LITERABLOG #3

Turning pages at the Western Kentucky Book Expo…
I was recently invited to participate in the Western Kentucky Book Expo. About 100 authors gathered at a fairground hall in Sturgis, KY to sell their books and talk with thousands of buyers. The diversity was impressive: genres included children’s, spiritual, how-to and self-help, crime/mystery, horror, travelogue, romance, mainstream fiction, biography, topical non-fiction and poetry. In other words, a regionalized bookstore, co-sponsored by Barnes & Noble and coordinated by Paula Smith, community relations director at the Union County (KY) Advocate.

What made it fun for attendees, though, was speaking to the authors and getting books signed and inscribed. I cannot tell you how important this is for authors. We spend so much time in self-enforced solitude, writing our books, that we sometimes forget who our audience is. I would advise every author to attend one of these expos in your home state, bring your books, and chat with people who stop at your table. If New York Times bestselling authors can do it, so can you.
You will be in a sales mode, but also be in a listening mode. Many second-edition changes to my works have come because of tips given to me by readers at expos, conventions, workshops and conferences.

I’m an explorer, always looking for new finds, so I’ll share with you some treasures I discovered during my day:

• A Mayan history buff who designs incredible knives. Greg Stallion’s novel, Lords of the Jaguar offers one of the most richly textured descriptions of the Ancient Mayan world yet committed to print. Greg loves to unearth details that archaeologists otherwise keep strictly to themselves. He’s quite the storyweaver as well. If you’re into Mayan culture, and want a good historical fiction read as well, get this book.

• One of the finest voices in under-30 women’s literature, Sarahbeth Purcell. Sarahbeth drove up from Nashville to promote her latest book, This Is Not a Love Song: A Novel (ISBN:0743476174), a novel constructed entirely through letters, diary entries and first-person reflections. It is the follow-up to her impressive debut, Love is the Drug. She’s a sensational writer whose grit, raw language and ability to peel away the BS and get to the deepest motivations of the damaged psyche is superb. She will be featured in a coming issue of Literazine.

• The wiener dogs are roaming the halls… in sunglasses! One of the most original marketing schemes for children’s books belongs to Leigh Ann Florence, author of four children’s books—the “Woody” series— starring her two miniature dachshunds, Woody and Chloe. She and her husband spend 180 days per year traveling to schools, community functions, libraries and literary events in Kentucky, promoting the books and talking with school children. She also has columns in several rural Kentucky papers that amount to the running of book excerpts – smart, smart, smart.

• Another great gimmick—and book concept—raced into the hall in the form of Cheryl Stemple, the West Virginia-based author of Fast Tracks and Fairy Tales. First of all, she showed up with a checkered flag tablecloth. You want attention? Write a NASCAR book and bring the checkered flag. Now, check out her concept: She used the biggest prime-time activity in the South as the hook in pieces that deliberately imitated famous fairy tales. The book appeals to all ages. Adults like it because of the NASCAR tie and reminder of the tales they once read. Teens can hook into the NASCAR theme and the verbiage. Younger kids, tweens, can learn about a quickly fading legacy of our literary culture – fairy tales – while believing that they’re reading really cool stories about their NASCAR heroes. Why Cheryl chose not to take her chances with a big publishing house is a question only she can answer, because this book is original and deserves a six-figure advance and marketing push.

• If you’re going to attend a major book event in the land of the great Wendell Berry, then prepare your ears for an old-time Kentucky storyteller. I found Dr. William Lynwood Montell, editor of Grassroots Music in the Upper Cumberland (University of Tennessee Press) and author of many books. Dr. Montell, emeritus professor of folk studies at Western Kentucky University, is an amazing storyweaver who has spent his 70-plus years collecting stories and folk songs from one Kentucky hollow and rural clime to another. The cadence and rhythm of his voice, his old bluegrass accent, his love of twist of phrase and his encyclopedic access to local lingo and colloquialisms make him a living treasure. You’ll hear from Dr. Montell in a future issue of Literazine.

• And finally, a special thanks to Jo Ann Holbrook, a Southern Indiana-based newspaper columnist and contributor to the Cup of Tea series of books about relationships. She pitched an anthology about grandparent-grandchild relationships, in which she contributed a story. She also wrote a review of my book, Writes of Life, which I will pull out every time a book gets panned by another reviewer, just to remember what appreciation looks like in words.