Hero Worship and Money

When I was 14 years old, I read a book called The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson.

It introduced the single greatest hero in modern thriller fiction, a guy named Repairman Jack.

Jack fixes things. Not things appliances or computers. He fixes problems. Such as that ex-husband who is stalking you. Or the gang hitting up your shop for protection money.

Like everyone else who has read The Tomb, I thought Jack was cooler than hell. In fact, my first novel (written in 1992 and still unsold) featured a guy named Phineas Troutt who called himself a "problem solver."

That was an homage (which is French for rip-off) of Paul's Jack character.

I never sold that first book, but I liked Phin well enough to make him a character in the Jack Daniels series. He's also been in Ellery Queen a few times, and has a story in my upcoming anthology These Guns for Hire.

But Phin's greatest achievement is a story in the Thriller anthology, edited by James Patterson. And guess who else is in that collection? F. Paul Wilson, and Repairman Jack. Was I happy? You betcha.

Paul, and Jack, are currently having a pretty cool contest:

STUMP REPAIRMAN JACK AND WIN $1000!!!

F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack website is running a contest and offering a $1000 to the person who submits the most original / intriguing / interesting / challenging problem for Repairman Jack.

Go to www.repairmanjack.com, click the contest button, and get started.

The winner will receive a cool grand. But thatÂ’s not all. If possible, Paul will work the winning problem into a forthcoming Repairman Jack novel and use the winnerÂ’s name as the character who brings it to Jack.

No fees, no tricks, no limit to the number of entries. What are you waiting for?

As far as contests go, I think this is a smart one. A grand is a lot of money. And the best way to get this money is to read some of Jack's adventures to get a feel for the kinds of 'fixes' he does.

The Tomb is a good place to start. You can also check out Legacies, Conspiracies, The Haunted Air, Infernal, Crisscross, All the Rage, Hosts, and Gateways. No BS, Paul is writing some of the best stuff in the business, and if you haven't discovered him yet you're doing yourself a disservice.

Paul promises he'll read every entry, and give special consideration to the writers that I sent his way, so drop my name and drop it often.

In the meantime, I'm getting to work on my Repairman Jack scenario. Something where he has to work alongside Phineas Trout...

Tour Day 28 and 29

Miles driven so far: 5655
Bookstores visited so far: 262
Books signed so far: 2322
Books hand sold so far: 165
Bookstores remaining: 238
Time spent writing fiction on tour: 0
Movies watched on tour: 0
Books read on tour: 0
Minutes of television watched on tour: 0
Magazines/Newspapers read on tour: 0
Video games played on tour: 0

Yesterday I managed to drop in 21 bookstores (it was actually 22, but one of them was a college bookstore that did absolutely nothing for my career.) The day began at 7am, and ended at 11:02pm, right after the last store closed.

When I finally got to my charming Days Inn room in Warwick, Rhode Island (Now With 30% More Stains!), I took a few minutes to dwell on the tour before passing out from weariness.

Since I have so many stores to hit in a limited amount of time, recreation is the first thing to give up while touring (sleep is the second, food is the third.)

I knew this would happen going into this tour, and I try to justify this unhealthy behavior by rationalizing that I'll eat, sleep, have fun, and spend time with my family when I'm a bestseller.

There are many problems with that philosophy, but the most immediate is: how do you define bestsellerdom? Hitting #1 on the NYT list? Hitting #99 on USA Today?

So I've refined my criteria. I'll be more comfortable when I earn twice as much money as I'm earning now. This would mean I wouldn't be living off credit cards between checks, and I'd actually be able to afford health insurance and maybe even have a savings account.

How do I make more money? The answer seems obvious: sell more books. Which is why I'm putting in so much time on the road. I think of this tour as trying to start a fire. Hopefully I'll cause enough sparks that the flames will become self-perpetuating.

Here are some things that I want to happen in my career:

• Earn out my advances.
• Sell more foreign rights, especially to England, Germany, and Australia.
• Write more than one book a year.
• Sell book club rights.
• Option movie rights.
• Make sure my backlist stays in print.
• Get into the big box stores (Walmart, Costco, Target, Sam's Club, etc.)
• Make sure each book sells better than the previous book.

Looking at these goals, it's apparent that many are out of my hands. My agent and my publisher have the control when it comes to subsidiary rights. I can write another book a year, but I don't have any guarantees it will sell.

All I really have power over is how much self-promotion I can do in order to sell more books. If I keep doing that, hopefully everything else will fall into place.

Which is why taking time out to see a movie isn't in my best interest right now.

If you're looking for signed JA Konrath books, visit one of the following bookstores.

Borders Marlboro MA

Walden Marlboro MA

BN Framingham MA

Walden Natick MA

Borders Chestnut Hill MA

Walden Needham MA

BN Chestnut Hill MA

Borders Shrewsbury MA

BN Millbury MA

Walden Worchester MA

Tatnuck Westboro MA

BN Manchester CT

BN Canton CT

BN Waterbury CT

Walden Waterbury CT

Walden Auburn MA

BN Worchester MA

Borders Providence RU

Borders Cranston RI

BN Smithfield RI

Brentanos Boston MA

Walden Medford MA

Walden Saugus MA

Jabberwocky Books Newburyport MA

BN Blemont MA

Walden Lexington MA

Walden Swansea MA

Walden Brockton MA

Walden Taunton MA

Kate's Mystery Books Cambridge MA

Borders Cambridge MA

Borders Braintree MA

Borders Express Swampscott MA

Borders Peabody MA

Borders Express Hanover MA

Waldens Danvers MA

BN Brookline MA

BN Saugus MA

BN Braintree MA

BN Burlington MA

BN Peabody MA

BN Hingham MA

Walden Burlington MA

I'm finishing up Rhode Island and SE Mass today, then on to Albany, Philly, and Jersey over the next few days. I should hit the 300 mark by Tuesday if all goes well. By the time I trek down the east coast and finish Florida, I should have 400 stores. Then in California I'll easily hit another 100, bringing me to my goal.

Hope to see some of you on the road!