Obsession, Reviews, and the Afraid Tour

In some circles, I'm known to be a little over-zealous when it comes to self-promotion.

In other circles, I'm known to be a lot over-zealous.

Any first year psychology student could pinpoint the root of my zealotry simply by spending three minutes reading my blog. It can be broken down thusly:

1. Joe spends 12 years trying to get published, writing nine unsold novels and getting over 500 rejections.

2. Joe finally gets published, fulfilling a life-long dream.

3. Joe is determined to do everything within his power to make sure he stays published.

Now, while I can't vouch for how obsessive behavior leads to happiness, or if it's good for a person's mental health, I can say that it certainly helps a guy get a lot of stuff done.

If you look at wildly successful people, they are all, to some degree, obsessive about becoming successful. I'd go so far as to say they all share some similar traits:

1. They're hard workers.
2. They're innovators.
3. They make sacrifices to reach their goals.
4. They rely on themselves.
   

There are other traits, I'm sure, but these four seem to be common with obsessive types.

Bringing the topic back to me, since it's my blog, I just finished an OCD blog tour, appearing on over a hundred blogs in March.

I also asked for, and received, over a hundred reviews. If you have read Afraid, and haven't reviewed it yet, please do so. I'm thanking everyone who sends me a link to their review in the acknowledgments of the next Jack Kilborn novel. The one with the most reviews posted will have a character named after them.

There are plenty of places online to review books. Here's a list.

Here are two new reviews. One from my friend, Patrick Balester:

http://picksbypat.blogspot.com/2009/04/dont-be-afraid-to-read-this-book.html

And one I've been hoping for since 1979. That's when I started collecting Fangoria magazine. I can't describe the thrill of being reviewed by a zine I've been a fan of since my pre-teen years. It's way too cool. Plus, they loved it:

http://www.fangoria.com/reviews/6-books/1988-afraid-book-review.html

For my next obsessive act, I'm going to start visiting bookstores.

Yes, for the first time in three years, I will do a Big Tour.

My goal is to visit 200 bookstores between April 12th and May 12th.

These won't be official signings. These will be drop-ins, where I sign stock, meet the booksellers, and get on my way. If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember I did something like this before. Here's the link.

Which brings me to my next request:

Do you want to meet Joe Konrath, and do you have a spare bedroom?

If you answered "yes" to the above question, do you want to invite this famous author into your house for the night and treat him to dinner in exchange for scintillating conversation and free books?

I'll be posting the tour stops very soon. For sure, I'll be visiting Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Lexington, Nashville, Atlanta, and several cities in Florida. Depending on the stars aligning, I'll also be visiting several other cities and states as well.

Now, I urge you not to get super excited that I'll be visiting your town and perhaps stopping by your house. I need several days to plan this tour and figure out the best route.

Until then, please buy a copy of Afraid if you haven't already. And if you want me to sign it, today I'll be at the Waldenbooks in Peru, IL, from 2pm-4pm. Their number is 815-223-4910. If you miss me there, they'll have signed copies off all my books available for you to purchase and resell on eBay.

Hope to see some of you today, or on the road.

Giddyup...