–Greg Manchess

What the heck is a “blad?”

blad |blad|
noun
a promotional flyer or mockup for a product, especially for a book. (possibly bl[urb] + ad)

What a crazy term. But basically, a blad is used by a publisher to stir up interest in a book. And the blads are printed and about to be sent out to potential retailers of my novel!

If this was formatted like a children’s book, the publisher would get what’s called an “F & G,” where they print out the entire book as a sample. The pages are then folded and gathered together to mimic the book. This helps them check color and get a feel for what the final product will be like, and use the f&g to make necessary changes before going to press.

My book is about ten times longer than that, weighing in at 240 pages! So the decision was made to print up the first thirty pages of inciting action. The sequence ends on the title page for the rest of the novel.

I can tell you this much. It is a strange and mystical feeling to hold a sample like this in one’s hand after seven years of thinking, dreaming, sketching, designing, changing, revising, and finally painting what started out as an idea. It sits there, indelibly. No more spellcheck, or shifting figures around. It’s finished!

The preorder is up at Amazon and Barnes & Noble already. The pub date is set for October 24th of this year. If you want to get a copy I encourage you to order now as this is how publishers determine the popularity of a book. Of course, that would help the exposure for Timberline!

And I’ll be happy to sign any of the copies you purchase, whenever I see you!

I stopped in at Saga Press/Simon & Schuster the other day to pick up a few blads of Timberline. I ran my fingers across the embossed title and felt a dopamine rush: it’s finally finished, and all I want to do is make another one.