Barnes & Noble Seattle

The first time I saw one of my books in a large chain book store, I have to admit it was a rush. To be in Barnes & Noble, Borders, or any of the largest resellers—or even Guitar Center for that matter— just felt different than seeing them in a local music store or online.

Sometime in the late '90s I was in Nashville mixing an album at The Sound Kitchen for The Coats. We had gone out for lunch and, while waiting for the other guys, a couple of us had wandered across the way to Barnes & Noble and there in the music section I saw several copies of the The AudioPro Home Recording Course (the first series I did for MixBooks). That was fun, too.

Last Friday my wife and I were hanging out in downtown Seattle shopping and eating and such. We wandered into Barnes & Noble and there it was! "Q on Producing" facing forward and everything—I think there might have even been a little glow around the edges or a shimmer or something! Fun!

For me, writing books is a lot like producing an album. There's an amazing amount of sweat and toil and countless hours of thought and re-thought and writing and re-writing; however, the payoff is when it's completed and I'm holding the final product in my hand. Then to see it on the shelves of major book and trade stores and everywhere online continues the payoff.

"Q on Producing" has been a different experience, though. I doubt that there has been a second throughout the process of helping Quincy with this book that I haven't taken its importance incredibly seriously. What Quincy has discovered in his life and music needs to be shared! His knowledge of music is vast. Just read about his traditional and non-traditional training and you'll see how deep his musical well runs. Then observe his ways with people—in the studio, in life, and around the world—and you'll see the depths of his compassion, care, and love for virtually everyone. It's worth noting again and again that the mindset and methods we hear from Quincy Jones throughout "Q on Producing"are a recipe for success in virtually any endeavor.

I could go on and on about Quincy and what a fantastic experience helping him with this book has been, but back to my point in paragraph one, it was fun to see his book in Barnes & Noble a few days before the official release date. In the last week or so, it was also released on Amazon and all the other online suppliers and has consistently been in the top 100 of several categories even before the marketing gets in full force. Fun!

Check it out and let me know what you think.

How the Quincy Jones Deal Came About

I was at the NAMM Show in Anaheim two years ago and, as always, I headed straight to the Hal Leonard booth to check in and say hi to all the folks I work with throughout the year. I got over the glamor of the big show a long time ago and some of my visits have consisted of walking in and saying hello to a very few industry friends and then heading directly back to Seattle on the same day.

I walked in to meet with my Executive editor, Mike Lawson, and he said, "Quincy Jones's people are here and they want to talk about doing a Legacy Series. They want Hal Leonard to publish it. Then he said the magic words, "We'd like you to write it. Can you come back at 2:00 for the meeting." Uhh...yes...I think I could make that happen, Mike.

So, a few of Quincy's team and a few of the Hal Leonard team sat in an isolated room on the tradeshow floor and talked through what would end up to be the beginnings of The Quincy Jones Legacy Series.

It took about six months, or more, to get all the contracts together and to frame the deal. The final step was to meet with Quincy and make sure that all the cards were on the table and that all of the key players had met and were in agreement about the focus of the project. That meeting will be the focus of my next couple posts.