Really interesting times we live in.
The Drive Someone Insane with Postcards auction got some airtime on Glenn Beck's radio show yesterday. Glenn would be the first to tell you he's got the #3 radio show in the country, and I expected a traffic increase as a result. During the interview we chatted about the tiny Polish village I'm going to and at the end I mentioned the auction's title. That did result in a quick burst in visits, as expected, but nothing too crazy. After all, there wasn't a link and finding it involved going to eBay and looking for it.
But then Glenn put it in his daily newsletter to his fans. WHUMP.
And then someone put it on fark.com, a site which I'd heard about before but wasn't too familiar with. And WHUMP again. Apparently Fark is popular.
At the moment there are 72,000 hits. And in a manner very reminiscent of the time I sold my unfortunate leather pants it seems to increase at an absurd rate. In fact, it's now closer to 73,000 and someone has raised the bid to $185.
And to think I almost didn't list this auction because I thought no one would be interested.
Addendum:
Did I say 73,000? I meant 138,000.
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Unfunny in Farsi, hilarious in Dutch.




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Comments
When people reading this comment go to look at the eBay auction, you HAVE to read the question/answer section. My co-workers were looking at me crazy when I busted out laughing from the Donatella comment! All of the answers were funny, but I lost it on that one.
Posted by: Heather | December 19, 2007 11:03 AM
The auction is awesome! I hope it helps garner you more book sales & adulation down the road, as you obviously are a very funny writer. I especially enjoyed all your answers to the questions you received. What a nice moment of hilarity amidst this crazy week! Thanks!
Posted by: PlazaJen | December 19, 2007 2:26 PM
Very awesome idea. I just did a post on it and would bid if I wasn't broke. What was your inspiration?
Posted by: oddfacts | December 19, 2007 2:59 PM
Wow, good money too! To think, I actually *did* something like this several years ago and didn't even charge for it.
We handed pre-addressed postcards to people heading off to various corners of the world and had them send them to a friend of ours. Much hilarity.
Hope it clears $500.
Posted by: MikeK | December 19, 2007 8:53 PM
It's been added to stumbleupon now, so it should go up even faster...
Posted by: mooster | December 21, 2007 3:39 AM
As it has. $400 right now. Holy cow. You can buy a Bose headset for your plane trip.
Posted by: Melissa | December 21, 2007 10:59 AM
Cheers to you, sir, for such success on the Postcard Insanity auction. Out of principle, I have pre-ordered your book and passed along the word.
[ Thank you. I admire your non-procrastinating nature. -B. ]
Posted by: nodgarden | December 23, 2007 2:33 AM
Intentional or not, its great advertising for your book. I never would have known about it if it weren't for that auction. The power of viral, eh?
[ Exactly. Now I don't have to take hostages and barricade myself in a Wal-Mart to get publicity. -B ]
Posted by: cass | December 23, 2007 12:04 PM
Oof. Sold to a zero-feedback buyer. How did things turn out? Did you get your money?
[ I did, and I was just as surprised as you are. -B. ]
Posted by: Hausfrau007 | January 25, 2008 9:08 PM
Poland WILL live on in glory! (one way or another)
Posted by: Mark | January 30, 2008 7:33 PM