Advantages of a Brick and Mortar Booksigning

by Jackie King

One of the last independent book stores in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area is THE BOOK PLACE in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This charming reader-haven is owned and operated by Janice Riker and her family. Janice sells both new and used books, and she discounts her new books by 15%.

Broken Arrow Oklahoma Independent Book Store

Saturday, June 21, 2014 a large group of area writers gathered for a book signing to celebrate Riker’s 20 years of success. This success is largely due to the warm and friendly atmosphere. And most especially, CHARM! Janice involves her whole family in running the place: her amiable husband, beautiful daughter and delightful grandson (aged 4).

Yes, yes, I know I just used too many adjectives. But I had such fun at their celebration and open house. We were there from 1pm until 5pm. I was sure this was too long for my patience and/or energy, and planned to leave about 3:00. What I didn’t count on was the fun I was going to have.

There’s nothing so delightful as talking about books, your own and other writer’s. Usually people’s eyes start to glaze over after about 15 minutes of this sort of chatting. Non-readers have a very low threshold of patience with glowing chatter about make-believe people whose company you enjoyed. Reader’s understand. And enjoy along with you.

2nd Book in my Series

Do most writers make a lot of money when they take a whole afternoon at a signing? No. At least not usually. Most of us make our money these days selling ebooks. What we gain at signings is personal contact with our readers. Many of the folk who dropped by my table had already downloaded my book(s) and told me so.

But I got to meet them! I got to put a face to a nameless number. And that’s both fun and helpful. These people articulate what they liked and disliked about my books. Writing is something you have to do all by yourself. And I don’t mind that, but still, in order to create, I need to interact with people. (I just love people. All sorts of people. Don’t you?)

Signings are one of the few times I get to chat with other writers. To exchange ideas, learn of new developments in publishing, and talk of story ideas. This can be done online too, but there’s something magical about personal bonding. I reconnected with old friends and made new ones.

First Book my my series

There was a whole table of young writers whom I had never met. These bright newcomers had formed their own horror-genre writing group. How cool is that? My granddaughter. Lauren Keithley, a film student at University of Texas dropped by and got acquainted with them. Some of her studies the previous year had included horror films.

Independent bookstores rock! If you have a favorite bookstore, I’d love to know about it.

It's a Dog's Life

by Carola Dunn

Trillian came to live with me about 18 months ago, after a short but unhappy stay at the county shelter and an unknown but almost certainly unhappy earlier life.



The one thing that could be said for certain was that she was terrified of getting into a car. The shelter boss and I only managed to get her into mine to come home with me by pulling and pushing respectively. After that inauspicious beginning, it took a month of patience, bribes, and the good example of a friend's dog to make her comfortable with climbing into that scary place.

Gradually she gained confidence and started to relax.


Then she would accompany me in the car on errands about town. But whenever I had to go more than a few miles, she stayed with friends, her best friend being 'Oli:


After all, he's the right colour and size for a sheep, more or less. She loves to herd him--and if he doesn't feel like running, she urges him on with nips to the heels. She has the herder genes all right!

In April, her horizons expanded drastically. She came with me the length of Interstate 5, all the way south to San Diego and north to Seattle. She was patience itself as we drove mile after mile of highway. It helped, no doubt, that the rest areas were full of new and intriguing doggy-smells.

On the way south, she was invited into Book'Em Mysteries in South Pasadena and Mystery Ink in Huntington Beach. For a dog who's always been a bit nervous of people she doesn't know, she behaved amazingly well, first insisting on a bit of exploration, then settling down and even allowing a chose few to pet her.

We stopped at my son's in San Diego County. Trillian was not accustomed to close contact with either cats or small children, but she took to my grandkids very quickly, thank goodness, and didn't chase the cats, especially the one that sat and glared at her when she came anywhere near. She liked my daughter-in-law, but never warmed to my son--he's large and male and used noisy power-tools a lot. She did like his "garden art," though:

After a signing in San Diego, we turned around and drove home again. A couple of weeks later, we were off to Washington state, where she charmed my agent, her husband and her dog, and came with me to Seattle Mystery Bookshop. After that came the biggest adventure, the car ferry across the Puget Sound. Trillian had to stay shut in the car, with all the mysterious noises and motion that go with a boat ride. It didn't seem to bother her in the least.

