"Hillbilly Elegy for People Who Hate JD Vance"

Plus, what writing a surf memoir taught me about SignalGate

One of the most important lessons I learned as field organizer for Obama in ‘08 is that you can’t just ask people to do something. You have to tell them why it matters. So here goes:

I’m trying to get to 500 hardcover pre-orders of my upcoming book, It’s Only Drowning, by April 1st. Right now, I’m about 70 away from my goal. So I’m asking you to pre-order a hardcover from Barnes & Noble, your local bookstore via Bookshop.org, or the boutique online retailer known as Amazon.com today.

(And if you already pre-ordered, which I know many of you have, you’re the reason I’m so close to hitting the ambitious goal I set. So thank you!)

The rest of this post goes into way more detail about all the reasons I’m asking: what the book’s about; why hardcover copies matter much, much more than digital copies; why you should pre-order now even though the book comes out in three months, and more. I also want to talk about how writing a surf memoir gave me insight into SignalGate.

First, though, two small notes:

• This is the last book-related post I’ll write until late June at the earliest. So if you were worried this newsletter would be all book now, don’t be.

• Tomorrow, March 31, is the final day of our exclusive pre-order giveaway for Word Salad readers. To enter, get your hardcover copy from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or Amazon. Then comment with “Pre-ordered!” or with a favorite first line of a book. You’ll automatically be put in a drawing to win one of three hour-long speech coaching sessions with me. And by “speech coaching” I mean anything writing or comms related - if you win, you get to decide!

Lastly, before we get to the book publishing FAQ, an additional thank you. Two weeks ago, I wrote about how the right-wing Washington Examiner got their hands on an early copy of my book and wrote a weirdly threatening ambush review. You, the readers of this newsletter, stepped up more ferociously than I could have imagined. Instead of spending the day worried that my book had been unfairly attacked before it could even be published, I spent it replying to your incredibly supportive comments - and reading many of your favorite first lines of books.¹

Obviously, the fate of my comic surf memoir is not going make or break this country. But it’s all part of a bigger idea: the best way to get MAGA to stop doing harmful things is to make sure the backlash is bigger than they expected. (Now let’s do it at slightly larger scale in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on Tuesday.)

Alright, time for a deep dive into the world of book publishing!

Wait, What’s This Book About?

It’s Only Drowning is a memoir about me learning to surf with my wife’s younger brother Matt, a tattooed, truck-driving electrician who happens to be Joe Rogan’s biggest fan. (My wife, Jacqui, calls the book “Hillbilly Elegy for People Who Hate JD Vance.”)

This book is the most personal thing I’ve ever written. I also think it’s the funniest and best. It’s a summer read, easy to finish during a beach weekend or a cross-country flight, while touching on much deeper themes - and hopefully helping you understand what happened to our country and what you can do about it.

So, in addition to the fact that I'll be very grateful if you pre-order the book because it supports my work, I also think you’ll enjoy it a lot.

“Hilarious” - Judd Apatow

Why Does Pre-Ordering a Hardcover Copy Matter?

Two reasons!

First, when bestseller lists tally the number of copies sold in a book’s first week of publication, pre-orders count. It’s always nice to have a bestselling book, but more than that, being on a list helps people notice the book, which leads to more readers.

Second, in the next week or two, all the big booksellers, like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, will place their final orders with my publisher. The number of copies they order affects how many copies of my book my publisher prints - and because physical books are objects no one wants sitting on shelves or in warehouses, everyone has strong incentives to get them in the hands of readers as quickly as possible.

Me, surfing

Which means that what happens over the next two days is a big deal for the book I’ve worked on for more than two years. Everything from the size of the ad budget to where it’s placed at the airport bookstore is affected by the number of copies the publisher prints. Which is affected by the size of booksellers’ orders. Which is affected by the number of hardcover pre-orders coming in today.

“An instant classic” - James Fallows

It Must Take a Ton of Pre-Orders to Make a Difference, Right?

