Tony Brasunas

It’s a delight to write this entry. Double Happiness has been winning or placing in most of the book awards it has entered.

I’ve already written about winning Best Memoir at the Paris Book Festival and attending the stateside awards ceremony (see video below).

ForeWord Book Reviews, one of the most prestigious magazines in the growing world of independent publishing, has just announced the winners of its Book of the Year Awards (recently renamed the “IndieFab Awards”). I’m honored to say that Double Happiness has been named Silver Winner in the Travel category, beating out hundreds of other titles.

Here are the awards Double Happiness has won thus far.

• ForeWord Book of the Year
  Silver Winner (TRAVEL)
  “These are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the cherries on top a metaphorical ice cream sundae of indie books. You’ve been waiting months and now here they are, the winners of the 2013 IndieFab Book of the Year Awards.”
• Paris Book Festival
  Winner (BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY)
  “Awarding general excellence and the author’s passion for telling a good story, as well as the potential of the work to gain a wide audience in the worldwide market”
• Indie Excellence Award
  Winner (TRAVEL)
  “A proud champion of small presses, independent presses, and self-publishers that go the extra mile to produce books of excellence in every aspect.
• Eric Hoffer Award
  Honorable Mention (MEMOIR)
  “Established at the start of the 21st century as a means of opening a door to writing of significant merit. It honors the memory of the great American philosopher Eric Hoffer.”
• San Francisco Book Festival
  Honorable Mention (TRAVEL)
  “Considers entries in 18 categories. There is no date of publication restriction. “

I accepted the Paris Book Festival award at the stateside ceremony, at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco:
(apologies for the quality of the video).

Update July 21, 2014: Double Happiness has also been named a Finalist of the 2014 Readers’ Favorite Award.

For an author, there is no greater pleasure and no greater pain than to be closely read. Book reviews add to this closeness the incomparable spices of exposure, openness, and publicity.

Book reviews have the possibility of not only complimenting an author but of understanding and synthesizing a written work for the benefit of others; a good, perspicacious review can alert thousands of readers who will enjoy and benefit from a book. On the other hand, a bad review, a review that utterly misses the point or wrongly ascertains an author’s underlying motive or message, can bring misery to the author and prevent a book from being discovered by its best or biggest audience.

Double Happiness has so far enjoyed mostly positive reviews, as well as a few that have missed the point. Pleasure and pain, then, for this author!

Here are some reviews of both variety, with excerpts:

** Amazon There are already many reviews on Amazon (32 at last count), mostly of the five-star variety. Please feel free to add your own.
Excerpts:
“When I had to (reluctantly) put it down to attend to daily life, returning to it felt like reuniting with an old friend. I found his style of writing to be lyrical and evocative without being pretentious.”

“If you like travel related reading, this book will make you want to drop everything and travel to China. It is hard to read this book and not contemplate throwing on a backpack and taking to the road.”

** GoodReads This enormous worldwide community of readers also features many reviews.
Excerpts: “Delightful… a striking journey that moves far beyond the usual travelogue or educator’s perspective.”

“A very engaging read, one of the best books I’ve read in a while… The imagery is great and vivid and I felt like I was right there with him in China… The writing was often funny too — I found myself laughing out loud at several passages.”

** The Book Wheel
“From the first few pages, it will sweep you across the ocean to another land and you will take a journey that will leave you forever changed.”

** Paper Breathers
“The writing style is… like the written version of the music that accompanies a yoga session, and it provides a balance for the conflicts and struggles that are present along his journey. I also really enjoyed Estelle Kim’s illustrations, which map Tony’s routes across the country.”

** Readers’ Favorite
“A page-turner… an absolute delight from the Prologue to the Epilogue.”

** All R Media
“This isn’t just a memoir of a young man learning about himself; this memoir presents lessons in finding the courage to be yourself in a society that expects you to conform to expectations and about appreciating differences and accepting foreign cultures.”

** What is that Book About
“If you have traveled the world, you know there is no greater beauty than experiencing these places first hand. For those who may never get the chance, when you read a book like Double Happiness… you get the opportunity to live vicariously through the author… I was really impressed by the detail of not just the physical aspects of the places he traveled but the in-depth comprehension of the culture, the people, and the history, considering this was his first experience abroad.”

** The Steadfast Reader
“An excellent read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys travelogues, memoirs, or journeys towards enlightenment.”

** I’ve Read This
“There’s a good balance of scenery description, inner reflection, historical reference and plot development in this book, and for that reason I devoured it in two days, eagerly diving back in to follow Brasunas on his adventures while safely nestled in my living room.”

** Rosie Writes
“Part travelogue, part coming-of-age memoir, part poetry and politics, ‘Double Happiness’ offers fascinating insight not only into one man’s personal growth in an alien environment but also into the people, culture and traditions of China.”

** Touch of Madness
“This book is so well written that I could experience the things Tony was [describing]… and I could sense and relate to his confusion, anxiety, frustration, excitement and fear.”

** Book Bound
“His journeys… are exciting and will motivate even the most lazy to want to visit this amazing country.”

My birthday is here, as well as the one-year anniversary of the Kickstarter funding. Wow, time has flown. We did it! It’s published!

The book is getting great reviews and winning awards. It feels amazing.

