Where's Vince Been?

Signing first editions at The Mysterious Bookshop last month. 

It's been way too long since I've blogged. But starting now, or in the new year at least, I'll try and get back to a much more regular schedule. Suffice to say I've been busy finishing up the biggest novel of my life, American Crimes, and at the same time, freelancing, and promoting my newest thriller, The Girl Who Wasn't There. 

There's been some signings, and radio, but for the most part Covid has kept a appearances at a bare minimum. Distribution was a little wonky at first too. Later on I found out that this pandemic has caused three of the world's major printers to go belly up. Taken along with the consolidation of yet another two major publishing houses and I see the rapid destruction of traditional publishing happening right before our very eyes. 

My recent visit to NYC to sign books at the Mysterious Bookshop took my breath away. Nothing but, For Sale and For Rent signs, boarded up buildings, and lots of vagrants in the street. When it takes you only about 7 minutes to get from 34th and 7th to the Battery (or close to it anyway), you know something is drastically wrong. 

But I still have hope we will all bounce back from this thing one way or another. But the world, the publishing world for certain, will be very different. I think it will become much more of a writer sells directly to consumer kind of thing. One bookstore per week is going out of business on average. At this rate, there won't be any left if congress doesn't step in an do something. 

I'm not holding my breath. 

Merry Christmas all!!!!

WWW.VINZANDRI.COM

"Alexa, make me your slave..."

...Or said another way, "Alexa, write this post."
 After all, the Amazon AI knows everything about me. You not only know my favorite music, television shows, and books. You know what I like to wear, what I like to eat and drink. You know my social security number, my income, my age, weight, and sexual preference. Heck, you probably know my favorite sexual positions.

You know my bathroom habits, and my sleeping routine. You know about my medical conditions, and you know about my vices. You know when I'm feeling down, or way too up. You know what I want to write and don't write. You are all knowing and you have been programmed to know me inside and out, so you can accurately predict my wants and needs.

Sounds nifty, right?

But what happens when Alexa and the company she reps, Amazon.com, becomes so big, so all consuming, so all knowing, that the consumer becomes the slave?

This is the basis for my new novel, Primary Termination. It takes place in 2028 and it's about the last NYC editor who is fired from the last remaining publishing house now that the world's largest online retail corporation, Everest.com (see what I did there?) has taken over the publishing market with their Everest Cradle Direct Publishing service and their Cradle E-reader (see what I did there too?).

Here's the product description for Primary Termination.

 
YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THE CORPORATION!

In the year 2028, a massive online corporation called Everest.Com will control everything we buy, including books, food, medical care, police protection, religion, political affiliations...Everything!

When Senior Acquisitions editor, Tanya Teal, 42, is fired from the last remaining NYC publishing house due to overwhelming competition from Everest.com's Cradle Direct Publishing service, she finds herself having to move back in with her parents in Upstate New York. Since she will be hard pressed to ever find another editing job again, they persuade her to join the Everest Primary Program, which will provide her with a guaranteed living wage, so long as she purchases Everest products exclusively. But after rekindling her love affair with an old boyfriend, Tony Smart, 42, who is a Cradle Direct Publishing bestseller, they drink a few too many and decide to visit one of their old haunts, Gus's Hotdog Shack. They know it's illegal, since they are both Primary Members, but what can one hotdog hurt?

That one simple decision leads to their Primary Termination and a horrific hunt on behalf of the Everest Police that begins inside Tanya's own Everest AI-monitored home and that leads up into the mountains and the home of the Everest Resistance. It also leads to a stunning revelation over the precise fate of terminated members—the prisons they are incarcerated in and the massive fulfillment centers where they are used as slave labor.

Part cyberpunk thriller, part dystopian apocalyptic page-turner, part romantic suspense, part paranoid military adventure, and even part alternate reality, Primary Termination is a three novel series that’s a direct if not frightening reflection on the realities of present day and near future global commerce, not to mention all knowing AI development and personal date storage. Think the Matrix meets The Hunger Games or Logan’s Run meets The Man in the High Castle.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling Thriller Award winning author, Vincent Zandri, comes a new thriller that is a direct reflection of the digital, big brother/big sister times we are living in.

US Link

UK Link

CA Link

AU Link

Primary Termination is currently available for preorder at a special limited time price, so what have you got to lose? If you love books like 1984 you might be particularly interested in this thriller. It's the kind of book that will be analyzed by the high brows and enjoyed by the lowbrows. It will also make you think twice before asking Alexa to do something for you.

Grab Primary Termination today.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

You got what it takes to be a full-time author?

My very first novel back in the day of big advances ...

