Newsletter 09/10

September 2010

The summer will be officially over here in the Northern Hemisphere on September 21, and if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, winter will be over on the same day. The point I’m making is…well, I don’t know. Maybe climate change. Maybe the climate changes depending on the season, and where you live. Or is that the weather I’m thinking about? Anyway, hope you had a great summer–or winter–and that the fall–or spring–is really nice, wherever you are. And if you live right on the equator, have a good day.

On another subject, let me recommend a good book for you during this transitional period. If you haven’t read The Lion, published in June here in the U.S. and in Canada, this is a good time to do that. And don’t forget the prequel, The Lion’s Game, which has been in print since 2000. Both books sold briskly this summer/winter, and I thank you again for your support and for your letters.

One reader wrote to me, “I buy all of your books as soon as they come out, but I haven’t read any of them. Is that okay?”

Yes, of course. You don’t have to read them — you just have to buy them. I don’t care what you do with them after you leave the cash register. Same if you download them on an eReader. To clarify: Step One, buy book; Step Two, read book, don’t read book. That’s your after-sale choice.

On a related subject, I’d like to announce here that the mass-market paperback edition of The Gate House will be published by Grand Central Publishing on November 1. If you bought the hardcover when it was published in October 2008, thank you. And if you still haven’t gotten around to reading it, don’t worry about it. I’m not. And if you bought the large trade paperback edition that was published in November 2009, you’ve been included in my last royalty statement under “copies sold.” There is no category called “copies read.”

If you somehow missed buying the hardcover or trade paperback, you can buy the less expensive mass-market paperback as of November 1. Paperbacks make great stocking stuffers and good turkey stuffers. You need two for a twenty-pound bird. Use the pre-seasoned edition.

More good news: soon, you will be able to download my books into a 3-D Holographic Talkie Bookie. This device will enable you to see and hear the author (me) reading my book aloud while I go about a normal day’s activities, i.e. you can watch me exercise on my treadmill while reading to you, then eating breakfast, taking a walk downtown, screaming at a dense clerk in a department store, ripping up a chapter of my next novel, ordering a scotch and soda in my local pub, and so forth.

This is cutting-edge electronic technology, and this device is light years ahead of all other eBook readers. It combines audio and visual, in 3-D color and surround sound, making it feel as though I’m reading my book to you as we keep each other company during the day. Awesome. The 3-D HTB will be available, hopefully, before the holidays, but no later than December 21, 2012 when the world ends.

Some other breaking news: I’ve announced in previous Newsletters that my next novel will be an airline disaster story, titled Captain. Well, there’s been a change. With the huge success of The Lion, my publisher and my fans have asked me to do another John Corey book. My fans and my publisher know best, so of course I said yes. More on the new John Corey/Kate Mayfield book in future Newsletters when I figure out a plot.

I recently did a blog for Mulholland Books and you can read it by clicking here. It’s really terrific. And it’s free.

That’s it for now. Look for my October Newsletter in October.

 

Sincerely,