Tour Day 14

Have to be really fast here, because I need to hit the highway.

Miles driven so far: 3086
Bookstores visited so far: 111
Books signed so far: 827
Books hand sold so far: 97
Bookstores remaining: 389

Now I'm off to Indiana and Ohio...

Tour Day 10, 11, 12, and 13

Day 10

I hit Atlanta, signing at 11 bookstores and attending a book party hosted by my friends Linda Darter and Jim Coursey. Several fans of mine showed up to have me sign their books, which never ceases to amaze me. I'm tickled any time anyone wants me to sign a book, and if they actually hunt me down to get a signature, I'm truly humbled.

One of the high points of the tour so far was meeting bookseller Paul Pessolano at the Borders in Snellville Georgia. Paul confided that he'd hand sold over 150 copies of Whiskey Sour, and surprised me by having 68 copies of Rusty Nail on hand for me to sign.

Paul will have a character named after him in an upcoming book. I may also name a child after him as well.

The stores I visited include:

B. Dalton Peachtree Center

BN 2900 Peachtree Road

BN 2852 Cobb Pkwy

BN 120 Perimter Center

BN 5141 Peachtree Parkway

BN 50 Barrett Pkwy

Borders 650 Ponce de Leon

Borders 1745 Peachtree

Borders 3637 Peachtree

Borders 3101 Cobb Pkwy

Borders 4745 Ashford Dunwoody

Borders East Cobb Marietta

Waldenbooks 3393 Peachtree

Chapter 11 220 Johnson Ferry Sandy Springs

If you live in the area and missed me passing through, please visit one of the above stores for your autographed JA Konrath needs.

Day 11

I got up early to get to Nashville, and managed to hit 10 bookstores during the drive. The lovely and talented Tasha Alexander played tour guide and took me around to of these, including Davis-Kidd where I ran into the lovely and talented JT Ellison, who also bought me dinner. JT, as you should know, is one of the gurus behind Killer Year, a blog that has been getting a lot of well deserved press lately. JA says: link to them.

Tasha then took southern hospitality up to the next level by offering to let me stay in her lovely home. I owe her and her husband big thanks. Buy her historical mystery And Only to Deceive, then buy copies for everyone you know. I really don't care for historicals, but this one I loved.

Other talented and lovely people I got to hang out with in TN were mystery author Chris Well, his wife Erica Well, and SinC Chapter Prez JB Thompson. I also had a chance to give a short speech to the Sisters in Crime group, as I am also a proud sister.

Stores I visited include:

Davis-Kidd 2121 Green Hills Village Dr, Nashville

Waldenbooks 1800 Galleria, Franklin

BN 1701 Cool Springs, Brentwood

Borders 2501 Westend, Nashville

Borders 330 Franklin, Brentwood

Waldenbooks Kenneson GA

Books-a-Million Hixson TN

Waldenbooks Hixson TN

BAM Murfeesboro TN


Day 12

I was in the car a whopping 14 hours today, and managed to drop by ten stores along a circuitous 600 mile route from Nashville to my home in Schaumburg, IL. Stores include:

BAM Clarksville TN

Borders Clarksville TN

Borders Champaign IL

BN Champaign IL

Waldenbooks Champaign IL

BN Bloomington IL

Borders Normal IL

Borders Peoria IL

Waldenbooks Peoria IL

BN Peoria IL

By the end of it I was pretty wiped out, and managed to get five hours of sleep before heading to Madison in the morning.


Day 13

I'm here today the the University of Madison Writer's Insitute doing some lectures on--what else--writing and marketing. After I got into town this morning, I taught a class on creating salable series characters, then managed to visit four are bookstores:

Borders 3759 University Dr

Borders 2173 Zeier Rd

BN East Towne Mall

BN West Towne Mall

I'll be back to the conference for a group signing at 5pm, and used the small amount of free time I had to write this blog entry.

TOTALS:

Miles driven so far: 2713
Bookstores visited so far: 108
Books signed so far: 705
Books hand sold so far: 70
Bookstores remaining: 392

TOUR THOUGHTS:

So far, so good. While there don't seem to be enough hours in the day to catch up on my email (or my sleep) I'm already starting to see some positive results of this tour. I'm asking booksellers to order more copies of my titles, and they seem to be responding (at least, according to my Ingram numbers). Many folks appear to be very happy to meet me, and I'm happy to meet them as well.

I'm also seeing some fans on the road, and a lot of folks are helping me out in many different ways, from food to lodging to touring advice and tips to simply wishing me luck.

As far as bang for the promotional buck goes, and can't think of anything I've done that has been as effective as this tour, and I'm only 1/5 done with it.