Not really, because unfortunately most books - even successful books - don’t sell a huge number of copies. It’s kind of crazy: Word Salad is a medium-sized free newsletter, and if just 1 out of every 4 you reading this buys It’s Only Drowning in hardcover between now and June 28th, it will be an New York Times best seller in its first week.

“So funny. So smart.” - Ilana Glazer

When it comes to pre-orders, an even smaller number can make a huge difference. That’s why talking with people who know publishing, I’m confident that that just 500 hardcover pre-orders by April 1st will be enough to start creating the kind of snowball effect every book needs. As of this writing, with twenty-four hours to go, I’m at around 430.

Which is why, if you’re planning to pre-order a hardcover copy, the best possible time is now.

Why Hardcovers Specifically? Why Not E-Books or Audiobooks?

Because when the book burnings start, you don't want to be left out, obviously. But also, because hardcover books have separate bestseller lists, which is much easier for a new book to get on than the “all formats” list that tend to be dominated by books that have been out for a while.

Finally, because big booksellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble don’t order digital books in advance, digital pre-orders don’t have much influence on the number of copies my publisher initially prints. Only hardcovers do. So while I have nothing against ebooks and audiobooks, pre-orders of those formats don’t make much difference for a book.

I Want to Give Away Thousands Upon Thousands of Copies of It’s Only Drowning as a Gift. Who Else Might Like It?

What a thoughtful idea! I’d say that in addition to anyone who’s ever taken a surf lesson, this book is for:

• Anyone who's gotten obsessed with a new hobby as an adult.

• Anyone who likes funny memoirs in general.

• Anyone looking for a story that helps them connect to - and maybe even start to win back - people in their lives who see the world very differently than they do.

• Anyone interested in becoming braver at a time when it takes courage just to read the news.

• Anyone who organizes their bookshelves by color and needs some yellows.

“Honest and entertaining. A pleasant pean to trying something new - and ‘something great’ - Kirkus Reviews

Also, if you decide to pre-order copies for friends or family as gifts, I will sign and personalize them however you'd like. Message me or ask me in the comments about how to do this, if you’re interested.

You mentioned writing this book taught you something about SignalGate?

It did! Having dipped a toe into the Joe Rogan cinematic universe, one of the things I’ve learned is that people who “don’t follow the news” (which is to say, the voters who swung the election to Trump) absolutely follow the parts of the news that are entertaining. One of the challenges with saying things like, “the rule of law is under attack” is that people who most need to hear that message tune it out, because it’s deadly serious.

But powerful people embarrassing themselves - especially in understandable ways like adding the wrong person to the group chat - is very fun.

“This buddy adventure packs a surprisingly substantial punch” - Publisher’s Weekly

In a weird way, if the Houthis had shot down an American plane because of SignalGate, it would have been less enjoyable to meme about, and perhaps stuck around for less time in news. But because the consequences were small enough for the scandal to still seem kind of silly, it has a life on the internet where it’s reached voters who don’t really care about politics. It’s not going to be the One Big Thing that Ends MAGA. But one of the main arguments of Trump 2.0 - an argument especially potent to voters who were frustrated by the economy and looked up to people like Elon Musk - is that this time around, Trump’s surrounded by geniuses. SignalGate makes that look pretty suspect.

Can you post those pre-order links one last time?

If you insist. Here are the links where you can pre-order hardcovers of It’s Only Drowning at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Bookshop.org, and help me get to my 500-copy goal by April 1st.

And don’t forget to comment “pre-ordered” or with a favorite first line of a book to be entered into the drawing.

Thanks as always for reading, and stay tuned for some thoughts on Wednesday about the White House Correspondents’ Association’s shameful decision to cancel their comedian for tis year’s dinner.

David

1. It’s hard to measure exact sales numbers, but the book shot up from #274,000 on Amazon to become a #1 New Release. (In, weirdly, the “Pacific Islanders Biographies” category.) This is doubly impressive since I think most of you didn’t use Amazon to pre-order.