John and Teresa's new book

[StoryTeller]

Most of you probably already know this, but in case you didn't, their new book This Moment On Earth is available for pre-order on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It will be released in March.

I would encourage you to pre-order, as the number of pre-orders are often used to calculate the success of a book. We can be a real boost to the book if enough people have it on pre-order.

Here's the link to the Amazon page:

http://www.amazon.com/This-Moment-Earth-Pioneers-Environmental/dp/1586484311/sr=1-4/qid=1168905847/ref=sr_1_4/102-9442897-5984138?ie=UTF8&s=books

And here's B&N:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781586484316&itm=1

Here's the cover, if you haven't seen it already:

[StoryTeller]

1. Just a bit more info:

From the B&N section "From The Publisher":

From the Publisher
An inspiring celebration of courageous American innovators who are transforming the way we protect and care for the world we live in.

The environment, and the movement that grew up to protect it, is under attack-concerted and purposeful. Yet the need for solutions to pressing environmental problems grows more urgent each day. Teresa Heinz Kerry and Senator John Kerry traveled across the country in a national campaign to see at first hand how these issues unite people across party and ideological lines. From the San Juan Basin to the Gulf of Mexico to the South Bronx, from mothers on Cape Cod to Colorado ranchers, they found a vibrant coalition of people and communities deploying ingenuity, technology, and sheer will power to save the world they know and love.

Now, in this passionate and personal book, Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the spotlight on an inspiring cross-section of these new environmental pioneers. The book combines intensive research with keenly observed personal experiences to present a portrait of Americans devoted to the natural diversity and spectacular uniqueness of our country. It also includes an extensive guide on where and how readers can get involved.

[rox63]

2. Pub. Date: March 26, 2007 - I'm pre-ordering it right now n/t

[Island Blue]

3. Thanks for posting.

Perfect timing to make a nice birthday gift for my mom. :)

[globalvillage]

4. Thanks.

Just ordered two.

[sandnsea]

5. Sounds terrific

So John & Teresa. It isn't about them, it's about people in communities making a difference. I love that!! It'd be nice if one or two of the stories were pre-released so people would have something to write about. I like the idea of focusing on the good people are doing instead of just the problems.

[StoryTeller]

7. I noticed that, too.

That makes it so much harder for people to gripe about him "stealing" an issue. It would make them look like they're griping about the good-hearted, hardworking people featured in the book. And you are right--focusing on other people and not themselves is so like our beloved JK and THK.

Also, I thought the cover was interesting. You can tell a lot about the status of an author by how the publisher designs the cover. Lowly new authors like me will have our names in smaller font than the title because the name doesn't mean much to people browsing the book. But celebrities get big fonts because people will buy the book based on the author name without caring too much about the title.

Also, co-authoring has specific ways of handling the author byline on the cover. The bigger name or the one that wrote most of the book usually goes first and gets bigger font. (This stuff gets put into contracts. It's a big deal.) So, by that standard, JK could have easily had bigger font for his name, or had it read "John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry" together, which would have meant most people would have stopped at "John Kerry" and not really registered that Teresa's name followed. And it would have been absolutely fair, and made good sense from a marketing and design standpoint.

But with this book, you have the same size font for both, which is bigger than the title font, and you don't have either one really listed first. JK is at the top of the cover, which is good because that place on the cover catches the eye and lets people know this is a well-known author. But THK gets the valuable real-estate below the title, which is where most people subconsciously look to find the author's name. So the subliminal message is very strongly that this is a joint effort between the two of them where each is being given VERY equal credit. You cannot tell by looking at the cover who did more work on the book.

When you know the kind of people they are, this sort of mutual respect and equality doesn't come as a surprise. But it's awfully nice to see. You should be able to expect this from a husband and wife team, but in today's world, I'm sorry to say that it doesn't necessarily happen.

Sorry for the technical analysis. I'm kind of a geek when it comes to publishing stuff, and I had been wondering how they were going to handle the issue of cover bylines. I think they did great.

[sandnsea]

8. Very interesting

Now that I look at the book cover again, I see what you mean. It subliminally gives Teresa the credit as the author and John a kind of headliner billing, star contributor. Two very equal rolls, regardless of who contributed more. I think I recall JK saying Teresa had done a lot of work on the book, but I'm not sure about that. So maybe the cover is exactly the way the book was done. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Fascinating stuff, thanks! And, you know, you are far far from a lowly author! Somebody's going to discover your books and make a movie or a sitcom out of them. Mark my words.

[StoryTeller]

15. Aw, thanks!

Oddly enough, my agent told me in November that some rather obscure company that produces made-for-TV movies was expressing interest in my book. I had very mixed feelings about that, but it turned out not to matter because they decided it would be very difficult to turn a book written in all emails into a movie. Duh! I could have told them that. I'd be flattered even for the interest, except that my agent says that these companies troll the Publisher's Weekly new releases all the time for this sort of thing. So it was really no big deal. Just an interesting aspect of my job. :)

On the Kerry/Heinz Kerry book, I think I heard that Teresa wrote 2-3 chapters, and John wrote the others, based on each of their areas of expertise and interest. But it sounds like they did an equal amount of the research and background work for the book. How in heck did they manage to fit that in around everything else they do??? I'm struggling to get a book PROPOSAL put together right now, much less a fully-researched manuscript. AAAAGGGGHHH! :)

[sandnsea]

20. You've Got Mail

No, it wouldn't be hard to turn the books into a movie. The characters just jump off the page. It would appeal to the whole country because you'd have people all over the place, who conventional wisdom says have nothing in common, finding their common ground. That kind of curiosity is "in" right now, that's what drives all the reality and wife swap shows. Trust me, your books have the potential to go on one or the other screens, or both. I'm not one to throw around praise, willy-nilly. I've read more books that just piss me off that a tree was cut down to publish the crap. You do great storytelling and character development, I hope you find someone who can put these in front of the right people in the right way.

