Good morning Hank, it's Tuesday. Greetings from the floor of a hotel room in New York City.
Congratulations on your book!
It is just so, so brilliant. It really is the best book I've read about what "now" feels like.
And it's also like a rip-roaring adventure story
To be honest when you first told me you were writing a book part of me was like I'm gonna
Have to be the big brother in this situation advising him on writing and stuff
But in the end I can offer you no writing advice at all, only congratulations
In part because our styles are so different.
For instance, your book like has a proper plot.
But, but Hank! You have to improve your self-promotion.
I mean you made a 3 minute and 47 second video about your book
In which you failed to mention the title of your book
Which by the way is An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
It comes out on September 25th and is available for pre-order now.
Say it with me Hank, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing comes out September 25th
And is available for pre-order now. When you are talking about your new book
Even if you are talking to your spouse or your cat
Always include those three pieces of information: title, pub date, available for pre-order now.
Also you didn't talk much about the plot of the book and I definitely understand the urge
To avoid spoilers but the premise is so, so good.
Alright, check this out. A 23-year-old graphic designer is walking home
From a very late night at work when she happens across a ten-foot tall,
Seemingly immovable sculpture of like a samurai warrior.
She names the sculpture Karl in a YouTube video she makes with her friend and then wakes up
The next morning wildly famous, in part because the YouTube video was charming and funny,
And in part because 50 other Karls have appeared all over Earth at the exactly the same time.
And from there it just gets amazing. It is the story of one woman's
Ascent, or possibly descent, into fame and punditry
And an exploration of how humans behave when faced with big shared challenges.
Now Hank, I don't want to criticizes your promo game too much
Because you are a good person who understandably doesn't want
To bombard our audience with marketing, but this isn't like an ad
For Squarespace, which by the way is your #1 one stop shop for websites like Hankgreen.com
You've been working on this book for years, and people want to know about it.
Obviously Vlogbrothers shouldn't become like a book-Tube channel
Devoted only to the one book, but do let us know when like there's a cover. God I cannot
Wait for the cover! Also, are you going on tour and can I come and can we have a bus
Again? Okay lastly, and maybe most importantly, in you announcement video you said this:
-Not all pre-orders will be signed.
John set unrealistic expectations. -Alright, I get that only someone who finds arguably pathological joy
In repetitive tasks would sign their name 200,000 times, but that doesn't mean that you should
Sign zero pre-orders. So yeah we'll figure something out, sorry I had to go out
To get a piece of pizza. Let's just resume filming at the hotel room.
Hank, congratulations again on a great book. I am so excited for the world to read it
And for the important conversations that will emerge from it.
But before I go I have to do a bit of self-promo. The first episode of my new
Podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed, is out now and available for your listening pleasure.
The Anthropocene Reviewed is a podcast where I review different
Facets of the human centered planet on a five-star scale. The first episode is about Canada Geese, a bird
Species that nearly went extinct, and Diet Dr. Pepper, a zero-calorie soda
Popularized by a man named Foots. It's been really fun to work on something personal
And also a little weird. I hope you like it there are links in the doobly-doo below.
Hank, An Absolutely Remarkable thing comes out September 25th and is available for pre-order now.
I will see you on Friday.