Update for September 2026

Hi, this is just an update. I’ve been pretty busy between working on a screenwriting class I’m in, writing out the beats of a story I’m working on, which has been a very good exercise for me. Also, I just recently went to the C3 Conference where I sold three books. I’m so thrilled. Honest to God, it’s hard to sell books anywhere these days, I think.

But it does pay to get out there and just to meet people and talk to them about your work because it helps you in the long run in every sense in terms of getting people aware of what you do. So going to the C3 Conference is wonderful for a couple of reasons. It’s a great way to connect with readers and it’s a great way to connect with other writers. I just love being with other writers because as a community, we are there to help each other a lot and I’m seeing it more and more online.

Internationally bestselling author SJ Rozan gives an awesome post-dinner talk.

People are now working together to help each other with getting their work noticed, getting their work out there. There are people who have been publishing for years in small press form who are now putting together anthologies. These are small places where you can try to submit work at places like that if you’re into writing. Try for the small publications, the ones that focus on the genre of your choice particularly, because that’s where you will get noticed. That’s where you will find readers. Readers and writers gravitate toward these places online. There’s an online list called Rara Avis [focused on hardboiled and noir fiction, in various media, as well as vintage pulp, in general]. There’s an online list for the Mystery Writers of America and there’s an online list for Sisters in Crime. All of them deal with crime writing. All of them are full of interested people in that subject. So if crime writing is your subject, think about joining Sisters in Crime or joining Mystery Writers of America or the Private Eye Writers of America.

Private Eye Writers is one of my favorite groups because they focus specifically on the private eye novel, which is my favorite form of crime fiction, frankly. So having said that, that’s just my tip for the day. Get out there and meet people. Don’t just be in your room all the time writing.

Get out there and meet people;
tell them about your books;
tell them why you write;
tell them about how you created your character;
tell them how exciting the story is or whatever.

Just be yourself and you are your own best salesperson or marketer when it comes to your book, really. Just talk to people about what you do and why you do it.

It’s not that hard. Even for an introvert, and I’m an introvert really, honest to God, it’s all I can do just to make these statements, I don’t know, on a camera sometimes. Occasionally I wonder, “Is anyone listening? Does anyone care?” Well, I hope so. And I hope that you’re getting some benefit out of what I tell you because really that’s what it’s all about, making that connection with other readers, however it can be made, whether it’s in person or through social media, if you’re able to do that. I’ve met some people through social media and blogging actually, so it is possible. I’m not saying that’s impossible, but you’re not going to make sales most of the time through social media. Most of the time sales come through some kind of interaction, whether it’s reading your work online or having met you or whatever, a recommendation.

Something out there has to motivate people to look at your work and really read it, which is something Amazon was not doing for me. Simply selling 99 cent downloads by the dozen or the hundreds was not going to do it because people were not reading the books. I’m convinced of that. I’m convinced that most of the people downloading those hundreds of downloads that put me on the New York Times bestseller list, or at least helped do it along with Barnes & Noble, were not reading the books. They were just picking up a ~~freebie~~ really cheap book and then they forgot about it or they just, I don’t know. They just collected bargain books, I guess, from a whole lot of us. And that didn’t do us any favors. That’s it. That’s all I’ll say. I’m done for now. That’s all you want to hear probably. You probably didn’t even want to hear that.

Oh, well, be seeing you. Hang in there. It’s tough out there really, but it’s not impossible. Take care. Be seeing you.

PS: Hope to see you on Thursday, September 24th from 6-8pm at Cushwa & Rad Pies Taproom, located in Columbia, MD. I’ll be signing my books and sales will be handled by Queen Takes Book, a local indie bookstore.