My New Book Is Out Today

Stuff I Learned Crossing the Finish Line

There were two ways I could have played this: downplay the book launch and be modest yet cool. I went the the other way, making this post all about me. 

So here I go and there it is. Now that I see the finished book in my hands, I by no means expected it to come out this way. I did not see an advanced physical copy (did I mention there was no book party, either?), and it felt like I had just bought the book, not that I wrote the book.

It was the best I could do at the time and under the circumstances, (some heavy life stuff was but I was surprised seeing how striking the book looks and has some really nice moments (and I cannot take full credit for those but have to thank the contributors and museums with me just being the messenger). Which I want to reiterate again how grateful I am to those who helped me on the book, many who actually appear on the pages. Plus, I want to thank those writing to me having read the book and complimenting it. I’m going to include a couple of those comments down below. That really means a lot. As implausible as this sounds, publishers still say word-of-mouth is one of the best methods to a book’s success. For most writers, me included, that measurement of reaching your advance in sales.

So, let share some of my mental process. I know from questions I get, that there are writers out there who would like to hear this. If you don’t care, just scroll straight to the cartoon below.

Jerry Seinfeld told this recent story on Blocks, Neal Brennan’s podcast, “I told David Lettermen I was writing this pilot for NBC [at a Christmas party]…He said just make sure you fail doing exactly what you want to do. Best advice you can give someone doing a big scary project.”

It can take me days now to gear up my body into doing a book. This is because I can sense the whole thing coming and have to really prepare for what will be months of working nonstop, implausible hours. Each book is like this. For the museum book it took a couple of weeks before I could complete to my satisfaction, the first museum. Multiple tries, in different styles, were attempted before I was convinced what style all the museums should look like. Once that was accomplished, a had a style Bible in my head, a way of working, that every illustration afterwards would follow. You may wonder why wouldn’t every book just be done the same way, in the same look and technique. Well, no, each book is a different subject and so it should have its own voice to reflect that.

But when making those first marks and first commitment as to what I wanted there is a lot of indecision. Once I have completed the third or fourth drawing, I am riding a high that nothing else around matters and I can do no wrong on the page. It sounds cocky, but this arrogance is helpful. I began believing that each piece would come out just fine. After about 100 museum illustrations, I was riding a wave of confidence that allowed me to produce work fast because there was no indecision. Even when I made bad choices, I didn’t think so and just plowed on, working my way out of corners. When parts are not working, often the solution was to keep going until I accidentally strike the right lines and colors.

As time goes on, I find the line has less importance to the success of a piece and it’s more to do with light and color. Executing the right lighting and shadows can have more effect on the overall piece for the viewer than the line work. 

My initial point was momentum (and the same is true with cartoons. It can take maybe two weeks to breakthrough with one solid idea but then I can possibly do four or five very strong ideas in one sitting.). 

The confidence comes from a lack of fear. Confidence breeds momentum while fear breeds procrastination…

“Scheduling time to do the thing, isn’t doing the thing…Making a To Do list for the thing, isn’t doing the thing…Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing, isn’t doing the thing…Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing…Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing…Hating on the obstacle in the way of doing the thing, isn’t doing the thing…Fantasizing about all of the adoration you’ll once you do the thing, isn’t doing the thing…Reading about how other people did the thing, isn’t doing the thing…Reading this quote, isn’t doing the thing…The only thing that’s doing the thing, is doing the thing.” — comedian Jimmy Carr paraphrasing from the Modern Wisdom podcast talking on Blocks, Neal Brennan’s podcast

So doing the thing now is marketing the museum book. My path will be different than most. I used to do lots of bookstore events. Instead I’m doing some podcasts, a couple of museum and library events but mostly focused on getting features published that will blurb the book. Is this the best way to go? Who knows. I went to New Shelves Books (who is a marketer, Keri-Rae Barnum) for some additional help and was convinced to try a GoodReads Giveaway and do ads. I never spent this much money, or time, promoting one of my books before but I believe this one is worth it.

So that’s a little inside baseball on my museum book. I love doing this newsletter. I enjoy discussing how the work gets made and it helps my own work when I have to break down what I do and I think about from all different angles. This way I get to better understand the process/work, and I get excited sharing this all with other writers and artists. I hope you will be inspired.

The closest I’m ever going to come to being in the Monty Python’s Dead Parrot Pet Shop sketch was last week when I went to pick up my repaired iPad. The week before that I sneezed and dropped my iPad. After that the screen had flickering bands across it making it difficult not to want to throw the iPad across the room. 

At the shop, I asked to test the device. I had concerns but Jake assured me all was good: 

“This was a problem I wanted you to look at. The cable is loose and it doesn’t seem to keep charging…”

“No, the charger port supposed to be loose…that’s good…”

“The screen is black…”

“Your computer is sleeping…all good. It resting.”

Till the end of May, if you purchase my new book, Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums, I will give you a lifetime (mine) free paid subscription to this newsletter, The Bob. That’s at least a $50 value every year Substack stays afloat. Just email that you got a copy (honor system).

There is a slideshow at my website that includes a sneak peek of some pages. Just scan the QR code here.

As I mentioned earlier, nowadays any book’s success is driven by word-of-mouth and reviews. So, if you enjoy the book, I would greatly appreciate any love you can give my way. Here are some enthusiastic reviews so far… 

“I want to tell you, that what is genius about your lovely drawings, is the layout of the quotations that are…pitch perfect for each museum. So you’ve combined the touching with the unique with the funny- the human condition at its best ! — Sophie Verlaine

“The most delightful book I’ve ever held in my hands. Delightful for the artwork, the stories, and the opportunity to whimsically reflect on the special places where we collect and consider the bits and pieces—and the great ideas—of the human experience. A brand new book by Bob Eckstein that lifts the spirit!” – Brian Carso, author of Gideon's Revolution

Natalie Jenner is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY and BLOOMSBURY GIRLS. We have known each other since she once owned an independent bookstore in Ontario, Canada. Natalie's third novel, EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, comes out the same day as mine, on May 14.

I am doing a lot of podcasts this month for the book. Here are some select podcast episodes:

This was a casual, humorous chat discussing my new book and odds & ends: Talkward podcast (Thanks to host Marty Dundics)

This was a great conversation geared for writers: Free Advice Fridays podcast (Thanks to host Keri-Rae Barnum)

And finally, I went on the Pet Peeves Podcast and did a deep-dive into cartooning and Massachusetts’ museums for the hosts, cartoonists Pete Chianca & Dave London, who are based in Boston.