Randy Overbeck's Blog, page 5

“HOW HARD IT IS TO A GET YOUR NOVEL OUT THERE? REALLY.”

At a recent author event, an excited eighteen-year-old stepped up and asked me about my new novel, Blood on the Chesapeake. After I’d given my elevator pitch, he pivoted and asked the question above. He was thinking about becoming a writer and wanted an honest answer. My response threw him. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” “Really?” He looked unconvinced. “I mean it looks like fun. And people come up and talk with you at author events like this.” I plowed on. “The book you see here,” I pointed to my novel, “took years to research, write and edit, and that doesn’t include all the time and effort it took to find the right publisher.” He said he had a friend who wrote a fantasy novel and published it himself. “Jeremy said it took him only about three months. No big deal, he said.” I nodded and didn’t answer right away. I always try to encourage other writers, but I also didn’t want to mislead him. “The self-publishing route wasn’t right for me, but some authors do it like that. Either way, it’s anything but easy. Maybe a few stats about the business will help make my point.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and I could almost see the glaze roll over his eyes. I went on, “Do you realize that there is a new book title released on Amazon every two minutes! Just to be clear, that means about 33 books every hour, 800 new titles every day and that’s more than a quarter million every year. At last count, Amazon listed over 6,000,000 books on Kindle—and that’s only one tenth of the total number of books on their site.” His jaw dropped, so I continued. “Yeah, and that tsunami of books buries every…single…newcomer. Imagine trying to make your book stand out among all those titles.” He started shaking his head. “That’s unbelievable.” “And on Amazon, guess how many copies of a book are sold, on average.” I paused. He took the bait. “A hundred. Uh, no, maybe a thousand?” He looked up hopefully, his brown eyes narrowing. “Six.” “What?” “The average number of copies of any title sold on Amazon is six.” I stopped, letting it sink in. “And that includes adding in the million seller titles by Patterson, Grisham, Evanovich, Baldacci and J. K. Rowling. Do the math.” He shook his head. “Maybe this will make it clearer. If your title sells more than 3000 copies, you are in the top 1% of all the authors in the country.” I was proud that my first novel, Leave No Child Behind, crossed that threshold and was still selling. I had copies of that book as well and offered him one. “So why do you do it?” The young man pointed to the paperback in the hand. “If it’s really that hard and you don’t sell that many books, why do you bother?” I smiled. “Because I love it. The only reason you should choose to do something this hard is because you love it.” He looked unconvinced. “When I’ve spent hours, days and sometimes weeks to get a paragraph, a page, a chapter just right, darn near perfect, I’m thrilled with the result.” I spread my arms out. “Like wow, look at this. I did this.” He started nodding his head. “And when it’s finally published and readers write back or post 5 star reviews, saying how much they love the book, or how the book was hard to put down, or how reading the novel late into the night made them lose sleep, it makes my heart jump. No feeling like it.” He grabbed up the other novel, now holding both in his hands. “Maybe, after I read these, I’ll share one of those reviews.” He turned to take the books to the cashier and glanced back over his shoulder, nodding. “And thanks for the explanation. Not what I expected, but maybe what I needed to hear.” I gave a quick wave. “Just decide if writing is something you love.” I turned back to my display to rearrange the copies when another reader approached, picking up Blood and distracting me from such sobering calculations. I smiled and ran through my pitch. When I finished, she said, “Sounds like it hits all my buttons. I’ll take one.” I autographed a copy and watched her hurry to the front, past the paper turkey and cornucopia. The display reminded me it was almost Thanksgiving and I offered a silent prayer of thanks. With the tsunami of books out there, I was grateful my novels made it this far. And I was truly thankful that readers continue to enjoy my writing. I guess I’ll keep on.

“THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT”

“Do you believe in ghosts?” “Have you ever interacted with someone from the spirit world?” These two questions are how I begin my new, intriguing program which I call “Things That Go BUMP in the Night.” In this presentation, I share interesting and sometimes startling details I uncovered about ghosts and our beliefs in the spirit realm, details I learned as part of my research for my newest novel, Blood on the Chesapeake, a cold case murder mystery wrapped in a ghost story served with a side of romance. To date, I’ve shared this program with more than a dozen clubs and organizations in the Midwest and beyond--Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Maryland. Another twenty groups have already reserved future dates. Participants’ responses vary from skepticism to astonishment to belief, but every presentation has yielded similar responses: -“We enjoyed your presentation very much. Thank you for visiting with us today.”—Patrick Perry, Kent Island Rotary Club, Kent Island, MD “The members really enjoyed your presentation. Let's plan on doing it again next year sometime.”—Linda Oda, Lebanon Rotary Club, Lebanon, OH “Your presentation was fantastic and I know our members enjoyed it.”—Duffy White, Hendersonville Rotary Club, Hendersonville TN “We enjoyed you tremendously.”--Brian Hayes, Centerville Rotary Club, Centerville OH If your club or organization is interested in booking me, contact me via email randyoverbeck@authorrandyoverbeck.com or click here to book through the website https://www.authorrandyoverbeck.com/u... or call 513-633-2838 to reserve a date. Major Five Star News! BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE just snagged its first national award! Literary Titan gave the novel another five star review followed by the Gold Award for September! Congrats to the Lucky Seven! More than 1800! readers participated in a special Goodreads Giveaway of my novel, BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE. Seven readers from seven different states won autographed and numbered copies of my award winning novel! The copies are already speeding in the mail to the lucky winners. STAY TUNED I’m going to sponsor another promotion for my novels, this time via BookBub soon. Details coming in a future email and blog. Another Incredible Review BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE “Overbeck’s pace is spot on and makes for a thoroughly engaging and quick read. Readers will find themselves quickly caught up in Darrell’s descriptions of his ghostly encounters and eagerly awaiting each and every clue. The author moves seamlessly from one tragic event and clue to the next.  Overbeck makes readers yearn for closure. With pertinent mentions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement, Overbeck has crafted a murder mystery for the ages that encourages readers to investigate their own feelings regarding social injustices.” For the full review, check it out here:
http://www.xenia.k12.oh.us/"http... LiteraryTitan.com

