Big Numbers 2007 World Tour #1

[Jack Getze]

(Seattle) The 2007 Big Numbers World Tour began February 1 when I arrived at Sea-Tac International Airport, rented my car, and headed South on Interstate 5. Seattle and The Left Coast Crime conference being positioned to the north, some observers might have thought me lost. But no, I’d decided that Seattle could wait. My first stop on the World Tour would be Whodunit? Books in Tacoma. Well, actually, my first stop turned out to be a Tacoma taco shop. I was hungry. But after eating a few crispy corn tortillas filled with beef and cheese, I located Whodunit? Books on Fifth Ave. and strolled inside. As a new author, my job is to visit as many bookstores as I can, introduce myself and my book, see if I can get these booksellers to read, hopefully like, and then recommend my book. I’m with a small independent publisher that doesn’t make things easy with returns, so my books won’t be found in many chain stores. I have to get out and develop relationships with independent bookstores like this mystery specialist in southern Washington state. Owner and manager Linda Dewberry graciously welcomed to her bookstore that afternoon. We sat in a corner of her eclectic shop and talked books, author promotion, and what her life was like selling titles to a growing list of good customers. “If I like something enough to recommend it,” she said, “my customers will buy it.” That’s what I wanted to hear. “I don’t have any books to offer you yet,” I told Ms. Dewberry, “but I do have a couple of chapbooks I could leave you.” She took the promotional item (which contains the first two chapters and an author Q&A) from me with a look that said I’d handed her a large black spider. “I guess I could take a look,” she said. I visited six more stores that day and the next in the Seattle area. All of them were pretty cool to Jack Getze and Big Numbers, and my chapbooks. I decided next time I’d show up with real, honest-to-goodness books, not these pretend promo thingies that I’m sure ended up in the trash. Saturday, I was scheduled to give a 25-minute talk on using reality to create fiction at the Left Coast Crime convention. This was my real shot to meet mystery fans and interest them in my work. I’ll tell you how that went next time. –-Jack