This next leg of the tour takes me through New York and the Backspace Conference, where I'm doing MC duties, but after the Big Apple my schedule will be a lot less hectic, and I should be able to slow down my pace a bit.

Tomorrow (July 14) I'll be signing at Booked for Murder in Madison around 4pm and Books and Company in Oconomowoc around 6pm. On July 15 at 7:30pm I'll be at Foul Play Books in Ohio. Hope to see some of you there!

Internet Happenings

Before I resume with the semi-daily tour update, I'd like to mention a few cool things happening on the information superhighway.

The multi-talented MJ Rose has come up with an innovative way to spread the word about her third Dr. Morgan Snow book, The Venus Fix. The first two in the series, The Halo Effect and The Delilah Complex were terrific thrillers, nicely combining hot and steamy sex with hair raising thrills. Go out and buy many copies of each.

To support the new book, MJ is touring the blogosphere much like I'm touring the country, which is a smart and innovative idea.

The Goal: to get 500 blogs to write about THE VENUS FIX and link to the Vidlit or an Interview with me about it. MJ will donate $5 to a charity that the bloggers themselves chose for each link.

All the rules are here at Myspace. Go and check them out, right now. I'll still be here when you get back.

Upon hearing about her tour, it made perfect sense to turn this into a friendly competition to see who reaches 500 first. Here's the official press release:

TWO ROADS DIVERGE

J.A. Konrath and M.J. Rose both have both taken to the highway to help their publishers market their books.

J.A. Konrath (RUSTY NAIL 7/1) is driving across the country on the concrete highway with the goal of hitting 500 bookstores by the end of the Aug.

M.J. Rose (THE VENUS FIX 7/1) driving across country on the virtual highway with the goal of reaching 500 blogs by the end of Aug.

Konrath has his car, toothbrush, deodorant, and a GPS device and is planning to stop in every bookstore he can find.

Rose has a fund raising effort, an information page up at myspace where bloggers can learn about the contest and four video clips including a Vidlit, Author Interview and BookGroup video discussion.

Rather than "may the better author win" – "may they both win."

Besides donating $5 for every blog and bookseller who gets involved in MJ's effort via the info at Myspace.com, she will also link back them on a special page at my website and mention them in the acknowledgements of her next book.

So you're helping two worthy causes (a charity and MJ Rose, who is tireless in her efforts to help other writers learn about promotion).

If you want to be counted be sure you read the instructions at MySpace.com and then send a permalink to venusfix@gmail.com. Every blogger who participates will also be entered in a weekly drawing for a signed, personalized copy of THE VENUS FIX!

I'd be delighted if everyone who reads this blog not only links to MJ, but helps to spread the word about her efforts.

I'd also like to raise the stakes. A friendly competition is fine, but I think that there should be more to win than simple bragging rights. So I'm throwing down the gauntlet.

Bouchercon is in Madison, Wisconsin this year. I think the loser should throw a room party, complete with champagne and cake, in the winner's honor. Naturally, everyone will be invited.

Are you up for it, MJ? I know a great bakery in Madison where you could buy a lovely cake decorated with the cover of RUSTY NAIL. Also, for your future reference, I prefer Asti Spumante to champagne...

In other blog news, several friends of mine have recently started a new blog called The Outfit. This Chicago based mystery blog combines the talents of Sean Chercover, Barbara D'Amato, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Kevin Guilfoile, Libby Hellmann, Sara Paretsky, and Marcus Sakey. I encourage everyone to check it out and link to it.

I'm running late today, and have to get from Nashville to Peoria by 4pm, so I can't do a full tour update until later, but here are the current stats:

Miles driven so far: 2276
Bookstores visited so far: 94
Books signed so far: 590
Books hand sold so far: 69
Bookstores remaining: 406

If all goes well, I'll visit my 100th bookstore today.

And now, back to the road...

Tour Day 8 and 9

Day 8

Miles driven today: 324
Bookstores visited: 0
Books signed: 0
Books hand sold: 0
Bookstores remaining: 439

So far, the hardest thing about this tour has been finding time to blog about it.

I finished the line edit of DIRTY MARTINI and sent it off to Hyperion, then attended Rob's wedding and reception, and immediately afterward drove from Charleston WV to Knoxville TN, which was a lovely five and a half hour trip through mountains with zero cell phone and radio reception.

There wasn't any time to visit bookstores today, which plays havoc with my daily average, but I'll make up for it tomorrow.

