Yes, we had a fabulous signing at the new B&N in Lima, Ohio last Thursday. The store sold over 90 copies of Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, and for this town, that’s a good number. Maybe not as good as the number Judy and I sold in Findlay, Ohio, but close.
But what I celebrated this weekend was Stuff To Spy For. My publisher wants the new book turned in 12 to 14 months in advance.
And Bahama Burn Out ( the other series) releases in March of 2009, so I have to turn in the next Caribbean story next March.

Usually, writers work on a calander. As you can see, we’re a year out on any book we write. And you get used to it. What’s hot this year, you hope will be hot next year because by the time you turn in your manuscript, it won’t be published until 12 months later. However, there’s one book I should have written that would have been out in 45 days. And I could have written it in ten to twelve days. And I should have! Could have pocketed some really good money, but I just didn’t think I could pull it off.

The book’s title would have been…Sarah Palin, A Made For TV Movie. Think about the story. It’s like the movie Dave, with Kevin Klein. A guy gets thrust into the Presidency in a matter of minutes. Sarah Palin, A Made For TV Movie, would be a background of the Alaskan Governor, sprinkled with her amazing rise to national fame. And if I’d started calling publishers the day McCain announced his running mate, I’d like to think I could have sold that book. Immediately going to Google, Yahoo and all the other search engines, I would have pulled together enough information to outline the book. Using names, contacts, and other information I would have made countless phone calls for the next two days. Within three days I would have had enough raw information to write the 220 page (thin, but timely) book, and I’d take two days to clean it up. 18 hour days would have translated to I’m guessing $120,000. Not a bad week, eh?

But I didn’t. I worked on my deadline for Stuff To Spy For, which netted me much less than the fabulous Sarah Palin story. The publisher would have had the trade paper version out in 30 to 45 days, and my royalty would have added another $20 to $50,000.

Someone did exactly this. I don’t know who. C.R.? Maybe Orroz? But I’ll guarantee someone decided to bite the bullet and you’ll see the end result in a month. Could have been me…but it wasn’t.