2016 Sales Catalog - 1
OCTOBER2017 ™
A Comprehensive Bookseller’s Guide to
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TopShelf Authors & Books!
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS Raymond Benson
Sandra Brown Andrew Gross Sarah Noffke
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FORGOTTEN TOMES
Frankenstein vs. Dracula
Page 9
THE INSIDE LOOK Reviews:
the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Page 11
TOPSHELF AMERICA This Month
We Visit Vroman's Bookstore
Page 13
Plus Marketing Tips, Book Reviews, and more!
TopShelf Reviews the latest nail-bitting, edge-of-your-seat thriller by #1 NY Times Bestselling Author SANDRA BROWN. Page 33
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
JEFF GUNHUS
“GUNHUS DELIVERS AN UNFORGETTABLE THRILLER THAT IS THOUGHT-PROVOKING, HONEST AND TRUE BLUE.” —FOREWORD REVIEWS
“...A DELICIOUSLY CREEPY VISION OF A GRIM TOMORROW RENDERED HARROWINGLY PLAUSIBLE.”
“....AN ENGROSSING PRODUCTION INDEED, PACKED WITH SATISFYING INTRIGUE AND UNPREDICTABLE TWISTS AND TURNS.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
—DIANE DONOVAN, SENIOR REVIEWER, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
RESURRECTION
AMERICA www.jeffgunhus.com
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OCTOBER2017
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A Comprehensive Bookseller’s Guide to
TopShelf Authors & Books!
table of contents
masthead
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CEO, President, & Publisher
7
A NOVEL APPROACH Writing a Bestselling Novel
Keith A. Katsikas Jr. keith@topshelfmagazine.net
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FORGOTTEN TOMES Frankenstein vs. Dracula
11
THE INSIDE LOOK Reviews: the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
Rebecca Katsikas
13
TOPSHELF AMERICA Vroman’s Bookstore
Lead Editor
15
TOPSHELF MARKETING Mailing Lists & Promotions
interviews 17 19 23 25
Raymond Benson Sandra Brown Andrew Gross Sarah Noffke
becky@topshelfmagazine.net
Rosemary Fifield editor@topshelfmagazine.net
Assistant Editor Kris Miller editor@topshelfmagazine.net
Creative Director Keith Katsikas
reviews 27 27 29 29 31 31 33 33 35 35
E.V.P. & Director of Marketing
creative@topshelfmagazine.net
The Blackbird Season Bring Her Home Paradise Valley Rabid Wolf Rules for Giving The Saboteur The Secrets on Chicory Lane Seeing Red Sleep, Savanna, Sleep The Visitors
Contributors & Reviewers J. H. Bográn Rosemary Fifield Paul Hollis Keith Katsikas Rebecca Katsikas Jon Land Sarah Noffke Kris Miller Tim Sunderland
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spotlights
Jeff Gunhus “A Deliciously Creepy Vision of a Grim Tomorrow Rendered Harrowingly Plausible.” ~Kirkus Reviews
Seven Guns Press $12.95 - 375 Pages Science Fiction ISBN: 978-0998217741
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Jeff Gunhus is the USA Today bestselling author of thriller and horror novels for adults and the middle grade/YA series, The Templar Chronicles.
www.jeffgunhus.com
by J. H. Bográn Rebel ePublishers $12.99 - 242 Pages Suspense Thriller ISBN: 978-1944077198
by Charlotte Bennardo CreateSpace $5.99 - 124 Pages Children, Science ISBN: 978-1534903210
by Paige Dearth CreateSpace $19.95 - 504 Pages Horror ISBN: 978-1544212654
by Deanie Humphrys-Dunne Monday Creek Publishing $9.99 - 142 Pages Children’s Books ISBN: 978-0692878989
by Heather Graham & Jon Land TOR Books $25.99 - Hardcover - 400 Pages Thriller, Suspense, Romance ISBN: 978-0765337917
by Tricia Stewart Shiu Human Being Publishing $12.95 - 148 Pages Contemporary Women ISBN: 978-0996881609
by Lynne Constantine Sailor Dance Publishing $13.95 - 330 Pages Political Thriller ISBN: 978-0997694215
by Anthony Franze Minotaur Books $27.99 - 320 Pages - Hardcover Political Thriller ISBN: 978-1250071668
by Ken Stark Severed Press $11.95 - 216 Pages Post-Apocalyptic ISBN: 978-1925493085
by Sarah Noffke CreateSpace $11.99 - 248 Pages YA Paranormal Fantasy ISBN: 978-1548801373
A Comprehensive Bookseller’s Guide to TopShelf Authors & Books!
“JAW-DROPPING... EVERYTHING I LOVE IN A BOOK.” ~JAMES
ROLLINS, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Seventh Plague
What if God's most closely guarded secret found itself in the wrong hands?
“A CRISPLY PLOTTED LABYRINTH OF INTRIGUE, ACTION, AND ADVENTURE.” THE LIAHONA EFFECT ~STEVE BERRY, New York Times and #1 Internationally Bestselling Author
“NOT TO BE MISSED. THE BEST BOOK OF ITS KIND SINCE THE DA VINCI CODE.” ~JON LAND, USA TODAY Bestselling Author of over 38 Novels, including THE RISING and the acclaimed CAITLIN STRONG Series
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“AN ADRENALINE-FUELED THRILL RIDE FEATURING LOVE, FAITH, MYSTERY, AND REDEMPTION. OPEN UP TO PAGE ONE AND HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE.” ~ALLAN LEVERONE, NY Times & USA TODAY Bestselling Author of over a dozen novels, including the acclaimed MR. MIDNIGHT
www.THELIAHONAEFFECT.com TopShelf Publishing United States of America www.TopShelfPub.com ISBN: 978-1946865007
The ultimate bookseller guide to indie authors and books
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Thea Paris—she’ll do whatever it takes to get you home alive.
“The Freedom Broker combines terrific thriller Full Page Ad writing and fascinating research about hostage rescues. This is fact and fiction at its best.” —James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Move over Jason Bourne, action has a new name as international kidnapping expert Thea Paris pulls out all the stops to rescue her own father in this clever and gritty debut.” —Lisa Gardner, # 1 New York Times bestselling author “Breathless action, great characters and convincing details make Howe’s The Freedom Broker a surefire rocket to the top of the lists.” — Linwood Barclay, #1 Internationally Bestselling Author Available everywhere books are sold. Read the first chapter at kjhowe.com. 6
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by Paul Hollis (TopShelf Columnist) Twitter @HollowManSeries | TheHollowManSeries.com In this issue, we focus on just a few of the fundamentals that I believe every writer needs to rely on as they progress in their journey to becoming a bestselling author. I’ll take a leap of faith and say that the reason you’re reading this right now is because you want to become a bestselling author. Well, I believe you can do it. After all, if I managed to pull it off, you sure as hell can! Let’s step back for a moment and start at the beginning. So many writers fall victim to selfdoubt, getting themselves trapped in an often relentless rut before they have even left the gate. So, for those of you reading this who have become caught in this rut, let’s talk about why you haven’t started writing your story yet. For most, it isn’t the fear of starting the book at all; rather, it is the fear of criticism when the work is finished. The first thing one must do is find the courage to write. No matter what, you just have to do it. Pick up the pen, or start typing at your keyboard, and never look back. Write that book you’ve been thinking about for years. I know, you have a thousand concerns––countless “what if ’s.” What if my novel is poorly written? What if no one likes it? What if it doesn’t sell? But, think about this: what if it does sell? In fact, what if you become the next huge breakout New York Times bestseller? The only––and do I mean, the only––question that matters, is “what if I never start at all?” If you never pick up that pen, never start tapping at that keyboard, you can forget about every other “what if ” that has ever come between you and writing your book. How many people can say, “You know what? I have written and published a book!” Trust yourself. And trust your novel. So, let’s discuss some key fundamentals–– foundations you will need as you write.