I've been doing this writing gig for a long time now. Full-time. Some years have been spectacular. You know, those years when I'm scoring big contracts and winning some prestigious awards, and hitting all the lists.

Then there are those years where all I hear are crickets, the bank account is dwindling, and the passengers are jumping ship.

Most years, however, fall somewhere in between the highs and the lows, and that's actually a good place to be. Because in the writing business, things are never as good as they seem, nor are they as bad.

The only thing you can control is the writing. At least, that's what my first editor at Delacorte Publishing, Jacob Hoye, used to tell me. And he was spot on. So long as you're true to your craft, everything else can go to hell.

Now, with further ado, you got what it takes to be a full-time author?

Today THE REMAINS is just 0.99...
Grab it and be thrilled...

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Marketing: The Time Suck

I work all the time. In fact, I'm sometimes like the crotchety writer dude played by Jack Nicholson in that movie from the late 1990s, As Good As It Gets. There's a scene in which he tells Helen Hunt, "I work all the time." The point being, Don't bug me. Writers are a funny bunch in that they don't feel right unless they are putting words on a page, good words or bad words.

But lately, I feel like despite the stellar word count, the marketing has been getting in the way. The social media, the interviews, the setting up of promos, the website updates, the newsletters, the compiling of subscribers and, if you're like me, answering as many fan emails as you can possibly answer without your fingers falling off from all the typing. I like my fans. They support me. Therefore, I like to give them the personal treatment.

Now, marketing your work doesn't apply only to your independently published books and stories. It also applies to the traditional stuff. In some cases, I find myself pushing the traditional stuff more, since the publishers just don't have the time or the budget to keep pushing Zandri books, especially the ones I can't even get my own mother to buy.

Some authors rely on Amazon ads or Facebook ads. They pour a bunch of money into the ad budget then create numerous ad-sets and forget about it. But like I intuited in a previous post, these ads can be a money suck if not monitored closely enough. Some authors hire virtual assistants to handle the marketing overflow. I've done this in the past and it never really works out, because you lose control over your messaging when someone else is producing it. Some authors do nothing. Their marketing is boiled down to consistent output. Write, publish, rinse, repeat. There's that rule again. The more books and stories you create, the better chance you have of making a decent monthly and semi-annual profit.

I believe that making more words is the inevitable answer. Writing stories day in and day out without hesitation. But how can one keep up with that kind of grueling pace? you ask. Simple. Some people never miss a day of work in a forty year career, minus vacations of course. Why should a writer be any different? Here's how I do it. I tell myself I'm working for a Hollywood studio, like Fox or Disney. They give me a room and a typewriter, and my boss tells me, "I want a story on my desk by the end of the week, or no paycheck." See, it's not so difficult when you look at it from that POV.

Anyway, this was supposed to be about marketing. But it all comes down to the writing, doesn't it?
Write, publish, rinse, repeat.
Everything else is secondary.

Grab my new novel THE ASHES

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
   

THE SHROUD KEY is Released and More News!

I just finished writing and distributing my newsletter for those subscribed fans and friends. But since so many of you aren't subscribed I thought I would put it out as a blog. So here goes: 

