Marketing Via Word of Mouth
Some Western Canadian Novels I've Read Recently (others are out on loan)
Today is the release date of Grounds for Murder. If you have ordered my book, it should arrive around now. And there are copies on the shelves of some bookstores. This, to me, is cause for celebration. I started the novel four years ago. Now it is available for you to read.
But here’s the fly in the ointment. Marketing. UNESCO estimates that 2.2 million titles are published every year. Since they are one of the most popular genres, a huge number of these books are crime novels. They annually swell the ranks of the thousands (or millions?) of mysteries published in the years since Edgar Allan Poe “invented” the genre.
Big-name writers dominate the market. Agatha Christie’s books are still best-sellers. She’s been joined by Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, Richard Osman, Nita Prose, Elizabeth George, and others of that stature.
Locally, we have novelists like Gail Bowen and Anthony Bidulka—minor players on the international scene, but prominent in their home country.
As for the rest of us, what are we to do? How can we reach potential readers?
Via Facebook and other social media platforms. Publishers’ websites and websites that promote various genres of fiction. Bookstores and libraries.
And via readers like you, who tell people about books they’ve enjoyed.
In the interest of “doing unto others,” here are ten of the newish Western Canadian novels I’ve read recently:
Elinor Florence’s Wildwood. Dundurn, 2018. A young single mother inherits an off-grid northern Alberta homestead but doesn’t get the title deeds until she has lived there for an entire year. An absorbing story about rural life in an isolated area.
Meredith Hambrock’s Other People’s Secrets. Crooked Lane, 2022. I don’t usually read books like this one. I suspect it’s intended for readers under fifty. Or, under forty. The characters are party animals who drink way too much; I didn’t like them. Or identify with them. But the book is well-written, and I like the redemption ending.
Anthony Bidulka’s From Sweetgrass Bridge. Stonehouse, 2024. The second in his Merry Bell series featuring a trans PI. She investigates the death of a Saskatchewan Roughrider. An entertaining read.
Marina Endicott’s The Observer. Knopf, 2023. My favourite of her novels since Good to a Fault. Based upon Endicott’s years in rural Alberta as the wife of a rookie RCMP constable.
Lisa Guenther’s Friendly Fire (2015; republished 2024) and All That’s Left (2024). NeWest Press. The protagonist of both novels is a young ranchwoman from the Livelong area. For those of you who don’t know your SK geography, that’s not far from where I live near Cochin. The first novel features a fine portrait of ranch life, as well as a murder. The second novel takes place a few years later, when the protagonist has become a professional musician.
Philipp Schott’s Eleven Huskies. ECW, 2024. The third in his mystery series featuring a rural Manitoba vet. A pleasure to read.
Joanne Jackson’s Sunset Lake Resort. Stonehouse, 2024. An older woman makes a new life for herself when she moves up north to an abandoned resort. Part mystery and part novel about a woman gaining independence.
Kirkpatrick, Gail. NeWest, 2023. Debut novel about a woman who returns home to SK to deal with her sister’s estate. When she inherits four million dollars, she restores an abandoned railway line.
Joan Thomas’ Wild Hope. HarperCollins, 2023. A literary novel that won the 2023 Crime Writers of Canada award for best novel set in Canada. Brilliant writing. Set in Ontario, but the novelist is from Winnipeg.
Raye Anderson’s Roxanne Calloway series. Signature Press, 2020-2023. Set in the Interlake region of Manitoba, these engaging novels feature an RCMP protagonist assisted by a group of lively older women.
I am proud that Grounds for Murder takes its place among these novels. Look for it at your favourite indie bookstore. (Turning the Tide has it in Saskatoon, as does McNally’s in both Saskatoon and Winnipeg.) Order if from Amazon if you must. Or borrow if from any library in Saskatchewan. It’s also available as an ebook and an audiobook. Tomorrow or the next day I will post links.
Happy reading!
