Guys—The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual comes out April 16—that’s about two weeks away!

To celebrate, I’m taking my chances with the TSA and flying back East to do some promotions in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. After that, it’s back to California for the official book launch party in the East Bay, and a visit to Fresno. If you don’t see an event close by, you can always send me a note and we can schedule an online visit.

Tour Schedule:

4/24, Boston MA: Reading and book signing at Boston University’s Deaf Space event. I’m honored and extremely intimidated to be sharing the bill with Deaf actor, poet and teacher Patrick Graybill, one of the founding members of the National Theater of the Deaf!

4/26 Manchester CT: Hands to Books, a hands-on workshop on reading to your deaf or hard of hearing child, at Language First’s Connecticut Early Language Center. If you like my “Beyond Brown Bear” series on children’s literature and books for deaf kids, this is the live show.

4/27 White Plains NY: Parent’s event at NY School for the Deaf Fanwood. This one is for Fanwood parents only, but if you want to catch me while I’m in NYC, contact me here.

5/2 Fremont CA: A family-friendly book release party at the Learning Tree Preschool! Petting zoo! Bounce house! Pizza truck! ASL Stories (including one by the great Jeni Jackerson!) I’ll also be reading from the book and chatting with my buddy Rachel Zemach!

5/30 Fresno CA: Read to Your Deaf / HH Child workshop, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center, Fresno CA. Another chance to get the live “Beyond Brown Bear” experience for folks in the Fresno zone.

Buy Local

Recently, some friends have told me they’ve been experiencing issues pre-ordering The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual directly from Bloomsbury’s website. I’ve passed those comments on to my publisher, but since pre-orders are important to the long-term success of the book, I decided to hunt down other online outlets where you can buy it.

Your best option, of course, is a local bookstore. Because it’s a niche kind of book (not sold as part of a retail program,) you’re unlikely to find it on the shelf. But don’t worry, virtually any bookstore in the US can order it for you.

For instance, the Minneapolis / St. Paul region has more than a dozen shops that can ship you the DBIM, including The Wild Rumpus, Moon Palace, Magers and Quinn, Black Garnet, The Irreverent Bookworm, SubText, or Next Chapter Books. You could also just search for a local Twin Cities store at Bookshop.org.

But obviously, you aren’t restricted to Minnesota. The DBIM is available for pre-order everywhere in the US, from Powell’s or other bookstores in Portland, Oregon, to shops in Portland, Maine, as well as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington DC. If you haven’t already put in your order, try one of these places. It’s been a long winter, and buying local helps our neighbors.

Request the DBIM at your local library

Once I started searching for outlets that carried my book, it turned up in all sorts of interesting places, from Taiwan to Suriname.

My favorite find was actually at the Boston Public Library, though. It was touching to see in the catalog because libraries are where the DBIM began its life, hunting for information about the then-baby Oscar. It feels good to have it waiting patiently on the shelf to help the next worried parent. And as a native Masshole, being included in the BPL’s collection feels like a homecoming.

So far, besides Boston, the only other library system I’ve found the Manual in was in Palatine IL. But librarians will stock books at the request of their patrons. If you want your community included in this rarefied group, you can always ask your local library carry a copy.

Putting in a library request is an free and easy way to get ahold of the book, and to help families with deaf kids in your area, whether you buy it yourself or not. Request forms should be google-able: search your local library’s name and “purchase request” or “book suggestions.”

Here’s the information you’ll need to fill out the form:

Title: The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual
Author: Will Fertman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication Date: April 16, 2026
ISBN: 9798765189375

Thanks in advance, and I’ll see you in the stacks.