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OCTOBER2017
WRITING A BESTSELLER
murdered her.” But, that one sentence contains the DNA of an entire novel. And that DNA comes to life through the details created when we question our big idea. Who is this little girl? Why and how is she murdered? Why does the analyst care about her? What is her relationship to the terrorist? Can the analyst stop the terrorist before he kills again? And so on––these are the smaller ideas that break the big idea into bite-sized pieces. 2. And, just because you have found your big unbreakable idea does not mean it is set in concrete. You’ll need to accept that your novel idea, or ideas, can and probably will change as you write, at least a little. The next thing you need to do is find a writing routine that works for you. Whether it’s an hour every day or all day on Sunday or a thousand words at a time, schedule it, commit to it, and stick with it. The first rule of writing is to keep writing. Don’t get distracted, don’t give up, and don’t stop until your first draft is on paper. And don’t worry about how awful it is. All first drafts are so full of holes and suck so bad that the damn things are often barely holding themselves together. That’s why they’re called drafts. The last foundation of writing we’ll talk about is Research. It’s an absolute must. And thanks to the internet, it is incredibly quick and easy to find the information you need. If your novel is nonfiction, then every last little insignificant detail must be as right as humanly possible. That requires a lot of research unless you were there, of course, for every minute of every scene in your book, and you have an excellent memory for details. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter much what you say in fiction, especially with Scifi or Romance genres. Under the best of circumstances, love is one crazy ride, difficult to grasp, like nothing else in our known universe, and mostly unbelievable at best. However, fun aside, even fiction has to make sense, within the context of each scene. It must be believable. For example, if your novel takes place in 1935, don’t include a digital watch or diet soda or polyester clothes. My advice is: get comfortable with research, right from the very beginning. Research should be your conscience––your constant companion––as you write. These core fundamentals should help any budding author form the foundation needed, from which they can build a meaningful writing career. Please join me next time when we start diving into ways to slog through and finally complete that first draft.
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A NOVEL APPROACH
First, prepare yourself to become a great writer. 1. That means, first and foremost, you are a great reader. 2. Know the genre you’ve selected for your novel and study it (by reading it). 3. Understand that some level of talent is required. However, this is not some freakishly unique talent dispensed to the chosen few. No, I’m talking about the type of talent most reasonably intelligent and creative people already possess. Keep this Stephen King quote in mind; "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” In the end, it’s going to be your commitment, dedication, and love of writing, which will set you apart from the millions who never start and never finish their bestselling novel. 4. Find and nurture strong self-belief, courage, motivation, determination, and 2-inch thick rhino skin––believe me, you’re going to need it. 5. Have knowledge of your subject matter (or, and this is key, you can learn it). 6. Become knowledgeable in the craft of writing. Merely learning the “rules” of novel writing isn't enough. Sure, knowing the rules is a must. However, you ultimately need to become proficient at your craft, just like every other successful novelist. You must know and understand the rules, and––over time––develop the sensibility for how to effectively break them. This is the key to mastering the craft of writing a bestselling novel. Where do you gain this knowledge? From endlessly reading great books and relentlessly writing. The more you read, the more what you read translates into how you write. Then, practice, practice, practice! 7. And finally, preparing yourself as a writer means that you understand how long it will take to write a novel. It depends on your style (i.e., fast and furious or slow and steady), whether you’ll be able to write every day, how much description you will include, and whether your novel will be long and complicated like War and Peace, or short and easy like Love Story. A typical novel is between 80K and 100K words but can be as few as 40K or as much as 250K. If that scares you, look at it this way. Write a thousand words a day and your novel will be finished in 3 months. Second, understand the importance of your novel’s “big idea.” 1. A big idea, in itself, is remarkably simple––one sentence to be exact. This is your elevator speech. It’s what your book is about. Let’s take The Hollow Man, for example. “A U.S. Government field analyst, haunted by the ghost of a dead child, becomes obsessed with finding the terrorist, who
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"Brilliantly conceived… wondrously realized.” - Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of Strong Light of Day
“It’s slick, slippery, and deadly.” - Barry Lancet, award-winning author of Japantown and Pacific Burn
“Delivers a slow burn. Stay with it, and you might end up with blisters.” - Raymond Benson, author of The Black Stiletto series
“A first class roller-coaster ride… I highly recommend this book!” - Douglas Preston, #1 bestselling co-author of the Pendergast series
Full Page Ad The Rising POISONED TEARS - Retired Dallas private investigator Alan Knox dislikes New Orleans so much he won’t even drink Abita––the local beer. It goes back to the day he wrecked his knee, along with a promising NFL career, in a Superdome game with the Saints. But when his estranged son calls asking for help finding his missing fiancé, the guilt-ridden Texan heads for the Big Easy where he quickly steps in a load of trouble as high as his snakeskin boots. What starts as a simple missing persons case, turns into a hunt for a serial killer who uses exotic animals to poison his victims. Painfully aware that he cannot go it alone, Knox joins forces with a defunct journalist and a surly police detective before exploring the dark streets and seedy bars of New Orleans in search of a ruthless killer dubbed The Exotic Killer.
OTHER TITLES
BY J.H. BOGRAN
www.jhbogran.com www.rebelepublishers.com 2017 © Rebel ePublishers, 14344 Dacosta, Detroit, MI 48223, USA
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(TopShelf Columnist) Twitter @JHBogran | jhbogran@gmail.com
Many horror films refer to the monster as Frankenstein—an often misconception—but along with the wrench, other creatures populate the cinematic pantheon of horror. The most popular of course are Count Dracula, the mummy, and the werewolf. Frankenstein and Dracula are based on eponymous novels that were published in the late 19th Century, way before horror was really established as a genre. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel is hardly horrific. Albeit referring to the monster as hideous, hard to look at, we never really have a detailed account of his looks. The image of a large gray monster with the nuts protruding from the neck and the flattop head entered the popular consciousness through the movies, not the novel. The original novel deals more with the feelings of Dr. Frankenstein, his reasoning for creating life, then his horror at his own creation, that made him despise the monster. The ironic part is that the monster, when created, was essentially good, he didn’t turn bad until after being harmed and insulted by humans. Yet, the monster learned to think, and to speak two languages that we know of. On the other hand, we have Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a true monster. The creature terrorized London, killed for
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Ian Holm, John Cleese, and Aidan Quinn complete the cast. Hollywood legend Francis Ford Coppola directed Dracula with an
OCTOBER2017
FRANKENSTEIN VS. DRACULA by J. H. Bográn
ensemble of young actors included Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Cary Elwes, Robert E. Grant, while Oscar award winner Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing and consumed actor extraordinaire Gary Oldman plays Count Dracula. Although the pitting of the two monsters have occurred regularly in different films, too many to list here, they are versions that deviate from the source materials and many quirks acquired from the previous movies that have made into pop culture keep coming back. The most notorious example of this is complete absence of hunchback Igor in the Mary Shelly’s novel, but that didn’t impede Daniel Radcliff from putting a new spin on the tale providing poor deformed creature with a Pygmalion arc in the recent film I, Frankenstein. You know what else is absent from the book? Doctor Frankenstein shouting “It’s alive!” In fact, the whole creation process of the monster is summarized into a couple of paragraphs. Both novels are now public domain, and getting free digital copies, or even affordable paperbacks should make a great addition to any household library.