Day 9

Miles driven today: 283
Bookstores visited: 13
Books signed: 70
Books hand sold: 4
Bookstores remaining: 426

Signed at the following stores in Tennessee:

Borders 202 Morrell Road Knoxville

Borders 11235 Parkside Dr. Knoxville

Books-A-Million (BAM) 8507 Kingston Pike4 Knoxville

BAM 190 Collier Dr. Pigeon Forge

Waldenbooks 3000 MAll Roasd North Knoxville

BN 8029 Kingston Pike Knoxville

BAM Chattanooga

Waldenbooks Chattanooga

BN Chatanooga

Then on to Atlanta:

BN 292 Cobb Parkway

BN 50 Barrett Parkway Marietta

Borders 3101 Cobb Parkway

BN Cobb Parkway Marietta

Atlanta has about 20 more stores, and I hope to hit many of them before my book party.

So far on tour, I've given away 76 copies of Rusty Nail to booksellers, and their response has been overwhelmingly positive. The free book goes to the person in the store most likely to read it (the biggest thriller fan, the mystery department head, the GM, the CRM, the person who recognizes me or has read me before.)

As I mentioned before, the goal here isn't just to sign stock. In fact, I have several goals when I walk into a bookstore:

• Sign stock and place business cards in the books I sign. The cards stick out like bookmarks, which draws more attention to the book and also advertises the other books in the series.
• Meet the booksellers and give them signed coasters to put in future books of mine that they order (which sort of makes them signed copies.)
• Tell the booksellers about my series, and give them a free copy of Rusty Nail, which also comes with promo material for my audiobooks and These Guns for Hire, my antho coming out in the fall.
• Get business cards with email addys for follow ups.
• Have booksellers write their names in my acknowledgements book, and let them know they'll see their name in print when Dirty Martini comes out next year.
• Ask them to please handsell the copies I've signed, and then order more.

I'm surprised how many stores have copies of all three books, which means my backlist is being stocked (a good thing.) However, almost half of the stores I've visited haven't gotten their copies of Rusty Nail yet, or tell me they have tried to get it and Whiskey Sour, but can't because of distributor/computer issues. Hopefully that is being resolved (Whiskey Sour is coming out in a second printing, and the Rusty Nail issue is being fixed.) We'll see how things develop as the weeks pass.

Tour Day 5, 6, and 7

Day 5

Miles driven today: 395
Bookstores visited: 19
Books signed: 95
Books hand sold: 2
Bookstores remaining: 439

I'm tired, but happy with the way things are going.

With the help of the talented James R. Winter, who carted me around Cincinnati all day, we managed to sign at 18 bookstores, which is really impressive considering how far apart some of them are. Jim's a great guy and a great writer---visit him on his blog and get your hands on a copy of his mystery novel Northcoast Shakedown.

It took a solid 11 hours to finish up in Ohio, and then I managed to make it to Lexington, KY to sign at one final bookstore (Joseph Beth) and hang out with the editor of the best science fiction magazine being currently published, Apex. Jason kindly invited me to stay in his lovely home for the night, and I ate all of his food and made a really sweet fort out of sofa cushions which I hope he'll leave standing after I move on.

I'm not an idiot (I'm also not an actor, but I play one on TV) and it's obvious that so far on this tour that a lot of people are chipping in to help me out. Three nights on the road, and I've already had three free meals, two places to crash for free, and two author escorts who drove me around their towns. I'm both humbled and blown away by all of this generosity. In Carmel, a fan who heard about my tour even gave me a $25 gas card. Are people awesome, or what?

Not everything is gooing 100% smooth, however. The chain of B. Dalton (which is the smaller, mall friendly version on Barnes and Noble) doesn't seem to carry my books. I've visited three so far, and struck out each time. Of course, the main reason I'm going to these bookstores is to meet the booksellers, and hopefully they will carry my books after meeting me, so progress is being made.

Also, the wonderful Waldenbooks chain has a computer problem where my newest novel is listed in their system as a paperback for release in 2007. Since the hardcover is available right now, this makes ordering my latest impossible at these stores, which can't be helping my sales. I've spoken to several higher ups, and hopefully this will get resolved. If you want to buy my book through Walden, suggest they shortlist it or special order it through a distributor (Ingram, Partners, etc).

If you're looking for signed books in the area, here are the stores I visited:

Waldenbooks 7875 Montgomery, Cincinnati

Brentanos 28 West Fourth St. Cincinnati

Waldenbooks 6139 Glenway Ave. Cincinatti

Waldenbooks 4601-672 Eastgate Blvd. Cincinnati

Joseph Beth 2692 Madison Road Cincinnati

BN 7800 Montgomery Cincinatti

Borders 11711 Princeton Pike Cincinnati

Borders 4530 Eastgate Cincinnati

Borders 9459 Colerain Cincinnati

Borders 2785 Dixie Hgwy Crestview Hills KY

Borders 5105 Deerfield Blvd Mason OH

BN 1 Levee Way Newport KY

BN 7663 Mall Road Florence KY

BN 9455 Civic Center Blvd West Chest OH

BN 9891 Waterstone blvd Cincinnati

Waldenbooks Florence KY

Joseph Beth Lexington KY

I also visited B. Dalton at the Cincinnati Northgate mall and the Tri County Mall, and they promised to order some copies.


