The Palin draw

PALMER — Sarah Palin marches to her own political beat and is making national headlines again with today’s release of her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life."

As the former governor and vice presidential candidate makes her national book tour in the Lower 48, local independent booksellers are prepared for a rush as well. Palin’s publisher, Harper, ordered an initial printing of 1.5 million copies.

At Fireside Books in Palmer, owner David Cheezem will open at 7:30 a.m. today instead of his usual 10 a.m., and when he does he will have about 100 copies of "Going Rogue" on sale for $28.99 each.

Along with donuts and his famous "ugly" coffee, Cheezem said this is the most he’s pre-ordered of a book, with the exception of the Harry Potter series.

Frontiersman: Have you had many inquiries from people wanting to reserve copies of the book?

Cheezem: Yes, we’ve reserved in the range of 20 copies. We ordered 100, and we were on pins and needles, because they didn’t come until this afternoon (Monday). We gotta have it and we’re real excited.

F: Are you hopeful Sarah Palin will make an appearance at a local, independent bookseller to sign her book?

C: I know what the publishing world is like, and she had to start out in the Lower 48 and do her signing there, but I’m really, really hoping she’ll come back and do a signing here. I think she’s going to, because this is home. She’ll find a way to come home to do a signing, I’m sure.

F: Have you read any of the reviews of "Going Rogue: An American Life," and if so, what do you think?

C: I haven’t read them, honestly. We’ve just been getting ready for Christmas and getting ready for this (release).

F: For a store your size, is an initial order of 100 copies typical?

C: The 100 we ordered is a lot for us. The only book I’ve ordered more copies of were the Harry Potter books.

F: What are the hot sellers for you right now?

C: Oh, gosh. You know, this is where the independent bookstore is different, because the hot sellers for us are not going to be the ones for the chain stores. There’s this one called "Half-Broke Horses" (is popular), but our customers also like "The Girl Who Played With Fire." It’s part of a mystery series. I read the first one, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," and it’s not for kids. It’s a hard-edged mystery, but the characters are fascinating, so I’m really looking forward to reading this one.

F: What do you recommend as a good read?

C: Well, this one is the best book I’ve read in a year, "Half-Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls. It’s in a novel form, but it’s the story of her grandmother growing up as an independent spirit and woman in the Southwest. You just get the sense of the early 20th century and the changes that are going on. It’s a wonderful, wonderful sense of history.

F: How did you get into the book business?

C: I dove in. Well, I love books, so that was easy, and I sort of fantasized about it before. My wife grew up in the Valley, but we were living in Eagle River. We said, "All right, we’re going to say no for now, but if we find a place in Palmer, we’ll reconsider." Two years later I saw the "for sale" sign on this building and thought this is the sign I wanted to see.

F: Because you own a bookstore, do people automatically assume you’ve read every book in here?

C: Not if they’ve talked with me for five minutes. In fact, the joke is, we have recommended sections, and the joke I always tell is that publishers beg me not to put their books on my "David recommended" list, because it never sells off my list. It’s not really true, but I like to tell that joke.

F: Since Sarah Palin announced her vice presidential candidacy last year, how have things Sarah Palin in the literary world been for you here in Palmer?

C: Well, we can’t keep the Sarah Palin calendars in stock, the biographies have sold and, the thing is, it’s different in the Valley. In other parts of the country, she’s a divisive figure right now. People are on one side or the other, but it’s a little bit less so here. I think Outside you either love her or you hate her. Here, it’s not what her political affiliations are, she’s a hometown girl, so it’s a more broad appeal here.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.