How you can help make No Going Back a success

Quite a few folks have emailed me or asked me in person the same question: what can I do to help make No Going Back a hit?  I'm frankly stunned and honored to even hear the question, and for a while I basically declined to answer it.  After more thought, though, I decided to let myself answer it as part of a weak moment of self-serving marketing. 

If you really want to help, there are three things you can do--for my novel or any other book you like.

Pre-order a copy.

Most hardbacks get about three weeks on bookstore shelves before the store ditches them.  During that time, your book has to make a good impression.  First-week sales are vital to that impression.  So, whether you're shopping online or at a Barnes & Noble or at your local independent bookseller, pre-ordering or buying in the first week is the best support you can give a book.

Spread the word. 

Hand-selling books is a time-honored practice that works.  If you buy and like the book, telling others and recommending they pick up a copy is an easy way to really help sales.

If your bookstore is out of stock on the book, ask them to order more.

A bookstore can't sell what it doesn't have in stock.  Yeah, that fact is obvious, but it's also something bookstores often don't worry about.  If a store gets in three copies of a book and sells them all, it's unlikely to order more unless customers request them.  That means that even if a book is delighting readers, its presence in stores is likely to be limited by how many copies the store's buyer originally purchased. 


That's it, really.  Those three things would greatly help No Going Back--or any other novel--to be a bigger success than it might otherwise be.

Thanks to those who asked, and my apologies to those who are appalled at my self-promotion.