Day 6

Miles driven today: 285
Bookstores visited: 3
Books hand sold: 2
Bookstores remaining: 436

My friend, thriller author Robert W. Walker, is getting married, and he asked me to be his best man. Rob lives in Charleston, West Virginia. I love Charleston, but it doesn't have many bookstores. In between the wedding rehearsal and the long travel times, I managed to squeeze in four bookstore visits.

Taylor Books226 Capitol St Charleston

Waldenbooks 2107 Charleston Town Center

Waldenbooks 175 Kanawha Mall

Waldenbooks 500 Winchester Ave Ashland KY

While the momentum I've been building up on this tour has come to a screeching halt, it's great to be here for Rob.

Day 7

Today is Rob's wedding, and I'll be doing best man duties. I had a solid eight hours of sleep for the first time in about ten days, which felt great.

I have two free hours this morning, so I hit a nearby Kinko's to catch up on my email and blog, and to finish the line edit of DIRTY MARTINI, which is due in a few days.

After the reception tonight, I'm, heading for Knoxville TN. I'll be signing at Knoxville stores tomorrow, and then on to Atlanta.

On Monday, July 10, some friends are throwing a booklaunch party for me in Atlanta. If you'd like to attend, RSVP Linda Darter at ldarter@csfmail.org. It's on Pelham Road, being held between 6pm and 8pm. Hope to see some of you there!

Tour Day 4

I'm in Indianapolis, and under some time constraints so this will be a quickie blog entry.

Miles driven today: 287
Bookstores visited: 14
Books signed: 94
Books hand sold: 5
Bookstores remaining: 458

If you're looking for signed copies of RUSTY NAIL in the heartland, visit The Mystery Company in Carmel.

You can also find signed copies at:

Waldenbooks 3919 Lafayette, Indianapoils

Waldenbooks 6020 E. 82 Indianapolis

Borders 11 S. Meridian Indianapolis

Borders 8675 River Crossinf Blvd Indianapolis

Borders 5612 Castleton Corner Indianapolis

Borders 2381 Pointe Parkway Carmel

Barnes & Nobel 3748 E, 82nd St Indianapolis

BN 14709 US Hwy 31 North Carmel

BN 17090 Mercantile Blvd Noblesville

Borders 348 State Lafayette

BN 2323 Sagamore Lafayette

Waldenbooks Lafayette

I was assisted today by the stalwart Sean Hicks, who drove me to several stores, and the intrepid Moni Draper, who offered me her lovely guest room to sleep in. Thanks, folks!

On to Cincinnati...

The Tour: Day 1, 2, and 3

The past few days have been spent in Phoenix for Thrillerfest. It was a great convention, but I missed much of it, having signed at 25 stores in the area.

At The Poisoned Pen I signed 80 hardcover (hc) copies of RUSTY NAIL, and five BLOODY MARY paperbacks (pb). If you live in or near Phoenix, please visit the Phoenix or Scottsdale Poisoned Pen stores for your Rusty Nail needs.

I did most of the following drop-ins with fellow scribe Barry Eisler, so if you're looking for signed copies of my books you'll likely find his available as well:

BN on 4847 East Ray, Phoenix - 7 pb

Borders 870 54th, Chandler - 4 pb

BN 311 W. Chandler Blvd, Chandler - 6 pb

Changing Hands 6428 S. McClintock, Tempe - 5 pb

Borders 1361 S. Alma, Mesa - 2 pb

Waldenbooks 1445 W. Southern, Mesa - 9 pb

Borders 699 South Mill, Tempe - 3 pb

Borders Biltmore Fashion Par, Phoenix - 9 pb (sold 1)

Bookstar 2073 E. Camelback, Phoenix - 4 pb (sold 1)

Borders 4555 E. Cactus, Phoenix - 5 pb (sold 1)

BN 21001 N. Tatum, Phoenix - 4 pb

Borders 700 E. Mayo, Phoenix - 4 pb

BN 7030 E. Greenway Parkway - 2 pb (sold 1)

BN 10500 N. 90th. Scottsdale - 7 pb

Bookstar 8919 E. Indian Bend - 6 pb

Borders 7135 E. Camelback, Scottsdale - 7 pb

Brentanos 7014 E. Camelback, Scottsdale - 5 pb (sold 2)