Randy Reads "Blood on the Chesapeake"

Ever wonder what the voice of the author sounds like as you read through their stories? Hear Randy Overbeck read a few key excerpts from his latest novel, Blood on the Chesapeake, and get roped in, if you haven't already.

Could this my best review yet!?

You may not have seen the Book Review site, WRITE KNIT, but they released this latest review of my novel. And it is something else. They really get the novel with a tremendous understanding of the characters. (They especially loved Darrell and Erin, and Natalia.) They were the first to identify it as a paranormal, historical mystery. Here’s just a small piece of the review: “I loved this paranormal mystery by new author Randy Overbeck. True to his main character, the events taught to the class about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are factual, but the places and dates are not per the Author’s note at the beginning of the book. So technically it is a paranormal historical mystery – but whatever box you want to check about this book, be sure to include it on the must read list.” Check out the whole review here. https://writeknit.wordpress.com/2019/... First Book signing in Ohio is coming up on June 8th! I’m delighted to be doing my first book signing Saturday, June 6, 12:00 at the Carnegie Library in Washington Court House, 127 North St. I’m be excited to see some of my old friends and to make new ones. I’ll be reading a piece from the novel and you can get your own autographed copy! If you’re in the area, drop in. *Click the photo below to get the full event details

Listen Up!

I just finished my first interview for BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE. Nancie Clare of “Speaking of Mysteries” Podcast asked me great questions about my new novel. I was in great company. In my interview, I followed such great mystery writers as Michael Connelly, James Rollins, S. J. Rozan, Sara Paretsky, C. J. Box, James R. Benn, and Stuart Woods. Have a listen here. More blogs have arrived! These blogs all feature interviews with some really different questions. You might be surprised with my answers. Click each image to visit posts. ***You might enjoy this unusual interview with not with me but with Darrell, my protagonist in the novel, BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE only from "Beyond the Books" (click below)

A FIVE STAR Review for Blood on the Chesapeake!!

www.ReadersFavorite.com just released their review of Blood on the Chesapeake and it’s a FIVE STAR!. Here are a few of the highlights: “Blood on the Chesapeake is an unusual mix of mystery, murder, and sleuth genres. The novel brings together elements of history and a setting that is vividly described…A gripping story filled with tension and twists…Compelling…Realistic and engaging…Well plotted and skillfully written…A novel that entertains readers and appeals strongly to their consciences and sense of humanity.” Click the button below to read the full review! More Blog entries for Blood—they’re talking! Check them out below:

Have you noticed?

BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE and I have been all over the Blogosphere lately As part of the effort to get the word out about the new novel, I’ve been asked to participate in more than a dozen national blogs blogs about mysteries, blogs about authors and books, about the world of publishing. I’ve included a link for the first few below... Click on the images and let me know what you think. Or, and please spread the word to others who might be interested Remember to follow me and the book on Instagram @author_randyoverbeck!

This is where it all started.

I’m often asked “Where do you get the ideas for your novels?” My answer is usually something like a great many places. Those who know me should know it all begins with school, or in this case, a school. When I was traveling through New England a few years ago, I came upon this interesting red brick school house and was fascinated. Note the unusual faux widow’s walk atop the second floor. The story for Blood on the Chesapeake was in the very early stages when I came upon this high school. As I stood in the pockmarked parking lot and stared up at the building, I imagined I saw a dead body hanging from the railing and pieces of the story fell in place. (Strange, huh?) So, in the novel, I move the school building to my fictional town on the Eastern Shore, add a thirty year cold case mystery and wrap it all around some racist issues and I ended up up with Blood on the Chesapeake. (Of course, there’s a huge amount of research, writing, re-writing, editing, prospecting and selling, before the novel would ever see print.) The mind of a mystery writer works in strange ways. Know where my mind is headed for my next novel? Where will I get my next inspiration? Maybe a century old Victorian mansion that happens to be haunted? The Blog Tour begins! As part of the promotion for the novel, the marketing rep has booked me in a national “Blog Tour.” In the next several weeks, I’m scheduled to be a “Guest Blogger” on 18 blogs—to coincide with the release of Blood on the Chesapeake. These blogs run the gamut, from mystery to writing to publishing and because different blogs reach different audiences, that means more readers will learn about my new novel—and hopefully be interested enough to buy a copy. The first of these blogs, MYSTERY FANFARE was released this week, and so the tour begins. Here’s the link so you can see for yourself. l'll link each blog to this page, so stay in touch and I’ll keep you up-to-date on all the news. And so the excitement begins!

