USING TWITTER EFFECTIVELY - HASHTAGS

My friend and fellow writer, Ian Walkley, recently gave me a great lesson about getting the most out of Twitter. I thought I'd share it with you. Maybe I'm the only one not aware of the 'hashtags' but I doubt it.

USING TWITTER EFFECTIVELY - HASHTAGS

by Ian Walkley

Using hashtags on Twitter can be a way of broadening the reach of your message. They are used by people searching for offers, or others with similar interests. But which hashtags work and which don't? And how should they be used in a tweet?


 I recently saw a tweet with #kindle #amazon #borrow #free #thriller #today #news and five other hashtags that would identify the tweeter. It was a little over the top. Tweeting courtesy suggests you should not use more than three hashtags in a tweet, but in any case sometimes excessive self-promotion works against your offer. Let's say you want to post the availability of an ebook for free. Are you better to use #ebook, or #ebooks; #freeebooks or #free#books? Or some other combination, perhaps #free, #amazon, and #ebook?

You can check out the potential usefulness of each hashtag at http://hashtags.org/ which provides a graph of use over the last seven days and a list of those using it recently.

 

Now perhaps we might consider #free. Less specific, less targeted, but about fifty times the number of users as #ebooks. This is quite a high percentage, although it looks small, because many tweeters still don't use hashtags. Using several hashtags together can be powerful.   Try a few different words or subject headings and see what works for you.

Ian Walkley is the author of No Remorse. His website is http://www.ianwalkley.com

 

Zoë Sharp

Enough about me. I thought for a change I would mention writers I share something with, be it Kindle or Nook or mysteries or the Keys. In this case it has to do with short stories on Kindle, but also mystery writing.
Zoë Sharp just released a collection of short stories –Fox Five – on Kindle. She is one of a growing number of authors who have signed onto the e-Book bandwagon. You should check out her website - http://www.zoesharp.com – and you’ll recognize some of the titles if the name doesn’t ring any bells for you. Here is a little bit of information about her character, ‘Charlie’ Fox and look who the character is compared to!

Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox has been described as a female version of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. Like Reacher, Charlie’s background is military. She was a first-class shot who was selected for Special Forces training, but that’s where it all went horribly wrong. Chucked out of the army in disgrace, Charlie drifts through a variety of jobs in the early books, including teaching self-defence, then a chance meeting with Sean Meyer, her old army training instructor (and a big part of the reason she was thrown out of the army in the first place) changes her life yet again.

Introduced into the world of professional close protection, Charlie embarks on a new career as a bodyguard, one that is perfectly suited to someone with her lethal abilities. Whatever the doubts of her family − or her own misgivings − she embraces her new life, even moving to the States to join a prestigious NYC close-protection agency run by Parker Armstrong.

But life is never simple for Charlie − either professionally or in her relationship with Sean. She will be faced with danger from all sides, both connected to the clients she’s sworn to protect with her life, and on a much more personal level.

Writing, politics and business planning . . .

What can a writer learn from small-town politics and businesses? When it comes to writing our books, a lot. For one thing, if you follow politics, you know nothing is etched in stone. Nothing.

The example I thought of today, while having breakfast with my son Alex at Banana Café in Key West, had to with do how, only a year or two ago, the chamber of commerce and many business and political leaders decided the city needed to cater to upscale tourists. Shorter stays, more expensive hotel rates.

The business leaders and politicians figure to be rid of the family tourist and go for those that spend big. Hell of an idea and it gets you to fill your coffers and streamline your business and government.

There is a section of the island, when you drive in, called the triangle. Along the triangle, there are four or five motels/hotels (six or one, half dozen of the other) and the plan by the owner of the property was to tear them down and put up condos, one upscale hotel, and a convention center. Great plan, since the economy was booming (or we were fooled into believing it was).

It reminds me of mentally mapping out my second novel. I had a beginning and an end and soon pieced together what was needed to go from page one to page three-hundred. Now, all I had to do was write each day and my story would end on page three-hundred, as I planned it.

