Fun Book Updates – August
It’s been a busy summer so far. Oddly enough, I spent all of June and July finishing up a contracted Christmas novel with Revell, called The Ornaments. It was quite a challenge getting in the Christmas spirit in sunny Florida weather. My next writing project is finishing up a suspense novel I plan to publish independently, called When Night Comes.
This is a new venture for me, and I’ve been reading up about indie publishing for several months. One of the benefits will be how quickly I can get the novel “on the shelves” once it’s finished. Possibly within two months (October?). With my traditionally contracted novels it takes a full year for readers to get the book once I turn it in.
I just got back from speaking and teaching at the Oregon Christian Summer Writers Conference in Portland. It was a wonderful experience, and I’d happily do it again. In some ways, it was one of the most satisfying writers conferences I’ve attended. It was also great to be able to spend time with my good friends Allen Arnold, a former publisher at Thomas Nelson, and fellow author Jim Rubart. Allen and Jim taught a coaching workshop together and Allan and I shared the keynote duties. We’re surrounding Lindy Jacobs in this pic. She was the conference director.
The Deepest Waters Goes Polish
Received some exciting news 2 weeks ago. My 3rd novel, Carol-award winner The Deepest Waters, was picked up by a Polish publisher. They sent me a copy of it shown here in this pic on the bottom right. That brings the number of different editions for the novel to six.
Moving clockwise in this pic, the first is a hardback, large-print edition. Next is
the original trade paperback edition. Then the hardback book club edition, the Polish version, and a Dutch edition. Not shown is the e-book edition (Kindle and Nook).
When I received the Dutch edition, it was fun to see my own book published in words I could not understand. The Polish edition goes a little further. It’s written in an entirely different alphabet. But it’s definitely satisfying to think that people from other cultures might be reading and, hopefully, enjoying my work.
The Unfinished Gift Hits #1 Again
After my publisher ran a 1-day special on BookBub, my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, has shot up on Amazon to the #1 Bestseller rank in 3 categories, and #197 overall on Kindle. The day before I took this screenshot, it had reached #51. That means of the 9 million-plus ebooks available on Amazon, my novel was selling better than all but 51 of them. I’ve been told at this ranking, thousands of books are being downloaded every day.
Even though they are getting the book at a reduced cost, we are reaching thousands of new readers with sales like these. Hopefully, they will like the book enough to order some of my other books when they’re through.
The strategy seems to be working. With most of my books, when you scroll down and read the section called, Customers Who Bought This Book Also Bought, what you see are all of my other novels lined up side-by-side.
The Unfinished Gift has made it to the #1 slot on Amazon numerous times since its release in 2009. What makes this time different is that it’s happening during the heat of an August summer and, before, it always reached bestseller status in Christmas book categories, not things like Historical Fiction.
Book # 3 in Restoration Series Weeks Away
My final book update for this post is this: My 3rd novel co-authored with best-selling 
marriage expert, Gary Smalley, will be hitting the shelves in a few weeks. It’s called, The Desire (Book 3 of the Restoration Series).
Each of the books in the series explores the tensions and challenges of a modern Christian family, The Andersons. Drawing from Gary’s 35 years as a renowned marriage and family counselor, and my 25 years as a pastor of local church, we’ve written the series hoping to reach thousands of Christians who may be struggling or coming up short of their expectations for a truly happy home.
So far, it would appear we have been hitting the mark. Book 1, The Dance, has been named a finalist for this year’s ACFW Carol award for Contemporary Fiction. Book 2, The Promise, was named a finalist for Inspirational Book of the Year by RT Book Reviews magazine.
Here’s what others are saying about the series:
“…When a novel is in the hands of accomplished storyteller Dan Walsh and the lessons come from relationship expert Gary Smalley, the result is a story that manages to simultaneously teach and entertain…As always, Walsh paints the background with a master’s touch…The Dance is the first of a series focusing on the Anderson family. That’s good; because this Dance deserves an encore.” ― Crosswalk.com
“In the second installment of the Restoration series (The Promise), authentic characters and challenges, beautiful and uplifting prose and solid marital advice flourishes…The story is so captivating you’ll find it difficult to put down.” – 4.5 Stars, Top Pick! RT Book Reviews
This 3rd book focuses on the Anderson’s daughter, Michele. She and her husband Allan have been trying to have a baby without success for over a year. The story touches on the oft-overlooked topic of infertility, as well as the challenges of adoption and African missions. I’ll post again once The Desire is fully released.
