Selling well is the best revenge

This morning I was a guest on The Current, the national CBC Radio show hosted by Anna Maria Tremonti. The topic was billionaires using last week’s Forbes list as a jump-off point. I knew there was to be another guest who would discuss the international scene. I would talk about Canadian billionaires in general and the three from Research In Motion in particular: Mike Lazaridis, Jim Balsillie and Doug Fregin.

As I approached the waiting area outside the studio, I could see the other guest, but didn’t know who it was until a CBC staffer made the introductions. “This is Brian Milner,” he said.

“My reviewer,” I said. Milner, in case you missed it, trashed my book in The Globe and Mail.

“Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin. Sorry? Why ever would a journalist give a book a negative review and then apologize to the author? “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” I said.

Milner went on to say that reviews were good for book sales no matter what the reviewer said. He got that part right. BlackBerry is number 5 on The Globe’s list and number 6 on BookNet. Still, your apology is accepted, Brian.