldn’t put it there it would be impolite;
there are a lot of people that are afraid of heights.
So we had to pick a side: east or west,
for the gold which one do you think is best?
As the economy continues to implode and family discussions turn to new ways to celebrate Christmas this year in a more thoughtful and less commercial way, libraries across the country are seeing steep increases in traffic. According to a Sept. 1, 2008 article by AP, there have been 1.3 billion visits to US libraries with 2 billion items checked-out from summer 2007 to summer 2008 — there has been a 10% increase in use of libraries compared with 2001, the last time that there was a significant spike in use.
Not only are libraries resources for checking out hours of free entertainment — books, CDs, DVDs — but also some are addressing the issues facing folks in these uncertain times by providing seminars such as the ones offered in The Queens Library (the system with the highest rates of check out in the country) — helping people facing foreclosure.
Although local community budget squeezes may affect libraries adversely, this could be a golden opportunity for families to re-discover their local resources during the suddenly popular “staycations.”
(tourairstream.com cartoon)
Stephen Usery interviewing Helen Hemphill on Oct. 6, 2008 in the WYPL studios
In the ever-shrinking world of book reviews on air and in print, there is one very refreshing exception. The excellent Book Talk program on WYPL has been expanded from a 30 minute show to a full hour on Saturdays.
More NPR stations should consider picking this program up for their own market area. People who listen to NPR tend to be voracious readers and we miss and mourn the loss of our local literary programs on NPR. Until other NPR markets do pick this up, the rest of us can enjoy the podcasts at: Book Talk.
Stephen Usery is the Producer and hosts/interviews about 40% of the time. The man is so intelligent and thoughtful in preparing for his interviews, that it’s valuable to take the time to hear his visits with authors, especially when you are considering reading a book or want to know more about a book after you’ve read it.
Some of his podcasts you might want to check out include:
David Wroblewski,: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Laurie Notaro - one of the funniest authors on earth
Helen Hemphill’s will be on line in November discussing The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones
M.L. Rose - Linda Weeks will be on-line soon discussing The Road to Eden’s Ridge
Helen Hemphill with Cowboy Mike (Professor Michael N. Searles, August State University) at the Wester Writers of America Book on the SIBA exhibition floor. Wanda Jewell, Executive Director, and Nicki Leone deserve real kudos for a terrific event for authors, publishers and booksellers to come together in Mobile, AL for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance meeting Sept. 26 -28. It was the first time I had the opportunity to attend and it was overwhelmingly helpful and delightful. Finally meeting Wanda and Nicki person was fun after exchanging emails and voice mails for the past year. Helen Hemphill, author of The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones, and I enjoyed every minute of the 3 days. Each meal was a good time to get to know booksellers (some of the nicest and most committed people in the world!) from around the South and to hear delightful presentations by authors launching books. At the Friday morning breakfast everyone was presented with their own business books by Bo Burlingham, The Knack and Small Giants. The Gen Z Reader: understanding the New Reader in the Post Electronic Age panel was enlightening. Kristen McLean, Executive Director of Booksellers for Children (ABC) provided insight that was helpful to Helen and me and then she stayed on to listen in on Helen’s panel, Reaching the New Reader with Young Adult Authors panel. Lois Ruby, author of The Secret of Laurel Oaks and Kristin Cashor, author of Graceling joined Helen Hemphill on the panel. Lunch featured presentations by T. A. Barron, Merlin’s Dragon; Bailgarrad - who is funny, smart and entertaining and other accomplished authors (alas, we did not get to stay for their presentations, though) - Rick Bragg (expected to be a crowd favorite this week-end at Southern Festival of Books in Nashville) and Sarah Addison Allen. The supper on Friday night was delicious (rare steak! First time in years I was at a banquet that had steak that tasted good - not like leather!). We had to run to the hotel’s business center (where the flat screen tvs were without having to listen to live music) to watch the presidential debate with Angie Smits, VP at Southern Territory, and lots of others. Everyone was most polite in not whooping or hollering for their favorite candidate. Other highlights included the Fire & Brimstone SIBA BBQ on Saturday night hosted by Turner Publishing and Chelsea Green. Todd Bottorff, President and Publisher of Turner Publishing, did a clever Q&A with Frank Durham, author of Cain’s Version: A Novel. The next day I heard the people who attended saying that they hope the BBQ will become a tradition. The best short road-trip of the week-end was Helen’s signing at Page & Palette, the wonderful bookstore in Fairhope, AL (my new favorite town) owned by Karin Wilson, President of SIBA.
Some of our friends with whom we shared a meal or a chat in line, who are the delightful, bright and committed booksellers throughout the South own these shops: FoxTale Book Shoppe, Bookin It!, Country Bookshop, Paper Chase Bookstore, ABDebs Books & Gifts, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Park Road Books Carpe Librum and Sherlocks to name just a few.
Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers has posted the first clue for the new Nashville Treasure Hunt the company is again sponsoring.
Once again, a faux gold coin is hidden somewhere (check the rules on the company website - www.cashvillegold.com) in Nashville. The person who finds it and brings it to Jerry and Josh Levine at Cashville Gold & Silver Buyers will be given a 1/2 ounce genuine gold coin. The winner can keep the coin or sell it back to Cashville for the market value that day.
You probably saw the article in The Tennessean by Nicole Young about the winners of the last treasure hunt and the clue for this new hunt…if not….
Here it is — the 1st clue (for additional clues, check www.cashvillegold.com treasure page):
We loved the bridge! It was such a great place
To hide the gold, to create a race!
This next location will stretch from shore to shore,
linking Nashvillians like never before.
While you’re out looking for gold, getting hit by traffic should not be possible
but if you do….remember Cashville is not responsible!
Happy hunting!
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