Like life, book sales are unpredictable

Patty here…

I was a featured author this past weekend at the Literary Guild of Orange County’s 15th Annual Festival of Women Authors, founded by Mystery Writers of America Raven Award winner, the indefatigable Joan Hansen. Each year, a panel of judges reads books, books, and more books and then taps eight diverse women writers to appear at the event. The 2008 authors were:

Maria Amparo Escandon’s novel, Esperanza’s Box of Saints, was translated into 21 languages and is available in 89 countries. She also wrote the screenplay for the film, which John Sayles produced.

Debby Applegate has a Ph.D. from Yale. In 2006, The Most Famous Man in America, her biography of preacher Henry Beecher Stowe (Harriet’s brother) was a finalist for the National Book Award. In 2007, the Pulitzer committee awarded the book a Pulitzer Prize for biography.

Not only was Christine Conrad an editor for Bantam and Warner Books, she also writes non fiction books as well as screenplays, including Junior, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Di Vito. She recently released her debut novel called Mademoiselle Benoir.

Nicole Mones was an entrepreneur in 1970’s China before young American women were allowed to do such things. She speaks fluent Chinese and has written three acclaimed novels based on her experiences: Lost in Translation (not the movie), A Cup of Light, and The Last Chinese Chef.

Mim Eichler Rivas is a biographer, ghostwriter, and spokesperson for animal welfare, non-violence, civil rights, and literacy. She co-wrote the film The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith and the bestselling book Finding Fish, the story of screenwriter Antwone Fisher.

Ann Stalcup is the author of ten children’s books. She has also published numerous other books and articles about her travels around the world.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has a Ph.D. from Berkeley and writes novels about the clash between Indian and American values. She is a winner of the Allen Ginsburg Poetry Prize and many other awards. Her novels include Sister of My Heart, The Mistress of Spices, and The Vine of Desire.

All are smart, talented, and amusing women.

And then there was me.

Sheesh!

At the author dinner, we each had to give a 5-minute talk about our accomplishments. I listened to my fellow writers, and when it was my turn, I cleared my throat.

“It’s such an honor to be here but something has been bothering me all evening and I just have to clear the air…Um, you know I’m not Jane Smiley. Right?



That got a big laugh, but I was only half joking. There is only one mystery writer selected each year and many of the previous authors have gone on to become the crème de la crème of crime fiction, including our very own Jacqueline Winspear, who was a featured author in 2005.

My fourth book is due out June 3, but because 600 readers, educators, and librarians were coming together to honor women writers and raise money for literary scholarships, my publisher allowed the Guild to sell COOL CACHE before the official release date.



On Saturday, I walked into the book room and saw towering stacks of each of my four books, casting long shadows on the carpet. Having just driven 250 miles the previous weekend to sell only one book, my heart sank as I imagined all of those novels flying back to New York unwanted and unsold.




It was my first look at COOL, so I bought one copy for my mother for Mother’s Day. I dedicated the book to her and to my dad who died before he saw any of novels in print. The cover is beautiful. My name is in LARGE print. He would have been so proud. I held the tome in my arms like a new baby, loving it more than I imagined I would.

“I’ll buy any books that are left over,” I said to the bookseller, apologetically, hoping my charge card wouldn’t explode when the register uttered its final ka-chink.

At ten o’clock, the bookseller found me in the ballroom and whispered in my ear. “Your books are selling like hotcakes. Do you have any more in the trunk of your car?”

I’m a writer. Of course, I have books in the trunk of my car. Do I ever have occasion to loan them to a bookseller? Rarely. But I didn't have any copies of COOL CACHE except the one I bought for my mother. I dashed out to the parking lot and lugged my box into the bookstore. By 10:30, readers were telling me my books were sold out. Did I have any more?

"I'm sure there's some mistake," I replied. "Check again."

By the time my breakout session began at 11:00 a.m., I was told that every single book was gone. Sold.

I was stunned. It’s not that my books haven’t sold out at previous signings, but not in such large quantities and not in such a short amount of time. It’s not even that my books haven’t sold in triple digits at a single event, but truthfully, that happens mostly when my mother goes through the line forty times in forty different disguises. So what happened? Was it something I said? Or was it just a group of superwomen supporting a good cause? Regardless, it was just about the most fun I've ever had at a book event.

Have you ever been happily or unhappily blindsided by expectatations? Dish, babies.

Happy Monday!