VJ Books has received: Justin Cronin - The Passage, Nelson Demille - The Lion, Alexandra Sokoloff - Book of Shadows, Dean Koontz - Frankenstein: Lost Souls, James Patterson - Private, Jon Land - Strong Justice, R. J. Ellory - The Anniversary Man, Karin Slaughter - Broken, Jonathan Santlofer (editor) - The Dark End of the Street (Limited edition), and Clive Cussler & Justin Scott - The Spy, The Spy (Limited Lettered edition), and The Spy (Limited Numbered edition).
VJ Books has received: Rita Mae Brown - Cat of the Century, James Patterson - 9th Judgment, Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live, David Baldacci - Deliver Us From Evil, Dan Wells - I Am Not A Serial Killer, and Brian Freeman - The Burying Place.
VJ Books has received: James Patterson - Fang, Lisa Scottoline - Think Twice, John Vorhaus - The California Roll, Erica Spindler - Blood Vines, Jefferson Bass - The Bone Thief, Robert McCammon - Mister Slaughter (Limited Edition), and James Grippando - Money to Burn.
VJ Books has received: James Patterson - Worst Case, Alex Berenson - Midnight House, Sarah Blake - The Postmistress, and Chuck Logan - Devils In Exile.
James Patterson is one of the bestselling writers of all time, with more than 170 million copies of his books sold worldwide. He has won an Edgar Award, widely considered to be the mystery world’s highest honor. Two of his novels, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, were made into feature films.
Once again VJ Books is proud to provide autographed copies of a new James Patterson release. VJ Books has benefited immensely from Mr. Patterson’s generosity and have an extensive collection of signed backlist titles available on their website, www.vjbooks.com. VJ Books’ co-founder, John Hutchinson, freely admits, “I have been a fan of James Patterson since The Thomas Berryman Number, so I look forward to each new release with a certain level of excitement, I, Alex Cross ($29.99; Little, Brown and Co.) is no exception.”
Patterson’s latest thriller, I, Alex Cross, finds his most beloved character, detective Alex Cross, pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington’s wildest scenes. His subsequent investigation pits Cross against some very important, much protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain–they will do anything to keep their secrets safe.
See signed hardcover editions of James Patterson books at: http://www.vjbooks.com/James-Patterson-s/66.htm
About VJ Books: VJ Books has developed relationships with publishers, authors and agents to provide a continuous supply of new titles for their customers. Each month VJ Books’ customers are able to choose from dozens of author signed books from some of the most exciting, highly acclaimed authors in the areas of mystery, suspense, sci-fi and modern literature. Additionally, they continue to offer an impressive selection of backlist, rare, out-of-print, and special edition titles for your consideration.
A Commentary On Price Wars On Bestselling Books
We love books, we promote books, and yes, we sell books. Our mission statement is to deliver to our customer an innovative approach to bookselling that recognizes the love of books that resides in all collectors.
Now this may seem like a trivial point, but we sell books because we love books . . . not the other way around. From this vantage point we do not discriminate between blockbuster titles by bestselling authors and the new author delivering his or her first novel. In fact we rely on the new author to fuel the excitement that brings our customer back to see what’s new.
This year we have brought you Abandon by Blake Crouch, Crush by Alan Jacobson, A Quiet Belief in Angels by R. J. Ellory, and The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny, just to mention a few. These are all noteworthy books that would normally get lost in the big market stores who use their clout and buying power to push more James Patterson, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and other mainstream titles at us in attempt to gain or secure market share.
Similarly, NY publisher editorial staffs select for publication those authors and titles that fit this limited view of “what will sell,” driving market trends rather that listening to what the reader really wants to read. The result is a “dumbing down” of literature, and we end up with what I refer to as “airplane reads,” books that get read and thrown away.
For the record, we also rely on big selling books to provide us with the capital we need to offer a broader selection to our customers. Sales of those big books allow us to comb through the hundreds of new titles each year and bring understated, infrequently advertised quality writing to your attention. Michael Connelly was unknown when Little, Brown introduced us to Harry Bosch in The Black Echo, and John Grisham sold A Time To Kill from the trunk of his car to independent bookstores across the south. We believe that tomorrow’s hottest authors are now residing in the new release flyers we send to you twice a week.
A lot of talk is spreading throughout the industry, outrage over the predatory pricing being used by Wal-mart, Amazon, and Target to gain a larger share of the market. Unfair practices by these behemoths threaten the future of bookselling. They can sell books either below their costs, or through backroom agreements with publishers, to bring customers to their stores to buy other products that they offer. “Loss leaders” are not new, but this goes beyond such practices. They are robbing the small independent bookstore of profits necessary to enable them to bring the full range of titles worthy our consideration to their shelves.
So we are asking you to refrain from buying these two or three books from the superstores. Please buy these titles from your local independent bookseller. Reward them with your business and they, like us, will guarantee you more to choose from in the years ahead.
All best wishes and good reading,
John
VJ Books has just received: Kinky Friedman - Kinky’s Celebrity Pet Files, Joe Finder - Vanished, John Saul - House of Reckoning, Allan Folsom - The Hadrian Memorandum, James Patterson - The Murder of King Tut, Iris Johansen - Blood Game, and Gyles Brandreth - Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile.
Here’s a look at Publisher’s Weekly fiction bestsellers as we reach the half-year. It’s become increasingly hard of late for authors to hold onto the #1 spot, but this year seems tougher still. Of the 18 authors who have nabbed that perch, only three - John Grisham, The Associate; Janet Evanovich, Plum Spooky; and Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care - have exceeded a week’s stay. Such bestseller veterans as Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Harlan Coben, Mary Higgins Clark and others have managed only one week on top. Of this year’s fiction newcomers, the five longest-running tenures to date are David Baldacci (First Family, nine weeks and counting); James Patterson (Run for Your Life, nine weeks); James Patterson (The 8th Confession, seven weeks); Maeve Binchy (Heart and Soul, seven weeks) and W.E.B. Griffin (Black Ops, seven weeks).
(Publisher’s Weekly, June 29)
James Patterson’s prolific-ness is well-known- his Web site lists a book a month from now until year’s end (though, curiously, there’s no October release noted). Even for this megaselling author, however, his current feat is rare: three titles appearing concurrently on three of Publisher’s Weekly four lists. The most recent instance was on February 4, 2008, with Double Cross, Cross and The 6th Target. Patterson’s newest hardcover boasts 900,000 copies in print.
Order signed copies of the 8th Confession by James Patterson at www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, May 11)
Every year,the International Thriller Writers organization has a gala readers/writers event called THRILLERFEST. This year, it is again taking place at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York City. Featured guests include David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Robin Cook, Brad Meltzer, and Katherine Neville. Lee Child, Steve Barry, James Rollins, Gayle Lynds, and a host of other thriller luminaries will be there for the entire four days and very accessible. At this year’s THRILLERFEST the ITW will present David Morrell with its prestigious THRILLERMASTER award for his long career in which he devoted himself to extending the idea of what a thriller can be. Previous recipients include Clive Cussler, James Patterson, and Sandra Brown. For details, please go to http://thrillerwriters.org and click on “ThrillerFest.”
John and Virginia from VJ Books are planning on being there!