Thursday, January 31, 2013

Mark Di Vincenzo's "Buy Shoes on Wednesday and Tweet at 4:00"

Mark Di Vincenzo is an author and journalist who lives in a neighborhood one block from where William Styron grew up, in a Virginia shipyard town called Newport News.

He applied the “Page 99 Test” to his most recent book, Buy Shoes On Wednesday And Tweet At 4:00: More Of The Best Times To Buy This, Do That And Go There, and reported the following:
My book examines how timing plays a role in our lives. More specifically, the book gives tips on the best times to buy things, do things and go places. Why should you care? Well, if you know these best times, you can save a lot of time and money. You can make better decisions about your health, your education, and your families, among other things. You can live smarter.

The information in the book comes from experts in retail, education, health, finance and travel. And the book answers questions as diverse as the best month to buy a cell phone, the best day to take your car in for a repair, the best week of the year to visit Mexico City and the best time to elope or confront someone who unfriended you on Facebook.

Page 99? It is in the chapter on health-related timing tips. Page 99’s tips have to do with female health issues, as do the tips on pages 100 and 101.

There has been a lot of interest in my book. I’ve been interviewed by Charlie Rose and Gail King, Katie Couric and Pat Robertson as well as by journalists at newspapers, magazines and radio and TV stations from New York to Los Angeles – and by a few in England and Italy.

Not one has asked me a single question about the tips on page 99. Based on the lack of interest from the media, I would have to conclude that page 99 is not representative of the rest of my book, which people seem to like. So the Page 99 Test – thankfully -- does not apply to Buy Shoes On Wednesday And Tweet At 4:00.

By the way, what’s on page 99? Tips on the best time to receive a pelvic exam, the best time to see your OB/GYN and the best time for girls to get the HP (human papillomavirus) vaccine.

I suppose some words are better read and remembered than shared with others.
Learn more about the book and author at Mark Di Vincenzo's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue