Monday, January 31, 2011

Back From Hiatus

It has been a couple of months since my last post. This is primarily because I was unable to login to my account for whatever reason. Now that I'm back I wanted to bring my readers up to date on new releases that I have brokered. First, the debut, LEAVING JACK, will be released by St. Martin's Press on February 15th as previously announced. I'm excited about this potential best seller and I have noted that Amazon has what they call their VINE program. Vine sends out advance reading copies of a forthcoming work to selected customers giving them a jump on pre-publication reviews (step aside Publishers Weekly, here come real reviews from the ranks, or from people who buy and know great literature when they see it). While I have high hopes for JACK, I'm delighted to see the favorable reviews from real customers, most of whom were overwhelmed by the impact of this powerful story of a brave yellow Lab serving in the Vietnam War. The lucky prepublication reviewers give insights into a novel you will not want to miss. Advance orders are being taken by Amazon, B&N, etc., and will be shipped for receipt on the release date. When you get your copy let me know your thoughts as I would like to post a few on this blog. Of course your local book store will have plenty of copies on hand to fulfill the demand.

Nostalgia and movie buffs will be delighted to know that come the Fall, Academy Award winning actor George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman) will have his memoir released by Applause Books, entitled: TRUST ME: A MEMOIR. This is a must have book for Hollywood fans as George reveals behind the scenes action embellished by vignettes of such iconic figures as Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and many others who came to know George Kennedy, who himself played more than 200 roles in movies and TV. More about this later.

Last year I was correct in my prognostications regarding the enormous escalation of ebook sales. Readers love their iPads, Sony's, Kindles, Nooks, you name it. Once purchased, readers have placed millions of orders indicating healthy gains for publishers and authors. The outlook for books is very promising in spite of the current economic crisis.