I feel a song coming on...

Sunny, beautiful day - high plus 2

Am at home right now, awaiting a phone call from Goldberg McDuffie. They're this huge PR firm in New York, supposedly the best in the business, who we've brought on board to help promote The Cruelest Month in the US. Very exciting. The feeling is that the book is strong enough, and the time is right, to reach as many readers as possible. And one way to do that is to hire an outside firm to augment St. Martin Minotaur's efforts.

We'll see.

I really like Angela Hayes (Goldberg's VP for marketing) and Kathleen Carter, who is my account executive. But frankly no one is quite sure if this is worth doing. A bit of an experiment. Albeit a costly one! Still, I figure I haven't worked hard to get this far to cringe away now. It might not work, but I don't think I'll regret trying.

The key, and this is no brain surgery, is to get major publications doing stories on the series (People, AARP, New York Times etc) but also to generate word-of-mouth. Interestingly, it's this last that has the most impact. People telling people (a failed Barbra Streisand song).

That, of course, is where you come in - and I'm just so grateful to those of you who've read the books and passed them on to friends - or bought them as gifts. Or simply told someone else. That's how I buy books, for the most part. Either a friend recommends it, or my local bookseller does. But it's almost always word-0f-mouth.

I hope Goldberg McDuffie have big mouths.

Speaking of word-of-mouth, the book I'm reading now is marvelous. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It's about the Chicago World's Fair, a stunning event in the 1890's, and the serial killer who stalked it. It really follows two people - the brilliant architect who conceived of this finest of all world's fairs, and the killer who fed on it. Amazing read.

Off to Belleville, Ontario tomorrow for an event at Greenley's Bookstore on Wednesday night. I LOVE independent bookstores and will go way out of my way to do an event in one.

BTW - for those of you in the Eastern Townships, two of Canada's top mystery writers are going to be at Brome Lake Books in Knowlton Nov 22nd from 4 to 6, signing copies of their books. They're Barbara Fradkin, who won the Arthur Ellis this year for Best Mystery and Mary Jane Maffini, a multi-award winning writer. They're also great people to meet. This is a marvelous opportunity. I'd definitely be there myself except I'll be in Ontario.

Blabbed on too long - time to speak to Goldberg. Speak to you tomorrow.