Here we go again

Apparently I'm a published author. Again.

I worked on "Rayzor's Edge," the autobiography of Rob Ray, a few years ago. I was thrilled to see it become one of the best-selling hockey books of the season, as the hardcover copies disappeared from the bookstores in less than a month. At one point, it was number one on Amazon.com's list of top selling winter sports books. Considering that Dorothy Hamill is much more well known nationally than Ray, I think we did something right.

The book eventually went into paperback, although I had heard stories that the publisher was in financial trouble. The new version was printed, but came out after the playoffs and didn't get a great deal of promotion.

Sure enough, the publisher went bankrupt a couple of months later. I became one in a long line of creditors from Sports Publishing. I didn't even know how much money they owed me until the court case was closed, a case that apparently only made the lawyers and bankers happy since they got first claim on leftover assets. I did get a $2,000 advance, but lost more than $2,000 due to the bankruptcy. Oh well.

But last spring, a letter came out of the blue from Skyhorse Publishing. It had purchased the rights to Sports Publishing's catalog, and had picked "Rayzor's Edge" for reprinting this fall. As I said to Rob in a note, this was money from heaven.
Skyhorse changed its mind about adding an epilogue, which seemed like it would have been the logical move to make after a few years.

But the book is apparently out. Amazon.com is advertising that it is available immediately. You can find a copy here.

The funny thing is, I looked in the local Barnes and Noble for a copy this morning, and it was nowhere to be found. I haven't heard of any autographing sessions requests either. I do have pens at the ready, though.

People seemed to like the book, although probably not enough to buy the same words from a different publisher. Rob's story is quite relevant in the light of the concussion issues that NHL players have had lately (Rob says in the book he had five concussions in his career). For those who missed it the first time around, though, here's your second chance.