The inscription on one of 32 copies of POOKOO worldwide is on E-Bay.
The rush to get a first novel into a father's hands might prove to be literary gold for lucky readers and investors who get their hands on a limited run of a new novel. POOKOO, a satire about runaway celebrity by D.L. Shiloh, was released with printer's errors including some dreaded typos. Until a new ISBN number can be made for the book, the book is still being sold at Amazon.com, flaws and all. As of October 2008, only 32 copies have been printed worldwide.
Shiloh's father, a retired engineer and a Navy veteran living in rural Iowa, has congestive heart failure and in August, 2008 things had taken a turn for the worse. Shiloh began POOKOO 17 years ago but was moved to action to finish it because of his father's health. He used Amazon.com's print-on-demand service and published the book. While he'd prefer to go through the normal channels and get an agent, Shiloh "went with his heart" and accomplished his mission and got a copy of the book into his father's hands.
"Honestly, I wanted him to see the book before it was too late," Shiloh said, who attended the prestigious Bread Loaf Writers' Conference as a Manuscript Contributor. "I pushed to get it into print. His sensibilities are all over the book. I got my analytical skills from him, his world view on many things. We used to sit in the living room when I was a student and talk about things. His health has stabilized somewhat, but it's not good. Now he's seen my work in print. Now I can go back and fix the errors. It's been driving me up the wall."
It's definitely a situation ironic enough for any Alanis Morrisette song, for Life truly imitates art. It took Shiloh a methodical 17 years to write POOKOO because of attention to detail. Like POOKOO's narrator, Shiloh "proofread proofreaders."
"I don't regret getting the book into print, but it's not how I work," Shiloh conceded, who used to proofread travel books and annual reports at a graphics company in Chicago. "You put all the time to craft a book, revising some parts as much as 30 times, and then it still gets printed with errors. It's very ironic. It's fitting - the book has a serious edge with an echo of humor."
BREWZA.com praised the novel as “a brilliantly written satirical look at our society's celebrity obsession." With a good review like that, Shiloh quickly ordered 30 copies - one for his parents, others to friends and the rest for ARCs – Advanced Reader Copies, in publishing language. Mix in some red tape over the book's ISBN, and it allowed for the first copy to be sold. Through the print-on-demand system, books are made when ordered - not made before. The proofreader in Shiloh feels compelled to destroy the remaining copies he owns because of their flaws.
"That really smacks of some scene out of FAHRENHEIT 451," Shiloh said. "I can't fire up a shredder and I wouldn't put them in a bonfire. Plus, that's got to be against every writer's code."
Meanwhile, the book is already up for auction over at E-Bay.
Terri Tilbury, an E-Bay seller from northern Illinois posted a copy on the popular re-sale site. "I heard he was working on another one. I figured that a signed first edition might be worth something someday. With the printer's errors, it reminded me of a Beanie Baby with a misprinted tag. And I liked the story."
What about the remaining copies that Shiloh has? "The only thing i can think of is to offer them to a non-profit to help auction off."
Did Shiloh's father like the book?
"I didn't ask," Shiloh said. "He's old school. He likes Westerns and action flicks."
BREWZA.COM LINK:
http://www.brewza.com
LINK TO POOKOO on E-Bay site:
http://cgi.ebay.com/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
