The Official Site
Wanted to follow up on my last post announcing that The Demonologist has been chosen a Best Book of the Month by Amazon.com. This remains true. But at first I thought the selection was part of a long list, and one limited to Mystery/Thriller titles.
Turns out to be even better than that: The Demonologist is a Top Ten Picks of the Month, including all genres, non-fiction, memoir and fiction alike.
This is, as a NHL between-periods interviewee might put it, a little bit huge.
There’s a star e-stickered to the Amazon.com page for The Demonologist I just saw, a star that says “Best of the Month.” What does this mean? It means that the good (and attractive, and tasteful, and smart) people at Amazon have chosen the book as among the best novels – among Mysteries & Thrillers particularly – going on sale in March. This is delightful and surprising – delightfully surprising? – news!
By the way, for those in the US and other territories where you can order from Amazon.com, the hardcover edition of The Demonologist is on sale at the moment for $14. Fourteen clams! You can barely buy a tuna sandwich and a Mountain Dew for that these days.
It’s not every day my picture’s on the cover of a magazine. Actually, it’s not every decade. But there I am on the cover of the new Quill & Quire for March (Canada’s book industry bible). It was fun doing the shoot – fog machine! espresso! – but I’m generally rather Amish in my attitude toward having my picture taken, feeling some part of my soul is stolen (or simply warped) in the process.
Anyhow, it’s kind of an insane shot and I’m pleased with it for its insanity. Here’s a link to the image if you’re curious (and by all means pick up the magazine to read the profile by Gary Butler within).
Thanks to Rino Noto, the amazing photographer, for capturing something I didn’t know was in there.
1. Book launches are sexy. Why? Well, books themselves are sexy – we all know that. But at a book launch you get to be around other people who also think books are sexy which is, in turn, doubly sexy. Single? Hey, it’s as good a place to hook up as anywhere else on a chilly Monday night in early March.
2. There will be entertainment of a kind. That is, I will give a short, mildly freaky reading, then answer questions from the lovely and talented novelist and Globe and Mail columnist Russell Smith. Oh, and there’s a bar.
3. You can buy a book and have it signed. This may sound self-serving, and it is, but you can think of it as an investment if you like. A hardcover book signed by the author! In twenty years, you could retire on that (if a series of certain almost unimaginable events were to occur over that time, including my reaching an Elvis-level of mythological fame and the abrupt discontinuation of all books, and pens, and handwriting).
4. You might make a new friend. Yes, this is also true of a streetcar ride or a morning spent in a dentist’s waiting room or the random following of strangers on Twitter, but still, you might. And did I mention there’s a bar?
5. It’s free.
The Demonologist launch is at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen West, Toronto), the Ballroom, on Monday, March 4th at 7PM. To be sure of a seat, it might be a good idea to come a bit early. Hit that bar I mentioned. Couldn’t hurt.
It’s two weeks until The Demonologist‘s pub date, and I’m pretty damn psyched. I just got back from doing my first public talk about the novel, addressing a group of indie booksellers having a conference in Victoria, B.C. I know I’ll have to get better at this “Talk about your book for five minutes or so” thing, but more than a few audience members told me afterwards they felt “grabbed” – figuratively speaking – so that’s got to be good.
If you’re interested in the book, or want to know more about it, or – God love you – want to buy it, you can have all your deepest, darkest questions answered at http://pages.simonandschuster.com/the-demonologist/.
And the countdown continues…
Simon & Schuster Canada has made its own trailer for The Demonologist, and it’s a different take from what Simon & Schuster US did (below, and at www.thedemonologistbook.com). I really like them both, though they’re very different in approach.
It’s only 50 seconds long, so how much could it hurt to check it out?
Like indie bookstores? Me too. One of the things the indies do so well is provide recommendations for reads you’ll like. They’re curators of a kind, doing some of the hard work of selecting titles from the tsunami of books published each month so you can get some focus on a shorter list to choose from.
To this end, the American Booksellers Association has a program called Indie Next, which picks books in all genres to showcase each month throughout their member bookstores. And I’m pleased as hell (pun not entirely intended) to say The Demonologist is an Indie Next Pick for March!
Click on the link below to see the whole list of delicious-sounding books and bookseller notes. For example, here’s what the intelligent and lovely Becky Milner, of Vintage Books in Vancouver, Washington, said about The Demonologist:
“Pyper combines non-stop action, metaphysical questions, a touch of conspiracy, and poetic references in a story that leaves readers breathless.”
Thank you, Becky! And visit an indie today. Go ahead, pre-order The Demonologist. I guarantee you will make at least two people happy.
I see that The Demonologist has been picked by Publishers Weekly as one of the Top Ten Mystery & Thriller titles for Spring 2013!
Exciting in itself, and then you see that your book is on the list with a couple blokes named Stephen King and John LeCarre.
Heroes. Influential heroes.
A date has been set for the Canadian launch event for The Demonologist, and it’s March 4, 2013. It’s in the Ballroom at The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West, Toronto) starting at 7PM.
The event is part of the amazing Harbourfront Reading Series, and is co-presented with Simon & Schuster Canada. There will be a reading followed by an on-stage interview with my talented novelist friend, Russell Smith. Cash bar. Oh, and it’s FREE!
There are few things lovelier to think about than seeing you there.