Advice from Publicist

I recently attended a Zoom call with a presentation by publicist Joe Marich. He had some excellent comments for authors. Starting with your story, ask yourself if this is a story worth telling. Second, why should readers care, in other words, what makes your story stand out. Third, which specific people will be interested in your book. Your story won’t appeal to everyone, so find your target audience. Fourth, prepare a five-minute segment that you can present to tell your story and why readers will be interested. He had other useful comments, but these where the core messages.

Giving Presentations

Over the next month I’m scheduled to give one zoom and two in-person presentations to book clubs. I haven’t given presentations for a month, so I’m a little rusty. I’ll be speaking about lessons learned as an author. I need to review my notes and practice to get back in shape. I always enjoy meeting with book clubs.

Family Gatherings

Over the last two weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to get together with our three kids and four of our grandkids. That has been the highlight of the holiday season. Next week will be getting back to normal with the grandkids back in school.

The New Year

I have a lot happening in the first half of the new year on the book front. In March my historical mystery novel, Murder in the Museo Kircheriano, will be published by Mystic Publishers, and in April the third book in the Omnipodge Trilogy, A Mystery Yarn, will be published by Encircle Publications. I have two presentations to book clubs in January and will attend the Left Coast Crime Conference in the Seattle area in April.

Violin Concert

Our 8-year-old grandson participated in his first third-grade violin concert this week. Every Tuesday the kids practice on the violin, and this was the first time to show their families the results.

The Snowball Effect

One of the things I like about doing author events is the snowball effect. A recent example is that I attended Men of Mystery in November in Long Beach, CA. As a result, I’ve been invited to two book clubs to give presentations in January, one of which selected one of my books for their monthly read.

Christmas Tree Decorated

This week we got out Christmas tree decorated with the able assistance of our grandson. We listened to Christmas music and put ornaments on the tree. A fun project.