Dear readers,

Today, we are two weeks away from Hot Wax pub day. It’s an exciting but incredibly busy time; if you’ve following me on social media, you’ve probably seen a lot of event announcements, some early reviews, and even some early swag. But I wanted to go ahead and send this reminder for those of you who are less chronically online.

The Hot Wax book tour starts one night early at the Strand in New York City; we’ll be in the rare books room on the second floor, and it’s worth the price of a ticket just to come and eyeball all the beautiful books. If you can’t make the launch, though, you New Yorkers have a second chance: we’re doing a special, one-off event at Rough Trade Below in Rockefeller Center, where I’ll be in conversation with Adam Weiner of the Tristate Area’s scrappiest rock band, Low Cut Connie. We’re going to spin some records and talk about all the music that went into the making of the book. I hope you’ll come out and jam with us.

If you’re outside of New York, never fear: we have so many events in September and October, there are pretty good odds I’ll be somewhere near your neck of the woods, signing books and taking questions and handing out bookmarks, stickers, buttons, crayons, candy, Matchbox cars, record store gift cards, and even (drumroll, please) these incredible tour posters designed by Hannah Taylor. It’s a real dream come true to have merch worthy of Gil & the Kills, the movers and shakers at the heart of Hot Wax. We have a hundred of these posters, and we’ll be giving one away–signed and numbered–at each of my events this fall.

If that’s not enough incentive, I don’t know what it is! We had such a blast on Graveyard tour last year and this time around we’ve pulled out all the stops, because everyone needs a little something to look forward to and with book bans cropping up all over the place and freedom of speech under threat, now is a real good time to come together and celebrate books. You can find working links to all of my upcoming appearances on the Events page. If you have questions, it’s best to reach out to the bookstore directly, as each event is a little different! If you think you want to come, jump on those tickets fast. Many of our events last year sold out, and the ones this fall are already filling up.

Finally, with just a few weeks left between me and pub day, I just want to say a little about pre-orders and how much they help support a book and the people who worked on it. Pre-ordering a book does a lot of good things: it helps the publisher decide how big the print run should be, which means we have enough copies for everyone at launch; it signals to bookstores and booksellers that this is a title worth stocking and talking about; and it helps our first-week sales numbers, which can make a big difference in the book’s future performance. Why do sales matter so much? Writing is an art, but at the end of the day, publishing is a business. Fabulous books like this cost money to edit and design and print and advertise. But sales numbers can also make or break an author: if the sales numbers aren’t good, good luck getting published again. I’ve lived it, and it’s heartbreaking. So if you want to support me and my work, this is one of the best and most impactful ways to do that. Thank to everyone who’s pre-ordered already, and thank you in advance to those of you haven’t yet. You can pre-order anywhere you get books: US pre-orders are here, and the UK is here.

I think it’ll be worth it, and worth the wait. I’ve been living in this book for a long time, and it’s turned into something really special. We can’t wait to share it with you.

M