ZOMG! TRICKED is on the NY Times Best Seller List!
As you might expect, I am very sore from happy dancing, but I am also extremely grateful to my readers for embracing the series and making this happen. Thank you so much for reading and spreading the word!
Had a spectacular time at Atticus n’ Oberon’s Sausage Fest, the release party held on April 28. Met lots of spiffy people from around the country and wished I could have spent more time with them. I taught a couple of girls from Florida who had never thrown up the horns for a picture before how to rock out, sang “Fly Me to the Moon” in front of everybody, and received confirmation from all and sundry that Rula Bula really does have the best fish and chips anywhere. I would have pictures except that the picture CD I was sent got fractured in the mail; I’ll get the pics eventually and post them up on my Facebook page, never fear.
I’m writing this in a hotel room in Albuquerque; I met some wonderful people at Alamosa Books here yesterday. Alamosa is a fairly new indie store and it’s geared toward children and young adult readers, though they have an adult fiction section as well. Completely fabulous place, and I got some great questions from the readers there. If you’re in Albuquerque they still have a few signed copies of the series left.
FOR UK AND AUSTRALIA/NZ READERS
Some of you have noticed that TRICKED hasn’t been released overseas yet. I assure you that it is not an evil corporate plot to deprive you of Oberon—far from it!
The truth is that some artists—musical, literary, or otherwise—don’t ever hit it big across the pond. Some UK and Aussie authors never really get going in the US, and sometimes US authors don’t catch fire over there. That’s basically what’s happening here. For whatever reason, the series hasn’t sold well in either region, even though it’s enjoyed some success in the US and Canada (see above). Those of you who have found me there have been utterly spiffy and I appreciate your enthusiasm for the books, but publishers are of course in business and need to support titles that grow their business. The way they look at it is, why should we supply something for which there is little or no demand?
There’s some hope. I do have a UK release date: May 24. The publisher is going to take a chance that the series will belatedly get some momentum going and make the financial risk worth it. So this is where I need your help: if you’d like the series to continue to be available in the UK, please tell all your friends to start reading it.
The same holds true for Australia, but even more so. I currently don’t have an Australian release date for book four. Not sure if I’m getting one or not, to be honest, though I’m trying to remain optimistic. I know there are some huge fans of the series out there, but from an accountant’s point of view, there aren’t enough. So, like I suggested to the UK readers, please tell your friends about the first three. Only when there is sufficient demand will a publisher supply the rest of the series. I’m getting zero publicity in Australia; I have to depend entirely on your word of mouth.
All authors do, by the way. If you like an author’s work and you’d like to see more, the best possible thing you can do to ensure that author will keep writing is tell your friends about their books. Write a review online. Press your copy into someone’s hands and stare into their eyes as you say, “This book will change your life or I will eat your socks with gravy.” That tends to work. And honestly, you hardly taste the socks if the gravy is good.
Thank you all again for reading about Atticus and Oberon and sharing. You’re tremendously kind and I appreciate it!
