Edward Kay

I will be meeting 100 sales reps from Chapters Indigo this Wednesday, July 19th, at the Random House / Doubleday head office in Toronto as the publisher previews its Fall Kids’ Books line up. I will be telling the Chapters Indigo people about STAR Academy, then signing copies. I’m very excited about the chance to meet the people who will actually be out there selling my book and give them a preview of it. As a writer – especially a Canadian writer raised with stifling amounts of modesty that infects my very body like a pox – it is an exercise in humility to explain to perfect strangers why your book is an amazing read and why everyone should want to buy it. So instead, I’ve decided that after fourteen years working in showbiz, I’m not going to think like a self-effacing writer, but rather like an actor (especially those mouthy little animated ones I’ve been providing dialogue for over the past seven or eight years).

So, never mind that it’s a lively, funny read that I humbly submit combines entertaining prose and strong visuals – an adventure story that will have people on the edge of their seats wondering about the fate of its young protagonists. Or that it’s full of curriculum – both science and general knowledge – that fills in some of the blanks created by cutbacks to funding of educational systems, and will, I hope, actually inspire kids to want to learn. Or that it conveys the message that being smart is cool. And that it has sly satirical references to certain people and events that may be more familiar to adults – such as former U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld (I will give away a signed first-edition copy of the book to the first reader who, after the release date of Sept. 15th, 2009, correctly identifies the passage containing the quote and contacts me through this site- details will be announced in a separate entry in the weeks to come). Or that its characters are multicultural in an organic way that I didn’t even realize was happening until I was about half-way through, and should therefore appeal to young readers and reference their culture’s contributions to human progress no matter where in the world they come from. Or that it references actual Canadian locations that are either strange enough or inspiring enough to form the basis of locations in a comedic adventure novel.

No, never mind all these lofty if ultimately self-aggrandizing arguments. I have a better idea. I am going to point out that a signed first edition copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone” was sold for £10,575 at a Sotheby’s auction. And that a first-edition copy of Lemony Snicket’s “The Bad Beginning” currently lists for US$ 600.00. What better reason, to go, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” and brave the mosh pit that I hope forms around Star Academy book displays, in order to stake one’s claim on a first-edition copy (or better yet, copies). In these recessionary times (forget what the Bank of Canada says about it being over, the liars) the opportunity to make a 5000% profit on your investment is a rare occurrence. An elbow to the head, a knee to the kidneys, or even a groin pull sustained whilst trying to snag a copy from the top of the display is a small price to pay for something that may fetch a fortune on eBay in a few years’ time.

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