Pre-order The Distant Shore or Mystery Times Ten Today!

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SAVE YOUR LOCAL BOOKHOP DAY, June 25th!

We received this note and  now we are passing it along to all of you because we care, and we hope you do too!

"Hi everyone,

I’ve gotten sick of reading the bookstore obituaries in the publishing news, so I’m starting a viral campaign to get people, on one day, to go buy books from their local bookstore. Might not end up changing the tides, but it’s something small I can do and I’m getting a good response so far. Here are the details for you to pass on to your friends/family/fellow booklovers:

Who: You and all the book-lovers in your life
When: June 25th, the first Saturday of Summer!
Where: Your local bookstore
Why: Because bookstores are dropping like flies and we want them to stay alive

Thanks for passing this along to whomever you think would want to get on board.

Warmest,
Kelly

Kelly Sonnack
Andrea Brown Literary Agency


Prefer to read on your *!*%$ (I left out a blank, blank word from Bailey) Walmazart Kindle? Then buy a book for a book-lover you know!

Mark your calendars! DO IT!"

You heard the lady - Just DO IT!

And the Winners are . . .

We had over 200 entries in our competition and we'd like to thank all of them for participating. It was a tough job for our judges, but they persevered and have chosen what they feel are the ten best submissions. The lucky ten authors will have their stories included in the upcoming Mystery Times Ten.

All winners of our 2011 Mystery Times Ten YA Short Story Competition will
receive:

Two (2) copies of the finished book and the opportunity to “fast track” their next Young Adult or Middle Grade manuscript with our Editorial staff

And they are:

Johanna Harness for her story Cherry Bomb

Jessica Souders for her story Toothless

Kirsty Logan for her story Sea of Trees 

Elyse Dinh-McCrillis for her story Submerged

Kathleen Sprayberry for her story Falsely Accused

Barb Goffman for her story Truth and Consequences

Melanie Cummins for her story Frost 


AND the Top Three Winners are:

• The THIRD PLACE winner who will also receive a $75 Gift Card, featured placement in the book, and a Buddhapuss Ink tote filled with swag is Addie King for her story Poltergeist on Aisle Fourteen.

• The SECOND PLACE winner who will also receive a $100 Gift Card, featured placement in the book, and a Buddhapuss Ink tote filled with swag is Wendy Sparrow for her story Passing Notes.

AND a drum roll please!

• The FIRST PLACE winner who will also receive a NEW Kindle, featured placement in the book, and a Buddhapuss Ink tote filled with swag is Cecilia Dominic for her story The Coral Temple.

Congratulations to all our winners and a huge thanks to our Judges:

YA Book Blogger Panel:

• Danielle Smith, aka The1stdaughter from the children's book review site There's A Book, is a reader, reviewer and writer of books of all varieties.

• Gina Reba - Gina is the "insatiable reader" behind the site, Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.  Gina is an avid book reader, reviewer, and general lover of the written word.

• Kristina Guidroz - Kris also known as the Cajun Book Lady where she reviews her favorite genres young adult, paranormal/fantasy, romance, and horror.

YA Teen Panel

• Caleb G 
• Connor M
• Katy H
• Jessica G
• Madison M 

 And our fantastic Editorial Review Panel

• Erica Sommer Karcher - Erica works for Baker & Taylor's Children's and Teens Services and writes reviews for Visual Bookshelf. 

• Joan Apgar - Joan worked for a major book wholesaler for 26 years, 15 of those as a Children's and YA Book Buyer.

• Ellen Myrick - Ellen has over two decades experience in the Children's and YA book field and runs Myrick Marketing & Media LLC.  

 We will have much more about our Judges and our winners in the book and on our website soon. Let's have a round of applause for them all!

Solving the Secrets of Mystery Buyers

Even as brick-and-mortar stores continue to be the largest sales channel for mystery books the percentage of mysteries sold as e-books rose from 1.7% in 2009 to 7% in the second quarter of 2010. Those were some of the findings of a research study on the mystery/crime fiction book-buying market sponsored by Sister In Crime and conducted by Bowker’s PubTrack service. According to the study, 39% of mysteries were bought in stores in 2009, while library borrowing accounted for 17% of the way readers obtained books. Online retailers represented 17% of unit purchases. And as e-book sales increases between the first quarter of 2010 to the second, the percentage of hardcovers fell.

 

Women bought the most mysteries in 2009, accounting for 68% of purchases and 66% of mystery buyers were over 45 years old. Buyers 18 to 44 bought 31% of mysteries. Mysteries are bought the most by readers in the suburbs, 48%, with readers in rural areas accounting for 27% of purchases and urban buyers 25%.

 

Knowing or liking an author was the top reason cited by readers for buying a particular mystery, a finding Sisters In Crime says makes author branding even more important.

 

*From an article on PW Daily