Even if I weren't in the business, I'd still like book people.But having spent years in the business, I enjoy some insider connections. Tomorrow I look forward to hanging around as the client for whom I just edited a manuscript has a photo taken for the back cover. Afterward he said I could get my picture taken in the classic car that makes a cameo appearance.
That will be fun, but I mostly look forward to talking with him. We communicated during the project, but only about the manuscript--and just via email, as he lives in another state. I'd like to hear his plans for a trip he's planning with his family.
That evening my wife and I hope to get together for dinner with two more friends. I met him at a writers conference, then a book signing. Since then we've gotten together several times a year for a meal, for a special event, to attend the other's church, or just to talk.
I appreciate talking with people with common interests. Especially when those interests include books.
That applies even when I don't know the other person. Yesterday as I was browsing my favorite used book store, I noticed a woman holding several trade paperbacks – and a list.
She glanced at her list and said that without one, she tends to buy books she already has. I said I knew what she meant. We chatted a moment, then continued scanning the shelves.
We may have been checking different genres, but I knew we had much in common. Most book people do.
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