Author Photo by Jessica Painter Hello All, Just a quick update on from my part of the globe now that the Fall season is upon us (Yes, the summer flew by). I have some good news regarding the Thomas & Mercer edition of THE REMAINS. This month it's an "Editor's Pick" at Amazon and has been enjoying a stay in the Top 300 Kindle books for more than a week now. In the UK it reached the Top 10 and is still in the Top 50. The T&M editions of THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD have also been enjoying a nice revival (If you recall, THE INNOCENT was once published under the title, AS CATCH CAN by Delacorte Press). I'm also excited to announce that the third in the Marconi series, THE GUILTY (StoneGate Ink), has been an Amazon Hot New Release in Hard-Boiled Mystery since it's release one month ago. Also look for the fifth in the Dick Moonlight PI series, MOONLIGHT SONATA, which is also being released by StoneGate Ink. On the foreign end of things, I've just signed with MEME PUBLISHERS in Paris and Milan. Meme will be handling the foreign translations of all the Moonlight and Marconi novels, plus THE REMAINS and THE SHROUD KEY (see below). MOONLIGHT FALLS is he first to be translated into both Italian and French. It will be available in Europe in Spring 2014. This month is also special in that my newest novel in a brand new series featuring Renaissance man, Chase Baker, has now officially been released in e-book (trade paper to follow). It's called THE SHROUD KEY. Here's what the novel is all about: Chase Baker is not only a true Renaissance Man, he’s a man who knows how to find trouble. A part-time resident of Florence, Italy, his resume reads like a modern day Da Vinci or Casanova. Writer, private investigator, tour guide, historian, treasure hunter, adventurer, and even archaeological sandhog, Chase is also a prolific lover. Unfortunately for him, his dangerous liaisons all too often make him the target of a jealous husband. Now, at the direct request of the Florence police, he finds himself on the trail of an archaeologist by the name of Dr. Andre Manion who’s gone missing from his teaching post at the American University. But having worked for the archaeologist several years ago as a sandhog on a secret but failed dig just outside the Great Pyramids in the Giza Plateau, Chase smells a renewed opportunity to uncover what just might be the most prized archaeological treasure in the world: The mortal remains of Jesus. But how will Chase Baker go about finding both the archaeologist and the Jesus Remains? With the help of Manion’s beautiful ex-wife, Chase will manage to secure an up-close and personal examination of the Shroud of Turin, not only to view the famous image of the crucified Christ, but to unlock the relic’s greatest secret which is none other than a map, or a key, detailing the precise location of Jesus’s body. Fans of Dan Brown, Clive Cussler and JR Rain will find The Shroud Key an irresistible adventure.   In terms of appearances, I'll be hanging out at Bouchercon the weekend of September 19-22 which is happening this year at Albany's Empire State Plaza. I'll be a part of a cool panel on Friday morning 9:00-9:55AM-Friday Room 1 Worse Comes to Worst-tragedy as entertainment Art Taylor (M), Joe Clifford, Nik Korpon, F. Paul Wilson, Johnny Shaw, Lee Thompson, Vincent Zandri Please stop by! Here's hoping this finds you well. As always I appreciate your support and friendship. I look forward to seeing you many of you soon. Cheers, Vince WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM VINCENT ZANDRI, NOIR AUTHOR vazandri@aol.com Find me at www.vincentzandri.com Author Photo by Jessica Painter

MOONLIGHT FALLS Comes Full Circle

Six years ago I was surviving as a freelance journalist and sometimes foreign correspondent. I hadn't published a full-length novel since 2001 when Dell published, Godchild, the second in the Jack Marconi series. I was beginning to think I would never enter back into the game again. Even then, I still had no idea about the power of e-books and digital publication, so I was still schlepping manuscripts the old fashioned way: via snail mail and via an agent who schlepped via snail mail. In the end, a small traditionally based press took the book on. I signed a traditional deal for traditional percentages. Hey, what did I know?

Now I have the rights to my first Dick Marconi novel back. And now, for the first time, the novel that started it all is available from a digital-heavy indie press that knows how to publish, market, and distribute e-books--StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink. I should know, Over the past two years, I've sold literally hundreds of thousands of copies of my novels with them. So many that it led to a seven book deal with Thomas & Mercer of Amazon Publishing.

 Introducing for the first time, again, MOONLIGHT FALLS

Get it here on Kindle
Get it here on Nook
Get it here on Kobo

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

D is for Dumb Ass

"So you're a new writer huh? Wow, good fuckin' luck. You're gonna need it."

Sue Grafton is the latest in what's basically a handful of dinosaur writers who try to crap on indie and self-published authors. The famous "Alphabet"author believes that if you are self-publishing you are not willing to put in the hard work required to be published by one of the antiquated Big Six publishers. In other words, you're not willing to be a slave.

I've put in the hard work and earned hundreds of thousands in advances from the Big Six. I've also put in the hard work and earned hundreds of thousands in real sales from indie and small publishers. I've put in the hard work and just recently self-published my first book: Permanence, a literary thriller/novella that was first published traditionally by a small press back in 1995 and went nowhere fast. Now it's doing very well and sold more in the first week in e-book format than it did in its entirety as a small press offering.

I put in the hard work everyday. I write up to 2,500 words per day. It often leaves me exhausted. It gets in the way of my spending time with family and friends, and I am often alone. I work even when I travel. And I travel a lot. But I make sacrifices in order to put that word count out day in and day out. Its because of those sacrifices that I make sure never to attach myself to only one kind of publishing. Be with a major, an indie or via my own Bear Media label.

V is for Vincent but it's also for Victorious.
S is for Sue and for Simply so arrogant some poor young writer out there will no doubt listen to her garbage and end up never publishing a single book. Not because it isn't good but because Sue said no to publishing with anyone but the money changers on the hill in NYC.

Don't allow other authors, critics, editors, agents, or anyone else dissuade you from your dream. R is for Readers. Let the readers of the world decide if you have what it takes to be a great writer. They're your audience after all. You will live and die with them. Not with Sue Grafton.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM