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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Busker's Holiday: pre-release announcement
Busker's Holiday:  pre-release announcement
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kudzurunner
5697 posts
Oct 10, 2015
7:38 AM
My first novel, Busker's Holiday, many years in the making, is available for pre-publication purchase at Amazon, in both print and Kindle editions.

Six years ago I made a somewhat different version available to about 15 members of this forum. It would be fair to say that I have done quite a bit of rewriting, rearranging, and tweaking since then. The feedback that I got from folks here helped make it a better novel. So thanks.

Just this past week, a handful of very generous blurbs have come in, along with one key review. When I worked at the Viking Press back in the early 1980s, Kirkus Reviews was the gold standard, and notably tougher that Publisher's Weekly. Kirkus likes Busker's Holiday.

review of Busker's @ Kirkus

Pub date is this coming Thursday, October 15. We're having a publication party in Oxford on Friday evening (w/music by the Blues Doctors) and on the streets of Clarksdale on Saturday at the Deep Blues Festival.

Here's the book page on this website (it's now the second page on the site). It's got Amazon links for the print and Kindle version. Barnes & Noble also has the print version and will soon have an e-book version:

Busker's Holiday
JInx
1097 posts
Oct 11, 2015
12:05 AM
Dang man, you are prolific! Go Gus Go!
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Rontana
194 posts
Oct 11, 2015
4:47 AM
Congrats! Can't wait to read it.
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Destin
141 posts
Oct 12, 2015
2:35 PM
Please do an audio version of this, I been doing nothing but audio books lately
Destin
142 posts
Oct 12, 2015
2:35 PM
Please do an audio version of this, I been doing nothing but audio books lately
Buzadero
1258 posts
Oct 12, 2015
3:46 PM
That was SIX years ago?
Wow. That was a hard ripple in my today. Yikes.



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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
MBH poster since 11Nov2008
kudzurunner
5698 posts
Oct 12, 2015
3:57 PM
Yeah, it was actually six and a half years ago: January 2009. Hard to believe.

Very nice review in thecountryblues.com:

review in thecountryblues.com
Harmonicatunes
116 posts
Oct 12, 2015
7:28 PM
Good job! A few dollars may head my way for the Kindel edition. A we looking at a harmonica playing Bill Bryson?
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
kudzurunner
5699 posts
Oct 13, 2015
10:37 AM
No, more like a harmonica playing Jack Kerouac crossed with Malcolm Gladwell and Anthony Bourdain.
Harmonicatunes
117 posts
Oct 13, 2015
6:15 PM
Or maybe even more like a harmonica playing Adam Gussow
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
lor
188 posts
Oct 15, 2015
7:08 AM
Just saw the announcement by email. I was privileged to read the earlier version and loved it. Can't wait to read the published version. I still think it ought to be a mainstream movie. Congrats and best wishes for your success.
ted burke
396 posts
Oct 15, 2015
5:25 PM
I've just read Busker's Holiday and the only thing wrong with it is Adam's comment that he won't wrote another novel after this. This is a swift, lyrical read that is a rush of collective sensation, from pace of the music, the antic agenda of accelerated travel, the sensation of playing music in strange, new locations while the world surrounds you with new sights, architecture, languages, smiles and grimaces .I intend to write a fuller,more complete review, but , being somewhat jazzed after reading a great story of a questing young man ,harmonica in hand, wanting to learn about the world beyond the sureties of literary theory and Academic cant and eager to have real experiences and gather some of the soulfulness he heard inside the blues music he loves, I wanted to give a quick and vigorous "thumbs up". . Author Adam Gussow tells an energetic, frenetic tale. My highest recommendation for committed harmonica players and anyone who has had a taste of the travelling/busking life.
Ted Burke

tburke4@san.rr.com

Last Edited by ted burke on Oct 22, 2015 12:10 AM
lor
189 posts
Oct 20, 2015
6:54 AM
I got he Kindle edition from Amazon. Will also order the paperback. Authors need paying readers. Maybe when Adam gets very old he will change his tune and write another few novels. I hope I live long enough to read them. I wish I had the money now to produce Busker's Holiday as a movie. Perhaps I will eventually. By then he'll have sold it tho', I'll bet.
kudzurunner
5721 posts
Oct 27, 2015
10:38 AM
Still waiting on Amazon to actually get books (print books) in stock. Apparently POD (print on demand), which is part of the deal I was supposed to get from BookBaby, doesn't apply in quite the way one might expect. Amazon takes book orders for 4 weeks prior to going live with actual book availability.

In any case, and meanwhile: I'd be grateful for any additional favorable reviews on Amazon that MBH forumites might wish to contribute. If you read and enjoyed the thing, please review away. If you read and didn't enjoy it, please be kind to this particular DIY author and don't hammer it on Amazon. I certainly don't expect everybody to like it. When I gave 15 people here an earlier version back in 2009, I'd say that there was a 50/50 split between likes and dislikes. But that was an earlier version, and I was surprised, when I recently looked back at the 2009 version, how different it felt in the early pages from where the novel finally ended up.

Anyway, I'd be happy with another review or two. I've been told that there's some magic point with good reviews on Amazon. It's either 12 or 20. Snowball effects begin after that. I wouldn't know.

Last Edited by kudzurunner on Oct 27, 2015 10:38 AM
JTThirty
298 posts
Oct 28, 2015
5:49 PM
Great to hear you've got a novel on the market, Adam. I've got your memoir and non-fiction musings on blues music. I'll stick on my Kindle tonight.
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Ricky B
http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com
RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N, iTunes, iBook
THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto
HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--Ditto too, now available
lor
190 posts
Nov 15, 2015
8:16 AM
My paperback copy just arrived! (They have Sunday deliveries in the Cincinnati area.) I'll read it "toute de suite" and post a review on Amazon.

BTW, I know that reviews are very important in the ranking, and therefore sales, of Amazon's book offerings. If you care about Adam, I strongly recommend that you give his novel a boost by posting a review on Amazon.

Look for mine in a few days.

Last Edited by lor on Nov 15, 2015 8:20 AM
kudzurunner
5758 posts
Nov 15, 2015
10:07 AM
You're right about the importance of the number of reviews, lor. Apparently one of the key metrics is books that have ten or more reviews. I've got six. So yes, even a few kind words would be a gift from any here who read and enjoyed it.

At BookBaby, my persistent queries got me, as I requested, kicked upstairs to the guy who runs their entire distribution operation. He's got quite a Linkedin profile. And he has given me quick and useful updates. I should be in good shape on B&N and Powell's soon. I don't know about book distribution to Canada (e-books are available at every Amazon website outside the US), but I'm happy to ship books out to Canadians and all others.

Last Edited by kudzurunner on Nov 15, 2015 10:08 AM


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