Here’s a newsletter that went out to subscribers yesterday. I post some but not all newsletters here on my blog; if you’d like to receive the newsletter, a blank email to lawbloc@gmail.com, with “LB Newsletter” in the subject line, will get you on the list; adding LawrenceBlock.com@mail.vresp.com to your email address book will help ensure delivery.

ALL KELLER, ALL THE TIME…

HitMePostcardFront 2I began writing about Keller in 1989, with a story called “Answers to Soldier.” Playboy published it, MWA shortlisted it for an Edgar, and I forgot about it for a couple of years. Then I thought about the wistful assassin and realized he was just the sort of Urban Lonely Guy to wind up on a shrink’s couch. That led to Keller’s Therapy (Playboy again, and an Edgar victory this time), and one thing led to another. The first book—Hit Man—was published in 1998.

#5, HIT ME, will be published February 12 by Mulholland Books. The early reviews, online and in print, have been very gratifying, and only false modesty keeps me from sharing them with you. And the word seems to be spreading—a second printing is already on order.

Ah, I see some hands. Yes?

Where can I get a copy of Hit Me?

Wherever good books are sold. Order online from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million| Indiebound | Other Retailers

Suppose I want a signed copy?

A little over a week ago I went to the publisher’s warehouse in Lebanon, Indiana, and spent hours on end just writing my name. Here’s a list of retailers who’ll have some of these signed copies for sale:

A Capella Books | Alabama Booksmith | Book Carnival | Book People | The Booksmith | Carmichael’s Bookstore | Garden District Bookshop | Iowa Book |Lemuria | Murder By the Book | Murder on the Beach | Mysterious Bookshop | Mystery One | Once Upon A Crime | Poisoned Pen | Seattle Mystery Bookshop | Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore | VJ Books

With a second printing off-press before publication, ordering a signed book from one of these stores is one easy way to guarantee a first printing.

February 12? I don’t want to wait that long!

Well, you can order the Limited Philatelic Edition and get a copy by return mail—we’ve got just under 100 of them left. That’ll cost you $75; for a mere $2.99, you can read the opening episode of Hit Me, “Keller in Dallas,” on your Kindle or Nook or eReader of choice.

This is Keller #5, right? How do I get #1-4?

LB’s eBay Bookstore has various editions of Hit ManHit List, Hit Parade, and Hit & Run, all signed.

And, in addition to “Keller in Dallas,” there are two more Keller stories newly eVailable. “Keller’s Adjustment” is a novella which forms a part of Hit Parade, and it’s been selling very strongly on its own; “Keller on the Spot” appeared originally in Playboy, won an MWA Edgar Award (Edgar’s been a major Keller fan over the years) and was included in Hit Man. Both of these stories are Kindle exclusives @$2.99.

Could you tell me more about the Hit Me Philatelic Edition? Like, how come it’s so expensive?

Just the other day I got out a specialized newsletter to the Philatelic list, and I don’t want to repeat all that here. You can read the newsletter on Keller’s Page; there’s more information in the description of the eBay listing.

I’ll be happy with the Trade Edition of Hit Me @ 26.99, but I’d love to get it signed in person. Will you be touring?

Not really. I’ll fly out to L.A. sometime in February for The Late Late Show with my good buddy Craig Ferguson, and will very likely show up at one or two bookstores in the area. You’ll get details in a newsletter and blog post in plenty of time. And February 14 I’ll be signing at good buddy Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Aside from that, I expect I’ll be spending February the way it’s meant to be spent—at home, with my feet up, reading.

And may I wish you the same? And may the book that you’re reading be one of mine? Excellent!

LB