TopShelf Magazine Holiday Edition, 2016 | Page 15

INTERVIEWS

NY Times Bestselling Author of First Blood ( introducing the world to Rambo ) & Over 30 Bestsellers , David Morrell

David Morrell is the author of First Blood , the acclaimed novel in which Rambo was created . He has a Ph . D . in literature from Penn State and was a professor in the English department at the University of Iowa . His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic spy novel , The Brotherhood of the Rose , the basis for the only television miniseries to be broadcast after a Super Bowl . An Edgar and Anthony finalist , a Macavity and Nero winner , Morrell is a recipient of three Bram Stoker awards from the Horror Writes Association and the prestigious Thriller Master award from International Thriller Writers . Bouchercon ( the world ' s largest crime-fiction convention ) gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award . Noted for his research , Morrell spent 30 days in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming for one book and became a private pilot for another . With eighteen million copies in print , his work has been translated into thirty languages . His latest novel is the Victorian mystery / thriller , Ruler of the Night , the final book in a series that includes Murder as a Fine Art and Inspector of the Dead . In an effort to convince readers that they are truly on the harrowing fogbound streets of 1850s London , Morrell devoted several years to historical research , giving himself what he calls " a self-taught doctorate in Victorian culture ." Please visit him at : www . davidmorrell . net .

Question

Do you believe there is still a bright future for independent bookstores ?

Answer

Absolutely . A store with informed staff and enthusiastic community events is a destination .

Question

What can a bookstore or library do to encourage patrons to pick up a specific book and check it out ?

Answer

When I enter my local public library , there ' s always a display of books about a specific topic . That always gets my attention .

Question

Is there any one marketing idea that you ' ve seen bookstores do that stands out as particularly successful ?

Answer

Some stores told me that they had positive results from a store bookclub in which customers received a discount .

Question

How much work do you personally put into promoting your books and events ? And how long before do you start promoting ?

Answer

My publisher expects me to do a lot of my own promoting . I ' m on twitter , but I prefer my Facebook Author page , which I think of as a salon about books , movies , music , and the arts in general . Readers come to that page for recommendations and literary discussions . They also visit my page for news about what I ' m doing . They seem to welcome my remarks about what I ' m working on , so I often start promoting a project when I ' m halfway through it , telling readers how many pages I write each day and whether the work is coming easily or not . I make this sort of remark occasionally . I show a new cover . I

quote from early reviews . The only time I do a " hard sell " is within a month of publication . Readers understand why I need to do that . But I never forget that they visit my Facebook page because of the discussions about books , movies , and music , etc .

Question

What are your feelings on authors giving away thousands of copies of their ebooks , hoping it will raise their rank on Amazon ? Is this a viable strategy ? Or are these authors making a terrible mistake ? And why ?

Answer interviews

I myself don ' t give away my work . I worry that doing so would create the impression that if a reader waits long enough , more free stuff will become available . On average , it takes a year for me to write a book . Why would I give away a year of my life ?

Read more of our interview with David Morrell at : www . TopShelfMagazine . net

Available : November 15 , 2016 Genre : Historical Thriller ISBN : 978-0316307901

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