Guinea-pigs wanted for Fiction Flirting …
Some small teething problems with “Book Lovers” or “Fiction Flirting” - sorry about having to use both names but Idle Tom the publisher is still in a dither over which title to plump for.
The result is that “Book Lovers”/ “Fiction Flirting” has now been running a week with both titles. We’ll just have to wait and see which name the great man eventually chooses.
I asked Idle Tom last week whether “Fiction Flirting” had had much interest. (By the by, for those not in the loop, “Fiction Flirting” is just the latest stunt that Tom and I have dreamt up to help flog “The Well-Tempered Clavier”. It’s a new way to chat up strangers. And it may even help shift one or two copies of the book.)
“Has there been much interest in Fiction Flirting?” he said, pondering the question awhile. “A fair amount.”
“That bad?” I said. “I mean I know what your ‘fair amounts’ really mean. So how many people have signed up for it? How many people from Gorgeous Networks are giving it a spin?”
“Well … The odd few.”
“What? You mean none at all?”
“That’d be about right.”
“Tommy, what we need is a guinea-pig. Some guy, some lonely, lonely guy who’s desperate for a girlfriend and who’s prepared to road-test Fiction Flirting. Got any ideas?”
“A lonely guy … who’s desperate for a girlfriend? Nope. Can’t think of anybody.”
“But there must be somebody, Tommy. Somebody, say, in their late 20s, who likes books and who’s a bit shy about talking to women who might just be up for it. You must be able to think of someone?”
“Ummm. No. Nobody at all.”
“Well what about you?”
“Me??”
“Get on and do it. Let’s see if we can turn fiction flirting into a go.”
“I don’t know if it’s quite my scene.”
January 21st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I think Tom needs to hold his breath on fiction flirting, otherwise he’s going to be too tired to inflate that girlfriend of his under the bed.