Like the plans of the property owner, it didn’t work out as planned.

For him the economy went into the toilet, so he didn’t demolish the property. The motels/hotels stayed open. That was a good thing for him, since he didn’t have a large payment on empty land to make.

However, other businesses on the island were counting on all those rooms to be off the books and that would allow them to raise prices! Oh yeah! In their business plan for the year, some counted on the new rates. Well, they didn’t come.

In writing, for me, sometimes a character says or does something that changes were I am going and I have to adjust. Sometimes, the story takes on a life of its own because of words or actions that I thought I controlled, but in reality, the story flows on its own and all I do is record it!

Of course, as the writer, I could scrap where the story seemed it wanted to go and I could stick to my sketchy outline; I needed to get to the end, which I know, so follow the plan.

My personal belief is if you follow the plan, the story isn’t as strong because the characters are not as strong. Go with the flow and adjust.

Businesses were caught short, because the rooms didn’t go off the market. Some lowered their prices, got ride of mandatory five-night stays and survived. Others kept to the plan, laid off employees and survived, but not as strongly as those that adjusted their prices.

A bad book is not better than no book. A business that survives is not as good as a strong business.

How do politics get involved in this, you ask.

Well, if room rates go way up, upscale visitors come to the island and there is more money and more money equals more tax revenue and that helps the city. Local politicians were in favor of that, but it didn’t happen.

Now, this year’s budget hearings are suggesting higher tax rates, but most property owners are homesteaded and their taxes cannot go up but a certain percentage. So, the part-time resident and business owner have to make up the money.

I am glad all I do is write and can adjust, because if my characters had the opportunity to vote me in or out, like a politician’s constituents, I might lose the election.

Today, at breakfast, I saw four families with children in the café. Two families had infants with them. It is the weekend, people with families can’t afford to fly to many places, so they take thee-day trips to Key West. Maybe once a month. It is not what the businesses wanted, but many are more than happy to put their heads in beds.

Moral of all this: as a writer, plan, in pencil, and when your characters want to make changes, erase and let them fill in the blanks and just remember to record it correctly. It will be a better story.

Don't pay the ransom. I've escaped!

It seems like forever since I’ve sat down to blog. I guess a few months is forever to some. Would you believe that I was kidnapped by members of the MWA Florida board of directors and held on bread and water until I agreed to join them?

If you knew Jim Born, president of the chapter, mystery writer, FDLE agent, and all around scoundrel, you’d believe me. Honestly.

Thanks to some board members, namely Diane Stuckart, Linda Hengerer, Miriam Auerbach, Rhonda Pollero, Deb Sharp, Rick Wymer, and Neil Plakcy, I was allowed to spend part of the summer with my family (supervised by the heavily armed Born). My advice to you, Google these names, you will find some talented writers.

When my family had left, Born water-boarded me into submission. So, I am now on the board of the Florida chapter of MWA. What does that mean? I drive once a month, usually, from Key West to the Deerfield Beach Hilton (4 hours) and then home. The chapter holds its monthly luncheon meeting there and the board usually meets prior. Due to the threat of more water-boarding by board members, I ignore the fact that I have to be on the road by 6 a.m. to make the board meeting.

Of course, I kid about the water-boarding. Jim Born didn’t really do it. He did use the threat of doing it (and some other interrogation techniques he has learned from Republicans in the old Bush White House. Rumor is, Jim taught Chaney to duck hunt.)

When Neil Plakcy called and asked me if I would be interested, I said yes. It has given me a chance to be active in what the chapter does and doesn’t do and as a first-time novelist that’s important to me. I share many of the same problems other first-time novelists have and I have not forgotten the hell of a climb it was to get here – level one.

What has really been amazing is discovering that the chapter’s established writers haven’t forgotten those days. The whole purpose of our SleuthFest gathering the end of February, is to help everyone, the pro, the newbie, the wannabe and let the fan/reader get up close and personal with their favorite writer and maybe discover their next favorite writer.

