Accession of the Stone Born came out in May, and The Wanderer Awakens in November. This means when one of my neighbors shows up at my doorstep to thank me for the candy my wife made for the entire block with a gift in hand, I have something to give them.
The exchange has normally gone like this.
Random neighbor shows up with (insert random holiday present here).
As I am not accustomed to receiving gifts, or giving them for that matter, I panic and tell them to wait right there. I run to the cat room/make-shift library and grab a copy of the new book, which I give them upon returning.
Their first response is, “You wrote this?”
Mind you their tone is one of shock and bewilderment. I’m guessing they are surprised I can spell my own name let alone string a book together.
No, I’m not insulted, I tend to keep to myself, which means they know very little about me, other than if they need help with anything, I’m always here to assist.
Anyway, onto the question that forever seems to follow. “How much do I owe you?”
Me. “Nothing, it’s a gift.”
Them. “Are you sure? I feel like I should do something to repay you.”
My response is the same. “No, it’s fine, really it’s a gift. Have a great day.”
That is until yesterday…Someone repeated a variation of the question, and I responded. “Tell you what, if you insist on paying me…which you don’t need to do, but if you insist. Let me think about what would work out to be mutually beneficial.”
I’ve thought about it, and this is what I came up with.
If I give you a gift and you feel a need to repay me…which you don’t, but if you insist, this is what I’d like from you.
Please read the book, or give it to someone who will.
If you do read it, please leave a review, preferably on Amazon, and tell your friends about it.
If you went with the option of giving it to a friend, then you’ve already spread the word, so, thank you.
That’s all I want. Having people spread the word, leave a review or gift it to someone is worth more to me than what it cost me to buy it in the first place.