On a recent visit to my local bookstore, I wandered through the mystery section to see what was new (and did they have copies of my book(s) and those of my friends). On all the cap ends were holiday mysteries. Lots of them. Whoa!
A quick look at the copyright dates proved that these were NOT new books getting preferential treatement, but that the bookstore was trotting out seasonal backlists to satisfy readers' desire to get in the holiday spirit with a little touch of murder.
Some bigger-name authors get their holiday books re-released every year with "new-improved" editions, with extras. (Can you think of a better thing? New editions--something every collector will want and NEED!) Ka-ching, ka-ching!
I told another writer friend that we needed to write holiday books that could be trotted out every year. Unfortunately, it's usually the publisher--not the author--who decides these things.
Still, I do have a holiday story I can trot out every year. Okay, it's available year-round, and I rarely trot. It's titled: "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert." I wanted to explore the relationship between the have and have nots within a family unit. What would it take to goad family members to even consider bumping off a “loved one?” And what are the possibilities of getting away with such a crime? And it's set during the holiday season.
You can find it on Amazon (click on the link over there on the right side), and for only 49 cents.
Such a deal!
Will I ever write a novel set at Christmas? Well . . . maybe. I do have one in the closet that takes place around Thanksgiving -- and the epilogue takes place on Christmas Eve. Another of my unsold manuscripts takes place Halloween week and ends--you got it--at Christmastime!
Neither of them are truly holiday oriented, so it looks like it'll be a while (if ever) before any of my backlist gets trotted out for the holidays.
(But one never knows.)
Catalogs are one thing, the good thing is you can recycle them with newspapers, because most catalogs glossy or not are printed on newspaper stock.
What I can't stand are the scam letters and emails I get claiming I should send them $6 or $328 for international postage and I'll ha, ha, get a huge sum of money.
Joann B.
Posted by: Joann Breslin | December 04, 2008 at 11:47 AM