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FORGOTTEN TOMES:
pleasure, and had his sights set on the beautiful Lucy Westenra. She’s to become one of his half-dead brides. Except a group of brave men led by lawyer Johnathan Harker and Professor Abraham Van Helsing hunt down Dracula and chase him away to his native land in Transylvania where the climax of the book occurs. For some unknown reason, the best adaptations of the novels happen to be the most underrated of movies. Kenneth Branagh not only plays Dr. Frankenstein but directs the movie as well. The monster’s played by Oscar winner actor Robert De Niro; Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter,
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J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist; however, he ironically prefers to write fiction. José’s genre of choice is thrillers, but he enjoys to throw in a twist of romance on occasion. He has published three acclaimed novels and is a member of The Crime Writers Association, the Short Fiction Writers Guild, and the International Thriller Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator and contributor editor for their official e-zine The Big Thrill. More Articles at: TopShelfMagazine.net
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“A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS, PACKED WITH STAGGERING TWISTS AND TURNS, ROCKETING TOWARD A CATACLYSMIC CLIMAX THAT WILL SHOCK YOU!” -TopShelf Reviews
DARK LIGHT: DAWN “A fantastic, incredible, can’t-putit-down book... A terrific read!” ~Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Has everything––mystery, action, sex, violence, widescreen apocalypse and close-up chills, along with the creepiest little girl you'll never want to meet. 'I couldn't put it down' has become such a cliche but... I couldn't put it down.” ~Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author
"Combining the supernatural conspiracies of The X-Files with the pandemic panic of Contagion and World War Z, Dark Light Dawn is an addicting, intense, nail-biting big budget summer movie brought to the page by creator Fabrizio Boccardi and author Jon Land. Hopefully, we’ll see the return of Max Younger sooner than later." ~Forces of Geek Magazine
ISBN: 978-0765328724
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by Sarah Noffke (TopShelf Columnist) Twitter @RealSarahNoffke | SarahNoffke.com
The book review. It is often the instrument used to spear the author’s dinner and then also spear the author. It is the author’s bread and butter and also the mold that rots the bread. It is the elevator to the top and the escalator to the basement. Are you tiring of my analogies yet? My point here is that authors heavily rely on reviews for their books, although they are definitely a mixed bag. Okay, no more clichés, I promise. Reviews make and break books, but nothing breaks a book harder than no reviews. So let’s start there. I always extend gratitude to readers for supporting my books. However, they are also hounded regularly to write reviews for my books. When they tell me they read one of my books, I’m slap down the review link so fast that I almost break my mouse. Yes, I could be taking that moment to enjoy a bit of pride that someone read one of my books. I could also be savvy enough to push the next book in the series at this reader who has taken the time to contact me. However, a review is a prized Pokémon and if you collect as many as you can, well, you kind of win. That number next to the review count is more important than the one after the dollar sign. In my experience, readers see high review counts as an indication that the book is enjoyed by most, regardless of the overall rating. Strange, I know. But think about it. From a reader’s perspective, if over a thousand people reviewed a book then there’s
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genre. One star reviews are for books that are awfully written. They are for books that have no storylines. The best reviews are ones that point out what worked and what didn’t. They are ones that aren’t abusive or insulting. Reviews that offer the reader simple pros and cons, give them a chance to make an informed purchase. Was the story executed in a way that was enjoyable? Was it a fast read? Did it stay with you? Would you recommend? And if not, why? Give something that your fellow readers can work with. My point here is that reviews need to be constructive, not abusive. I won’t even tell you about the review I got that involved memes of
into a ravine, never to be seen again. And I hope the reader is okay after that natural disaster. However, a book not fully read, or really at all in this case, isn’t one deserving of such a low grade. Reviewers need to put things in perspective. Why couldn’t the reader finish? Did they not connect with the character? Was it just not to their taste? That may be more of a two or three star review. So grading accurately is important here. The reviewer who gave my book a one star went on to say the book wasn’t their
people getting sick. Oh wait, I just did. Reviewer, you hold an important power. The opportunity to share your experiences while you were in the company of a book. It won’t always be a pleasant account. Hopefully often it is full of entertainment. Regardless, share your experience in order to benefit all. Reviews matter. They matter for the author and the reader.
OCTOBER2017
REVIEWS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY
got to be something about it worth checking out. So ask readers to review books, both yours and books that you want to succeed. Now, I’d like to turn my short and often strained focus on how reviews should be written in order to benefit the reader. Yes, authors need reviews to be successful with a book, but readers need them to decide if they are going to purchase. For a review to offer valuable information, it does need to be somewhat objective. Reviewers are free to say whatever they like, but unfortunately I’ve met a few who take the power to their head. I once received a one star review that said they couldn’t finish the first chapter of my book. I’m hoping that’s because an earthquake knocked the book from their hands and it fell
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THE INSIDE LOOK
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Allison Hill’s most memorable moments as CEO of Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA, include the many authors who have done reading’s and book signings at the establishment, which opened its doors more than 120 years ago. Her favorite, however, is when Bill Clinton made an appearance after the publication of one of his books. “He was everything they say he is,” said Hill, “charming, witty, and extremely well-read.” Afterwards, the Secret Service asked Hill if she could temporarily close the store so that the former president could shop. “Then they asked me to shop with him. So, it was me and President Clinton, and a Secret Service agent sucking on a lollipop. “I keep thinking it was a dream,” said Hill, “but my managers remind me that it really happened.” “I’m so appreciative when anyone comes to our bookstore,” she added. “But something like that makes our month, maybe even makes our year.” Special events and author readings are a big part of what makes Vroman’s one of the oldest and largest independent bookstores in Southern California. They host 800 events a year across three locations. Hill’s second-best memory was Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” she said. “Her story is amazing.” Hill also reveals that they have put out feelers for the Obamas. “A bookstore has to have a stellar reputation— and experience working with the Secret Service–– to hold this kind of event,” said Hill. “We had previously hosted President Carter, so that is a plus.” The other element of Vroman’s success––the old real estate adage: Location, location, location. “Pasadena has Cal Tech, Art Center School of Design, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,” she said. “The people that are drawn to those places also translates into a population that would support an independent book store.” Vroman’s opened in Pasadena in 1894, the brainchild of Adam Clark Vroman, an Illinois
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OCTOBER2017
VROMAN’S BOOKSTORE
by Timothy Sunderland (TopShelf Columnist)
that important first encounter of on-line daters. Dating websites often cite Vroman’s as a local hangout to find mutual interests. “It’s a safe place for a first date,” said Hill. “You can really get to know someone in a bookstore. For Valentine’s Day, we asked for stories from people who met their spouse here. We’ve even had a couple of proposals.” “We also have an employee whose grandmother worked here,” she said. “Another whose great grandmother was part of our staff. Several sets of siblings work here, and a few parents and children.” Vroman’s has also been the location for movies and television shows, including Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Parks & Recreation, Modern Family, and Naked Trucker. One of Hill’s stipulations for filming is that the store remains open during production. Hill also admits to a few flops in the ongoing effort to increase sales.
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transplant who came to California hoping the weather would improve his wife’s health. She nevertheless died two years later. Vroman decided to transform the energy he would have spent mourning her loss into a bookstore. He sold his private book collection as capital for opening the store. Vroman died in 1916, but by that time his bookstore had gained a toehold in the growing city. He left the operation to a group of his employees, one of whom was the great grandfather of the current owner. Vroman’s continued growing, partnering with the Pasadena Library over the years, and even delivering books to Japanese internees at the nearby Santa Anita Racetrack during WWII. Another Adam Vroman legacy was the concept of always diversifying. Vroman was also an avid photographer and the first bookstore carried photographic supplies, augmenting sales in the early years. Later came office supplies. There was also stationery, computer, and data supplies. Today 28% of sales are other than books, mostly gift items from unique sources. Vroman’s also partners with Jones Coffee. The in-store coffee shop is called The Last Chapter. Hill is considering opening a wine bar. “People query the staff as to where they can buy a glass of wine all the time,” said Hill. “I began to ask myself, ‘Why am I sending them away?’” Hill came to Vroman’s in 2009. Before that she’d been on the staff of Book Soup, an eclectic bookstore in West Hollywood. The owner was ill and looking for a responsible transition of ownership. “Buying Book Soup was a big initiative,” said Hill, pointing to a recession, the rise of Kindle books and Amazon, to say nothing of the presence of a Barnes & Noble a little over a half mile away from Vroman’s on Colorado Boulevard. “Vroman’s doubled down on the book business at a time when it was risky, but it has paid off.” The 3,000 square-foot Book Soup remains open. The main Vroman’s store occupies two stories in Pasadena, encompassing 30,000 square feet, and another store in the Hastings Ranch area of Pasadena covers 6,000 square feet. Counting all three locations, Vroman’s employs 215 people. Another niche that Vroman’s has filled, not intentionally, is as a prime meet-up location for
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“Kids clothing will haunt me,” she said. “We found some vendors that we’re doing things
different. We built it, but they did not come. You have to take those risks, though. One thing Vroman’s has done well is take risks.”
If you visit Pasadena, and you can handle the crowds, you might try New Years Eve and New Years Day. The city swells to more than a million people, lining Colorado Boulevard for the annual Rose Parade. Vroman’s closes the night before, and for the duration of the parade, but they open as soon as the crowds disperse. And if you care to take a walk a few blocks west to Oldtown Pasadena, you’ll pass by the storefront that used to house that Barnes & Noble we mentioned earlier. The store closed in early 2014. “Yep,” said Hill, not attempting to hide the pride in her voice. “Vroman’s is the last man standing.”
