I like to think of myself as a fairly modest guy. For instance, I would never mention that I can run the mile in less than four minutes, or that I invented carbonated water. But what’s a boy to do when good reviews come out? Ignore them? Not a wise move, PR-wise. No, the modern-day author has learned that you have to promote nonstop to make headway in this bidness. That means sharing reviews, which can also be seen as bragging. Gotta do it anyway. (Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.)

Here’s the latest from the San Antonio Express-News....

Book Review: Murder, fun and politics in Blanco County

Jennifer Roolf Laster
Express-News Staff Writer

Gun Shy: A Novel

By Ben Rehder

St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95

The opening scene of Texan Ben Rehder's latest work, "Gun Shy," hits the metaphorical target.

Good old boy extraordinaire Dale Stubbs, president of the Texas chapter of the National Weapons Alliance, is addressing a rally of NWA members, exhorting them to support his chosen gubernatorial candidate and inviting them to a special Fourth of July event at the Blanco County ranch of country music superstar and NWA spokesperson Mitch Campbell. As the hall becomes a "full-on madhouse" of fainting women and shouting men, worked into a frenzy by Stubbs' glorious vision, the chapter president "knew, without question, that the NWA was about to enter its golden age."

As we say down here in the Lone Star State, that dog won't hunt.

Without giving away too much, let's just say the golden boy spokesman whose hit "My Cold Dead Hands" made him a household name has a big weakness for mind-altering substances and women and an even bigger secret in his past. Stubbs himself has a few secrets, including a nubile young secretary that he'd like to keep under cover. And the NWA is under fire, if you will, from SNATCH. That's the Society of Nonviolent Americans to Control Handguns, a left-wing organization with a flair for the dramatic and, on occasion, the ridiculous.

Throw in a mysteriously killed day laborer, a half-cocked political cartoonist, a gubernatorial candidate with some dirty dealings, a 1980s sex symbol lobbying the parole board, officers of the law with dueling opinions of the gun control movement, and Billy Don and Red, two hillbillies who are as cluelessly offensive as they are sincerely charming, and you've got a thriller with more turns than a Hill Country highway.

There's also the vigilante killer who murders in particularly unique ways, a paparazzo with a personal agenda, and a transsexual desperate to find some quick cash for surgery.

This is the fifth installment of Rehder's Blanco County series featuring Blanco County Game Warden John Marlin, and with it Rehder secures his place as the Carl Hiaasen of Texas. Replete with zany characters, the plot is intricately constructed and peppered with allusions to modern culture. Hunting accidents "happened more often than people realized," postulates one of the characters. "Just ask Dick Cheney."

Rehder writes with an assured hand and a knowing tip of the wide-brimmed cowboy hat to the ways and wiles of the characters that people his distinctly Texan landscape. A city transplant calls Marlin, the game warden, to alert him that there are deer along the road to his home. "I think they got loose," he tells Marlin.

"Got loose from where?" Marlin asked.

"Wherever you keep them at night. "

The list of characters here is lengthy, perhaps a bit too lengthy, and a few members of the supporting cast blur together. But readers can still enjoy the meat of the story without worrying too much about distinguishing between the revolving core of eccentrics, and the main characters are well and believably drawn. And while the book certainly exposes the underbelly of both the mythical NWA and its rival SNATCH, it's not a political treatise — just a darn good read. Satirical and often laugh-out-loud funny, the novel is insightful and often touching.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Rehder signs books at 7 p.m. Friday at the Fiesta Trails Barnes & Noble at Interstate 10 and De Zavala Road.

Jennifer Roolf Laster is a copy editor for the Express-News.

Had a good signing at Murder By The Book on Friday evening. About a dozen people showed, and I gabbed for about 45 minutes. A big thank-you to David, McKenna, Michelle, and all the good people at MBTB. If you want a signed copy of Gun Shy, they can arrange it. Just visit their Web site at www.murderbooks.com. They’ll mail it to you.

I’ll share a secret with you. When my wife isn’t with me, I travel barebones, budgetwise. Cheap motels. As is the Motel 6 that night. In Huntsville, no less. For those of you who don’t know, Huntsville is home to a bunch of state prisons. I had visions of a Motel 6 filled with relatives of inmates--most of whom would spend time in the Graybar Hotel themselves someday--but it was actually pretty quiet.

Saturday morning, I drove up to Dallas and did some drop-in signings (some scheduled, some unscheduled) at various Barnes & Nobles and Borders stores. You know you have work to do when some of the bookstore employees don’t recognize your name. They all had decent supplies of the book, though, which is encouraging.

Did a scheduled “front of store” signing at the B&N on Preston in Plano that afternoon, and some good people came to see me. Thanks Dan, Keri, Ryan, “Buda,” Mary, and everyone else. And thanks to Cody, a nice guy and good CRM.

Stayed at the Motel 6 in Lewisville that night, and this one wasn’t so quiet. I think some of Red and Billy Don’s kinfolk make a practice of renting rooms to party in on weekends. My phone rang late that evening, and there was some drunken bimbo on the other end, looking for whoever had the room the night before. I told her she was out of luck. An hour later, she decided to double check by knocking on my door. Lovely lady. Car alarms went off here and there that evening, and there were pre-teen kids playing Frisbee in the hall at midnight. However, if you turn the AC up (and unplug the phone), it blocks all that stuff out, and you can actually get some sleep.