Are you in that mix? Check out the SleuthFest website. It is still building, but it will give you some ideas. Check out www.mwaflorida.org and you will learn about the chapter and SleuthFest. It is a few minutes well spent. Come SleuthFest in February 2010 and see if what I am saying about Jim Born ain’t true! I can’t promise he won’t want to water-board you, but I can guarantee you a great three-day weekend.

Murder & Mayhem at the Bar / Amazon's Kindle

Mystery writers are a strange group. Our minds work differently than normal people. I was recently appointed, or maybe elected, to the board of directions of the Florida chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Last weekend I attended the board meeting/chapter luncheon at the Deerfield Beach Hilton, an almost four-hour ride from Key West.

The luncheon speakers were columnists Oline Cogdill and writer/marketing Guru Sandy Balzo, who talked about the importance of a writer’s website, something I believe in. Afterward, writers Jerry Healy, Sandy Balzo, Kris Montee, and I sat at the bar. We were talking about writing and eventually discussed my current work-in-progress, Car Wash Blues.

I should add here, that the chapter’s monthly luncheon are usually held at the Deerfield Beach Hilton and the bartender was used to Jerry and other writers sitting at the bar talking about murder and mayhem, so she went about her duties and ignored us.

Okay, back to Car Wash Blues. Briefly, it is about Mexican cartel hit men coming to Key West in search of $20 million that was stolen from the Tijuana cartel and my character, Liam Michael ‘Mad Mick’ Murphy, accidentally witnesses a murder by cartel hit men in a car wash.

The Los Angeles Times has run a yearlong series, Mexico in Crisis, that covers the horrific crimes the cartels are committing now that the government of Mexico has made crushing the cartels a primary goal. I saved those articles and used them as research on the cartels. I should also mention that while I lived in S. California, I spent a lot of time in Tijuana and had many friends there and still keep in touch with some, so what has begun to happen there has really affected me.

Many of the Mexican cartels are into decapitation, none more so than the Tijuana gang. So, in bringing these gangsters to Key West I wondered if I should stick to the reality of their murders and decided I should.

I ran my decision by Jerry, Sandy, and Kris, while we sat at the bar. You can imagine how those sitting around us reacted with words like headless bodies, heads wrapped in burlap and used as soccer balls and crushing heads in a tortilla press, coming from the four people at the bar. The bartender just smiled.

I don’t think while we were discussing my murderous ways any of us thought it was an unusual topic for an afternoon, but I bet those sitting around us were wondering about us. One couple actually got up and left before ordering and I have to wonder if they overheard us and decided it was best to leave! Maybe, maybe not.

For me, the gathering at the hotel’s bar was an opportunity to pick the minds of other writers, something I cannot do while facing a computer screen. Living hours away from most writers in Florida, I miss the camaraderie of writers; though, I should say I do cherish the feedback I get from my friends in Key West, especially since many of them are readers and readers’ opinions are important to any writer.

SleuthFest, the chapter’s writing seminar, a mixture of writers, readers and fans, is scheduled for Feb. 26 – March 1. For information on the event go to: http://www.mwaflorida.org/sleuthfest.htm.
* * *
Amazon is preparing to change the publishing world with an announcement on its Kindle. While bookstores close because of declining sales, Amazon steams ahead and its profits indicate, to me at least, that Amazon is the future of publishing. I don’t like that and hope I am wrong, because I enjoy holding a book and turning pages.

Here what Shelf Awareness had to report in its Jan. 30 report:

In the quarter ending December 31, net sales at Amazon.com increased 18% to $6.7 billion, and net income rose 9% to $225 million.
“But in a sign that Amazon was not immune to the recession, its operating margins fell to 4.06% from 4.78%, a result of heavy discounting to persuade reluctant shoppers to buy," the New York Times reported.

“Amazon offered a broad estimate for the current quarter and did not make any estimate for the year, as it normally had. It said it expected operating income of as much as $210 million, a 19% increase over the first quarter of 2008. At its most pessimistic, the forecast was for a 9% increase.”

