PROMOBEATS INTERVIEW

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P.J. Parrish

Please join me in a big Word Museum and PromoBeats welcome to the writing dual of P.J. Parrish

Moe: Please tell us what name(s) you write under, the name of your book(s), the genre of your book(s), and the formats.

PJ Parrish: We are two people--Kristy and Kelly--who write under the name of PJ Parrish. Our books, called mystery thrillers, are Dark of the Moon (Jan 2000), Dead of Winter, Paint it Black, Thicker than Water and in January 2004, Island of Bones. The books have debuted each January. Dark of the Moon was hardcover, but we have been in paperback for the others. Dead of Winter, Paint it Black and Thicker than Water were available in Book Club size hard cover from the Mystery Guild. We are also published in Sweden and Japan.

Moe: What do you do to promote your book(s)?

PJ Parrish: We do local signings in each of our respective areas (Fort Lauderdale and Memphis). I also recently traveled to Michigan for a series of signings set by a friend and they were very successful. We were also fortunate enough to have been the subject of several newspaper and magazine articles, and we attend Bouchercon and Sleuthfest each year. (These are two very different types of Mystery Conferences. Sleuthfest is designed for the unpublished writer and its strong points are manuscript critiques, appointments with agents and editors and instructional panels, presented by published authors. It's a small, friendly conference held in Fort Lauderdale. Bouchercon is more of a fan conference, although unpublished writers attend as there are opportunities to meet writers, editors and agents in social settings. Bouchercon presents the Anthony award at the conference for various categories. It is much larger, includes many side activities, such as the Barry Awards and the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus award. They also do author panels and signings.) We also make all our bookmarks, postcards, promo kits etc and send them out to bookstores and reviewers. We would love to attend more conferences and when we find time, we both hope to do so.

Moe: What method or methods of promotion have you used that works well?

PJ Parrish: First--have a website. Over and above that, I have found online networking effective to a point. It gives you a new audience. Making connections with online or bookstore mystery reader groups seems to work fairly well, too. Word of mouth is everything when it comes to fiction and that has to start somewhere. Book signings are good--even if you don't sell many books at the actual signings. You'll get visibility before hand. Make friends with the book store owner. If you find a supporter there, it's the best. Conferences are good for several things--you can find new readers at cons like Bouchercon, plus network with other authors. There is a need for blurbs as well and those come from your peers. Overall, the methods are hard to rank because I believe it takes a little bit of all the above. The biggest promotion is distribution and there's little an author can do about that.

Moe: Where did you learn how to promote your books? Is there a special place or places where you find good promotion information?

PJ Parrish: The same place I learned most everything in life--trial and error. Some new authors try almost anything--even spending their own money on small ads and buying promo items they can't afford. (On a side note, I did do promo items for Thicker than Water and ended up after Bouchercon with leftovers. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. But when I contacted the Michigan stores, I asked if they had reader groups. They all did. So I sent the promo items to the reader group ahead of my signing. I have no idea how or if it helped sales, but I want to believe it did.)

I didn't spend much, but on a limited budget, you need to learn where the hot spots are--what is worth buying or traveling to and what is not. You can get a web site for $10 a month...and learn to set up your pages, if you have to. It's the best investment you can make. Make your own postcards and do your homework on independent bookstores. Once a year--take a chance on something--pick a conference where you can get maximum exposure. Think out your promo plan first. Don't be afraid to ask for blurbs--all they can do is say no. And have confidence in your product.

Moe: Do you like to promote? Or do you find it frustrating?

PJ Parrish: I like some parts--I love doing my printed materials and preparing for the next book--living with that high that comes with a new release. But being on the shy side, the public events are not my favorite thing to do. But you force yourself. In the end, many authors get frustrated. They see all the hard work they've done, all the postage spent on postcards and still, the book just seems to sit there. But you got to keep at it.

Moe: Have you been interviewed as an author? By which mediums?

PJ Parrish: We have not had the privilege of being interviewed by another author on any major internet or print media. We would welcome the opportunity.

Moe: Do you have any good promotion tips for your fellow authors that you would like to share?

PJ Parrish: When speaking, be sincere. Treat those two people who showed up for your signing like family. Spend your dollars wisely and get out there and meet people. Target readers as well as reviewers. Reviews are nice--because it gets your title in one more spot on the millions of millions web pages out there but they are not everything. Paint it Black hit the NYT list before we had one review or ad out there. Bug your publisher for review copies. Stay visible in stores, online and take chances.

Moe: Please add a short bio, your personal website URL, and your publisher(s) URL for your book's page(s).

PJ Parrish is actually two sisters, Kris and Kelly. They were born and raised in Detroit Michigan. They teamed up to write the Louis Kincaid mystery series in 1996, giving birth to the series with Dark of the Moon. Their second book, Dead of Winter, was an Edgar and Anthony nominee, and their third, Paint it Black, was a New York Times bestseller. Paint it Black is also up for an Anthony at the 2003 Bouchercon Mystery Convention in Las Vegas, coming up this October. They love to hear from their readers and you can visit their official website and read excerpts or drop them a line.

11/03