[This was edited in a minor way 6/4/12.]
After having dealt for some months with some bearish issues, I am still preparing some form of The Folder Hunt to be available to those who might want to buy it.
You may ask, Why prepare this product, when it is not even a novel I have wanted to publish for many years? Well, given some lemons, I try to make lemonade. Given a complex set of circumstances, I tried to come up with the most reasonable (or least goofy) prospect. Not that I expect many takers for this.
First, because a Google Books listing for The Folder Hunt popped up in October 2011, based on my having started a bibliographic listing for it in 2009, I felt I would come forth with an offer to square with the expectation, or notion, on the part of some that such a book was to be had. I first had this idea last fall or early winter; much has intervened since, occasionally making me wonder whether I should still offer the book. But in 2009, it had been editorially prepared for kind of release, and then sat idle. It was in pretty good shape “editorial-rescue-wise”; why not try to do something with it?
(The original bibliographic information in Google Books said it was published in 2010—not true. Google Books finally corrected this information. Further, through fall 2011, the BowkerLink file had the pub date as January 2012. This I changed to June 2012. In February 2012, I found that Google Books had the pub date as June 1, 2012 [though, I felt that if I kept to that month, it seemed doubtful the book would be ready precisely on the first of June].)
Google Books still has the page amount as 160, but I changed this detail in BowkerLink in recent months: it reflects the book is now 281 pages long.
Two alternative editions
I had also had an idea there could be two alternative editions to the book. Why?
Well, the original edition didn’t seem as if it would have much of a market. (This wasn’t a problem when I first prepared the book in 2009; with increased attention starting in late 2011, it seemed more of an issue.)
This original edition is what is now called the Folder Hunt straight-up edition; and it is what is available almost now. It contains a first part of: 161 pages of the novel, including front matter, preface, and the entire text with a set of end notes that go mainly into broad issues with the text. The second part, 120 pages, comprises the novel’s text again, this time with marginal notes that could not be reproduced with the first 161 pages (never mind the production issues that caused this). These marginalia go into a whole host of fun little details.
As I said, there would obviously be a limited audience for this, though readers might find entertaining the juxtaposing of my “23-year-old authorial voice” in the novel against my twice-as-old voice as an editor and critic of the book.
I had thought of a second edition, the “flower box” edition. This would have had “extras” of more current and widespread interest. [See update on September 24.]
The Folder Hunt/“flower box” edition. This would have been more variable and edgy. It was to contain a first part, as above, of 161 pages of the novel, including front matter, preface, and the entire text with a set of end notes going mainly into broad issues with the text. There would be no marginalia.
Then, the last 120 pages of the book were to be what I would call a “flower box”: it would contain small sections on different themes, several on things relevant to the novel, such as my (and today’s youth) repaying student loans; and a few other items, most of which had a marketing value that looked more debatable as time went on.
But I've thought that some would find one "extra" the most interesting extra in this package, and which yet would have had no obvious relevance to the themes of The Folder Hunt, except as part of it could relate to highly unusual workplace managerial moves resulting in extraordinary disservice to a worker. This extra is what I would call a health-care industry biopsy, a set of items showing how select, specific, financially related things might work, or how they might be considered, in light of the current Obamacare health-care reform efforts; and items reflecting how odd things can get in certain areas of the health-care-related industry.
Either alternative edition was to be kept rigorously at the 281-page length to keep production costs even: either alternative would have cost you (and me, for production) the same. This made a certain sense in terms of us being sure the price reflected some solid costs.
Alternative A is all that’s available; B is held in reserve
Alternative B is on hold. But because you never know what interesting projects might unfold in the wake of the Supreme Court’s pending decision on the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), it shouldn’t be completely abandoned. It will remain on hold—with its most interesting “flower box” component the health-care industry biopsy. This version probably won’t be available for several months.
So, for now, here’s what’s available: Alternative A, as described above. It is a print-on-demand affair, nothing fancy. Copies are made as orders come in. $40, including New Jersey state tax and shipping (other states’ tax issues can be addressed as needed; I can give prospective buyers details where needed). To get ordering information, e-mail to bootstrp@warwick.net (“bootstrap” without the “a”) for important initial information you need before you can order (you must supply mailing address for this). I will send you “prospectus” information you need to have before buying. If you e-mail me and I respond, the response would come from the address e1013710@warwick.net (never mind why; technical trivia).
