Hello to you this Friday and to Ashish Jansri, thank you,

I was wondering…how do you separate your book from the pack? Hundreds of books are published a year through traditional publishers and self-publishing. If you’re published with Scribner for instance, is it something done for you or only if you're John Grisham? Though I’ve read even getting a book deal with a major house doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a large book party or go on publicity junkets around the country to get the word out about your book.

What seems to propel books these days to great sales and possibly on to those bestseller lists is word of mouth, meaning its left up to the readers to decide, not the publishing houses or the lists but the reader who takes a chance on your novel. But what makes them take the chance word of mouth? I suspect it’s the chicken or the egg phenomenon with selling books too. The question then is how to get the word of mouth going for your novel. I think first and foremost you have to write a great story all readers will enjoy, the fantasy reader finding many things to like in your mystery novel.

In addition to writing an interesting thoughtful story with terrific stay-with-you-characters and riveting situations that charge at a pace that gives the reader only a few chances to catch their breath (my idea of a wonderful book and its what John Grisham does) you have to find ways to get the reader to realize your book is something special and it begins with you starting that positive word of mouth and backing it up by “showing”, by offering excerpts of your novel on your website or blog and asking readers to respond to it; getting positive blurbs or reviews of your book by writers you admire and post them out in the world, do interviews radio and in print touting your book, appear at book store signings, ask book clubs to read your book letting them know you’ll be happy to discuss the book with the group, those are just some of the ways to get that word of mouth running wild and if you come up with more inventive ways please let me know.

One half of the battle is writing a wonderful story you love and you know readers will love too; the other half is getting people to read that story but we’re all up to the challenge aren't we. Write well.

If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.

Until next time, God willing,

Lori