Sales of media, which includes books, rose 9% to $3.64 billion. The Times also noted that while Amazon released no new statistics on Kindle sales, a news conference is scheduled in New York on February 9 to introduce a new version of the electronic reading device.

www.michaelhaskins.net

My Southern California Book Signings - Part III

(Before blogging about past signings, I want to let you know of two recently scheduled signings in Florida. On Sept 12 & 13, I will in St. Augustine at the Florida Heritage Book Festival – www.fhbookfest.com – and on Oct. 4, I will be at the Waldenbooks in Vero Beach, Fl., from 1-4 p.m. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop in and say hi.)

My signings in Southern California were in mid July and, I believe, were successful and fun. But, it was also work. I went to the Los Angeles area in July 2007, to personally talk with the bookstore owners, and drop off my press package, which consisted of a photo, bio, website info, and copies of blurbs by established mystery writers that would appear on the book’s jacket. I also promised copies of the books ARCs – advanced reading copies, which are used by reviewers. I sent ARC copies, as soon as they arrived.

I first joined the Mystery Writers of America when I lived in Los Angeles and found out in June 2008, that July was the SoCal chapter’s off time. How soon we forget! A friend from those days, one I hadn’t been in touch with for way too long, writer Diane Pugh (now married and is Diane Emley – http://www.dianneemley.com/) replied to my email to the club’s newsletter. She explained there were no meetings in July, but put word out on the club’s Yahoo.com page that I would be in town for signings.

While firestorms ravaged Northern California, sunny Southern California is still over crowded, smoggy, and hot. I stayed with my sister in Malibu where the temperature never rose above the mid 70s (winter temps for me), but a short ride over the mountains to the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles remedied that. Temps were in the 90s. I can say this about LA, you can see what you’re breathing! When I left, 12-years ago, the state said it hand a handle on smog and it was diminishing. No way, José!

My first signing was at “Mysteries to Die For,” in Thousand Oaks – http://www.mystriestodiefor.com/ – a ‘must stop’ bookstore for mystery writers and Heidi and her staff are friendly and supportive – something a first-time writer appreciates!

My book, “Chasin’ the Wind,” and notice I would be signing were in the window right next to a notice about Robert Crais’ signing. Bob’s large fan base might see it and be curious enough to come in and check my book out!

(photo: Mysteries to Die For/ Kevin Hart & Patti Bolter)

I brought Key West Hog’s Breath Saloon foam cup holders for all the stores – http://www.hogsbreathsaloon.com/. You put your beer bottle in them and they help keep it cool. I left six with Heidi for her and the staff.

The afternoon signing went well and my cousin from Boston, Kevin Hart, was in Santa Monica for a concert and showed up. That was a great surprise. I talked, briefly, about where the idea for the book came from and then signed.

Somewhere in the past I read, or was told, that an average sale at book signings was 10 copies. I sold my 10 copies plus, and some were presale orders. I am sure the store’s email newsletter helped, since it gave the book a good mention. That was Saturday, July 12.

Sunday, July 13, I met some friends at “My Way,” a bar in Montrose. Norm Cote has been a friend forever and he participated in a jam session there one or two Sunday nights each month. Another friend, Rob Murdock, had copies of “Chasin’ the Wind” he wanted me to sign for his daughters. You remember the old commercial, “I’d walk a mile for a Camel?” Well, imagine how far I’d go to sign three copies of my book!

(Photo: Norm Cote, Rob Murdock & Michael at My Way Bar)

Rob showed up, I signed the books, listened to Norm play, and got to hang out with the bar’s owner, Steve. I was fortunate to spend time with everyone, because a few weeks after returning to Key West, I called Norm and found out that Steve had a massive heart attack and died.

Kris Williams, the event coordinator at Barnes & Noble, in Encino, was one of the only major book chain people to get back to my request for a signing. She was kind enough to explain the store’s policy for signings was set to include the major best sellers and local authors only, but she and some of her associates had read my ARC and enjoyed it, so she invited me to sign stock. It’s not a book signing, but it is getting copies of my book into the mystery section of Barnes & Noble, so, of course, I said “Yes.”

(Photo: Kris Williams, event coordinator at B&N in Encino)

When I walked into the store on Tuesday, from the back parking lot, I remembered that I had attended many signings of MWA members there. Making it even more exciting to have my book displayed where fellow writers would see it and how surprised I was to find “Chasin’ the Wind” displayed in the store’s ‘New Arrivals’ section.

Kris got six Hog’s Breath holders, too.

Thursday, July 17, I signed at the Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse in La Canada-Flintridge, between Pasadena and Glendale – http://www.flintridgebooks.com/ . The store had just opened in 2007, when I stopped by and offered to sign. Sandy Willardson, the event coordinator was supportive in 2007, and said the store employees enjoyed the ARC and looked forward to my signing.

Two other signings in the area, Book ‘em in South Pasadena and Mystery & Imagination in Glendale fell through, so I was very appreciative to Sandy for her support. Sandy put three of the Hog’s Breath cup holds in a raffle and staff got the other three.

She even had a sign in the window about my signing and called me “author and adventurer.” Go figure, I guess my sailing to Havana a few times made me an adventurer!

(Photo: Window display at Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse)

Sandy introduced me and then introduced my sister Patty, who told awful lies about my misspent youth. Maybe they weren’t lies, exactly, but it wasn’t the way I remember things.
It was a fun evening and some friends from my past showed up and I sold more than my quota of books.

My next signing was on Saturday, July 19, at the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood – http://www.mystery-bookstore.com/ . When I lived in LA, the store was on Beverly Boulevard and one of my favorite haunts, especially at signings.

Since moving to Key West, the store has moved and been sold. Bobby McCue, the manager wasn’t there last year when James Lincoln Warren – http://www.criminalbrief.com/ – brought me to the store. JLW is a short story writer and has a popular blog that also features other short story writers. Via emails, Bobby and I communicated and finally with a good old phone call established the signing date. Later, closer to the signing date Bobby called and asked if I’d share the signing with San Francisco writer Michelle Gagnon – http://www.michellegagnon.com/ – and her two books, “The Tunnels” and “The Bone Yard” are terrific thrillers, so, of course I

said yes.

(Photo: Joe Bolter, Michael & Michelle Gagnon)

Michelle and I planned to meet for something to eat before our afternoon signings. I was walking around Westwood with my niece, Alexis Bolter and nephew, Joe Bolter when my cell ran. It was Michelle trying to locate me. She was at a Starbucks and I was on the sidewalk less than a yard away. We met and not only is she a talented writer but she is also beautiful!

Bobby, Sarah Chen and Linda Brown greeted us at the store and had area by the door filled with items promoting our books. I eventually got to sign the “arrest records book” the store has had for years. I read the signatures and comments by some of the famous mystery writers I had been reading for years. It was a wonderful feeling to add my name and comments to the book. I gave them the last six Hog's Breath drink holders.
(Photo: Sarah Chen, Bobby McCue, Michael & Linda Brown)

Because of presales, I actually got sell my quota of books at the store and then Bobby had me sign stock!

I flew back to Key West the next morning and was still flying high from the experience of signing my book in some of the best bookstores in the country when the jet landed in Miami. As I exited the smaller prop plane in Key West, I still couldn’t believe I’d just come back from LA and book signings. It was like a dream come true, no, it WAS a dream come true and I want to thank everyone at all the bookstores – Florida, NYC and SoCal – that helped make a novice feel and look like a pro.

To see photos of all those that heped make my book signings successful, go to http://www.michaelhaskins.net/ and click on photos.

(Photo: Michael signing arrest register at Mystery Bookstore)

Friday's Forgotten Book

(When Patti Abbott asked me to write a blog about a book I thought had been forgotten, it didn’t take me but a nanosecond to know what book it would be about. When I pulled it off the bookshelf, I realized I couldn’t explain it without going into explanation of the author, because the book affected my teenage years and the author a good part of the rest of my life.)

Writer Dennis Lynds had many claims to fame in his lifetime; being one of the most prolific writers in America has to be the one that will remain on the record books for years to come.

If you are new to the mystery genre, the name may not be recognizable. But Dennis wrote under many names, the most popular being Michael Collins, the creator of the Dan Fortune series, but there were others: William Arden, John Crowe, Mark Sadler, to name only a few.

I discovered Dennis Lynds while I was a senior in high school and his book, UPTOWN DOWNTOWN, Signet Paperback 1963, had just come out and it affected the direction my life would take. It was the early ‘60s, the beginning of the end of the Beat Generation and the first inkling of the hippie movement and time of teenage angst.

UPTOWN DOWNTOWN is a story about Dave Garber, an up-and-coming executive in NYC, but at night another Dave Garber emerges, one who strums a guitar in Village bars, frequents free-and-easy parties in dim, beatnik attics.

The book fully portrays that time when writers and artists, experiments in drugs and sex and jazz, were all mixed together and you had an enthusiasm for life and living that was dying a slow death. It mirrored my weekend trips to coffeehouses on Beacon Hill in Boston.

UPTOWN DOWNTOWN influenced my decisions at the time, because I wanted to be a writer and part of a living movement, even if it was fading from the mainstream. The dropout attitude of the hippies held no appeal, where the live-life-to-the-fullest mantra of Dave Garber and the Beats did. The weekend coffeehouse-poetry readings I attended were right out of UPTOWN DOWNTOWN and I latched onto the tail end of beatnik movement, and dropped into life instead of dropping out.

Almost 20-years later I met Michael Collins at the mid-March writers social hosted by The Mysterious Bookstore in Beverly Hills – since then, it has moved to Westwood and no longer holds the social because it conflicts with other literary events in LA. I was a fan and asked to have my Dan Fortune books signed. We got to talking and I discovered Michael Collins was really Dennis Lynds; I did not connect the man and UPTOWN DOWNTOWN at the time. I did guess that he took the name Michael Collins because of the Irish rebel and leader in the rebellion against the English in 1916 and he laughed and said, “Yes, that’s why I took the name.”

We became friends and Dennis was always supportive of my writing. We attended Mystery Writer of America, SoCal, meetings and socials at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in the San Fernando Valley, often sitting in the bar afterward. When I discovered why the name Dennis Lynds sounded familiar, I told him and got a thank you and a smile.

Dennis was more than a friend, he was someone I looked up to. As Michael Collins, he was able to turn Dan Fortune, a one-armed private detective, into a successful and popular character and series, when the rest of us were writing about superheroes without limitations!

He did it with well-written, well-plotted stories that often asked hot-topic questions and just as often gave the answers; and he did it with some of the best writing in the genre.

I moved to Key West in 1996, but kept in touch with Dennis and his wife Gayle, and we often emailed back and forth about my sailing trips to Cuba and how he hoped to someday visit Havana and maybe meet me there.

In 1998 Hurricane Georges attacked the Lower Keys and blew my two-story floating home out to sea, with my more than 1,000-book library and worldly possession on it, never to be found. Think of it as a one-bedroom house on a barge.

I mentioned it to Dennis in an email and told him how I was starting over and had bought a sailboat to live on. A few weeks later, I received a plastic covered copy of UPTOWN DOWNTOWN in the mail. He had remembered after all these years!

My library is almost rebuilt, now that I am back in a house on solid ground, and books written by Dennis Lynds, no matter what name he used, sit on the shelf above my computer screen, so that I often think of him when I am writing. In between the hardback copies of books, bearing the name Collins, Sadler, Crowe and Arden is the small, plastic covered paperback, UPTOWN DOWNTWON, and it stares down overpowering all the others because it reminds of my youth and how it, and its author, helped direct me to where I am today.

Dennis wrote most everyday for eight hours, or more. How I envy him for that. He was driven and loved writing. And that paid off, because so many of us love reading him.

For more information on Dennis, his life and his writing, go to http://www.dennislynds.com/.

Michael Haskins
www.michaelhaskins.net

SLING WORDS - BLOG REVIEW

“Chasin' The Wind”
by Michael Haskins Hardback: 238 pagesPublisher: Five Star, Gale Cengage LearningISBN-13 978-1-59414-638- Copyright 2008

The cover of Chasin' The Wind has palm trees gilded by a setting sun and a boat, silhouetted on a patch of gleaming water. All else in the peaceful scene is darkness. The cover artist perfectly captured the essence of this book, the first Mad Mick Murphy Mystery, by Michael Haskins.

Set in Key West, the darkness beneath the bright surface of this tourist mecca is revealed in the opening sequence when Murphy, former globe-trotting investigative journalist, stumbles upon the near-dead body of his friend and fellow sail enthusiast.

Haskins has a lean, spare style that gives you the facts and paints a picture of the Key West known to its denizens but rarely seen by the tourists. Forget the glitz and glamor of the other odes to Floridian excess as seen in book, television, and film. "Chasin' The Wind" is the real deal. It's the bite of lime in a mojito, the festering, relentless antipathy still nurtured for Fidel, and the spray of salt in your face when you're on the water.

Mick Murphy is not some unrealistic super hero sleuth. He might be the guy you pass on the street. He's known tragedy, and he's haunted by the past. He probably isn't extraordinary in his beliefs: that loyalty and friendship are everything and that justice should be sought.Haskins has created an intelligent sleuth, and you'll get a kick out of following Mad Mick Murphy from Key West to Cuba in "Chasin' The Wind."

You'll wish you could hang with Murphy in a seedy bar and share a beer while you wait for the next book in this promising new series.

Takeaway Truth:

Small publishers are nurturing some big talent. If you're a reader, start buying some of these heretofore-unknown authors on a regular basis.

ABOUT THE REVIWER:
SLING WORDS aka Joan Reeves.
Just call me Paige Turner. Oh. Real name is displayed? Well, darn. I was hoping the Paige Turner moniker might make me a hot commodity. Guess that means I'll have to write great fiction instead. (But that's sooo hard! *whine, whine*) You want to know more about me? Hmmm.... At this moment in time, I guess I'm a multi-published author of fiction and a hard-working freelance writer published all over the web (under my own name, pseudonyms, and as a ghost)...yada yada yada. Need to know more? Just go to http://www.joanreeves.com,/ for details. Joan donates the copies of books she reviews to various libraries.

Book Signing - Part II, Florida & New York

I’ve written a little about my early book signings in Key West and South Florida and you can see photos from all my signings on my website, http://www.michaelhaskins.net/, if you are interested. If you came to any of the signings, you may find your photo there.

Marshall Smith, owner of Key West Island Books, hosted my first signing days after the release date of “Chasin’ the Wind.” I sold 80 books and he told me the only person to sell more at a book signing was Carl Hiaasen. It was a wonderful event and great for my nervous ego that thought only a few friends would show up.

(Photo: Georgia & John Parks with Michael at KW Island Books)

Charlie Bauer, general manager of the Hog’s Breath Saloon held a signing in the upstairs writers’ room at the saloon and I sold 50 books. Again, my local support surprised me! Local writer and friend Tom Corcoran showed up and that was a pleasant surprised. Tom was a lot of help with my book and his support helped me push ahead to finish. I thank Tom (http://www.tomcorcoran.net/) and Boston writer Jerry Healy (http://www.jeremiahhealy.com/) in the intro to my book for their help and support.

(Photo: Michael and author Tom Corcoran, Hog's Breath Saloon)

Joanne Sinchuk, from Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach, Florida, was a gracious host and her newsletter review helped sell about 10 copies of my book to people who couldn’t attend the signing. Joanne hosts the bookstore at the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America’s SleuthFest – a writing conference – each year and her store is a must stop at for writers signing in South Florida.

The store is surrounded by some very good restaurants and I had dinner with journalist Emily Roach and Internet guru Ernie Deck, who I worked with in Key West before Emily kept getting better job offers and left. Ernie, of course, can work the Internet business from anywhere. It was nice to see them.