Now, what might I like for my birthday? Here is my only wish, my Double Happiness Birthday Wish, and it won’t cost you a dime. Accompanied by me on guitar:

The links:

Review now:    www.DoubleHappy.be/amazon >>

Review later:  www.DoubleHappy.be/review >>

Please do let me know if you’re still reading the book and plan to review it soon. Click the “review later” link above. I’d love to count you in as a reviewer!

Thank you, and my best birthday wishes to you,
Tony

The book tour now takes me to Oregon and Washington. This is the final leg of the tour, and as I get ready to set off I’m again filled with gratitude to my generous kickstarter backers. If you contributed a year ago and pushed me past my goal, you made this book tour possible. Thank you!

I’ll be in Portland, Seattle, Olympia, and a town called Florence on the Oregon coast. Please come out and see me. The events offer connection to the essence and insights of Double Happiness. They’re also a lot of fun. I’ll read from the book and answer your many questions.

You can also show your support for local bookstores by visiting these indie stores where I’ll be reading!

Most of all, I long to see you in person. It means so much to connect with you and share this life-changing story.

I arrive into Portland next Wednesday, June 11. Here’s the full list of Double Happiness events:

Thursday, June 12 (PORTLAND)
7pm : Reading & Signing
Broadway Books
1714 NE Broadway, Portland

Friday, June 13 (SEATTLE)
6:30pm : Reading & Signing
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park

Saturday, June 14 (OLYMPIA)
3pm : Reading & Signing
Orca Books
509 E 4th Ave., Olympia

Sunday, June 15 (OREGON COAST)
1pm : Library Reading
Siuslaw Public Library, Main Branch
1460 Ninth Street, Florence

If you don’t live in the Northwest, please forward this to people who do, particularly those who might enjoy a story about China, about teaching English, about rugged backpacking, or about a spiritual coming-of-age tale in a faraway land.

And if you’ve finished the book and enjoyed it, great! Go review it > Your review will help others find Double Happiness.

Best wishes and my thanks,
Tony

Do you want to know something strange about Amazon.com?

Yes, I did too, since most of my book sales are happening there.

The biggest driver of sales at Amazon isn’t in fact advertising or rankings. It might come as a surprise to you, even if you shop frequently at the online megastore, but the truth is that the biggest driver of sales at Amazon is: Customer Reviews.

I won’t get into what I’ve learned about the powerful ways in which herd mentality still dictates a lot of what we humans deem to be “appropriate,” see as “exciting,” and judge to be “safe.” Suffice it to say, Amazon’s underlying product-display algorithms utilize Customer Reviews, both the quantity and the quality of the reviews. Thus Customer Reviews dictate how often people discover Double Happiness.

I have eleven reviews right now, all good, and I’m very grateful for them. I would love to increase the reviews.

Can you help more people discover Double Happiness? If you’ve finished the book, or read far enough to feel comfortable writing a review, please write a review! It will be extremely helpful.

How to Write an Amazon Review

If you have already written Amazon reviews, go here, godspeed, and my gratitude: www.DoubleHappy.be/review

If you haven’t written an Amazon review before, I’m happy to help you learn this new skill. Think of it like voting; you can write reviews every day of the year and materially affect the success or failure of books, ideas, and products. Here are two ways to write your first review:

Voila! So grateful for your help.

In Other News: The Fabulous Book Tour

In other news, the book tour has been a whirlwind of inspiration and connection, a sweet ride of unexpected highs and lows. In my next post, I’ll tell you all about what it’s really like to be on a book tour.

Best wishes, and may your journey always be fruitful,
Tony

California Bookstore Day is this Saturday, and I’ll be celebrating the day by reading at two literary institutions in Southern California. On May 3 itself, I’ll be participating in the celebration at the wonderful Granada Books in Santa Barbara. I hope you’ll join me this weekend! More on the holiday:

California Bookstore Day is a statewide party on May 3, 2014 as big and varied as the state itself. It’s more than 90 stores in more than 80 zip codes putting their bells on and throwing out the welcome mat. Think Record Store Day, but for book nerds.

Each store will have its own party. The headline attraction are the just-for-us books you cannot get on any other day at any other place (click here to find the celebration closest to you). But there will also be readings, and prizes, and things to eat and drink. In some cases there will be famous authors and artists, and people writing live poetry… more from the California Bookstore Day website

I’m delighted to be contributing to this celebration of the magical places of ideas, philosophy, recipes, and history, and inspiration we know as bookstores.

Below are my upcoming appearances. I hope to see you.

California

Saturday, May 3 (SANTA BARBARA)
6pm : Reading & Signing
Granada Books
1224 State Street, Santa Barbara

Sunday, May 4 (LOS ANGELES)
3pm : Reading & Signing
Beyond Baroque
681 North Venice Blvd., Venice

Monday, May 5 (LOS ANGELES)
7pm : Reading & Signing
Home of MJ Park
Silverlake

Pacific Northwest

I’m delighted to announce my tour dates for the Pacific Northwest, the second week of June:

Thursday, June 12 (PORTLAND)
7pm : Reading & Signing
Broadway Books
1714 NE Broadway Street, Portland

Friday, June 13 (SEATTLE)
6:30pm : Reading & Signing
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park

As always, best of luck on your journey friends!
Tony