Dazed and Confused: All the news that's fit to type

April 30, 2008

All the news that's fit to type

Okay, after a whirlwind month, I'm glad that the promotion is nearly finished. But what a month!

It started with my signing on April 5th where...I sold out of all but one of the books the store had. Yea!

But I found I couldn't buckle down and work. Not with the Malice Domestic conference hanging over my head. So I concentrated on getting ready for the conference (assembling promo material, etc.), sending out promo material, and impatiently waiting for my Library Journal review. (Which is due tomorrow.)

The conference was this past weekend. What a blast! I felt like a movie star--so many people asked me to sign their books, programs, autograph books, and even their canvas book bags given by the conference. The dealers room sold out of Murder Is Binding, including the copies I brought. I also sold nine copies of Murder On The Mind. My panel was a huge success (not that I spoke that much--I said the PANEL was a success--but I did make the audience laugh a few times).

I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends: Sheila Connolly, Judy Clemens, Kate Flora, Sandy Parshall, Hank Phillippi Ryan, rub elbows with members of the Sisters in Crime (national) board, meet lots of members of my Sisters In Crime Chapter, The Guppies, and best of all--I wasn't sick, like I was last time. (Although I seem to have brought home a cold. Bummer.)

I picked up lots of promo material from other authors to see if I could borrow any good ideas. I'll have to study them all in the next couple of days and update my own stuff.

I also did two drop-in signings: the first at a Barnes & Noble near the conference hotel (signed six copies and left two dozen bookmarks), and a Borders in Fairfax. They only had one copy of the book, but the associate I spoke to was very nice, extremely enthusiastic, and reordered on the spot. Since I wouldn't be back to sign the books, he had me sign a dozen bookmarks.

After the conference, I attended the Festival of Mystery, put on by the Mystery Lovers Bookshop. I was the only author to completely sell out! Of course, I only had 30 books in front of me and most of the authors had huge backlists (some as many as 100 books in front of them to sell).

I returned home yesterday exhausted but happy. Things couldn't get better, right?

Wrong!

First came word from my Five Star contact that she'd received a snippet of the Library Journal review: "Bartlett has a deft touch and makes psychic abilities very real."

Not ten minutes after I opened that e-mail, than she sent me another, telling me that Dead In Red will also get a Booklist review. "Bartlett’s hero is complicated and mesmerizing, making for a gripping and energizing mystery." (But I assure you, there is no pink bunny pounding a drum in this book.)

The day couldn't possibly get better than that, right?

I was wrong again. I heard from my Berkley editor (not his assistant!) that not only had Murder Is Binding gone into a second printing (less than a month after its debut), but that Murder Is Binding is #8 on the Barnes & Noble mystery bestseller list.

Woo-hoo! Happy Dance.

I'm waiting for the full Library Journal review then I'll finish up my library campaign letter and start folding, licking and stamping envelopes. (Up to 750 of the suckers.) So I'll have a busy weekend ahead of me. But Monday morning it's time to GO BACK TO WORK. No excuses!

But I think I'll bask in the glow for another day or so. This may never happen again and I want to enjoy it while it lasts.

Posted on April 30, 2008 | Permalink