There are pros and
cons to writing a holiday themed mystery. As a reader, I enjoy reading seasonal novels
in the season in which they take place. Who doesn’t love a good Halloween mystery in October or a Christmas
mystery in December? And, as a writer, I believe the potential for sales is greater if a holiday book is released at the
appropriate time of year. Or, just before Christmas, which is the best time to sell books. However, it doesn’t always work out that way.
A couple of weeks
ago, I sent my fifth Malone mystery, Marnie
Malone, to my publisher for his consideration. The book takes place before
and on Valentine’s Day (my favorite holiday) and, if my publisher accepts my book, he has promised to do everything
he can to see that it’s released before the holiday. But, I’m not his only
author and I know that may or may not be a possibility.
This is not the
first time I’ve found myself in this situation. My first Malone mystery, Mixed Messages, which takes place at
Halloween, was published in April. Not exactly good timing but that’s just the
way it happened. The sequel, Unfinished
Business, is a Christmas mystery and, although the book was scheduled to
come out in early 2013, my publisher worked very hard to see that it was
released in November.
The timing for the
next two books was much better. Desperate
Deeds takes place around Easter and it was published in April and Mistaken Identity, a Fourth of July
mystery, came out in June. But, here we go again with the fifth book. Due to
delays in my writing schedule, which I talked about in a post a couple of weeks
ago, there are no guarantees that Marnie
Malone will be available before February 14th. But I’ve crossed my
fingers that it will.
As a reader and/or writer, what are your thoughts on the subject?
As a reader and/or writer, what are your thoughts on the subject?