Waldenbooks 1445 W. Southern, Mesa - 5 pb

Waldenbooks 9631 N. Metro Parkway, Phoenix - 4 pb

Waldenbooks 302 East Bell, Phoenix - 7 pb

Borders 6555 E. Southern, Mesa - 5 pb (sold 1)

Borders Skyway Harbor Airport, Terminal 4 - 7 pb

Mysterious Galaxy (at the convention) 15 hc (sold out)

The Well Red Coyote 3190 W. Highway 89A, Sedona (at the convention) 7 pb (sold 5)

I also signed copies of THRILLER at a Walmart in Phoenix, but that doesn't count because they didn't have copies of my books.

Incidentally, I've been getting some good reviews for EPITAPH, my Phin Troutt story in the Thriller antho, and so has one of my favorite authors, F. Paul Wilson, who has a Repairman Jack story in the same book. I think this is wonderfully ironic--I read the first Repairman Jack book (The Tomb) when I was 14 years old and loved it. Repairman Jack is so named because he 'fixes' peoples problems. I fell in love with the character.

Eight years later, I wrote my first novel, an unpublished hardboiled tale called DEAD ON MY FEET. My protagonist was Phineas Troutt, a Chicago tough guy dying of cancer. Because of his situation, he'll take any dirty job for cash, which he then blows on drugs and hookers to help diffuse the pain of his lingering death. Phin calls himself a 'problem solver' which is a subtle homage (aka rip-off) of Paul's Repairman Jack character.

I never sold DOMY (publishers didn't think I could continue a series with a dying hero) but Phin pops up in my Jack Daniels series and plays major roles in WHISKEY SOUR and RUSTY NAIL. Phin has also been in Ellery Queen a few times.

I think its pretty damn cool that Phin now shares a cover with his literary inspiration, Repairman Jack. It gives me a fuzzy, warm feeling.

Thrillerfest recaps are being done on other blogs, so I won't go into any more detail other than to say it was a resounding success, I touched base with hundreds of authors and fans, and owe a lot of people beer.

Before leaving for Thrillerfest, I signed 15 copies of RUSTY NAIL at the Woodfield Mall Waldenbooks in Schaumburg. I also signed about 20 copies each of Bloody Mary and Whiskey Sour, hardcovers and paperbacks, so if you're in Illinois and need an autographed book of mine, that's the place to go until I return in September.

The BN in Schaumburg on Golf Road, and the Borders in Schaumburg on Golf Road, each have 30 signed copies of Bloody Mary.

Totals so far:

28 bookstores visited
339 books signed
472 bookstores to go

Which brings us to the driving protion of the Rusty Nail 500, which kicks off tomorrow in Indiana.

How does one prepare for a 60 day road trip? What am I bringing along?

Here's the lowdown:

• A GPS to help navigate
• A laptop to keep up with my blog and email
• A radar detector
• 480 copies of RUSTY NAIL
• 15,000 drink coasters
• 5000 business cards
• 500 copies of Crimespree Magazine
• 500 flyers
• 500 Audiobook postcards
• A lined notebook
• The itinerary
• Clothes, a toothbrush, and deodorant

While the GPS, laptop, and radar detector are obvious, the other items require some explanation.

My publisher generously donated 500 copies of the new hardcover to give to bookstores. I used 20 of them in Phoenix, to great success. After I sign stock at a store, I give the most enthusiastic employee a signed copy of the new book. Sometimes this is the manager, or CRM, but often it is the person who stocks the mysteries, or really loves to read, or got really excited that I showed up.

That person also gets a special Bleak House edition of Crime Spree, which has info about my upcoming antho THESE GUNS FOR HIRE (which also features a new Phin Troutt story), a flyer and interview left over from my library mailing with Julia Spencer-Fleming, and a postcard about my audiobooks.

Each book I sign gets a business card placed inside, showing the covers of the other books in my series.

Each person I meet in the store (fans and employees) gets a signed drink coaster. I don't spend more than 15-20 minutes in a store, but if fans are around I'll try to sell a book or two, which worked several times in Phoenix.

The notebook is what I call the deal sealer. I tell all the booksellers I meet that I love to thank people in the acknowledgements section of my books, and if they sell the heck out my my series and order more, I'll thank them in DIRTY MARTINI coming next year. They write down their names, I devote a few pages in the new book to thanking them, and we all win.

From this point on, I'll do daily updates whenever possible. If you've emailed me because you'd like to meet me or help out, I'll answer your email sometime today.

Now let's get this party started...