The Tenth Day of Bookmas

We’re coming down the home stretch now on the contest, and since you guys have been making it all look so easy, Jessica OK’d me to make this one a four-part answer. I’m hoping to stump you a little on this one! For those who missed the rules, hop back over to the November 30 post and give a quick read.

And of course, before we start today’s contest, we need to announce yesterday’s winner.

Yesterday’s question was: If Jessica had to give up working in publishing, what one job would she want to consider doing?

And the answer is a recipe developer with a secondary dream of cookbook author. I know a number of you said cookbook author, but the truth is what I'd like to do is develop recipes. I don't want to be a chef or baker because I don't want to have to cook for others day in and day out or work in a restaurant kitchen. In fact, I've spent enough of my life in restaurants to know that's more than I want. I want to work in my own kitchen creating recipes (not testing) and maybe authoring cookbooks or, even better, doing the work for restaurants who will make them to serve to customers.

Congratulations to Ebyss. Please email your contact information to blog@bookends-inc.com and we’ll get your prize out immediately.


Here’s today’s hint (from Kim) . . .

When I first started working in the book publishing industry I was starstruck and awed by all of the amazing authors I would see in the office or at signings. I had this grand idea that I would start a collection of signed books that could be passed down through my family for generations. As the years went by, my interest in building this big book collection waned. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a huge collection of books. And I certainly treasure the ones that are signed to me by my clients or authors that I worked with when I was an editor. But I’m no longer interested in building a collection for the collection’s sake.

Still, there are a few books in the mini-collection I started that stand out for me:

The first was a book written by an actor I’d watched in a short-run TV series in the 80s. It’s the first signing/reading I ever went to. I was in NYC for my Putnam Berkley internship and I saw that this actor would be signing his book at the local Barnes & Noble. It was one of my first big-city excursions. Now I look at that book and totally crack up.

Another is a first-edition hardcover with a note to me from the author. I was the assistant to his editor at the time, and he remains one of my all-time favorite writers.

Then there’s the book that was a gift from my mother. When she knew I was eager to build this collection she bought a signed copy of this book by an author I’d grown up reading from an NYC bookstore.

And finally there’s the only signed book I actually purchased from a book dealer. All of the other books in my collection had been gifts or I’d had signed in person. This book — by one of my favorites — felt more like an “investment” in my collection.

Can you guess the titles and authors of these four books?

Check with these authors for clues:

Lorna Barrett
Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor
Sally MacKenzie
Paige Shelton
Amy Patricia Meade
Wendy Watson
Ellery Adams
Angie Fox
Gina Robinson
Erin Kellison
R.R. Smythe
Bill Crider
Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Bella Andre
Elizabeth Amber
Krista Davis
Heather Webber
Avery Aames
Kim Lenox
Joyce and Jim Lavene
C. C. Hunter
Cricket McCrae
Wendy Lyn Watson
Erika Chase
Elizabeth Joy Arnold


Kim