Author Mike Adams sells copies of his book during a booksigning event in October, 2011. The Pilot/Bill Schlichting

In about a six-week period all 1,100 copies of “Chetco,” a book about the history of Brookings-Harbor and the Chetco River by Mike Adams, were gone.

The book went on sale in November, and was sold out by Christmas.

At $39.99, that amounts to nearly $440,000.

“We were somewhat taken by surprise,” Adams said. “We did some promotional work three weeks before. The promotional (work) told us there was a lot of interest, and I think that message was fulfilled when it went on sale and people responded very positively to it.”

Adams is in the process of developing plans for a second printing, he said. He hopes that a second supply of books will be available in late spring or early summer.

Book Dock owner Pat Piper said books normally don’t sell out so quickly.

After about a month, she sold all of her 70 copies, and could have sold more, she said. She had a dozen people come in and ask for a copy after she sold her last book.

“It was well written,” Piper said. “It had lots of illustrations and pictures, and it has a real appeal to the families who have been here a long time. People that live here are really interested in the local history.”

Customers even came in to the Book Dock, Piper said, and bought copies to send to people who used to live in the area and now live in another state. 

Piper decided to sell the book because she likes to encourage local authors.

The book was also available at community businesses such as Wright’s Custom Framing, Gerald Ross Insurance Agency and the Chetco Valley Historical Society.

Adams, a retired teacher who has written all of his life but never for publication, decided to write the book after listening to a neighbor tell stories about the history of people who had lived here.

He did some research, and decided to write a book that included the stories of the pioneer families and of the community.

Once people heard about the project, they provided him with news and pictures. 

It took him four years to complete the project.

He received information from a variety of sources including families of pioneer citizens, files from the Chetco Valley Historical Society, the Oregon Historical Society archives, local libraries and online.

“I really was open to exploring information from every possible source,” Adams said.

All of the work on the book was done by volunteers. Proceeds from book sales will go to the Chetco Valley Historical Society.

“We think it’s a wonderful book,” treasurer Patty McVay said. “Mike and all of the people involved did a fabulous job. It was a great project for us.”

The proceeds will go toward caring for the building, and furthering any other preservation projects the society might do in the future to take care of the local area, McVay said. 

“The mission of the historical society was to make the book affordable,” she said. “We were very happy that the community embraced this the way that they did. Everybody’s excited about history again which is kind of what our goal was.”