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spotlights
Cate Beauman
CreateSpace $14.99 - 452 Pages Romance, Suspense ISBN: 978-1519659996
International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County.
www.catebeauman.com
by Rik Stone CreateSpace $12.75 - 430 Pages Thriller, Suspense ISBN: 978-1484088647
by Armand Rosamilia CreateSpace $12.99 - 206 Pages Crime Thriller ISBN: 978-1523692149
by Shellie Blum Shellie Blum, LLC $16.79 - 238 Pages Biographies, Memoirs ISBN: 978-0996366908
by Jon Land Forge Books $26.99 - Hardcover - 352 Pages Thriller, Suspense ISBN: 978-0765335135
by Debra Ruh G3ict Global Initiative $19.95 - 135 Pages Business, Money ISBN: 978-0578177533
by Richard Bard CreateSpace $16.99 - 418 Pages Thriller, Suspense ISBN: 978-1533257604
by J.C. Brennan TopShelf Indie $28.99 - Hardcover - 356 Pages Supernatural, Horror ISBN: 978-1946865113
by Ethel C. Richard Well Health Publications $16.99 - 140 Pages Biography, Ethnic & National ISBN: 978-1946865090
by Paul Hollis Dog Ear Publishing $16.95 - 302 Pages Thriller, Suspense ISBN: 978-1457520419
by L. B. Johnson Xulon Press $14.99 - 145 Pages Religion, Spirituality ISBN: 978-1498490719
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A Comprehensive Bookseller’s Guide to TopShelf Authors & Books!
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MAILING LISTS & PROMOTIONS
by Keith Katsikas (CEO & Publisher, TopShelf)
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
events, new releases, pre-releases, book clubs, author events, etc. Always include a way for customers to get in touch with you. SATISFACTION SURVEY - One great way to get to know your customers better and provide them with superior customer service is by creating a customer satisfaction survey. Post the survey on your social media pages, website, and eNewsletters, and have it available in your store. Use the responses you receive to improve offerings, communications, staff training, events, etc. Surveys are an essential way to keep customers happy. Example Questions: • How many times a month do you visit bookstores? • How many books have you purchased in the past six months? • What types of books did you purchase? • What genre do you enjoy? • Are you interested in a reward program? • Are you interested in a book club? • Would you recommend our store? • Why or why not?
OCTOBER2017
MAILING LIST - How do your customers find out about the current promotions you offer? Customer mailing lists are one of the most effective ways to keep in touch with customers and improve the profitability of your business. The people who sign up for your list are permitting you to contact them. These are your hottest customers. If you haven’t started a customer mailing list, you seriously should start gathering one immediately. The process of creating a free MailChimp account is both fast and simple. You will want to integrate a subscription form into your website, blog, and social media pages. All of this information can be found at MailChimp.com. We don’t get paid for referrals. We’re just customers who use and love MailChimp. Explain on the form what customers should expect to receive and how often. Don’t ask too many questions because you want the decision to join to be a simple one. Usually, a name and email are more than enough. An excellent way to entice customers to participate is to offer them a 25% Off Your Next Purchase coupon. Let them use the coupon the same day they join. It’s important to explain that you’ll never sell, trade, or share your customer’s information with any other party. EMAIL CAMPAIGNS - Once you have a significant list (this is determined by your shop’s geographic location and overall customer base, but I’d suggest no fewer than 50 emails), it’s time to start notifying customers of store events, specials, book clubs and any other news you’d like to share. However, take caution, no one wants spam. NO ONE! It’s never a good idea to send more than one email a week to your list, and make every email count. Think about it this way, if you wouldn’t want it in your inbox, don’t send it to your customers’. MailChimp makes creating email campaigns simple for everyone. They offer a variety of
MEMBERSHIP - Store membership helps people feel connected and engaged in what you’re doing. Providing discounts such as “buy one get one free” adds an extra incentive to join and will encourage members to shop more. But beware, these types of programs should always be free. Customers should receive something tangible for being a part of your program. A simple, small keychain with your store’s contact information listed is perfect for this purpose. They’ll see it and touch it every day, and that makes it nearly impossible for them to forget about your store. FACEBOOK - If used correctly, Facebook can be a fantastic tool. Facebook is a place where most, if not all of your customers tend to be on a daily basis. Use that to your advantage by posting updates, recommendations, and reminders for upcoming events. You could also give a book away once a week, but only to followers of your Facebook page. Post the winner each Friday morning and promote these winners in your eNewsletter. This will increase awareness of a particular book and attract and excite your Facebook fans and eNewsletter recipients. LOCAL MEDIA - Send a copy of your flyers, bookmarks, catalogs, along with a press release, to local media outlets (newspapers, magazines, websites, and those local event calendars and bulletins) at least a week––maybe two or three weeks––before any special event you plan to host at your store. And remember to pop these same materials in the shopping bags of all your customers as they check out in the weeks and days leading up to an event. COUPONS - Love them or hate them, coupons can play a significant role in the success of any retail establishment. A wellplayed coupon can bring in dozens, if not hundreds, of new customers. Most people don’t like clipping, however, so make it easy with a digital coupon you can scan directly from their phone. Don’t forget to include an expiration date. You may also want to add a clause that the offer is subject to change, anytime, without notice. This way you can feel comfortable with making a big offer, knowing that if you royally messed up, you can modify the offer. But be warned, promising something, then changing your mind WILL severely anger people. So carefully consider what we’ve talked about when creating your coupons.
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TOPSHELF MARKETING:
predesigned templates, as well as simple tools to custom-make your own. You don’t need to understand coding or be a designer. But if you are those things, you can create anything precisely the way you like it, making your eNewsletter resemble the theme of your store. In the world of marketing, it’s important to stay consistent. Your website, social media pages, emails, and blogs should all have the same look and feel. Too many different looks and your customers will get confused and eventually request to be removed from mailing lists. It’s a good idea to have trusted friends, and customers receive “test” mailings, to ensure that the eNewsletter looks good on different mobile devices as well as laptops and desktops. Act like your eNewsletter is a local paper by including as many names and photos of local customers and store visitors in each edition. Highlight the best and most relevant reads. Include a monthly calendar highlighting store
TOPShelf
COLUMNS
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 15
www.raymondbenson.com
NY Times Bestselling Author of over 35 books including the acclaimed “Black Stiletto� saga and six original 007 novels.
Photo by Katherine Tootelian
interviews
Now onto our conversation:
Raymond Benson is the author of 35+ published books, the most recent being The Secrets on Chicory Lane. Among his several original suspense novels, he is the author of the acclaimed “Black Stiletto” saga that began with The Black Stiletto in 2011 and continued with The Black Stiletto: Black & White, The Black Stiletto: Stars & Stripes, The Black Stiletto: Secrets & Lies, and The Black Stiletto: Endings & Beginnings. He is mostly known for being the third–and first American– writer to be commissioned by the James Bond literary copyright holders between 1996-2002 to take over writing the 007 novels. In total he penned and published worldwide six original 007 novels, three film novelizations, and three short stories. An anthology of his 007 work, The Union Trilogy, was published in the fall of 2008, and a second anthology, Choice of Weapons, appeared summer 2010. His book The James Bond Bedside Compendium, an encyclopedic work on the 007 phenomenon, was first published in 1984 and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America for Best Biographical/Critical Work.
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
You’ve also written a series of women's action/adventure thrillers called THE BLACK STILETTO. How does your writing style differ in writing these books in comparison to your others, such as the James Bond thrillers? I started writing female protagonists with my very first original (non-Bond) suspense novel, Evil Hours. In fact, most of my original novels feature female protagonists. I think I used up all my testosterone writing Bond, so now I write women! I do believe I’ve improved as a writer over the years since the Bond gig. While I’m proud of my Bond legacy, that was quite some time ago (15-21 years!) and my original work really doesn’t resemble those books. I do want to attract women readers now, and I think I’m succeeding from the feedback I’ve received on the Black Stiletto serial.
OCTOBER2017
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RAYMOND BENSON
Readers will find it’s a very different type of story for me! I’m tackling more social issues with my newer thrillers/suspense novels. This crept into the recent Black Stiletto books more and more, and now Secrets deals with mental illness and capital punishment in a challenging way. My next book with Skyhorse Publishing, out in May 2018, is called, In the Hush of the Night, and it, too, has a female protagonist —a Chicago FBI agent in charge of the human trafficking division. My work-inprogress has a female protagonist and the story deals with racism and Hollywood. I’m hoping that readers will find The Secrets on Chicory Lane to be something more serious and emotionally-charged than what I’ve done before. It’s certainly a more personal story.
