Lots to catch up on. First of all,
in celebration of Book 5 in the Sharon O’Mara series, Diamonds For Death, I
have a book signing and reading at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera,
California, Sunday February 15, at 4:00. Should be a lot of fun talking books
and the writing process. Books are available for purchase at Book Passage as
well as a few copies of the first four O’Mara thrillers. I hope for a big
turnout, but even if a just a few friends and readers show, we will have a
great time. And remember to post those reviews on the respective ebook sites
and on Goodreads.
Sales of Diamonds For Death have
been good, but I need you to tell your friends about Sharon and how absolutely
cool she is. When I created her (so many years ago) I had no idea where she and
her adventures would go (or take me). It has been a fun ride to Mexico, Paris,
London, Cuba, Amsterdam, Argentina, and of course Venice as well as her home
town, Walnut Creek, California. She is a dream character and continues to
surprise me. Each book allows me the opportunity to explore all the aspects of her
character, her friends, and how these interactions change when outside forces
take her down paths not traveled.
I told you about my process for
broadening the reach to readers into bookstores (online as well) that are outside
of the Amazon cosmos of Kindle and CreateSpace. Well it worked! All the
paperback books (Sharon O’Mara’s, Elk River) were posted to IngramSpark (POD
and distributor) and are now available through the search engine of Barnes and
Noble as well as available to all bookstores. This is so cool. And through
Smashwords (ebook download site) these books are also available as ebooks at
B&N, iBooks, Kobo and other ebook distributors. As I said, very, very,
cool. It is critical to every independent publisher that they get their books
to as many outlets as possible. There are many very successful authors that
sell directly (and exclusively) through Amazon, I agree—to a point. But, if
Budweiser only sold through Safeway how would that work? They need to be
everywhere: bars, restaurants, 7-11’s, everywhere. Same with authors. And until
the new publishing paradigm is finally defined and accepted (if ever), I want
all my bases covered.
We, as independent publishers and
authors, have a responsibility to our readers, customers, and profession to
produce the best products to the highest standard (traditional and modern) we
can. This falls on story, genre, structure, cover design, ebook design,
editing, postproduction and of course marketing. Even knocking out a book a
month or three or four a year requires this same attention to detail. We
writers spend a lot of time writing and developing the damn thing; at least the
final product should not be embarrassing.
There are a lot of exciting things
coming this year from the Randall studio and Windsor Hill Publishing, two and
possibly three new books. Two new characters, with their own series, to throw
into the literary milieu. Remember these names: Tony Alfano, Max Kline, and the
divine Regi Norcross, you will love them.
Well back to the books, I have four
underway right now. A 1933 detective thriller, a new Sharon O’Mara (#6), a
follow up to the award winning Elk River, and the sequel to this summer’s
coming blockbuster This Face Of Evil. Never a dull day.
More Later . . . . . . . .
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