The Coconut Grove Bookstore is new and I was one of the first authors to sign there. Its newsletter mailing, obviously, is small but it advertised the signing, the turnout was low, but interesting because I was able to talk in depth about writing and my book to the few people who attended, something you cannot do at a more crowded signing.

Joe LiVolsi a friend of my son-in-law Paul Carpino (and now my friend as well) helped arrange a signing at the Broward County Library. Being that I get lost as soon as I hit the turnpike in Florida City, I am not sure where the signing was, but it was at a senior center in the Ft. Lauderdale area and well attended. I sold more than 10 books and had an interesting Q&A with the audience.

(Photo: Michael and Joe LiVolsi at Anthony's Runway Restaurant)

I mention the number of books sold, because I have been told that 10 books is the average number sold at signings. Yeah, I know, you don’t meet expenses with just 10 sales. Again, I’ve been told that people will go home and think about you and your book and maybe, if impressed, they come back and buy one. Others will remember you and come back when you are signing your second book.

So, I guess, you could say touring is more about creating name recognition than it is about sales; that maybe why small publishers do not help authors with touring. All of my signings have been at my own expense.

I have one last signing in Florida on Sept. 12-13, at the Florida Heritage Book Festival in St. Augustine. I will be talking about journalism as well as mystery writing. If you are in the area, come in and say hi.

I wanted to have a book-signing event at The Mysterious Bookstore in NYC, but the store manager, Ian, explained that they only host book release events and, since I wouldn’t be in the area until June, it wouldn’t be a release event - my book came out in March. However, he did offer to order copies of my books and invited me to come in and sign them. If you don’t know, this store is the ‘Godfather’ of mystery bookstores and I knew that in July many of the ITW authors in town for Thriller Fest would be stopping there to sign.

Otto Penzler, the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop, which celebrated its 30th anniversary on April 13, 2008, was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years. Penzler was the founder of The Mysterious Press, which he sold to Warner Books and is now an imprint at Grand Central Publishing. He currently has imprints at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the United States and Quercus in the U.K.

Having signed copies of my book in Penzler’s store was an achievement to be proud of – thank you Ian, Sally, & Dan! – and I am, and if you are in the NYC area, please stop in and buy a copy! It’s a great place to browse and find great new and classic mysteries.

My son-in-law Paul Carpino drove me into Manhattan. The bookstore is located in Tribeca and, not being a visitor to NYC, I am not sure what that means, except that it has something to do with actor Robert DeNiro and his film festival. I know the construction in the area made the air dirty, the streets dirty and it was 100° outside.

After meeting Sally and Dan (see photo in previous blog) Paul and I found an Irish pub one block over and had a late lunch and a few cool beers. Paul assured me that traffic along the river was light, but for someone from Key West, it was too slow and congested. However, since Paul was doing an average of 80 mph on the Jersey turnpike, the 20 mph along the Hudson allowed me to regain my composure.

Last year, I was in Los Angeles to set up my ’08 book signing and was not aware that the ITW’s Thriller Fest would be that same week. Also, I missed Hemingway Days in Key West and the Key West Haskins-Herce Family reunion! But I got to LA, signed in some great stores, and made my 10+ sales of books. And I got to meet and sign with author Michelle Gagnon. Michelle’s new book, Bone Yard, is terrific, go out and by it, if you like to be scared! http://www.michellegagnon.com/.

You can Google the bookstores I’ve mentioned to find out more about them and receive their newsletter, where you’ll find signed first editions of books, old and new. If you are not familiar with these stores, check them out.

(Photo: above, Joe Bolter, Michael and Author Michelle Gagnon at the Mystery Bookstore, Los Angeles; bottom, RaiEtte and Julio Avael with Michael at KW Island Books signing; center, Michael signing books at the Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse in the LA area. Notice the sign, it refers to 'author - adventurer Michael Haskins.' Who thought that up?)

Next blog, LA Book Signings. Please come back.