These “media tie-in” books are workfor-hire projects that are nice if you can get them. Sometimes they’re challenging, depending on the license holder and how much they want to micromanage you. I’ve had mostly good experiences doing tie-in work. In some cases the books are strictly based on the game (or movie screenplay), and sometimes they are original stories that you create in the same universe. The former is somewhat easier because you’re given the story and you just have to flesh it out into prose. The latter can be more challenging, more like writing a novel of your own—you’re just given the universe in which to run around in.
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Your newest novel, THE SECRETS ON CHICORY LANE features romance novelist Shelby Truman visiting her childhood friend of five decades who now sits on death row due to murdering his wife and child. What are some of the things your audience can expect from this new book?
You've written novelizations to video games such as METAL GEAR SOLID and HITMAN: DAMNATION. What is the most challenging aspect about this process?
TOPShelf
INTERVIEWS
You also teach college classes in film history. Where do you teach and how might a student go about attending your classes? I teach at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. If you’re in the area, you can take the class! I’ve been doing it for almost nine years now. I’ve always been a film historian, I love movie history, and I can think of nothing better to do than explore the vast archives of a hundred years’ worth of filmmaking.
In 2007 you teamed up with film critic Dann Gire to present Dann & Raymond's Movie Club. Please, tell us what that is and when it's available to attend. One of my regular gigs besides teaching film is a monthly performance I do in the Chicago area with Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire, called “Dann & Raymond’s Movie Club.” We do this live in front of an audience at area libraries, and we’re in our 11th year. I suppose you can say it’s like a “Siskel & Ebert” show only it’s two hours long. We discuss various movie-related topics, show clips, and tell jokes. We have amassed quite a following. Our “Oscar” shows in February each year draw hundreds in attendance. Read more of our interview with Raymond Benson at:
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 17
www.sandrabrown.net #1 New York Times bestselling author of over 75 novels and has upwards of eighty million copies of her books in print.
interviews
You formerly worked as a weather-caster and TV reporter before becoming a best selling author, what inspired your career move? I got fired. That’s the absolute truth. I was working at the ABC affiliate in Dallas and did the weather casting every once in a while, but I also worked on a show called PM Magazine. It was a nationally syndicated program, and I was one of the local contributors. I can assure you I was not a www.TopShelfMagazine.net
Tell us a little about your new novel, SEEING RED? My hero’s name is John Trapper, and it’s his story, his struggle. It’s he who is seeing red. When he was eleven years old, his father, called the Major, became a national hero by leading seriously injured survivors out of a bombed hotel in Dallas, and the act was captured in a photograph that became iconic. It launched the Major into celebrity status, and he went on to make a career of being a hero. As an ATF agent, Trapper began conducting an unauthorized investigation into the bombing and discovered that the official ruling was insufficient and just wrong. But his theory was denounced and he was fired. Now, on the twentieth-fifth anniversary of the bombing, TV journalist Kerra Bailey approaches Trapper trying to get an interview with his heroic father. Trapper says no. Kerra is insistent and persistent. Ultimately they team up to find out what really happened that day in Dallas. And it isn’t pretty.
Well, it was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. I was afforded an opportunity that so many thousands of Americans would love to have just because I’ve written books. I was asked through International Thriller Writers, to go to Afghanistan and meet and greet troops. My colleagues and I weren't the typical kind of entertainers who go on U.S.O tours. We entertain with our books, and we didn’t even make speeches or anything like that. We went to have one on one conversations. We had get-togethers, breakfast meetings, things like that with the service members on particular bases that don’t get much contact with people from home, which made them all the more meaningful to those troops. Service members read a lot, because when they come in from patrol, they may have been on patrol for 12 hours or more. They have twelve or eighteen hours before they go out again and so they spend a lot of that time reading. I went with a great group of writers, and we did become a band of brothers, because unless you go through an experience like that, it's really, really difficult to explain how meaningful it can be. It was a no frills trip, and they told us you'll be carrying your gear, you’ll be flying in military aircraft and that was part of the experience. It was like, gosh, this is really roughing it, but in a week we knew we were going to get to leave. The people we met were signed on anywhere from six months to a year and not only service members but also civilians. Which is the one thing that surprised me, that there were so many civilians serving in one capacity or another. From builders to medical personnel to vendors providing food or water or other supplies. And I thought gosh they’re giving up months, years away from their families too. They were, kind of, unsung heroes. That’s why when I wrote Deadline I thought I won’t write about a military person, but a civilian. My character covered the war for a news magazine. He comes back with P.T.S.D. No one thinks of that, they think about soldiers, people who bear arms and everything but
OCTOBER2017
Sandra Brown is the author of sixtynine New York Times bestsellers, including Seeing Red, Sting, Friction, Mean Streak, Deadline, Low Pressure, Lethal, and the critically acclaimed Rainwater. Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into thirty-three languages. Brown recently was given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University. She was named Thriller Master for 2008, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer's Association. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award. Now, on with our discussion:
Your book DEADLINE was inspired by a U.S.O. tour you did several years ago. What can you tell us about that?
magazine
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SANDRA BROWN
threat to Diane Sawyer. It was a part-time job; I went in a couple of days a week and recorded my segments. It was a great creative outlet and a break from being the wife and mom, but as sometimes happens in broadcasting, everybody on our crew got dismissed when they brought in all fresh faces. It left me without anything to do, and I looked around. All of my peers in the neighborhood were playing bridge and having cookie bake exchanges. They did this, and they did that, and I was like, this is not going to be the sum total of my life. So my husband, God bless him, said you’ve always told me you wanted to write and you have the time and opportunity now to do it, something you can do at home. So we set up a card table with an electronic typewriter on it, and that’s when I began. But I think, you know, I was rather crushed when I was dismissed at the television job, but it turned out to be the very best thing that could ever happen to me. Sometimes blessings come in disguise; you think it's going to turn out terrible, or its the worst thing that can happen, but it turns out to be the best thing that can happen. I don’t know that if I just hobbled along doing part time work like that, that I would have ever plunged into writing.
TOPShelf
INTERVIEWS
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 19
interviews
Do you read the reviews that are left for your books and how do you deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly?
What’s the most important thing a bookstore can do for an author, in your opinion and experience, to promote self and obviously everybody cannot be front and center so what would your advice be to bookstores? I think a lot of bookstores are doing exactly what they are there for is to read the books. There’s nothing worse than a clerk who you ask if they carry somebody and their a bestselling author and they go I’m not sure. You think to yourself this person is clueless, they should be selling tires or t-shirts or something like that. They should know their stuff. Really good independent book stores and the die hards, like Barnes and Noble and other chain stores, who really read the books they sell and are there for the love of it. They’re worth their wait in gold to an author because they will recommend. I met a young women not too long ago at www.TopShelfMagazine.net
To help budding authors, how much time and money do you, a successful New York Times best selling author, spend marketing your book? Spend your time writing your book. This advice came to me from my editor. Even back in the caveman days of my career, I would worry––this author is having bookmarks printed up and taking them to the people who drive the trucks loaded with books to the airport. I didn’t think I was doing enough of that, you know getting out there, and I was really concerned about it. So, I’d ask questions, like, how much money should I devote, and she said if you get the worlds attention you
better have something good to say. She’d say write a good book and then you can worry about promoting. Don’t put the cart before the horse. To this day, when I’m sitting here doing Twitter and Facebook and everything I think … how much thought have I given a manuscript today balanced against how much thought and creativity have I put into this? Which is more important? The book has to take priority because no matter how much you promote something if it’s crap, you’ve only promoted crap. The best thing I can do for myself and my fans is to write the best book I can write. So if that means not doing so many signings, if that means not doing so many speeches, that’s still the best thing I can do for my readers––is to focus on the book.