She had her reward. The friends we stayed with in Port Orchard have a fenced yard full of squirrels and the smell of raccoons, and a fish-pond to fall in, and woods to explore. All went well until we were about to leave, when she jumped into the car and I turned to say goodbye--and realized I'd locked her in with my keys, in the sun, windows closed except one half-inch crack. Panic panic (that was me, not Trill, who took everything very calmly). Two neighbour boys somehow managed to combine a couple of wire coathangers into an implement with which they hooked my bag from the far side of the car and hooked my keys through the crack.

Trillian didn't stir, nor made a sound. I've revised my opinion of her as a guard dog...

She is now a veteran of 4 book signings. Here she is at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego.

Let's Keep Paper Books Alive

by June Shaw

Will Borders close all of its stores?

Let's hope not. And let's hope that more bookstores don't follow suit.

Borders seems to have various troubles, but certainly the rise of electronic books is a major cause of some of their stores closing. Almost weekly we hear of independent bookstores that once thrived closing their doors.

Thousands upon thousands of readers are not deciding they won't read books anymore. They are deciding to read those same books in various ways.

We are getting to experience an evolution in reading. When paperbacks first came out, skeptics said no one would read them. Paperbacks wouldn't catch on. They were flimsy and nowhere as nice as traditional books with hard covers.

The first book I sold was to an e-pub when e-publishing was fairly new. E-books were expected to become the next big thing. But few e-books sold then because devices were rare and expensive. Not many readers bought them.

It's taken awhile, but now e-books are changing readership, and any way we can reach readers is a good thing. Now our challenge is to make certain to keep books in paper alive. We want it all -- to read our books electronically and traditionally.

As publishers struggle to keep up with the evolution in reading, let's make certain we frequent brick and mortar stores. We need to keep them alive.

The Tremulous Future of Bookstores and Bound Books

By Mark W. Danielson

There is nothing official about this topic. It’s just some observations about the book industry. First and foremost, readers need to support their local book stores, especially independent ones, or they will cease to exist. When that happens, a dark era begins, and you will have to visit Starbucks or McDonalds for your coffee and free Wi-Fi.

In October, 2009, I sent 70 newsletters to independent book stores and fifteen were returned because those stores are no longer in business. Others may follow suit unless our economy makes an abrupt turnaround. This is a disturbing trend, particularly for authors who aren’t household names. If Kindle is successful, bound books may only be published on demand.

Personally, I like browsing through book stores. I like the feel of a book in my hand, flipping pages back and forth. Sometimes I might dog-ear a page or two, or highlight things if there’s good reason. My library is full of reference, fiction, and non-fiction books. I have plenty yet to read, and some I may never read in their entirety. Still, they are comforting to have, knowing they can be viewed regardless of my electric power situation. I don’t believe Kindle can match a book’s features.

Independent book stores feature a far greater variety of authors than you will find in chain book stores. These stores are more likely to carry my books. My latest, Diablo’s Shadow was highly rated, and yet Barnes and Noble won’t carry it because neither my publisher nor I are big names. However, I did receive a nice letter from their corporate department manager saying my books meet their criteria, and they will gladly order them on demand. At least I have that going for me.

Last November, I participated in another enjoyable Men of Mystery event in Irvine, California. As one of the fifty-plus authors in attendance, I am always amazed at the talent in the room, and yet few have heard of the majority of these mystery writers. In this regard, an author breaking out is comparable to an actor being discovered while waiting tables. There are plenty of wonderful books out there, but unless they get noticed by the right people, it’s unlikely they will ever become best sellers.

Some of these issues are discussed in my upcoming novel, Writer’s Block. More than a murder mystery, it’s an inside look into the fiction writer’s world. Please don’t confuse this with a documentary or autobiography, though. Nothing could be further from the truth. Writer’s Block is simply a fun story filled with twists and turns. I hope to name a publisher later this year.

Without readers, there would be little reason for authors to invest so much of their time in creating stories, and yet those of us who take writing seriously would probably write them anyway. Once a story teases your brain, there is no escaping it until it’s written down. Whether you read my stories or someone else’s, please try to buy them from your local book stores. They really need your business.