Sunday I drove over to Fort Worth and did a front-of-store signing at the B&N there. Joyce and Bill Fuller were nice enough to be waiting for me, and I signed a book for them. Stephanie was a friendly and welcoming CRM, and Lance, a manager from another store, drove down to have me sign his copy. Then he was kind enough to show me the way to my next event, about ten minutes away. Thanks, Lance!

That next event was a speaking gig with the Cowtown Crimesolvers, part of Sisters in Crime, if I understand correctly. There were maybe 15 in attendance, and I tried to be entertaining, but I might’ve been a little brain dead by then. Lee, from Borders, came to sell books. Thanks, Lee!

Then I hauled butt back to Austin, free until Thursday, when I’ll be going to Corpus Christi.

Here are some photos.......

I’ll be heading to Houston tomorrow, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth on Saturday and Sunday. On this first leg of my tour, I’ll be taking part in both types of signings. You know there are two types of signings, don’t you? Well, there are, and both have advantages and disadvantages. An overview.

The first kind--a pure signing. This is where you sit behind a table with a stack of books and hope a bunch of people want to buy them. There is no speech or other presentation. If you’re Harlan Coben or someone like that, you end up with a line out the door. For most other authors, including me, you’re attempting to meet new readers and sell them a book, which ain’t easy. Most people don’t even want to make eye contact with you. But some people will stop and ask about the book, and those people are usually new to your readership. You can grow your market this way. Some authors take a fairly aggressive approach--walking up to people and introducing themselves, giving a sales pitch, etc. I’m not quite extroverted enough to do that, possibly to my own detriment. But I’ve never seen any indication that this type of approach sells any more books than if you wait for the interested shopper to ask. You can feel like a pretty major reject as dozens and dozens of shoppers stream past without stopping. But, well, that’s just part of the business. Sometimes people will stop and ask where the bathroom is.

The second type--a speech, followed by a signing. In these types, generally at smaller independent stores or libraries, people show up to hear you talk about the new book. The “crowd” can be a few people, or a few dozen, or a bunch more. It all depends on the author. If you’re lucky, the event is tied in with a book group that meets at the store, and all the members of the book group show up. The benefits are, you’ll likely sell a pretty good number of books, because the crowd showed up specifically to see you, and you get to meet some of your readers face to face. I enjoy that a lot, especially meeting people who have emailed me at some point. Most of the attendees have read your previous works, but there are usually a few newcomers, which is good. However, again, you can feel like a reject if only a few people show up. No matter what the reason, you always feel like you’re letting the store down. You want to draw a big crowd for them, and have a successful event. Funny, because if the event ends up small, the bookstore employees usually seem to think they somehow failed the author. Sometimes the stores will arrange an event that features two similar authors. Smart move, because readers of Author #1 get exposed to Author #2, and vice versa.

Nobody in publishing seems to know if book tours and signings are worthwhile (from a marketing standpoint), so, as an author, I just try to have fun. I’m not an enthusiastic traveler, but I do enjoy visiting new stores and meeting people. When an event draws a small crowd, all it takes to turn your attitude around is one reader showing up and telling you how much they enjoyed your books.

I’ll take some pictures on the road and post a few here when I return early next week.

Since I have absolutely no recollection of this TV show at all, the hardcover goes to "nrp1488," who submitted "Sierra," from 1974. Nice work.

Thank you to the thousands, uh, I mean dozens of people who entered.

The New York Times had a good piece yesterday on what creates a bestselling mystery. The general consensus is: Nobody knows.

I’ve been in this business for more than five years now, and I can second that conclusion. Rarely have I seen any industry that has less control over what sells and what doesn’t. I don’t think anybody is necessarily at fault, because there’s no sure-fire way to create sales. If somebody knew what it was, they’d do it, and everybody would copy it, and pretty soon, that particular tactic would become moot, I think.

They use Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Prep” as an example. They gave her a $40k advance and came out with an initial print of 13k copies. To date, they’ve sold 162k copies in hardcover and 329k in paperback, and nobody is sure why. (It’s a good book, I’m sure, but what made it take off?) It got good press and word of mouth, but was that what got the ball rolling?

From the article:

The answer is that no one really knows. “It’s an accidental profession, most of the time,” said William Strachan, editor in chief at Carroll & Graf Publishers. “If you had the key, you’d be very wealthy. Nobody has the key.”

Me again:

Publishers take risks every day, with almost every book. Sometimes the “small” ones take off and surprise them. Sometimes the “big” ones tank, regardless of marketing and PR. And there’s never any one thing anybody can point to and say, “Aha, that’s why it succeeded!” (Or failed.)

From the article:

“It’s guesswork,” says Bill Thomas, editor in chief of Doubleday Broadway. “The whole thing is educated guesswork, but guesswork nonetheless. You just try to make sure your upside mistakes make up for your downside mistakes.”

Me again:

I do know that everyone in the book industry could stand to do some research. I’m from the ad business, where focus groups are commonplace before large national campaigns (albeit not local or regional campaigns, usually). I’ve asked this before, and the reason I ask is because nobody knows, but...what makes people buy a particular book or books? If you care to share your thoughts, please do.

A final excerpt from the article:

Some experts wonder if book publishers might uncover more books like this if they tried harder to find out more about their buyers and what they want.

“The Newspaper Association of America has a staggering amount of data on people who read newspapers. The book business has, basically, nothing,” said Professor Greco. “They’re not going into the marketplace and doing mall intercepts and asking people, as they leave the bookstore, ‘What did you buy? Did you find what you’re looking for? What motivated you to choose that book?’ ”

Ms. Sittenfeld says she is reminded of something she heard from an editor: “People think publishing is a business, but it’s a casino.”