On November 11, 2014 Amanda Palmer’s first book, “The Art of Asking” was released. Yesterday, we found out that the book cracked the New York Times Best Sellers list at #7 for Nonfiction.
Last week I went up to Boston for the book’s release. On the eve of the book’s release, Amanda lead a late-night parade from Harvard Square to Porter Square Books where at midnight, she read from the book, sang some songs, had special guests Jason Webley and Neil Gaiman perform and read, respectively and signed books for fans over the course of several hours into the wee morning of book release day.
A photo posted by HayleyFiasco (@hayleyfiasco) on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:50am EST
The next night, Amanda had a ‘proper’ rock show book reading at Royale in Boston, joined again on stage by Jason and Neil, but also featured Laurie Penny, Amy Cuddy (and her son!), Rachel Jayson and Anthony Martignetti. Afterwards, Amanda stayed late to sign more books for more people.
Those two days were beautiful. I stayed a little longer in Boston, and then returned back to New York and caught Amanda’s in-store reading at Barnes & Noble featuring Brandon Stanton (aka Humans of New York) as a guest. Again, Amanda signed many books, gave many hugs, and took many photos with so many people.
A photo posted by HayleyFiasco (@hayleyfiasco) on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:51pm EST
Then, I returned back to work at Kickstarter, where I found my copy of the book that Amanda sent me… she had told me it was in the mail, I was excited and curious to see what it would say. When I opened up my copy of the book for the first time and read Amanda’s inscription to me, my eyes started to water and I swelled with so much emotion. It was incredibly sweet, and now, even thinking about it, I feel full - full of so many things but mostly full of love, art and the impact of my efforts to help more of both of those things to exist in this world.
I loved watching Amanda sign for fans, it’s a special interaction, a moment that is deep and meaningful. I love seeing people excited to meet an artist, a musician, and now author, that they admire, that they love, that they appreciate. Someone who has affected their lives in a positive (and sometimes significant) way. Signings were a way for me to spiritually fuel up - to see in person exactly why I do what I do, and the fruits of why I work as hard as I do. It’s seeing the realness of it all, it’s seeing fans as people and not as email senders, it’s seeing the connections that I helped build, it’s seeing what This Is All About.
I don’t work for Amanda full-time anymore. I don’t get to see this happen as often as I used to. I’m not involved with as many things as I once was, but I’m still here, still helping, still building, still holding - still doing all that I can to support Amanda and her community. These last 5 years have been incredible, they’ve been challenging and difficult and stressful and wonderful - everything has lead up to this, Amanda’s book encompasses her journey - from way before I was ever part of it, all the way to the present where I am part of it, I’m part of it in so many ways - a sentence I’m so honored to be able to say. So it was really special for me to see so many people come out to these signings, so many people excited to read the book and so many people moved by the words in it already. It was special for me because this was Amanda’s book, and I’ve supported her for a very long time in many capacities, it’s personal. It was special for me because I know how hard Amanda and her team - Team AFP and her book team - have worked on this project and all the others. It was special for me because I knew that this was special for her. This is Amanda’s book, but my finger printers are scattered over it.
…
I just got a phone call with news so good, I accidentally put my shoes on the wrong feet. #flipflops
— HayleyFiasco! (@HayleyFiasco)
I remember the call from Amanda’s then manager notifying me that her album Theatre Is Evil debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart on release week. It came in at #10, Dave Matthews Band was #1. It reached #2 on Billboard’s Independent Album charts. It was an incredible feeling. Not disbelief but shock and awe and a flood of warmth feeling like we had all accomplished something big against the stream. I got so excited and so flustered I stood up and put my shoes on the wrong feet (they were flip flops).
HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK WE ENTERED THE @BILLBOARD CHARTS at #10
— Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer)
I had this strange feeling thinking that it felt so foreign, almost inconceivable, that I never thought I’d be able to say that I worked on an album/project that topped the Billboard charts, it just didn’t seem like a fruit I’d ever taste and then it happened… the album made it on the charts and it felt like we all got away with something… like we were crashing a party and got to spin the music. It was, and still is, wonderful to have achieved something that no one thought we’d achieve, but together, the community, the fans - we did it.
And now, 2 years and 2 months later, Amanda has done it again - achieved a very respected spot on a mainstream chart that maybe, just maybe, means that someone somewhere will be enabled to discover her work and what she’s doing, and become inspired to make art of their very own. Reaching this book chart means that more bookstores may carry this book, they may even display it prominently in their stores, and the publisher will probably increase the promotion budget, and press will likely write more about this. A new and bigger audience may now discover this book, simply because thousands of other people bought it and put this on a chart - on a chart, mind you, without Amazon (Amanda’s book is published by Hachette, which was in dispute with Amazon up until last week and did not sell pre-orders to Amanda’s book).
This is Amanda’s victory but it feels like OUR victory. She has even touted it as such.
Amanda works extremely hard, anyone who has worked with her or along side her knows this. She rolls from project to project, thing to thing, and continuously makes art - whether it’s music, theater, performance art or writing, she constantly creates. And it was clear that this book was a challenge for her to write, it was written rather quickly, it’s personal and it took a lot - a lot of help and a lot of support. I’m so, so proud of A, I’m proud of my comrades on Team AFP, and I’m so proud to have been a part of this project and every 8ft Records project before it - whether I get recognition or not. I love the fact that I can stand on the sidelines and which people be moved by something that was made with so much care, love and thought - by Amanda, and by her small team helping her put her art out into this world. So many people have been moved, inspired, swayed by Amanda’s music, writing and the work that we’ve done, it’s incredible to think that there are thousands of people who will be reading this book, learning her story - a story I’m grateful to be part of.
I know, I know New York Times lists and other commercial lists are problematic, capitalist and can be misleading and full of shit - “Damn the man!" and "This world is bullshit!" but i think of this milestone as showing that love, art, and dedication to your community CAN win, you can build the world you want to see, create art your way and find people who share your enthusiasm and build trust around it. That something that seemed so niche isn’t as small as you thought, or as small as you’ve been told it was. It’s big and it’s growing.
TL;DR I’m so happy for Amanda & I am proud to be part of her art family, the the punk cabaret community that she’s built.
(adapted from a Facebook comment I wrote in sharing Amanda’s original picture post announcing the NY Times best seller list)
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