"Leverage" Drops in Five Months
Things are heating up
My darkly hilarious, grimly topical, and hella fun novel Leverage hits bookshelves in five short months! There's a good chance we'll all be dead by then, but let's stay positive and just assume everything will be FUBAR.
This post contains the latest details and goings on related to the late production and early publicity phase of the publishing process.
A Marketing/Love Letter to Indie Bookstores
As part of our marketing outreach to independent bookstores, my publisher asked if I'd like to write a personalized letter to accompany our galleys. I never miss a chance to put myself over, so here's what I cooked up. Trigger warning: Optimism.
Dear Bookseller,
I love comic books, and as a kid I devoured countless superhero stories.
Spider-Man’s intrinsic goodness, Ghost Rider’s gritty code, and The Punisher’s amoral crusade against organized crime encouraged me to interrogate life’s most complex ideas and ask life’s most unanswerable questions. Of course, the epic superpowers and reality-spanning battles also captured my imagination.
Comics catalyzed my lifelong love of reading, and in many ways inspired me to craft my own stories. I’m now the proud—if exhausted—father of two wildly imaginative children, and sharing my passion for the artform and teaching them all about those legendary characters is an absolute blast.
With age, experience, and dare I say wisdom, however, my perspective has evolved. Nowadays, when my kids ask me questions like: “Which superhero is the strongest?” or “Who would win: Hulk, Thor, or Thanos?” I have a stock answer at the ready. The strongest superpower of all is reading, I say. Because if you can read, you can do anything.
What then does that make bookstores, if not fantastical, all-powerful places where any- and everyone can turn themselves into a superhero?
Alas, with mis- and disinformation running rampant and censorship on the rise, bookstores are not just magical places where a child can foster their inherent curiosity. The service booksellers provide is as vital as ever. Books clarify, educate, and empower. Books speak objective truth in an age riven by cynical political rhetoric and sycophantic corporate enabling. For the contemporary author, confronting these realities is both an immense challenge and an immense privilege.
My debut novel Leverage is many things: a searching exploration of mixed-race identity, a grim examination of self-worth, a scathing indictment of Wall Street and unrestrained casino capitalism, and, above all, a fast-paced, darkly funny, and hella fun thrill ride.
The themes tackled in Leverage—corporate and political corruption, institutional racism and sexism, and systematized economic inequality, to name a few—are topical and resonant. My novel is exactly the kind of work the authoritarian movement would love to suppress, which is why I’m confident it will find an enthusiastic audience.
Against this dire backdrop, I want to thank you for the crucial role you play in creating a fairer, more just society. It’s my honor to share Leverage with you and the superheroes you help train each and every day.
—Amran Gowani
Publicity Updates and Recent Appearances
My enthusiastic publicist David Brown has been pounding the pavement and drumming up interest for Leverage with some major media outlets and influential finance bros. Hopefully his much appreciated efforts will lead to some raves, reviews, and mega sales down the line.
The two of us are also having a meeting tomorrow to map out my path to becoming a truth-telling, fact-spouting, nuance-obsessed demagogue who dominates the podcast circuit. It's early days but I should have more to report soon.
By virtue of being a loud-mouthed attention whore, recently I was 1) a guest on The Rabbit Hole of Research podcast and 2) interviewed by the Chicago Writers Association for their newsletter.
On the pod, I discussed "Financial Systems in Fiction" with hosts Jotham Austin, II and Nick Elizalde. If you'd like to hear me dunk on the economic models featured in Star Trek and Star Wars and rant about rapacious neoliberalism, this funny and wide-ranging conversation includes just the right ratio of wonk to snark.
You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast provider.
The Chicago Writers Association also generously invited me to discuss my traditional publication journey in an issue of their email newsletter.
In a shocking twist, I only come off as 19% condescending asshole. Better still, the conversation contains several nuggets of artistic and financial wisdom which you writer types might find valuable. You can read the transcript by clicking HERE.
Leverage Launch Party
For those of you residing in or around Chicago – or motivated enough to travel to the Windy City – The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square has graciously agreed to host a Leverage launch party!
Granular details are forthcoming, but barring my untimely death I'll be holding court at the wonderful indie bookstore on the evening of Tuesday, August 19.
Mark your calendars now.
Snag Your Leverage Pre-Order
I just sent the so-called second pass pages of Leverage back to my publisher. This review marked my final pass through the novel before it goes off to the production endgame and eventual printing. Spoiler alert: The book's fucking awesome.
I'm still hoping to receive effusive and ebullient blurbs from three literary superstars and galleys are getting into the hands of booksellers and influencers as the world burns. Pending something truly catastrophic, Leverage will soon be a real damn book available for real actual money.
Speaking of which, pre-order sales are a crucial industry benchmark, and now's as good a time as any to procure your copy. You can select your preferred format (e.g., hardcover, e-book, audiobook) via these mostly vile vendors:
It's a dire time for humanity, but it's an exciting time for Leverage. With any luck, the fusion of these dynamics will thrust the novel into the eyes and ears of the last dozen or so fiction readers residing across the empire.
As always, thanks for your interest, support, and engagement. Stay frosty out there.
Amran
