and the rest of The Claire Trilogy in the top dozen. But she must have her friends starting to pre-order Finding Jimmy Moran as well, because it keeps dropping in and out of the top 100, with a little more than a month before its April 13th launch. I guess all of her years as a book keeper for the Jesuits is finally paying off. Thank you Mom.
Anyway, while there is always a moment of sadness when FJM falls back out of the top 100 – these rankings change hourly, so success is fleeting – I recently discovered something that provides me some solace. At first I overlooked it. It turns out that Amazon posts book covers on certain search pages as a form of advertisment. Today, I noticed that the advertisement on the Top 100 listing in Humorous Dark Comedy, posted FJM as “New Release.” So I snapped a photo. To borrow a British slang word from my friends in the UK, “I am chuffed!”
You see, one new trick this old dog has learned over these past two years as a published author, is that every single time your book cover appears before some potential reader’s eyes, even for a subliminal moment, it’s a win. And if your book covers are interesting –
(thank you the brilliant Richard Lamb for your genuis – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ildrichardlamb/) –
or have the face of your magical mule, Claire, on it,
its starts to register. At some point, if it shows up enough time in the browsing readers’ field of reference, they stop to check it out.
Now this works better if an item appears within a small grouping – the magical number 3 works perfectly – and its best if it appears right in the center of that grouping. Peoples eyes scan left to right – which is why TV screens replenish their pixels top down left to right – and then return to the center mass. (That could explain why God affixed our sexual appendages where they are and not on our hips and shoulders.)
Anyway, so I was absolutely thrilled to see Finding Jimmy Moran appear center mass in the small, three book advertisement on the Amazon top 100 page. It acts as a psychological placeholder. It registers in the potential reader’s mind.
Now I know just how lucky I have been up until now, and I know I owe a lot of that luck to the hard work of my publisher Reagan Rothe (and his company BRW) who has been working just as hard as my mother marketing the shit out of my books. Thank you Reagan.
All of this is really important to me because I want FJM to find the same success as the other members of The Clair Chronicles (beyond the Trilogy), the same way I want all of my living descendants to succeed in life. Honestly, I’m too old for it to make a difference to me in my own life, but I want the stories to all experience the same love from the readers long after I am gone. I want my characters, who are as real to me as the people/creatures I base them on, and who have all given so much to me in this lifetime, to have a “happily ever after” great time with each other in the literary world I have created for them. I want them all to live in Neverland, forever.
But I know that the magic cannot happen without the business of marketing. It’s the hard work of people like Reagan and the BRW team, and the Amazon algorithms, who get my work out in front of the eyes of my potential readers. And of course, the success of my books equally depends upon you, my fine, five readers (and my dear/dead Mom) who have been so supportive to my efforts. Thank you all.
So let’s see if we can get the word out about Finding Jimmy Moran over the next four weeks. Start a whisper campaign in every elevator or train or airplane you find a captive audience. Tell your family and friends that if they haven’t yet read The Claire Trilogy, they should get on it in time to welcome the prequel on the drop date – April 13th (lucky for some). Because I believe this latest book is really special. And I want these characters to end up in Neverland with the others.
Oh, and one final thing. And now for something completely different (thank you Monty Python). In FJM I brought a character into the story from the wonderful book Passport To Terror – by Christy Cooper Burnett:
I’m not aware of that ever being done before. But I figured WTF, why not. Madison Taylor is a great character and I wanted to introduce her to Jimmy Moran. Christy said “Go for it!”
So, if you really want to enjoy the fine nuances in Finding Jimmy Moran, give Passport To Terror a read before April 13th.
Oh, and BTW, Christy and I will be appearing together at Table 60 at the LA Bookfair in late April, so come on by and we will co-sign our books, or any body part you would like.
Well, today is Thursday, so there is always hope.
You fine, five readers go out there and take care of whatever business is standing between you and a fun and stress free weekend. Friday is calling you.
I need to get to my kitty cuddling, rounds and the dreadmill, where I hope to start visualizing the sequel – Where The Ley Lines Meet.
Most of all, let’s make today a great one. And thanks again.
