“Vinyl Wonderland” Finds its Feet

Vinyl Wonderland has now been out in the world for just over a month, and to my great surprise, I’m thoroughly enjoying the process of helping with the marketing. When my titles came out with Samhain, back before that publisher went belly-up, I never felt supported when I tried to push my Renner & Quist adventures, and I was never clear that Samhain itself, other than the odd appearance at horror cons, was doing much to promote the books on their end.

With Castle Bridge Media, the publisher of Vinyl Wonderland, when I ask them for help with something, or when I request that they put an ARC into the hands of a potential reviewer or Bookstagrammer (I refuse to employ the word “influencer”––call me old-fashioned, go ahead, I dare you), the hard-working and certainly understaffed folks at Castle Bridge immediately jump to it. I get same-day replies; I get actual assistance, gratitude, and encouragement.

Long years ago, when I worked as a retail trainer for Borders Books and Music (R.I.P.), all the employees were taught about “the life-cycle of a book.” Specifically, we were taught what was expected of a new release from a major publisher. New titles had two to three weeks to prove themselves, to find their audience, to demonstrate “legs.” If they didn’t rise to the surface by then, they were written off as failures, and soon remanded to the remainder tables, with no more publicity push to back them up.

We, as booksellers, were expected to hand-sell what we could, and we did try, of course, but no one can possibly read everything that comes out, and it’s especially hard to commit to reading and promoting new authors. Everyone can get excited about, say, the new Walter Mosley or Jennifer Egan. These writers have a track record, a fan base, proven sales. But I am certain that thousands if not hundreds of thousands of worthy new voices have gotten lost in the two-to-three-week “lifespan-of-a-book” shuffle, having failed to find a purchase in that first mad out-of-the-gate rush.

I must point out that these strictures and expectations applied to both fiction and non-fiction.

Not only that, but I’m fairly confident that the rules haven’t changed significantly in the years since.

When I made the decision to stop querying agents about Vinyl Wonderland and to “settle” for a smaller publisher, I had this dynamic in mind, and while I would certainly prefer to have the heft and potential promotional budget of, say, Random House at my back, it turns out that I am well-satisfied with my current circumstances. I don’t have to count Vinyl Wonderland‘s lifespan in a few short weeks. Instead, I can build on the terrific early reviews and responses, few though they’ve been, in order to leverage additional reviews down the road––and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

Vinyl Wonderland is going to have a long and steady life, winning friends as it goes, one step––one read––at a time. As of this writing, it has generated a perfect track record at Amazon, with nine five-star reviews out of nine. On Goodreads, it’s got a 4.75 rating, an excellent average.

In case you’d like to read a couple of reviews yourself before committing to spending your hard-won cash (and I wouldn’t blame you in the least for hesitating over an author you barely know), here are three links. The second one, in particular, has a number of spoilers (as does the back cover), so depending on your predilections, “reader beware.”

Onward!

Link to Black Gate Review

Link to Rich Horton Review

Link to Instagram Review

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