Monday, June 13, 2011

"Boys of Steel" at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California

A young woman whose family I have known since she was a tiny girl emailed the following (and then kindly gave me permission to share it here):

I recently graduated high school. Thursday night my fellow graduates and I went to "Grad Nite" at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was looking through Superman and Batman capes when I noticed something familiar at the front counter: your book! I screeched excitedly and called my friends over, pointing to Boys of Steel as I explained that I knew the author. It was really great to see one of your books at the very front of a store, on display, and to know that I had the same book at home, had read it cover to cover multiple times already, and even had met the author!
Photo courtesy of Braden E (via Flickr).

This is especially rewarding for me for three reasons:
  1. Because Six Flags is home to various Superman rides including a roller coaster with the zippy name "Escape from Krypton" (pictured above), I personally pitched them Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman several months before it was published in 2008...although even I thought it unlikely that an amusement park shop would agree to carry a hardcover nonfiction book.
  2. Three summers later, the book is still available at Six Flags! (Then again, since publisher-to-nonbook-retailer sales are typically nonreturnable, perhaps that is a copy from the original order three years ago that has yet to sell...)
  3. The book is on display at the front of the store. (Then again, if it is a copy from three years ago, they've got to do whatever it takes to move that thing.)
And also, Six Flags sells capes? Next they've got to create a coaster on which you can wear one...

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