Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Last week, I ordered two new books: the latest edition of Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer and The Shell Game: Writers Play with Borrowed Forms edited by Kim Adrian. I could have gotten them four dollars cheaper from Amazon, and qualified for free shipping since it’s almost $50 in books, but I opted instead to order from Bookshop.org.

I ordered the second edition of Friedman’s book because I am using it for the textbook for my fall class at Northampton Community College, “Pathways to Publication for the Aspiring Author.” In the past, the course used materials from one of Friedman’s now out-of-print books. While most of the articles from that book and that course exist for free on the internet, I opted to require this book because of its comprehensive look at the writing life.

Many of my students are pursuing NCC’s creative writing one-year certificate, and I believe this volume (even in its eight-year-old first edition) provides everything an aspiring writer needs to consider a career in the field. I ordered myself the new one because I have the old one.

I ordered The Shell Game because I have wanted that book for a long time. It examines the hermit crab essay, where writers mimic another form to convey their story. A mother might explore her various roles in the home by writing an essay in a résumé format, for example.

I cleared my schedule for Wednesday afternoon anticipating the arrival of these books on Monday. I would work on my course outline and syllabus for my fall class and then reward myself with The Shell Game.

I got a text at lunchtime Monday. “Your books have been delivered.” I go to my porch. No package. I peek at my neighbors’ porches. No package.

I check the text, click the tracking info. Somehow, I had sent the package to Nancy Scott. I blame predictive text. I usually order packages for Nan from Firefox, and do all of Nan’s submissions and email from Firefox. And I do my stuff in Google Chrome specifically to avoid mix-ups like this.

I call Nan and leave a message. I usually visit her Wednesday morning, so no big deal. And if she calls and says she received the parcel before then, I’ll swing by her house. She doesn’t call.

When I arrive on Wednesday, she informs me the package never came. I double-check. The name is Nancy Scott, and her full address is listed. We ask everyone in her building if they have my package. They do not.

I submit a help ticket to Bookshop.org. Later that day, they inform me that they will ship the books again, and this time, I ask them to send them to me. They shipped the new books early today.