THE FOURTH HOUSE has been on the market for a little over a year now and despite the corporate expectations that it would be in stores across the country by now, things have gone a little awry. It didn’t help that my publisher changed hands literally the day the book came out — that’s the sort of horror story you often hear about certain Hollywood movies. Many of the folks I originally dealt with there are no longer around.
And so, the book continues to be available exclusively through the book clubs. Despite this, I continue to receive fan mail from the darndest places. A big shout-out to y’all in Sulphur, Louisiana! And to that library in Utah — wow, I can’t imagine people in Utah reading anything I wrote.
My book seems to be being passed around like a dirty magazine in a high school boy’s locker room. It’s a strange feeling.
Despite this, or maybe because of it, word of mouth remains contageous. I just checked and out of over 800 works of fiction, THE FOURTH HOUSE is ranked #161 in sales as of this writing. After being out for over a year, and for that year to have had no p.r. support outside of the clubs, this is amazing. Currently, it is ranked right behind the newest Nicholas Sparks book and ahead of the new Wally Lamb book, both of which were released after THE FOURTH HOUSE and thus more in possession of that “new car smell.”
(That’s Nicholas Sparks, not American Idol Jordin Sparks)
It’s a good feeling, indeed. Blips are coming up on the radar screen about movie rights, even inquiries from a major network about turning it into a television series! More on that as information becomes clearer.
So in the meantime, thanks to all for talking up the book and I hope to have more to report on that and other projects in the very near future.
Peace,
Kerry
(I also don’t believe this is the latest photograph of Wally Lamb, either)