Saturday, September 23, 2023

I Have a Favor to Ask...


 

Jeff–Saturday

 

I’m quick to do favors for people, but not very good at requesting the same for myself.  I suspect it’s some sort of inborn thing.  Yet, I believe the moment has arrived for me to test whether the relatively small favor I’m about to ask of a large group of people gathers momentum, or sits alone like a stone, ignored and unloved.

 

Cue the violins and tearful community sobs.

 

Fourteen years ago, Poisoned Pen Press published Murder in Mykonos, the first novel in my Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series. Over the years Poisoned Pen published eleven more in the series, all but the last under the inimitable editorial guidance of the legendary Barbara Peters. But with Barbara gone from PPP, and it under new ownership, I sensed the time had come to move on.

 

And I have. 

 

I’m pleased beyond words to announce that Kaldis #13, AT ANY COST, will be published on February 6, 2024, by SEVERN HOUSE, an imprint of Canongate Books. They’re a terrific team of people who’ve made me feel right at home from the very first words we exchanged.  But on February 6th the rubber hits the road, and it comes down to selling books.  I want to do my new publisher proud by doing just that.

 

Since no time is more important for selling books than the Preorder Period, at the bottom of this post are links to where you can purchase AT ANY COST online today, and be doing me a very large, much appreciated favor in the process.

 

For those of you who’d like to know a bit more about AT ANY COST, and my declaring it to be my best Kaldis book yet might not suffice, here’s what the jacket copy has to say:

 

Greece is burning and Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis is determined to save his country from disaster.

 

Chief Inspector Kaldis is initially dismayed to be asked to investigate a series of suspicious forest fires that took place last summer. In Greece, forest fires are an inevitability, and he fears he and his team are being set up to take the political blame for this year’s blazes.

 

He quickly becomes suspicious, though, that the forests were torched for profit – and for a project on a far grander scale than the usual low-level business corruption. There are whispers on the wind that shadowy foreign powers intend to establish a surreptitious mega-internet presence on the island of Syros, with the intent to weaponize the digital world to their own dark ends.

 

Can Kaldis and his team stop the hostile foreign takeover of the idyllic island – or will the rise of the metaverse set not just Greece, but the whole world, on fire?

 


 

AT ANY COST is available for preorder purchase at these locations:

 

BOOKSHOP.ORG

BARNES & NOBLE

BAM!

AMAZON

 

Thanks,

 

–Jeff

24 comments:

  1. Pre-ordered awhile ago, but just emailed my sister to do the same-- Got her hooked on your series when I started at Poisoned Pen. May they fly off the shelves!!!!

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  2. You are just TOO WONDERFUL, Wendall. Thank you--and your hooked sister.

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  3. Wait a minute! You say, "...at the bottom of this post are links to where you can purchase AT ANY COST online today..." What's the deal with this "at any cost"??? I do have limited resources, not being one who launches a rocket into orbit every three days, and I'm not willing to pay with my LIFE! I mean, come on, be reasonable.

    What's that? What? Ohhhhh, that's the title of the BOOK.

    Well, I hope the writing in the book has more clarity than your beggaredly blog!

    Oh, all right, e-book ordered. Now go back to lazing on the beach, or your 24/7 sex party, or whatever it is you get up to on that broken paradise.

    (My best to Barbara, as always...)

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    1. Oh EvKa, how I miss thee. You're absolutely correct on the error I made in my phrasing--but not for the reason you cite.

      You see, I used the word "purchase" not to suggest a merchandising moment but rather as one of deep contemplation. But I should have realized some would fail to recognize that "purchase" also means to grip or hold, so that in the context of "you can hold AT ANY COST online today" I meant to offer all a spiritual moment for embracing the essence of what's coming on February 6th.

      Do you get that?

      In any event, thank you my dear friend for all of your support down through the years...and I do mean DOWN.

      PS. It makes a terrific gift.

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  4. Looking forward to adding this book to my collection. I hope you and Barbara are still enjoying paradise.

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    1. Thanks, A. I sincerely appreciate that, and yes, we're still enjoying paradise in all its many forms.

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  5. Replies
    1. I feel your anguish, Michael. Especially since so much of what I've written keeps coming true on a daily basis!

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  6. We love your books but prefer the audio version. Not all have been recorded. Can you comment on the status of that? Thanks!

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    1. Thanks, Jen. I appreciate your preference for audio and believe six Kaldis novels have audio versions. The status of the others is a matter for discussion with my former publisher. Best, Jeff

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    2. We’ve listened to all six! Hoping for more. Thanks for the great stories.

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    3. Hi Jen, I heard back on your audio book question from my terrific new publisher, SEVERN HOUSE. In terms of audio, its fantastic rights team has lots of connections with key audiobook publishers and will be working hard to sublicense the rights to AT ANY COST. Hope this answers your question

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  7. Ordered. Hard cover, not Kindle. Like Jennie above, I miss the Audible version. So glad you are doing well, Jeff!

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    1. Thanks, Mark. There seems to be a groundswell developing for the audio version. Okay, so far you and Jennie, but to me that's swell. :)

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    2. Mark, I just answered Jennie's question and assume it also answers yours. :)

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  8. And when will Inspector Kaldis be required to visit Crete? We’re going at the end of October, first time, can’t wait.

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    1. Kaldis and his crew have been tinkering with that as a venue for nearly a decade. But it's a big island requiring nigh on an epic saga format to do it justice. Perhaps the gods will provide us with that theme this year...or the next.

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  9. shared to Uk, my publishing stablemate!!

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    1. Caro, I could not be more honored than to have you call me your publishing "stablemate." Now, if only I can convince Barbara that I'm a stable mate. :)

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  10. Pre-ordered on Kindle! Looking forward to Feb--congrats on the new publishing team!

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  11. Bully for you, Bro. My literary agency told me that, for most publishers, and certainly for the big four in the US, the most important criterion in assessing Arader‘s work is the number of pre-orders that person’s last book received on Amazon. Evidently, That number can be the deciding factor. I don’t like this, but I think it’s good for people to know.

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  12. Thanks, Sis. Yes, I've heard the same thing, and whether an absolute or not, in the context of Covid days having cut down in-person, post release date signing events, preorder sales definitely have taken on a life of their own and most certainly are something that's good for people to know. Thanks.

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