OCTOBER2017
No. I don’t put myself through that because I would remember only the bad ones and not the good ones. I don’t need my paranoia fed anymore than it already is on my own. Everyone once in a while we’ll check out some and someone says something really crushing and I’ll go OH GOSH you know. It’s always going to be that way. If they’re really nasty then I don’t give them much credence. If I applied everything that everybody said, I’d be a basket case. I mean it would be impossible, I say you have to write what’s in your heart and I think if anybody knew how hard it was to write anything––to write a thank you note, to write an office memo––and for someone to say something really mean, is just mean. I don’t think they appreciate how hard it was. It might not be my best novel but I gave it my all at the time. Its like if they knew how hard it was maybe the would appreciate it even if it wasn’t great. I don’t dwell on it and I don’t seek them out.
a Barnes and Noble signing and she said I have recommended your books for so many years to so many readers. The best thing that a bookseller can do for an author is to read the book and recommend it one on one word of mouth, you can do Twitter, you can pay a fortune in advertising and still a good book, a really good book, is going to be found by word of mouth. My sister and niece were over the house this morning and over coffee that’s all we did. We talked about books. What we had read and what we wanted to read. We were all writing down suggestions. The best way a good book is going to be found is through readers.
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the people, who are there beside them, are also risking their lives and so I thought that would be an interesting perspective. An interesting light to shed on someone who suffers the same anxieties and nightmares that the military personnel do.
TOPShelf
INTERVIEWS
How might an independent bookstore or library participate in one of your book tours or have you come to speak or host one of your seminars? They can contact Grand Central the publicity department or they can go to Hatchet Book Group and look for the speakers bureau there. Read more of our interview with Sandra Brown at:
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 21
www.andrewgrossbooks.com
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of fourteen novels!
interviews
What inspired you to change careers and follow your dreams and become an author?
Andrew Gross is the author of New York Times and international bestsellers The Blue Zone, Don't Look Twice, and The Dark Tide, which was nominated for the Best Thriller of the Year award by the International Thriller Writers, Reckless, and most recently, Eyes Wide Open. He is also coauthor of five number one bestsellers with James Patterson, including Judge & Jury and Lifeguard. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife, Lynn. You can follow Andrew Gross on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and at AndrewGrossBooks.com. Now, let’s dive into my conversation with Andrew Gross:
Initially, you worked at various clothing line companies, including your families company “Leslie Fay.” Did you dream of becoming an author back then? The answer then was no. I was perfectly happy doing what I was doing. We were a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. It was somewhat substantial, and I guess towards the end of it I was managing about a third of it so it had my attention and I’d gotten an MBA from Columbia, and I was only interested in being as devoted and successful a manager and an operator of business as I could be. When I was in college, I wrote and edited www.TopShelfMagazine.net
So what was going through your mind then, and how did that feel?
OCTOBER2017
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW GROSS
I got fired. I was doing a series of turnarounds with different companies, and I got involved with the third one that didn’t turn around so well, and I ended up on the beach. I told my wife that I just couldn't do this anymore. When you take these turnarounds on, they can be pretty intense. Sometimes people lose their jobs. We had three kids in private schools in Greenwich, Connecticut. She just looked at me. I’d come home literally without preparation for her. I got into, if I remembered correctly, a disagreement (I was President of this Canadian firm) with the Chairman and ended up leaving that day without a job. I came home, and she said “What are we going to do?” and I said, “Honey, I know you’re not prepared to hear me say this, but we’re going to write a novel.” It didn’t go so well at first, but, I just asked for a year and sort of couched in on all of these quantitative business school-like terms about auditing my progress and taking input from mentors and things of that nature. My wife was a Yoga teacher at that stage, she’d done it for ten years, so self-actualization was pretty high on her list of priorities, so I knew I had to sell it from the start. So I got my year but as I’m sure any of your readers would know who have attempted this sort of thing, it doesn’t take a year to write the first novel. It might take a year to get the words on paper and then maybe another year to polish them and put them in some presentable form, and then, in my case, it took a third year to try to get the book sold. Finally, I did connect with a hotshot agent in New York, and it looked like everything was going to happen. We were all excited as anyone can imagine. We weren’t broke but when you’ve just gone three years without a dime coming in... The book was called Hydra, and it was a
political conspiracy novel about a radical wing of the NRA that took over the Presidency. When I finally got it out there, with a lot of optimism, about twenty-five publishers passed on it. I had no idea what my next step was in life, and I looked at myself and said: “How did you possibly ruin this life that had this great trajectory to it?” I was sitting around in my den trying to decide what cliff I was going to drive my SUV off of, then I get this call from someone who says, “Can you take a call from James Patterson?”
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the literary magazine. I went to a Middlebury College and I was active in the writing community there, but after I graduated, I made a commitment to pursue the business. I was pretty single-mindedly focused on business when I was working, not only with “Leslie Fay” but then I left that firm and got into a bunch of active sports oriented lines.
TOPShelf
INTERVIEWS
I’ve done eleven books. This was like seventeen years ago, amazingly. I can’t even believe I’m saying that. I actually had never read Jim at all, but I knew his name of course, and I knew he was a big selling author. He basically, had been given my manuscript, which I assumed was in every garbage can on Madison Avenue, by the President of Warner Books who was his publisher at the time, with the words, “This guy does women well.” written on the cover, which I assume meant that I wrote them well because the hero of my novel Hydra was a gal who had to perform the acts of valor. He got on the phone with me and basically told me that I had the goods. And I was like “Uhh?” and he said “I read your manuscript... let’s have lunch.” At lunch a couple of days later he proposed this idea of four women who were engaged in crimefighting to some degree. Well, I didn’t have a plan B so believe me that when I heard he was looking to form a writing partnership with someone, I was in––no matter what it was about. I went home that day, wrote two chapters, and sent it to him. Within a day or two we were working together. So that’s how it started. I don’t think anybody came into this business quite like I did... Read more of our interview with Andrew Gross at:
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 23
www.sarahnoffke.com
#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Over 20 Novels!
interviews
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SARAH NOFFKE Sarah Noffke, an Amazon Best Seller, writes YA and NA sci-fi fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy. She is the author of the Lucidites, Reverians, Ren, Vagabond Circus and Olento Research series. Noffke holds a Masters of Management and teaches college business courses. Most of her students have no idea that she toils away her hours crafting fictional characters. Noffke's books are top rated and best-sellers on Kindle. Currently, she has published over 20 novels. Her books are available in paperback, audio and in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
What would you like our readers to know about yourself? My name is Sarah Noffke and I’m the author of five YA and NA series. I write sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal and dystopian. I was born and raised in Texas, but I currently live in Southern California. I’m kind of a nomad and move to wherever the wind blows me. That kind of living really helps me as a writer to become acquainted with many locations, which invariably become settings in my books. When I’m not writing then I’m teaching college business courses. It really makes www.TopShelfMagazine.net
I’ve been writing my entire life, so I think the urge was always in me. However, I used to have a real job. A professional one. One of those jobs where people go to meeting and do reports and things are very business-like. I loved it, but I totally felt like something was missing from my life. My brother died suddenly in his sleep one day and after that I remember thinking, “What if I die before really doing what I want with my life?” And after that I knew I needed to start checking some stuff off my list and one of them was to write a book, which turned into books and now is an obsession.
What is the appeal for you in writing to a young adult audience versus an adult audience? More potentials. Young adults aren’t settled yet. They don’t know who they are, what they want or who they are ending up with. They are in a mode of discovery and that makes their stories so much fun and rich. Their immaturity and naivety is also a huge component. Now, don’t get me wrong, writing for the adult audience is also amazing for different reasons. There are potentials there that can be even more fun.
You write Sci-if Fantasy about a separate race of people called Dream Travelers. Describe to us what a Dream Traveler is and what their powers are.
Would you be willing to share how you’ve been able to become an Amazon Bestseller?
OCTOBER2017
What inspired you to become a writer and what finally pushed you to follow that dream?
Dream Travelers is a race of people who can travel to any place and time when sleeping. Think out-of-body experience. Through dreams they are able to take their consciousness anywhere, operating freely in the dreamscape. This power, since science believes dreams to have incredible benefits, lends them a psychic or super ability or two, like telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, heightened senses, psychometry, levitation, etc.
