http://subs.zinester.com/89040 Mystery author Beth Groundwater's news to her readers. en http://archives.zinester.com/89040/158561.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                         Sixteenth Edition, May, 2008

Malice Domestic XX Conference

I had a wonderful time at the twentieth anniversary Malice Domestic conference
in Arlington, VA, celebrating the fact that A Real Basket Case was one of four
books nominated in the Best First Novel of 2007 category of the Agatha Awards,
which are named after Agatha Christie and honor  traditional  mysteries. My
book did not win the final award, but I know Hank Phillipi Ryan, whose Prime
Time won, and I m very happy for her. For photos of the conference, go to:
bethgroundwater.com/Malice_Domestic_2008.html (http://bethgroundwater.com/
Malice_Domestic_2008.html).

And for a complete write-up of my doings at the conference, read the two
... ]]> 158561 Fri, 09 May 2008 17:47:52 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/89040/155059.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Fifteenth Edition, March, 2008

An Agatha Award nomination!

A REAL BASKET CASE was one of four books nominated in the Best First Novel
category of the Agatha Awards, which are given out annually at the Malice
Domestic (http://www.malicedomestic.org/) conference. The Agatha Awards are one
of the biggies in the mystery community, and my publisher is VERY excited to
have one of their books nominated. The Agatha Awards honor the traditional
mystery books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is
generally characterized by mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive
gore, or gratuitous violence; usually featuring an amateur detective, they have
a confined setting and characters who know one another. The awards will be
presented at the Malice Domestic XX convention during the Agatha Awards Banquet
... ]]> 155059 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:36:25 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/152509.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                      Fourteenth Edition, February, 2008

Progress on To Hell in a Handbasket

In my January newsletter, I announced that I signed the publishing contract for
the sequel to A Real Basket Case, titled To Hell in a Handbasket. It should be
released sometime in the Spring of 2009 and is set in Breckenridge, Colorado.
My editor sent me the edited manuscript and a set of comments and questions in
the middle of January. I spent the rest of the month reviewing her changes and
making changes of my own in response to her suggestions and questions. I found
out that the Breckenridge Nordic Center had built a new warming hut and changed
a few of their trails since I originally researched the book in the fall of
2003 (Boy, does the publishing industry move slowly!), so that caused changes
in my snowshoeing scene. Also, I asked the Undersheriff of the Summit County
... ]]> 152509 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:32:00 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/150353.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Twelfth Edition, January, 2008


Happy New Year, Happy New Contract!

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope 2008 brings to you everything
you're hoping for! Speaking of which, just before the New Year, I got what I
was hoping for...

On December 29th, I signed the publishing contract for the sequel to A Real
Basket Case, titled To Hell in a Handbasket. It should be released sometime in
the first half of 2009. To Hell in a Handbasket takes place in Breckenridge,
CO. My gift basket designer, Claire Hanover, and her family's ski vacation goes
to hell in a handbasket when the sister of her daughter's boyfriend is killed
... ]]> 150353 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:54:20 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/147778.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                   Twelfth Edition, November/December, 2007


Happy Holidays!

However you celebrate the winter holiday season, I hope you it finds you happy
and healthy and home with those you love. I have a lot to feel grateful for,
both in my writing life and my personal life, so I will be trying to show that
gratitude by finding ways to help those who are less fortunate. I hope you do,
too.

I Have a New Agent

I'm pleased to announce that Sandra Bond, Bond Literary Agency, has offered
... ]]> 147778 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 07:19:06 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/145430.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Eleventh Edition, October, 2007


First Royalty Check!

I just deposited my first royalty check in the bank. It arrived along with a
royalty statement for January-June, 2007 showing my sales figures during that
time period for A REAL BASKET CASE after its March release. The nice check
meant I earned out my advance on royalties in spades and in three months, with
more income to come for continuing sales on the hardcover edition and on the
January release of the large-print edition. The advance a publisher gives you
is an indication of their expectation of your sales, and it's always nice to
beat expectations!

... ]]> 145430 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:25:18 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/142139.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Tenth Edition, September, 2007


Large-Print Edition of A REAL BASKET CASE

I received word a few days ago that Wheeler Publishing, an imprint of Gale that
is a sister line to Five Star Publishing, will be releasing a large-print
edition of A REAL BASKET CASE in January, 2008. I'm excited, because this will
mean more library sales for me. Also, people who prefer to read in large-print
will have another way to enjoy the book. So if you know someone who prefers
large-print, let them know about A REAL BASKET CASE!

First Winner in New Email Newsletter Subscription Contest

... ]]> 142139 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:46:11 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/89040/139149.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                          Ninth Edition, August, 2007


New Email Newsletter Subscription Contest!

