Let's Have a Party

That's right, it's party time. A book launch party, to be exact. It'll take place from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. next Saturday, October 22, at Mysteries & More bookstore in the Lenox Village section of Nashivlle, at 6965 Sunnywood Drive. I'll have a few words to say about The Good, The Bad and The Murderous, the second in my Sid Chance PI series, and then I'll answer any questions the party-goers might have.

We'll have cookies and cake and punch and other goodies that are a hallmark of this remarkable little mystery store run by Mary and Gregg Bruss. One wall is plastered with photos and notes of congratulations from a horde of mystery authors that include New York Times bestsellers as well as not so widely known writers like me. They're as author-friendly as any people I've encountered. With the first three Greg McKenzie mysteries out of print, Mysteries & More is the only bookstore in the country where you can buy all of my books.

If you'd like to check them out (and you should), just click here Mysteries & More.net.

To learn more about The Good, The Bad and The Murderous check my previous blogs below. In addition to the launch party next weekend, I'll be signing the new book at Barnes & Noble Booksellers on Mallory Lane in Brentwood, TN from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 5.

If you're around the area, I'd love to see you at one of these events. You can read opening chapters and find out where to buy the book at my website, ChesterCampbell.com.

The marvels of chitchat

I got a reminder today of how a little chitchat can go a long way when selling books. I was doing a signing at one of my favorite Barnes & Noble stores (the third time in the past six months). You know it's a favorite when the manager tells you on leaving, "Come back anytime you'd like."

This store has two entrances. My wife stands at one to hand out my little promo folder, while I take care of the other entrance from my table near the door. Giving my usual spiel, I asked this woman if she read mysteries. She said she wasn't a mystery reader but stopped at my table to chat after learning I was a local author. In the course of the conversation, she mentioned going to school in Donelson, a Nashville suburb across the county from my home.

I knew Chester LaFever, a high school classmate of mine back in the early forties, had one been on the Donelson High School faculty. When I asked about him, she smiled and replied that he was assistant principal when she was there. She wound up taking one of my folders with her to the cafe. A little while later, she came back with the comment, "They really sound interesting." She bought both books I had on the table.

Only a couple of people came by who had heard of me. One had bought an earlier book and promply picked up the latest. But chatting with others netted four people who bought both books.

A man with a small girl was about to pass me by when I stopped him with my usual question. He said he didn't read mysteries, but his wife did. He asked which of the books would be better for a woman. I told him the Greg McKenzie book dealt with a man and his wife who were private investigators. He looked at his daughter and said, "I'll bet she'd like that one." I signed it to her, and he went off smiling with the comment, "Our anniversary is coming up."

Traffic was slow at times, but it was a pretty good day. We sold all the copies of The Surest Poison and more than half of The Marathon Murders, a total of 20 books. Bottom line--chitcht sells.

Getting ready to tour the blogs

I’d seen so many mentions about blog book tours, or virtual book tours as they were first known, that I decided late last year to do one for The Surest Poison, my new Sid Chance mystery coming out next month. It is all but nailed down with only one stop left to settle on, the final day of the tour.

The Surest Poison tour will run from April 15 through April 30, with two Sunday’s off. If God could rest on the Sabbath, I figure, so can I. I’ll be visiting fourteen different blogs during that time, writing about various subjects, at least tangentially related to the book. There will be interviews and lots of cool stuff.

As soon as I’ve confirmed that last date, I’ll give the schedule here with the places I plan to visit and the subjects of the blogs. To make it fun to follow, I will be giving away copies of the book to lucky people who leave comments on my posts.

Although the official pub date isn’t until April, the book is already available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. To check out some great reviews, go to The Surest Poison page on my website.

And don’t forget to watch for my tour. You’ll learn all sorts of interesting stuff about the story, the characters, and how it all came together. There will even be interviews with the main characters, Sid Chance and Jaz LeMieux. Stay tuned.

How a Spanish castle got on the beach

In a blog at Kill Zone Authors, Cara Black questioned her publisher's publicity and marketing people on what they do. Among their replies was a note that one of their people meets with the distributor's sales staff to present their upcoming books. Sometimes the sales folks will suggest changes in a cover to make it more saleable.

It would be nice to have a publicity and marketing department to work with, but in my small press world those things don't exist. However, one of my covers did get an alteration thanks to a marketing guy at Barnes & Noble in New York.

It happened a few years ago when my publisher went along with the distributor’s rep to make a sales call. They had with them a sell sheet showing the cover for Designed to Kill, the second book in my Greg McKenzie mystery series. The design, shown above, depicts an elaborate picture frame with a painting (actually, a photograph) of a castle in Spain. A seal covering the lower right corner contains a nice blurb from New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin.

I had found a photo of Castle Alcazar de Segovia on the internet and suggested if for use on the book cover. The artist came up with the idea of using it as a painting surrounded by flowery type.

The book's plot centers around a high-rise condo built on the beach at Perdido Key, Florida designed after a Spanish castle. When the Barnes & Noble marketing guy took at look at the picture, he said, "If it's in Florida, it has to have a beach."

The publisher went back home, contacted the artist, and had a small strip of sand and green water inserted. Barnes & Noble bought the book for its stores in the Southeast.

Just a small example of the power of chain booksellers in the publishing business. And it gave me a nice little story to tell when talking to book clubs or showing the book at a signing.

Read more about Designed to Kill

The envelope, please...

Okay, it's not a statue of Oscar, or Emmy, or any of those folks, but what good are they except to put on a shelf? I'm announcing the winners of my contest for Advance Review Copies of my newest mystery, The Surest Poison.

And the winners are:

P.J. Coldren of Michigan, Helen Kiker of Virginia, and Linda Newman, of North Gower, Ontario, Canada.

Thanks to all of those who sent in their entries for the contest. I'm sorry I didn't have enough ARCs for everybody. But, hey, there will be a book to buy soon. The Surest Poison is up on Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com) for pre-order and should be on Amazon.com soon.

When I went to the post office this morning thirty minutes before closing time (my usual late appearance) to mail the books, it looked like Christmas deja vu. The parking lot was packed, the line snaking out the door despite multiple clerks working the windows. Maybe everybody is sending back those on-line gifts for exchange.

At any rate, I gave up and went back home. So the books won't be mailed until Monday. You can learn more about The Surest Poison at my website:

chesterd.campbell.com