Next week marks one year since the publication of my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. The book's official street date from publisher Rare Bird Books was May 9th or thereabouts, though preorders were already in the hands of the discerning few by late April.
May of 2023 was just a magic experience for me. My first book published! An appearance on a local TV talk show! A live-music book release party at my favorite Syracuse nightspot The 443 Social Club And Lounge! An in-store at my favorite local bookseller Parthenon Books, followed by another in-store at a local Barnes and Noble. Initial buzz was encouraging, word of mouth seemed positive, and it was a # 1 release on Amazon (admittedly in some waaaay too-limited niche category, like "# 1 Best-Selling Book About The Ramones By A Central New York Blogger Who Is A Capricorn"). But it was exciting, and I was all in.
As we now know, however, the book underperformed at retail, posting a loss rather than a profit. In my charmingly D-U-M-B naivete, I didn't see that coming.
So: What went wrong?
First off, please forgive my hubris as I insist the book itself is not to blame. I will accept responsibility for the book's failure in the marketplace, but I don't concede any flaw in the published work. For well or ill, Gabba Gabba Hey! is as good as I was capable of executing, and I have zero regrets about how it turned out, a credit to my efforts and to Rare Bird Books for crafting a spiffy-lookin' product. I'm not going to feign modesty here; this is a good book, I remain very proud of it, and I fully believe it's a worthy thing of interest to a larger audience of Ramones fans.
I just couldn't reach that audience.
That's on me, at least in large part. Much of it can be chalked up to the inexperience of a first-time book author. I was able to do a decent job of hawking the book here in Syracuse, but I fell far, far short of goals on the national (and international) level. Rare Bird got the physical product in stores. A few of my friends have tried to pin the book's fortunes (or lack thereof) on Rare Bird, but it's not really Rare Bird's fault. Hell, Amy Rigby sent me a photo of Gabba Gabba Hey! on display at London's Rough Trade, so the damned thing was indeed out there in the wild.
I was unable to capitalize on that.
There were no reviews in magazines. Seeking more exposure, I reached out to a few people, including some in the Ramones camp, but I couldn't secure any endorsements. An outlet that had contacted me about a podcast appearance wound up ghosting me instead. Thanks to a few friends, there was a smattering of notice from a few online resources, including Remember The Lightning, Power Pop News, The Spoon podcast, Syracuse's TK99, Goodreads, Pop Geek Heaven, Matthew Street, and Kool Kat Musik.
It wasn't enough. And I dropped the ball by not trying to get traction with, say, Rolling Stone, Mojo, Record Collector, Shindig!, The Big Takeover, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Sirius XM, and...well, everybody. I accept the responsibility, and I'm coming to terms with the disappointment.
And I hope the lessons learned will help me do better next time. I have three more books on the way, beginning with the long-threatened, already-completed The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). The low sales of Gabba Gabba Hey! mean Rare Bird is not interested in publishing GREM!; I have extended a feeler to another publisher, but I'm pretty certain that I will be doing this myself. I've begun planning for Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, and I've just started to pull at the threads of another intriguing book project working with [REDACTED], but I can't tell you about [REDACTED] until [REDACTED] says I can tell you about [REDACTED]. That is [REDACTED]'s right.
Commercial failure notwithstanding, I look back with pride and gratitude at the giddy experience of my first book, a nifty li'l thing about the greatest American rock 'n' roll group of all time. Rare Bird still has copies of my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, so I'll paraphrase some British group: I see some red ink and I want to paint it black. Go! Sedate your rock book library awready!
In times of adversity, I always ask myself, What would the Ramones do? Man, the inevitable, unerringly correct answer is:
1-2-3-4!
Get on with it. Hard and fast and catchy. Hey-Ho! Hey-Ho! Hey-Ho!
Let's go.
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Carl's book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/
If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.
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