My gift basket giveaway contest for subscribers to my email newsletter ended on
June 30, 2007, mainly because the cost to mail the baskets was so high. I
mulled over ideas on how to award prizes where most of the money I spent went
directly to the prizewinner versus to packaging and mailing. The cheapest form
of mailing is media mail, which means book prizes. So, my new email newsletter
subscriber contest will award prizes of two books?an autographed copy of A REAL
BASKET CASE and a book by another mystery author of my choice. And, there?s an
interesting feature to these give-away copies of A REAL BASKET CASE that makes
them a collector?s item! Each time my email newsletter list adds another 100
... ]]> 139149 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:21:03 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/89040/134659.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Eighth Edition, June/July, 2007


Updates on A REAL BASKET CASE and the Sequel

Thanks to support from you readers buying copies or requesting that your
libraries order copies, A REAL BASKET CASE has gone into its third printing and
can be found in over 200 library systems in the USA. My publisher couldn't be
happier with my sales and requested that I turn in the manuscript for the
sequel to the Acquisition Editor. I sent the manuscript for TO HELL IN A
HANDBASKET at the beginning of June. In the sequel, Claire Hanover takes a ski
vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado with her husband, Roger, and daughter, Judy,
and the sister of Judy's boyfriend is killed on the slope. Claire once again
sticks her nose where it doesn't belong, because her mama bear claws spring
... ]]> 134659 Thu, 05 Jul 2007 04:55:13 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/89040/131033.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                          Seventh Edition, May, 2007


Welcome New Subscribers

I've made it through my first dozen or so appearances, and as a result, have
signed up a lot of new subscribers to my email newsletter list. Welcome to you
all! I've also awarded two new gift baskets to the following winners:

Gertrud Kelley from Crescent, Oklahoma, who chose the mystery lovers gift
basket.
Ron Steinbach from Fort Collins, Colorado, who chose the chocoholic gift
basket.

... ]]> 131033 Wed, 23 May 2007 19:37:15 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/89040/128087.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                          Sixth Edition, April, 2007


Library Requests

Soon I will begin my appearances for A Real Basket Case, and I am sending out
directed emails to those of you who live in states I will be visiting. Check
out the Appearances page at my website for a listing through early June: http:/
/bethgroundwater.com/Appearances.html . I'd love to meet as many of you as
possible face-to face!
For others, you can obtain my books online at the Amazon/Borders or Barnes and
Noble websites or by ordering it through your local bookstore. If you do not
have the means to buy a copy, you can still help me greatly by requesting that
your library buy a copy. You'll still get to read it that way, and I'll still
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                          Fifth Edition, March, 2007

Interviews!

For anyone who has wondered what makes a debut mystery author tick, here are
two chances to find out:

B.J. Bourg interviewed me for the excellent Mouth Full of Bullets ezine (http:/
/www.mouthfullofbullets.com/3.4InterviewBethGroundwater.htm).

And if you're not sick of reading about me after that, mystery author Lonnie
Cruse interviewed me on the Poe's Deadly Daughters blog (http://
www.poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com/). Just keep paging down until you see my
interview. I'm on call to respond to comments, so let me know what you think!
... ]]> 125712 Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:58:10 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/121646.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Fourth Edition, February, 2007

Preorder Promotion

Yippee! A Real Basket Case is available for preorder from the Amazon or Borders
websites now as well as from the Barnes and Noble and Five Star Publishing
websites. And Amazon has it priced at a great discount. That means it's time to
announce my preorder promotion! I hope to see as many of you in person as
possible at my signings, but I can't go everywhere. If you live along the front
range of Colorado, in Virginia, Pittsburgh, PA, Omaha, NE, Boise, ID, or
Manhattan, KS, then I hope you'll be able to attend one of my signings.
Otherwise, I have a great opportunity for you to still get my signature on your
copy of A Real Basket Case.

... ]]> 121646 Sat, 10 Feb 2007 22:57:13 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/118771.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                         Third Edition, January, 2007

Two Most Excellent Reviews!

I'm so excited! My publisher's author representative recently sent me and
fifteen other people at Thompson Gale the text of a Booklist review of my book.
Then I found another review on the Barnes and Noble website. There are three
big review publications (Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews) and just
getting reviewed by one of them is a big deal, let alone getting a GOOD review
from TWO of them. The full text of both reviews is below, but I emphasized the
last lines, because those are what jazzed me up.

"Claire Hanover, a Colorado Springs housewife who has started a gift-basket
business, is feeling lonely and unloved by her work-obsessed husband. Her best
... ]]> 118771 Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:23:08 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/89040/115246.html?rss=1                     Beth Groundwater's Author Newsletter
                        Second Edition, November, 2006

More Gift Basket Winners!

Welcome to all my new subscribers! People are signing up for my email
newsletter at a blazing pace, and I'm scrambling to keep up with the gift
basket awards. I awarded two more in November and will award two in December.
I'd love to keep this up and award two a month, because that means 200 new
subscribers a month. The November winners are Shannon Scott from Decatur,
Georgia and J. Tucker, from Elgin, Illinois, my first male winner. They both
chose the mystery lover basket. I LOVE mystery lovers!

Wouldn't it be great to have a winner in every state? Only 47 to go... And I'd
love to send a basket to one of my foreign subscribers, too. There are quite a
... ]]> 115246 Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:44:09 MSK