Fan Letters

[I. J. Parker]

These days they are balm for my lacerated feelings re publishers. A few weeks ago, a serviceman wrote from Afghanistan and that reminded me that I'm really comparatively well off even as a "newly-unpublished" author. Today my ego received another great boost: 3 fan letters in one day, and one of them from a university professor (I have had others, but still!) who plans to use one of my books as reading material in a course he is teaching on Asian culture in American film and fiction. How great is that?

[I. J. Parker]

Actually, on second thought: the culture and locale of foreign countries should not be a niche market. It has a much better reason for being mainstream than stories about vampires.

[I. J. Parker]

Quite right, Dana. My French publisher has done a much better job than either of my American ones. After starting publication, they got the first or second in the series published as a book club volume and then put all the books out in mass market paperback designed for younger readers. They also had a publicity campaign that got me well over a hundred print reviews in every French-speaking publication you can imagine. A lot depends on whether the publisher is behind the series.
You would think they would make an effort for a series, wouldn't you?
All I can say after my experiences so far: if the series makes it, it will have been due to the books and not to anything publishers did to promote them.

[Dana King]

Very cool. Let's face it, you're writing for a niche that will appreciate the kinds of stories you tell, and the settings you use. Grisham and Brown need not fear you as competition, but there's almost certainly a constituency out there for you. The trick is to get the information to those most likely to want to read you. That's where marketing folks do a lousy job, IMO. They're fine for mass stuff, much less effective in finding those niches.