As a writer, I spend a lot of time with my nose in a book or tapping on an iPad. This past week I spend a lot of time iPad tapping as I am doing a final edit on the next book. Past the Event Horizon due out (fingers crossed) in late June, early July. See the awesome, hot off the press cover.
So I was delighted when I looked up to see my calendar display the words, “Business Fair.” This meant that I was going to get out, meet the public and write my name…hopefully a number of times and talk about what I love–my stories.
The great thing about this particular venue is that it is local, short and varied. The vendors are small businesses in the area, so I may be the only author amidst photographers, jewelers and potters. Things I love.
To get ready, I have printed out large images (81/2 x 11) of my four covers. I have bought several new pens. Made bookmarks for giveaways.
And there’s going to be candy.
I have tweeted out the news, face booked the friends, emailed and now blogged. So all my ten friends are informed. And family.
As an ebook publisher, I am still trying to figure out where the buying readers are. Maybe at a fair.
I tried the Kindle Select program and there were loads of downloads, but not as many sales. (go figure) Actually, I do best face to face. I have sold a number of books at my local nail salon by casually asking what they like to read and mentioning that I am an author when I see someone reading an interesting book. Whether they buy my book or not, I am interested in what’s good to read and why they picked that particular book. Research.
A guilty secret is that I have even sold to my local bag boy because someone mentioned books to me at the checkout and he wanted to know what I wrote. Turned out that it sounded like something he might like.
Last blog I mentioned ebooks. In trying to come up with a suggestion for this week, I remembered the queen, the expert, the best selling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She and her husband, Dean Wesley Smith pioneered the ebook phenomenon when it first started. Between them, they have written an amazing amount of books sold through both self publishing and tradition ways. I have read a few.
Duplicate Effort is a novel that I bought at a signing where I met Kristine and Dean. Because it was a signing, this is a paperback, but she is a champion for the self published author and writes a great blog entitled http://kriswrites.com. She does in depth reporting on the business aspect of publishing. Worth a read if you’re a writer.
Duplicate Effort combines my two favorite genres: science fiction and the detective story. This book is seventh in the Retrieval Artist Series and I recommend reading the earlier ones to get a background for the story. Most are stand alones, but this one requires a little knowledge of previous events. Still I enjoyed the story of Retrieval Artist Miles Flint who is trying to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xendor that had something to do with his wife’s death and the threat to his daughter’s life and her six clones.
Then a journalist working with him is found dead, along with her bodyguard in the strangest of places. A virtual environment program that gets wiped. As he starts to investigate her murder, the seventh clone of his sixteen year old daughter Emmeline arrives. Talia is younger, thirteen, and wants to find her other five sister clones . Miles is afraid that she will discover the daughter while doing so and put her life in jeopardy.
As the two cases develop, it soon becomes apparent that they are connected. The stakes are raised as the deeper Miles digs, and the closer he comes to the truth, the more his life is in jeopardy and that of Talia. Clones, murder, detectives, alien worlds and high tech combine to make this an interesting series. Here are two others from the set: What you got that you want to suggest?
ScifiBook Review 