I was checking out the Secret Identities blog and came across a post for yesterday that read the following:
Dear Friends,What's interesting to me about the post and the info is that if you had a graphic novel like this with as many non-Asian celebs/writers/artists etc., this would probably be blowing up right about now with a ton of mainstream media buzz - but because it's strictly from the AA community - it's where it's at - sweating it out on a grassroots level (even with the buzz it's already gotten).
During the first leg of our college book tour last week for "Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology", the editors and I made a very disturbing discovery when we made impromptu stops at major bookstores in between appearances:
Bookstores were NOT carrying "Secret Identities" nor had any plans to do so.
We were told customers could place orders at the stores but as far as physical self space? Nada. The situation was the same in the stores around us in Baltimore, D.C., Southern California, and New York. The reason? Well, we’ve been given several of them: “Stores are confused whether the book fits under Asian American Studies or Graphic Novels”, “It’s an accounting error”, “You’ve got too small of a print run”, and of course the popular “E” word these days… “The Economy”.
So I’m finding myself having to appeal to the Asian American Community once again in an open letter as I did 6 years ago for “Better Luck Tomorrow” – asking that readers request the book at their local bookstores and/or order copies online through: Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Borders.com.
So what do you do?
Make a call, send an e-mail, request it down at your local bookstore or a national chain - if you wanna see it out there - help spread the word.
