Born and raised in the falls, I have published a historical novel, The Stone House Diaries, in 2005. Sales were disappointing. For a book to be successful one needs good reviews, and then getting to market on time is helpful. For reasons forever a mystery to me, the Buffalo News declined to review it - how many novels about the falls get published any given year, in particular by one born there? The Niagara Gazette was more than generous with good vibes and column inches. The second problem was getting it to the stores for the Christmas rush. The publisher missed the deadline and it showed up two days before Christmas - one might prefer to debut a title on January 23rd. At least it's quiet.
A third issue is that Niagara Falls is a poor city. I call it the Atlantic City of the Great Lakes now. The library bought six or seven copies, and in the summer of 05 all the copies were checked out with a waiting list. That was nice to see, but I also knew every copy borrowed was one less sold. Emblematic of that, I learned that the copy I gave my mother she lent to her friend, and she lent to their minister... lots of mileage on a few copies. Being a librarian I was pleased, but as an author I groaned....
I've written another novel, tentatively called 'Where the gold is buried', based on a family legend set at Old Fort Niagara. I'm working on finding an agent now. 'Muse and the Marketplace' was a very bracing primer for finding an agent. It ain't easy.
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