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no sense to most that I teach business since I’m a fantasy writer, but before I was a full-time author I was a business professional. Shh…don’t tell anyone. I have a masters in management and an unhealthy obsession with characters who have super powers. Go figure. I currently have fifteen books publish. They are available in ebook, paperback and on audio. One series is available in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
TOPShelf
INTERVIEWS
I wished there was an easy three-step checklist. There are definitely things that every author can do: write a great book, use a professional editor, have an incredible cover. However, I’ll admit that this is only the beginning and much of my success has relied on marketing and networking. I built a strong newsletter following a year ago and that’s been one of the most valuable tools for me. I send out regular correspondents and when I have a sale this list is the first to hear about it. For my money, this kind of marketing has been the most effective. I also regularly have free sales and use promotional services, but they are always changing with their effectiveness so it’s important to constantly be on the lookout for the ones that will work. Yes, I’d give my car away for a Book Bub, because that giant is still the best one in this industry. It’s a foolproof way to hit the bestseller list. However, until Book Bub caves due to my incessant nagging, then I’ll be relying on Amazon, Twitter and Facebook ads. These are really some of the best marketing tools and I’ve known many authors that have had outrageous success with the right ad.
Read more of our interview with Sarah Nofkke at:
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 25
spotlights
Jane B
A Disturbing Psychological Thriller
Tredition Gmbh $16.80 - 168 Pages Contemporary Fiction ISBN: 978-3743937109
People don’t dare speak about the darker side of motherhood. And the victims often remain silent – too young to speak for themselves, or merely unable to understand that what is happening to them is anything other than normal. After all, mother knows best... Right?
www.janebonline.com
by Regina Puckett CreateSpace $12.99 - 290 Pages Contemporary Romance ISBN: 978-1491232118
by Maxine Sylvester Kindle $2.99 - 167 Pages Children, Action Adventure ISBN: B075ZX3H9T
by K.J. Heritage CreateSpace $12.99 - 344 Pages Science Fiction, Time Travel ISBN: 978-1548108625
by J.A. Gerber & Carole P. Roman CreateSpace $12.99 - 146 Pages Nonfiction, Writing Skills ISBN: 978-1537228068
by Rafael Amadeus Hines Rafael Hines $15.99 - 452 Pages Thriller, Suspense, Military ISBN: 978-0997091915
by Timothy Sunderland CreateSpace $11.99 - 322 Pages Family Life ISBN: 978-1534678309
by Patrick Bisher & Jon Land Post Hill Press $27.00 - 208 Pages - Hardcover Self-Help/Motivational ISBN: 978-1682613009
by Kathi Daley CreateSpace $10.99 - 208 Pages Thriller/Suspense, Amateur Sleuths ISBN: 978-1542944663
by Carol Marrs Phipps CreateSpace $12.99 - 434 Pages Science Fiction, Dystopian ISBN: 978-1533026408
by David Morrell Mulholland Books $27.00 - Hardcover - 352 Pages Historical, Thriller ISBN: 978-0316307901
26
A Comprehensive Bookseller’s Guide to TopShelf Authors & Books!
the blackbird season
and the complicated interactions among peers in a small town, be they teenagers or adults. In typical Moretti fashion, she provides
Kate Moretti
both fact and fiction, springs to life
Moretti’s descriptions bring people and
in the form of Bill Price, a kind of
places alive, immersing the reader in each character’s experience, and her pacing
everyman who’s already lost his wife to tragedy when his daughter
keeps one engaged. While categorized as suspense, based on the girl’s
disappears. Once she’s found, nearly beaten to death, it opens the
disappearance and the question of who is
doors to terrible truths Price never
responsible, it’s really more of a study of the complexities, expectations, and
imagined he’d have to face, as he’s left to confront the reality of much
disappointments of personal relationships. It also does a good job of exploring the
of what he held dear has been a lie. Like Lisa Gardner and Harlan
tragic outcomes that can result from the
Coben, Bell imagines a suburban
loss of a small town’s main source of employment––in this case the local paper
world where no one really knows what’s happening behind all those
mill that once meant prosperity but now sits in ruin, abandoned and dangerous.
drawn blinds. In Bell’s take, though, even the people inside
The whodunit aspect takes a back seat to
don’t really know what’s happening.
finding out how the main characters will fare when all is said and done.
That’s where his brilliance, and the brilliance of Bring Her Home, rests.
~Rosemary Fifield, TopShelf Reviews
OCTOBER2017
drama about marriage, fidelity, teacherstudent relationships,
girl disappears altogether, it gets worse.
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Kate Moretti gives us front-row seats to a
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MORETTI’S CHARACTERS & PLACES COME ALIVE!
reviews
~Jon Land, TopShelf Reviews
bring her home
DAVID BELL WRITES SO WELL ... BRILLIANT!
complex, nuanced
characters whom we get to know well and whose flaws make them all the more real and relatable. Alecia and Nate already have a stressful
David Bell writes so well that even the dark world he creates in Bring Her Home (Berkley, $16.00, 464 pages) shines under the light of his talent for
marriage. Her days are totally consumed by her obsession with their autistic fiveyear-old, while Nate is closely––some
bringing the seedy side of small town
might say excessively––involved with the high school students he teaches and
America to life. That unsavory underbelly people
coaches. When one of the students claims that she and Nate are having an affair, things begin to fall apart, and when the www.TopShelfMagazine.net
David Bell
love to pretend doesn’t exist, in
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 27
H
MEET A REAL AMERICAN HERO H A RESCUE GONE WRONG.
A DEADLY DOUBLE CROSS.
Special agent Jonathan Grave faces his fiercest challenge yet in the
explosive new thriller as he tries to thwart a deadly plot that could bring America to her knees.
“Fast-paced, well plotted action.” —BOOKLIST Available Everywhere Books Are Sold E N S I N G T O N B O O K S . C O M • J O H N G I L S T R A P. C O M
The Jonathan Grave Thriller Series
A DESPERATE RACE TO FREEDOM.
paradise valley
reviews
A TRUE TREAT FOR CRIME rabid wolf TORPEDO-FAST, THRILLER AFICIONADOS! SUSPENSE-FILLED! C.J. Box gives his stalwart series staples Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowki a book off, but Cassie Dewell proves to be every bit their equal in the perfectly plotted Paradise Valley. Cassie is lead investigator for the Bakken County Sheriff ’s Department, located in the hinterlands of western North Dakota, a sleepy C.J. Box area until oil bubbled to the surface and drastically changed its landscape, literally and figuratively. Those changes include the presence of a serial killer known as the “Lizard King,” who’s claimed, among others, Cassie’s own fiancé. Her pursuit of him through badlands both old and new is replete with the expected twists and turns, as well as unexpected www.TopShelfMagazine.net
Fear reigns throughout Los Angeles as an attacker goes on a massive killing spree targeting women of all ages. Harboring deep resentment towards the many women who have hurt him, Hunter is taking out his anger using his super-human abilities. One by one he stalks his prey, utilizing gruesome methods to satisfy the wolf within. Meanwhile, Adelaide goes undercover at Parantaa Research company––the sister company to Olento Research. It's there that she meets Mika Lenna and learns the mastermind she's up against. Under financial pressure from his investor's, Mika is willing to undergo more extreme measures Sarah Noffke to recover his investments. Beneath his supervision, the nightmarish scientific experimentation being
OCTOBER2017
~Jon Land, TopShelf Reviews
produced could not only recapture the wolves––but bring the Lucidite Institute to its knees. Darker than its predecessors, this third book in the series continues to be more delightful than the last. When an extremely troubled young man is genetically engineered to become a werewolf–– hence a killer––what are the repercussions? The author creates a riveting storyline of a deranged killer seeking perceived retribution, yet still ironically manages to make the character empathetic. A difficult feat that is pulled off organically and masterfully. Added in to this supernatural circus is additional wolves with various powers, invisible twins, neanderthals, clairvoyants, action-packed scenes along with the usual sarcastic banter that makes this a deliciously fun filled read. Rabid Wolf is a torpedo-fast, suspense-filled, spellbinding story that will have you furiously flipping the pages and leave you in baited anticipation of the next.
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political ramifications she must confront along the way. The personal touch alone makes Paradise Valley a true treat for crime thriller aficionados. Box’s trademark Hemingway-esque minimalist prose is on keen display here as usual, and in Cassis Dewell he’s created a female protagonist every bit the equal of more traditional male genre staples. Riveting and relentless.
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~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 29
“A terrific book! The good, the bad, and the ugly woven into a tale that leaves the reader breathless. Great fun!”
