Revving Up for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference

The Pikes Peak Writers Conference starts tomorrow at 11 am, and I am revving up for attending my tenth one. As a conference volunteer, I worked three hours this afternoon stuffing registration packets and arranging books on bookshelves. I've got my notes and "visual aids" prepared for my workshop, "After the Call," and panel, "Genre Mysteries" (with Chris Goff, Maggie Sefton, and Robert Spiller). I've got a box of A REAL BASKET CASE books and four copies of the MAP OF MURDER anthology ready to check into the bookstore tomorrow morning, and a supply of "I'm a Real Basket Case" buttons, business cards, and trifold flyers. Now, for a good night's sleep, so I can put on a happy smile and my comfy shoes and have fun!

I'll try to report on the conference soon after, but I might need a recovery day Monday after such a high energy weekend. Along with trying to attend a few sessions, I'm manning the registration desk part time, helping with the Newcomer's Orientation, talking to prospective Sisters in Crime at their host table, trying to recruit speakers for future PPW monthly Write Brain meetings, etc. etc.

Calling all Bookstores...

...and Newspapers. Now that my mystery, A REAL BASKET CASE, has been released, you may be wondering what I'm working on for promotion efforts. I've been checking in with the bookstores where I have signings planned to make sure that they've ordered books, that those orders have been filled, and that they know about my promotion activities in their area so they can plan accordingly. Also, I've been contacting newspapers to which I sent ARCs to see if they plan to run a review and if they'd like further information for a profile/interview article. This will continue throughout the summer, with me making the calls or sending emails 3-4 weeks before each event.

I've also been publicizing whatever reviews, interviews, and profiles I've been able to get to online email loops. The latest news is:

I have a blog at the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper that points to this blog.
http://coloradosprings.yourhub.com/~BethGroundwater

Also, I am the featured author this month of the Houston, TX chapter of Sisters in Crime: www.thefinaltwist.com/bookclub.htm .

And I appear as a guest blogger on the Killer Hobbies blog. Go to http://killerhobbies.blogspot.com/ to read about my killer hobby of making gift baskets.

WorldCat

What is WorldCat? It's the world's largest network of library content and services, and it can be found at worldcat.org. Many libraries in the US make their card catalogs available to the WorldCat search engine, so someone looking for a rare book can find out what libraries have copies and work out an inter-library loan agreement with their local library to obtain a copy to check out.

Now, how is WorldCat useful to authors? We can use it to see how many libraries have copies of our books in stock, which gives us an idea of our library sales. Not ALL libraries participate, but enough do to make the search worthwhile, especially for authors whose publishers focus on library sales, like Five Star Publishing does. When I searched for my book, A Real Basket Case, today, I found that 46 library systems have copies and some of those have multiple copies. I consider this to be good news, given that my book was only released on March 21st.

My First Review from a Plain Ole' Reader

Friends and relatives who preordered my book online are receiving their copies and have started reading it. How cool is that? Anyway, this afternoon I received my first review from one of those friends who just finished the book. He's not a professional reviewer, an author, or anyone else connected with the world of writing. He's just someone who likes to read fiction. Here's what he had to say:

"Read the book through. Every time I thought about laying it down, I'd get caught up in it again. You needed a diagram to keep everyone straight.

That second chapter is a teaser."

Hee, hee, hee! We authors LOVE it when we make a reader miss their bedtime!! JB, thanks so much for the praise, and I'm so glad you enjoyed A REAL BASKET CASE.

Life After 50

For those readers who live in Colorado Springs, pick up the April issue of the "Life After 50" local monthly newspaper. There's a most excellent interview article with fellow mystery author Bob Spiller and myself about writing fiction as a second career after you turn fifty. I managed to get a plug in for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and upcoming monthly Write Brain meetings in my portion of the interview. I'm very pleased with how my photo turned out and interviewer Jeanne Davant's prose.

Conference Panels

For those of you who are attending a mystery or writing conference this year, I thought I'd let you know what my panel or workshop assignments are so far for the ones I'm attending.

April 20-22 Pikes Peak Writers Conference, Colorado Springs, CO
Saturday, 4:50 PM, What are Niche Mysteries and What is their Appeal panel
Sunday, 8:30 AM, After the Call workshop

May 4-6 Malice Domestic Conference, Crystal City, VA
Saturday, 9:00 AM, Not to Old to Tangle panel

May 25-26 Mayhem in the Midlands, Omaha, NE
Saturday, 1:30 PM, In the Bedroom with Colonel Mustard: Sex and the Traditional Mystery panel
Saturday, 3:00 PM, Light at the End of the Tunnel--And It's Not a Train! The Lighter Side of Mystery panel

June 8-9, Murder in the Grove, Boise, ID
Saturday, 3:00 PM, Mysteries in Brief: Short Stories panel

and more to come...

Jeannette Cezanne's World of Publishing

I just got off the phone after a lovely Internet radio interview with Jeannette Cezanne on her World of Publishing show on the World Wide Artist Internet broadcasting site. She made me feel so comfortable and at ease that the hour just flew by. We talked not only about my debut mystery book, A Real Basket Case, but also about writing and marketing short stories. If you're interested in listening to the interview, go to worldwideartist.net, click on "Sound Gallery" then on "World of Publishing" in the little box that appears. Scan down the list of recorded shows until you see my name. Since we just finished the interview, the show hasn't been posted to the "Past Shows" page yet, but it should be up there in a day or two.

Doing an Internet interview was a way for me to ease into the live interview process before trying to break into the "big time" of on-air radio or even, horrors, TV! I asked Jeannette for feedback, so I can learn from the process and hopefully improve my "stage presence" for the next time.