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Blog
Archive February 2009
| Honolulu Sala Thai Calvino Fan Club Meeting |
 On 12th March 2009 I will be at Sala Thai in Honolulu,
Hawaii to sign books. I plan to bring along 10 copies of the latest Vincent
Calvino novel, Paying Back Jack.
If you order a copy
https://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/r1.cgi?4D9 in advance, you will have it hand
delivered and I’ll spring for a free Singha beer.
Pou, the owner of Sala Thai and her
assistant, Breeze, will be assisting me at the signing. Who said Christmas only
comes once a year? Why not bring a friend or two, stop in and say
hello?
Breeze and Pou
Sala Thai is located at:
1333 Nu'uanu
Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 529-0308
I plan to be at Sala Thai from
around 7.00 p.m. onward on 12th March 2009. There will be a coupon
for a free Singha beer for the first 10 readers who have ordered a copy of
Paying Back Jack, and another 10 coupons for a free Singha beer for
anyone who has previously purchased a copy of Paying Back Jack, The Risk of
Infidelity Index or Spirit House.
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Posted: 2/16/2009 10:00:48 PM |
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| The Long Haul in Publishing |
Everything we read informs us that
the public’s attention span has dropped like an anchor in shallow waters and the
window for judging success has been squeezed down to microdot size.
Movies are judged by their opening
week returns.
In the New York Times, Jeff Huber Google’s senior vice president
of engineering (adopting the Nurse
Rached philosophy) sets out how he wields the executioner’s sword
brining it quickly brought down on projects that don’t quickly show financial
results.
Perhaps this will be a direction
for authors in the Brave New publishing world.
It wasn’t that long ago that
writers like Ian Rankin had time to build an audience. Not that the axe didn’t
hover over his neck, but his novel Blue gave him a reprieve.
Ian Rankin has been interviewed on
the subject in Scruffy Dog: http://www.thescruffydogreview.com/Rankin.html
"There were a lot of years back
then when I just wasn't selling. The first six or seven books sold very poorly
and then suddenly Black and Blue came along at a time when my publishers were
getting ready to drop me. They felt they had done everything they could to try
and break me into a bigger market, so they were getting ready to let another
publisher take a shot. Everything just clicked. I've got diary entries from
around Mortal Causes time saying how disastrous it all was; the books aren't
selling, they're not getting well reviewed, and that was eight years of my
writing career. I was panicking."
Has Jeff Huber switched on
the warning light in the tunnel where authors are working the
coalface?
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Posted: 2/15/2009 11:03:15 PM |
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| Sunday Writers Breakfast in Bangkok |
  On
Sunday 22nd February I will have breakfast with Timothy Hallinan and
Steve Martini in Bangkok. Tim writes an exciting series staring a
journalists/private investigator set in Bangkok. Tim’s latest novel The Fourth Watcher has received many rave reviews, and he has a third novel
coming out this year.
  Steve Martini’s latest novel is Shadow of Power. This is Steve’s ninth Paul Madriani legal thriller. A number
of his novels have been on the New York Times bestseller’s list.
Living in Bangkok has many
advantages and compensations but it is difficult to make the case that it is a
“hub” of crime fiction or any genre of fiction. Writers living here normally
need to travel to New York or London to meet other authors who are published by
major publishers. Sunday should be a treat. Occasionally, despite all evidence
that physics is against such an event, the mountain does manage to go to
Muhammad.
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Posted: 2/15/2009 11:00:33 PM |
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| Elephant sighting on Soi Cowboy |
A stroll along Soi Cowboy can lead
to the unexpected. Even elephants get into the act, begging for food. The
tourists buy plastic bags of fresh sugar cane and are rewarded (sometimes) with
the equivalent of an elephant wai.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlR1dy1RXKw
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Posted: 2/12/2009 3:25:00 AM |
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| New and Much Lower book prices |
Prices on all books have been
reduced from 66% to 38%.
It is now affordable to order books
from Thailand.
Order here: http://www.cgmoore.com/readers/index-buybook.htm
One of the main obstacles for
readers buying books from Thailand is the cost. In the past my publisher has
shipped all books by air courier. That costs an arm and a leg and part of a
shoulder. The decision was made to ship by registered post. The delivery time is
around two weeks, but the cost reduction is substantial.
Before a Calvino novel would costs
with the air courier charge: $36.50 per title for trade paperback, B-format
paperback $34.50 and $32.50 for mass paperback
The new price, which
includes shipping cost is $26.50 for trade paperback. That is a 38% discount
over the old price. B-format is now $22.95 (66% discount from the old price) and
the mass paperback is $18.95 (52% discount from the old price)
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Posted: 2/12/2009 3:15:41 AM |
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| The Risk of Infidelity Index |
  The Grove Press trade paperback edition of The Risk of Infidelity Index came out a few weeks ago. You can still marked down copies of
the hardback editions on Barnes & Noble. The heavily discounted copies ($4.98) of
Risk were ranked 833 on Barnes & Nobel website on 3rd
February. One of the good things to happen to a book that has been released in
paperback is there is a second chance for reviews in the few remaining review
columns in major American newspapers.
This good fortune has been
happening with the trade paperback edition of The Risk of Infidelity Index.
The San Francisco Chronicle on February1, 2009 observed,
“Think Dashiell Hammett in Bangkok. A hard-boiled, street-smart, often hilarious
pursuit of a double murderer.”
The New York Times on February 1, 2009 said, “This
flashy private-eye mystery introduces American readers to Vincent Calvino, who
works in Bangkok for expat wives who want proof of their husbands’ infidelity.
Then he investigates the murder of a man who tried to expose a case of drug
piracy that could bring down the government.”
Do reviews in the print media make
a difference? The answer is a definite yes. Such reviews make a substantial
difference in sales. The Amazon ranking shot up to 3,000 from about 300,000
before the New York Times recommendation appeared.
Having a book noticed should come
as no surprise as making an impact on sales.. Readers who missed the hardback
edition the first time around become aware of the book for a start. The trade
paperback edition is cheaper. Words of praise about a book still provide readers
with confidence to take their own risk in buying a book by an author they don’t
know. Readers still trust that the books recommended in newspapers like The
San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times will deliver a great
read.
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Posted: 2/2/2009 10:11:03 PM |
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