Classic first-time author maneuver. I'm driving around town to a variety of bookstores just to see what my book looks like on their shelf. So I was passing by a random Borders the other day and decided to poke my head in and see where they had decided to place 'My Jesus Year". It was on the new release table and, as I've been doing at other stores, I started snapping some pictures with my cell phone. I guess this looked a little weird, because the store manager approached with one of those, "Can I help you?" moments.

I explained (first-time author, excited to see book in stores, etc.) and, to my surprise, he offered me a pen and asked me to autograph all the copies of 'My Jesus Year" that were in his store. I did and then he slapped an "Autographed Copy" sticker on it and gave it better placement (see accompanying pic). Maybe I should do that more often.

We're still looking for pictures of the book in a store near you. Snap a pic and send it to theauthor@myjesusyear.com. We'll post it soon and give you a shout-out.

Thanks!

Dear Edgar Bronfman,

An apology is in order. I am so sorry for kicking you out of the number one spot on Amazon's list of best-selling Jewish books. After my interview with NPR last night, sales skyrocketed beyond my control. Who knew NPR had such a broad reach? Who knew that I would wake up this morning to find out that My Jesus Year, in its first day of release, would be #1?

I have since spoken to the powers that be and kindly asked people to stop buying the book, if for no other reason than to allow your book to creep back up to the top. And so, you'll be happy to know, that as of this writing you are now back at #1. Hope you're happy.

Despite my grandiose notions that there would be masses of people lining up at midnight tonight to purchase my book, the local bookstores here in Atlanta apparently had other plans. I happen to stop into two stores tonight and found that the book was put on shelves today -- a day before it's supposed to go on sale. And a friend in New York told me she saw it in a Barnes & Noble there as well. It was a pleasant surprise. Oh well, I guess my book is no Harry Potter.

I've got to admit, it's pretty "gosh-darn" (as Sarah Palin would say) cool to see My Jesus Year actually at bookstores. I snapped the two photos below and am trying to collect pictures from as many places as possible. So if you see the book on the shelf at your local store, send in your picture to theauthor@myjesusyear.com and we'll post it right here on the blog and mention your name as well.

For a brief moment tonight, My Jesus Year was ahead of The Diary of Anne Frank on Amazon's ranking of Jewish books. First the economy, now this. What is wrong with the world?