[karynnj]

21. I agree - because the characters are real and have

their own worlds - the emails link them. I loved the books - and your writing.

[StoryTeller]

22. Gee, you guys sure know how...

...to make a girl feel awesome. Thank you. :)

:hug:

[sandnsea]

10. "Author's Note"

I'm still looking for the cities in the book tour. Ran across this. One by each, haven't read it yet.

http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairsbooks-cgi-bin/display?book=9781586484316&view=note

[Democrafty]

11. Those are amazing, thank you! n/t

[TayTay]

12. It says they have sold the audio rights

I wonder who will do the readings? That could be great.

[karynnj]

17. I hope they do - but that could take a lot of their time

I love their voices.

[StoryTeller]

16. Ooohh, I loved the author's note!

So I clicked on "Excerpt" and was met with...NOTHING. *sigh* I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer for that. I hope their publisher does a "Search Inside This Book" on Amazon.

Good find, Sandnsea!

[Luftmensch067]

19. I just spoke to the Director of Publicity

I swear I hadn't seen this thread before I called! You guys are always on the ball. :-)

I'm going to California in March and I wanted to make sure before I picked the dates for my trip that I wouldn't be just missing any book events on both coasts (that sort of thing happens!) so I decided to phone the publisher and see if any dates had been arranged for Boston or L.A. yet.

I spoke to Whitney Peeling, the Director of Publicity and she says no dates have been scheduled for either city yet. She confirmed that there would be a Boston date though she didn't have any details. Wasn't sure yet whether there would be something in L.A.

She did assure me that there wouldn't be anything in either city before early April (I think she said not before April 2, but don't quote me!) so I can now make my March plans without worrying.

I hadn't seen this thread, but I assured her that many people were looking forward to the book and that I, personally, was going to send many copies as gifts. She seemed pleased. :-)

Thanks to this alert, I have now gone to Amazon and preordered three copies!

Oh, I'm *so* praying they both do the audio version!!!

[Democrafty]

6. I had no idea!

Thanks so much for the info. I just pre-ordered :)

[whometense]

9. Thanks -

I'm on it too. ;-)

And August 21 Alexandra's book is coming out - should be catnip heaven!

http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Activist-Sudden-Collision-Politics/dp/1594863431/sr=8-1/qid=1168919358/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9811707-4707966?ie=UTF8&s=books

[beachmom]

13. Question: how can we get an autographed copy if we won't be

seeing JK and THK? I think, Storyteller, you mentioned something about a book insert that can be placed in it.

I want to order a book, but how does that work in my quest for wanting an autograph. It would be very cool to have that special personal touch on the book.

[StoryTeller]

14. Well, this is just my idea, not an official option...

It is *possible* to request a signed book plate--basically a sticker that you can then place in your book. Now, whether or not JK or THK are willing to do this is way beyond my knowledge. I just know that other authors have done such things.

The etiquette on this, ideally, would be for the reader to send the author a bookplate to sign, along with a self-addressed stamped envelop so that the author isn't obligated to come up with a bookplate and pay postage on your behalf. But again, whether or not they are willing to sign bookplates I have no idea, and I'm not really sure how one would go about asking.

However, you can also sometimes score a signature by taking your book to an event where they'll be and just asking for it. Since the chances of either of them stopping by Omaha any time soon are extremely remote, I will be more likely to pursue the bookplate option. :)

[Democrafty]

18. You could wait till after it comes out, then try to order it

from a smaller bookstore that might have signed copies.

I will be on the lookout for signed copies after JK and THK visit here (which they are theoretically supposed to do, even though I can't find any info) and would be willing to ship a few out, if I were to find them.

[demdiva]

23. SWEET nt

[Mass]

24. Concerning the Environment and Global Warming in particular,

is there any reason why Kerry is not cosponsor of any of the new bills concerning Global Warming in the 110 th Congress.

I noticed that he was not a co-sponsor of the Sanders Bill (that Kennedy co-sponsored), nor of any of the previous ones. Obviously, there is time to co-sponsor one of them, but it would seem natural that he would co-sponsor at least one in order to show the interest he has on the issue.

http://sanders.senate.gov/files/global-warm-release.cfm

(Any clue about that?).

[karynnj]

26. He and Olymphia Snowe introduced one right on October 3, 2006

http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=264368

I assume they will reintroduce it.

Last year they were both on this Commerce committees sub committee on Global Warming - though now it lists NO members. (I guess because they are still reorganizing???)
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Subcommittees.Subcommittee&Subcommittee_ID=92

[Mass]

27. In this case, it is dead and needs to be resubmitted.

The point I am making, I imagine, is that the bills I was talking about are global bills that deserve to be supported, and this does not prevent to offer his own bills. It seems silly to me not to do that except if there are compelling reasons not to. That is all.

[karynnj]

28. I agree - and looking at the supporters

(Senators and organizations) of the Sanders one, it looks good. This says it used to be Jeffords bill - did Kerry sponsor it then? Sander's bill was introduced on Jan 15, 2007 - which was yesterday.

The press release on his and Snowe's sounds like they intend to pursue it.

[politicasista]

25. Cool. Thanks n/t