Mad for Madison

I can no longer say Madison is my favorite city that I've never been to because now I've been there, and I loved it. The magic is in the feel--it's relaxed, progressive, and green, and the people are nice nice nice. I can't wait to come back for Bouchercon in a few months.

Last night, I gave a reading at Booked for Murder, and I can see why Ellen Hart calls it one of the best bookstores in the country. It's not large--in fact, it's on the far side of a strip mall on University Avenue. But once inside, it's warm, and Terri, one of the owners, is fabulous. She's funny, confident, smart, and knows her mysteries. Here's some of what I learned at the reading last night:

• Authors publish under different names for various reasons, including: those who publish in different genres or with different characters/styles and don't want to confuse their readers; those who don't want their speciality lines to drag down their hot-selling lines (apparently, the big stores like Wal-Mart order as many copies of a new book as the number the author sold in their last book; if the author knows s/he is going to write a book with a limited appeal, it is in her/his best interest to do so under a different name so as not to pull down future potentially big-selling books); those who are under contract to give their publisher right of first refusal for the next book published under their name and who want to squeak out of that; and crazy eccentric authors like Stephen King (I added that last one).
• Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime are the two big conferences. The rest of them keep their numbers to about 200, on purpose, and if they are stationary conferences (same city every year), they will likely draw the same crowd, so as a mystery author or fan, choose wisely when attending your conferences. Focus on your favorite genre, for example, or seek out one where your favorite author will be.
• Second printings of books are usually supplemental and not as large as the first printing. The first printing of May Day was 7500, for example, so the second printing will probably be around 2000, unless someone gets murdered in Battle Lake for real. :) (Is it wrong to put a smiley face there? Yes for sure.)

Good stuff. There were only four people at the signing, which is failure if you're a mathematician (or a cannibal with a large family) but success if you like being surrounded by mystery books and smart people. So yay, it was a resounding success! Oh, I also picked up a signed copy of Janet Evanovich's 12th book, a collection of short story mysteries so I can figure out how to write them, and a PJ Tracy novel.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the Wisconsin Rapids Book World from 11:30-1:30, and Saturday, I'll be at the Marshfield Book World (green box on the right, not the other stuff) from 11:30-1:30, passing out writing tips and red hot Atomic Fireballs like they grow on trees. You're gonna want to stop by and get some of that.