Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Contest to help launch new edition of Pope Joan

Today June 9th is the launch date of a new revised version of Donna Woolfolk Cross' novel Pope Joan. I met Donna ten years ago when she visited Sonoma County and was kind enough to offer to do a benefit signing for an organization I headed at the time.

I am happy that she has had such wonderful success with her novel and wish her well on the launch of the new edition and with the forthcoming movie adapted from her novel.


From her email updates comes this information:

Pope Joan Updates
from Donna Woolfolk Cross

Hello Pope Joan Readers!

Ready to walk the red carpet with me? See below!

Has any author has ever owed so much to her readers as I do? I doubt it. Abandoned by its previous publisher, Pope Joan, labor of my heart, the product of seven years of research and writing, should by all rights have had a shelf life somewhere between lettuce and yogurt!

The fact that it's still in print is testimony to the power of grass-roots promotion--to the kindness of readers who passed the word (not the book! never the book!) along. Heartfelt thanks to all who have supported my poor orphaned novel over the years.

At long last, Pope Joan may have her day. As I mentioned in the
March Update, I now have a wonderful new publisher, Three Rivers
Press. Together, we have created a whole new edition of Pope Joan.

The new version has:

  • larger print (no need to squint to read it anymore!)

  • corrections and additions to the text

  • revised and updated Author's Note which includes new information in support of Joan's historical existence

  • a new list of "Best of the Best" reading group questions, gleaned from my many years of chatting by speakerphone with reading and school groups all over the U.S., Canada and Europe.

The new edition will arrive in bookstores tomorrow, June 9th. And it's important that it "hit the ground running." The more briskly books sell right on/after June 9th, the more likely Pope Joan will finally "make her mark" on a U.S. bestseller list.

To help encourage summer sales, I've come up with a fun and unusual idea, which should appeal to anyone who has ever dreamed of walking a red carpet.

Join me and my family as we walk the red carpet on the night of the Pope Joan movie premiere!

... Includes two tickets to the movie premiere,
plus round trip airfare for two from any location in the continental United States or Canada, and one night hotel accommodation for you and your guest to share.

Want to participate? Simply buy the new Three Rivers Press edition of Pope Joan during the months of June or July 2009 and send me the original receipt. In August, I'll pick randomly from the pile of receipts to select someone and their guest to join me at the U.S. movie premiere in the fall (exact date still to be determined).

And... a special bonus for anyone who purchases the new edition of Pope Joan on its release date, Tuesday, June 9th.
Learn more at the link below.

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Link to the official Pope Joan Red Carpet entry information here.

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It's an innovative--even somewhat quirky-- idea, which is why I believe Joan herself would have liked it. It's also a very small gesture of appreciation to my wonderful readers who have done so much for Pope Joan. With your continued support, perhaps this inspirational woman, long forgotten to history, can finally get the recognition she deserves!

Donna Woolfolk Cross

June 2009

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

eh, so much for real history.