or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
June 12, 2004
Sudden World Peace
Here's an article from the New York Times about print-on-demand technology, and how it makes it easier for writers to publish their own work. One section of the story reads:
Every book comes complete with a customized cover chosen from among several thousand designs. For an additional fee, it can also be trademarked and registered with a machine-readable ISBN number, essential for any author hoping to get the work stocked by a major chain and on its way to becoming a best seller.Of course, the chances of best-seller status are as likely as sudden world peace.
So, sudden world peace is just around the corner! Because my writing partner Mike Gerber originally used a print-on-demand company to self-publish Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody -- and it and the sequel Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel have sold 600,000 copies worldwide. For quite some time Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody was #2 on the bestseller list of the Times of London.
Speaking of which, below is a scan of a generally positive article from The Sun about the success of Mike's books and other parodies in England. It's hard to read, but since it's filled with errors perhaps that's for the best.
UPDATE: The text of the Sun article can be found here. If you happen to care, the article's wrong that the Harvard Lampoon is "America's answer to satirical mag Private Eye." The National Lampoon was, kind of, America's answer to Private Eye. And it did grow out of the Harvard Lampoon. But the Harvard Lampoon is a college humor magazine, whereas Private Eye was (is?) a national magazine run by grown ups.
Also, the article doesn't mention that The Sun appears in Barry Trotter as "The Stun," with the slogan "Stun-ingly Insipid!"
