Keeping Up Appearances

There are countless authors out there who claim to know the deep dark secret to selling books. This knowledge they impart in books, on blogs, in online forums, at writing conferences, in e-mail discussion groups, just about any place where they'll find attentive ears or eyes.

Here's my advice: Don't pay attention to any of them.

I hate to be a naysayer, but there are too many sages out there selling too much false hope.

The reality is that there is no secret formula that will magically transform your book into a best-seller. It's nice to daydream - and who does that better than writers - but odds are that you aren't going to be the next Stephen King or John Grisham.

I used to read all the print an online book marketing wisdom of my fellow authors but I've since cut most of it out of my life. The problem is, it's addictive, and you start to feel like a junkie, feeding on every nugget of information that is out there for the taking. Then you develop a splitting headache, as you try to sort out all of the competing theories and views and to make sense of it all, until you realize that there are no answers and that nobody's right and that nobody's wrong. Some things work for some and other things work for others.

Mostly what I got from all of it was a sour taste in my mouth, which led me to put too much pressure on myself to sell books, which led, ultimately, to the inevitable disappointment, because I could never sell as many books as I'd hoped to sell.

Looking back on it all, I wish that I'd done it differently and had gone out on the road with the mindset of just having fun while meeting fellow authors and book readers. That's my goal from now on. Instead of focusing on selling my stories, I'm going to put the emphasis on telling my stories.

And that's just what I'll be doing at two upcoming bookstore appearances:

• On Friday, October 13, at 7 PM, I'll be at the Book Cellar, 4736-38 Lincoln Ave., Chicago (Lincoln Square), reading from both my published and unpublished works as part of the Chicago Writers Association Author's Night;
• And on Sunday, November 19, at 3 PM, I'll be at the Barnes & Noble, 6685 E. State St., Rockford, as part of a Sisters in Crime/Love is Murder Mystery Authors Panel.

So mark your calendar and if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello. No pressure. Just for fun.