Less than 20 Days Left!

“Delightful and engrossing. Enjoyed it." -–—Cynthia Lee Clark, Psy.D, MH, Futures Mostly Mystery Magazine about my novel Blood on the Chesapeake launches in under 20 days—April 10. Just for fun, we’ve installed a countdown clock to the precise time when readers can order my new novel. Check it out www.authorrandyoverbeck.com Or, if you can’t wait, you can pre-order the novel right now with this link. That way you’ll be among the first to get a copy. In the meantime the great reviews keep rolling in, this time from the industry. A little more of Dr. Clark’s comments on Blood on the Chesapeake: “Randy’s descriptions are vibrant and made me feel like I was in this charming, quaint time. He has woven a thrilling whodunit with a supernatural edge.” Perhaps a brief explanation might help. Before a novel is released, recognized authors will sometimes offer reviews of a book of a fellow writer in advance of the publication. But right around the time of the release, reviewers from the industry weigh in on a newly published book, adding their opinions. Earlier this month, the first such industry review of Blood came in from the Futures Mostly Mystery Magazine. Guest reviewer Cynthia Lee Clark obviously appreciated being one of the first to read and review Blood on the Chesapeake. Take a look at her entire review. Here’s the link: (click the button to visit review) Another successful writer gives his assessment of Blood on the Chesapeake: "A page tuner!" -James R. Benn, author of the popular Billy Boyle historical mysteries also seems to enjoy Blood on the Chesapeake Now doesn't that make you want to Pre-Order??? <------- Click the button! Here’s his whole review: “Blood on the Chesapeake is a spooky, atmospheric mystery set in a haunted high school, featuring an even more haunted protagonist investigating deaths past and
present. A page turner!” James R. Benn’s Billy Boyle series follows a young detective around the battlefields and war rooms of WWII, through battles famous and obscure. His series now includes 13 entries, with the 14th due out in September. If you haven’t yet discovered Jim Benn’s great historical mysteries, you’re missing some incredible reads. He wraps his mysteries in the excitement, heroics and horrors of WWII. In his stories, readers are dropped onto a South Pacific Island or snuck into a chateau in France during the resistance or parachuted into a “neutral” Switzerland. Through the magic of his words, readers get the chance to stroll on a beach with JFK, huddle down in a tunnel while the Gestapo searches above or survive a plane crash in occupied Germany. Great rides along with intriguing whodunits. Check out his books for yourself at his website.

This keeps getting BETTER!

Heard the latest? Last month The Wild Rose Press announced they will release my new novel, Blood on the Chesapeake, on April 10. Now we are announcing that the National Book Launch will be held on Friday, April 12, 6 p.m. at the Robert Morris Inn, Oxford, MD. This is BIG NEWS because scenes from Blood are set in this great historic inn, dating from 1710. (By the way, they have the best crab cakes I’ve ever tasted.) If you’re in the area, make sure you stop by and say hello. And be among the first to pick up an autographed copy of Blood on the Chesapeake. This area is one of the favorite vacation spots of both my wife and me, so we can’t wait to return. See old friends, taste some incredible seafood and maybe even do some shopping. (Okay, that’s more Cathy.) Oh, yeah, I’ll be signing copies of Blood on the Chesapeake. Can’t get to the Chesapeake Bay area in April? Not to worry. We will be hosting book events for Blood on the Chesapeake in the Midwest and Nashville soon. Check the calendar on my author page and stay tuned for updates. Or if you can’t wait to get your own copy of my new novel, you can purchase yours at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or your favorite bookstore by April 10. Did I mention you can preorder your own copy—either print or ebook—now at Amazon. Can’t wait? Click here. The reviews keep pouring in! This one from famed writer of mystery and suspense, Hank Phillipi Ryan. Ms Ryan is an investigative journalist from Boston, a New York Times bestselling author and winner of more writing awards than anyone I know. I am humbled by her praise for the novel. Here’s her full review: "Timely and original, this contemporary ghost story is genuinely entertaining! Written with heart and talent, Randy Overbeck's passion for justice and understanding of history combine with a compelling setting and heartbreaking story to give mystery fans a terrific, one-sitting read." If you haven’t read any of the entries in her Jane Ryland series or the Charlotte McNally series, you’re missing out on some really great suspense and delightful romance. And her newest novel, Trust Me, a stand alone, is garnering praise and award nominations from around the literary world. You can check any of her work here.