~TopShelf Reviews
~Sandra Brown
“A speeding freight train hurtling toward a destination that will change their world.” ~TopShelf Reviews
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ISBN: 978-0765335135
Other Books in the Caitlin Strong Series
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rules for giving
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~Kris Miller, TopShelf Review
In 1971 a nineteen year old Gavin Oliver and his girlfriend Tilda visit an abortion clinic in California to end an unwanted pregnancy. Things Timothy Sunderland take an unexpected turn and their relationship does not survive the aftermath. Thirty six years later, the day after a bitter battle in the workforce appoints Gavin as the new owner of the ad agency, he receives an unexpected visitor. Tilda's daughter Rose has shown up with an old yearbook and letters in hand––asking questions he's not ready to answer. Over the course of eight days, secrets are uncovered that threaten his marriage of twenty nine years, his www.TopShelfMagazine.net
Were it not for the act of a few brave souls on a top secret mission, Germany might have won the war. A closely guarded secret at the time, was that in the years leading up to 1943, the German's were closer than anyone realized to making the atomic bomb. In England, a secret committee called the SOE (Special Operations Executive) was formed to deal with that threat. What Andrew Gross stood in the way of Germany's atomic bomb was but a few brave men. It is March of 1942 and Kurt Nordstrum has given up everything to join the British in
OCTOBER2017
A REFLECTIVE COMING OF AGE the saboteur AN AWE-INSPIRING, STORY! INTENSE NOVEL!
their fight against the Nazi's. Given secret evidence of the German's progress at the Norsk Hydro Plant in Norway, Nordstrum commandeers a steamer, bringing the information to a top scientist in England. There he is recruited by the Free Norwegian Army to become a SOE operative to infiltrate the impregnable, heavily guarded plant. Parachuted into an unforgiving terrain, battling against the harshest weather conditions imaginable, in a battle against time, the men know there's little chance of surviving. Based on a true story, The Saboteur is an incredibly awe-inspiring novel of complete sacrifice and raw heroism. Written with intense, action-packed scenes, and a heartstopping climax, this historical war time story is absolutely captivating. A must read for lovers of historical fiction/nonfiction and for those who enjoy a masterfully written action book alike.
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business, and quite possibly his life in this compelling debut novel. Timothy Sunderland touches on the oft taboo social subjects of abortion, homosexuality, homelessness, and alcoholism in a realistically insightful way. The protagonist is endearingly flawed, pulled in various directions while trying to make the right choices. Rules for Giving is a reflective coming of age story of a man in a mid life crisis, complete with a tight storyline of corporate espionage, deep rooted secrets and regret.
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REVIEWS
~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 31
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An overzealous journalist and his cameraman find themselves at an explosive crossroads while capturing the “perfect shot.� Months later the journalist is stalked by his dead cameraman.
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TopShelf Magazine – www.TopShelfIndie.com
the secrets on chicory lane CH I LD
THE SECRETS ON
CHICORY A
N OVE L
YO R K
TIMES
B E NSO N
B ESTS E LLI N G
AUTH O R
PROFOUNDLY ENTRANCING AND FAST-PACED! Shelby Truman and Eddie Newcott grew up on Chicory Lane, in the quiet town of Limite, Texas. The beautiful boy across the street was Shelby's constant in life; a best friend–– sometimes more. Over the years, their lives took Raymond Benson very different paths. Shelby became an international bestselling romance author, while Eddie currently sits on death row, awaiting execution for a heinous murder. Days before his execution, Eddie requests a final visit from Shelby after years of silence. As Shelby returns to her hometown, she begins reflecting on their five-decade friendship, and the evil that permeated their lives in the summer of 1966. www.TopShelfMagazine.net
~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews
seeing red
A SEXY ROLLER COASTER RIDE YOU WON’T WANT TO DEPART FROM!
into the spotlight. Private investigator and former ATF agent, John Trapper is beyond tired of hearing about his hero father. In his mind, the best thing his father did was retire from the public eye three years ago. So when Kerra Bailey tries to use him as a means to get an exclusive interview with his father, he happily shuts her down. That is until she drops a bombshell on him and the world that almost gets her and the Major killed. Now Kerra and John must work together to find out who would want an American hero dead. From the start, the staccato pace sucks you deep into the exquisite game of cat and mouse––of which this author always excels. Taut with tension, filled with sensational suspense and fueled by multiple plot twists, Seeing Red is a sexy roller coaster ride you won't want to depart from.
OCTOBER2017
R AYMO N D N E W
Taking you from the past, through to the present of Shelby and Eddie's friendship, Raymond Benson pulls at the heartstrings in this tragic tale. Peppered with nostalgia, love, heartbreak, and melancholy, the narrative is profoundly entrancing and fast-paced. Part mystery, part reflective coming-of-age, The Secrets of Chicory Lane ensnares readers in its dense web, refusing to let go, even long after its jaw-dropping conclusion.
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LANE
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“A first-class thriller craftsman.” — L E E
reviews
~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews
Who would want to kill an American hero and why? That is the question television journalist Kerra Bailey must answer if she wants to stay alive. Twenty five years ago the Pegasus Hotel bombing destroyed a landmark building and killed 197 people in Dallas, Texas. A newspaper photographer captured a retired U.S. Army Major Franklin Trapper emerging from the rubble, carrying a Sandra Brown small child in his arms while leading a handful of struggling survivors to safety. That photo immortalized Major Trapper as an American hero and catapulted him
SHOT DOWN
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 33
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JOSEPH FINDER
ONE OF THE BEST THRILLER WRITERS IN THE BUSINESS .”
“
Finder is “a master at making the reader feel
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every emotion , jump at every shock, and squirm with every twist .” — A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S *
A simple mix-up throws one innocent man into the crosshairs of sinister government secrets.
ON SALE JUNE 13
AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
AUDIO AVAILABLE
*
sleep savannah sleep
reviews
Sleep, Savannah, Sleep is a real treat: well-written, engaging, with a smart, appealing main character who has experiences that are just creepy enough to be on the edge of possible. Jason Crandall, midthirties and newly widowed, moves his two children – a belligerent teen Alistair Cross and a sweet little seven-year-old – to a new town. He meets seemingly well-meaning people as well as a troubled young woman, a scary neighbor, and some sinister townsfolk. When the young woman goes missing, Jason starts experiencing night terrors, hallucinations, and visions. Before long, the reader isn’t sure which of his new acquaintances Jason should be trusting. This is a paranormal murder mystery with a number of twists and an unexpected murderer. The www.TopShelfMagazine.net
~Rosemary Fifield, TopShelf Reviews
the visitors
CHILLING... MARION AND JOHN COULD BE YOUR NEIGHBORS!
OCTOBER2017
A WELL-WRITTEN TREAT... I’M HOOKED!
becomes disabled and she’s the one who must take care of them. This debut novel is a chilling character study, its creepiness coming from the fact that people like Marion and John could be your neighbors. I was immediately drawn into Marion’s world where her dead mother’s haughty voice continues to regale her with judgmental observations, and strangers who show Marion the most basic kindness populate her daydreams of having normal relationships and a meaningful life. The reader sees everything through Marion’s eyes and her way of thinking, and it’s a fascinating journey. While what’s going on in the cellar may seem offputting, it’s handled well and does not become the focus of the tale. Instead, we’re with Marion as she melds her past and present in an effort to create her own future. And, of course, to take care of The Visitors.
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paranormal aspects build tension without being unnecessarily horrifying, a feature I appreciated. The book’s main appeal, however, was a likable protagonist I quickly came to care about. Jason has a sense of humor. He makes mistakes. He misses his deceased wife, but he doesn’t dwell on it. He finds himself attracted to women he meets and is conflicted by it. He struggles with fathering a rebellious son and a little girl who needs mothering, and all the while he’s seeing disturbing things that are scaring the crap out of him. I plan to read Alistair Cross’s other novels. I’m hooked.
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REVIEWS
~Rosemary Fifield, TopShelf Reviews
For all of her life, Marion has been the object of ridicule from her peers, her older brother, John, and her highly opinionated mother. Now a spinster in her 50s, she lives with John in the big old house where they grew up. Timid and out of touch with the world, she stays in the house and does her best not to irritate John. But John keeps “visitors” in the cellar, and while Marion manages Catherine Burns to put them out of her mind most of the time, she can’t ignore them forever, especially when John
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 35
USE OF FORCE