Rusty Nail, Street Dates, Jacket Copy & Book Covers

I've gotten reports from several sources that Rusty Nail is appearing on the shelves at various bookstores.

The street date is July 5. A street date for a book serves two purposes:

1. It allows for an even playing field when booksellers begin to sell the book. Shipping con sometimes be delayed, which means one store might have copies a week or even two before other stores. With a street date, everyone (theoretically) begins to sell it at the same time, so no one can get a jump on anyone else.
2. To make it on the bestseller lists, you need a lot of books sold in a short amount of time. If different booksellers begin to sell your book at staggered times, the initial launch is scattered, and not as dramatic. (you sell 5000 books over two weeks rather than two days)

That said, I'm not a big enough fish to warrant a hard street date (or at least to enforce a hard street date.) So I encourage everyone reading this to run out and buy as many copies of Rusty Nail as you can afford.

If you're a fan of thrillers, or even if you hate thrillers but find this blog helpful, put me in your karma debt and hop on over to your local bookseller and demand my book. I'd appreciate it, big time.

What is Rusty Nail about? Here's what the jacket says:

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Front cover:

"Thrills, chills, and laugh-out-loud hilarity...Konrath expertly pours on both shivers and fun." --Tess Gerritsen, author of Vanish

Anthony, Macavity, and Gumshoe Finalist for Whiskey Sour

Front inside flap:

"Konrath creates the perfect blend of pulse-pounding thrills and side-splitting humor." - David Ellis, author of In the Company of Liars.

Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago Police Department is back, and once again she's up to her Armani in murder.

Someone is sending Jack snuff videos. The victims are people she knows, and they share a common trait--each was involved in one of Jack's previous cases. With her stalwart partner, Herb, hospitalized and unable to help, Jack follows a trail of death throughout the Midwest, on a collision course with the smartest and deadliest adversary she has ever known.

During the chase, Jack jeopardizes her career, her love life, and the lives of her closest friends. She also comes to a startling realization--serial killers have families, and blood runs thick.

Rusty Nail features more of the laugh-out-loud humor and crazy characters that saturated Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary, without sacrificing the nail-biting thrills. This is Lt. Jack Daniels' third, and most exciting, adventure yet.

Back inside flap:

"Jack Daniels is a detective for the new millennium: sharply witty, deftly wry, and unabashedly clever." - James Rollins, author of Black Order.

(graphic of rocks glass and skull in rifle crosshairs)

A native of Chicago, J.A. Konrath is the author of the thrillers Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary. If you'd like to see revealing photos of J.A., read free Jack Daniels short stories, and enter cool contests, visit www.JAKonrath.com

(graphics of Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary)

Back cover:

Praise for Rusty Nail

"Tougher than Kay Scarpetta, smarter than Stephanie Plum, Jacqueline Daniels rocks." -- Alex Kava, author of A Necessary Evil

"A heady mixture of chills and chuckles. You'll drain this libation in a single sitting!" -- Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of To Darkness and to Death

"Finely honed characters and a plot blessed with more twists than a drunk on a bender, J.A. Konrath has stirred up another addictive suspense novel that will leave readers salivating for more--and more." -- Gayle Lynds, author of The Coil

"Rusty Nail is twisted and violent, creepy and clever, fast, frightening, and funny. This is not your granny's thriller." -- Anne Fraiser, author of Before I Wake

(graphic of rocks glass and skull)

Praise for J.A. Konrath's previous novels:

"Excellent smart-mouth thrills. My advice...take a long sip." -- Lee Child, author of One Shot

"Snappy dialogue. Powerful action. A fabulous character to spend time with." -- David Morrell, author of Creepers

"Tough, gritty, and surprisingly touching." -- M.J. Rose, author of The Delilah Complex

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Covers are important. Some booksellers believe they are the single most important element when it comes to book sales. I agree. A good cover arouses interest and provokes sales. It is what makes a browser take a closer look.

A cover needs to do several things all at once:

1. It has to be eye catching, to stand out among the other books.
2. It has to portray the theme/tone/genre of the book.
3. It has to establish a brand.
4. It has to inform.
5. It has to make the buying decision simple.

I have a lot of input on my covers. Not on the art, but on the text. The art is all my publisher's call, and I think they're doing a good job because they're meeting the first three requirements I just mentioned. My covers are bright, attractive, and convey both my genre and my brand.

Once the cover makes a customer pick up the book, the words are what will ultimately hook them.

I like having these things on my covers:

1. Blurbs by bestselling authors. I solicit my own blurbs (one of the benefits of networking) and I try to get blurbers whose audience I share. On the previous two books, I had almost all men, so for Rusty Nail I went with mostly women. I'm banking on the fact that readers care more about what Tess Gerritsen says than what Publisher's Weekly says, so I don't use a lot of reviews.
   
   The blubs pretty much reiterate the point I make in my jacket copy: the books are funny and scary. They also tell the reader that if they like Tess, Alex, Julia, Gayle, Anne, David, Jim, Lee, or MJ, it's a safe bet they'll like me too.
   
   
2. Jacket copy. Because my series is still pretty new and relatively unknown, I can't assume a potential reader is aware of my first two novels. I want the ad copy to hint at the main conflict, emphasize the book has both thrills and laughs, and give a bit of info about the protagonist, but not reveal too much in the way of plot. This is the sizzle, not the steak. A scent, not a taste. If they want a taste, they can begin to read it.
   
   
3. Bio. I like my bio to be super brief and to subtly lure folks to my website. A picture isn't going to help me sell books, so we don't use a picture, which frees up space for more blurbs.
   
   
4. Series. I believe that readers are looking for long-term relationships with authors. A series is a good way to establish a commitment between writer and fan. I make sure my cover emphasizes that there are other Jack books, because it tells readers I won't just be a one night stand.

Though there's a lot of text on my covers, they aren't crammed full of it. The words are in a large, easy to read font, with plenty of graphics and negative space to break them up.

The goal of the cover is to give the customer something they recognize, even if you're a new author to them. People buy what is familiar and comfortable. They are brand loyal. If they have a good experience, they seek out the same experience again and again.

I like my covers, because I feel as if they're doing what they're supposed to. it will be interesting to see if the public feels the same way.