I think I ought to get David Trevor to write all my newsletters. Yesterday morning an appeal from an Australian reader sent him searching for a long-lost box of Write For Your Life, the sole survivors from 1986. Around noon I sent out a newsletter he’d written, replete with ways for you to spend your money on my books, and he must have a gift for that sort of thing, because the orders came in a mighty stream.

We had 25 copies of Write For Your Life, and three hours after the Vertical Response people stuffed the newsletter into all of your eMailboxes, we’d sold 26. (No,that’s not a misprint. We sold the 25 we listed—but Michele, the Queenslander who started it all, woke up too late to get one. So David found the copy I’d inscribed to my mother [1912-2001], and pointed out gently that Michele could give it a good home. And off it goes to Australia.

If you were one of the many who got to our eBay store after th WFYL shelf went empty, our apologies. The book’s eVailable for under $5, but print has its advantages. I’d want a printed copy of this title myself—and *light bulb goes off over head* I no longer have one myself, thanks to David.

I think I’ll have to republish it—but not for a while. When I do, be assured I (or David) will let you know.

WFYL was not yesterday’s only sales success. David devoted much of the newsletter to urging signed copies of THE BURGLAR WHO COUNTED THE SPOONS upon you, promising immediate shipment in advance of the December 25th release date. Well, we had a good stock of books on hand—but fewer, I’m afraid, than the orders that flooded in.

The good news is that we’d already re-ordered, and should have additional copies very soon. (They have to come up here from Charleston, so perhaps the storm will provide a tailwind. Let’s hope that’s how it works.) Many of you who ordered will indeed get your copy by return mail; if not, it should be along soon, and well ahead of Christmas.

David touted some other specials, and I’m pleased to report that they’re all in good supply, and he stands ready to ship them to you. But let me quote from the newsletter:

And now some Orange Wednesday specials. These are all in LB’s eBay Bookstore, and the low prices are not guaranteed past December 1:

A Drop of the Hard Stuff. The Mulholland Books hardcover first edition. We’ve cut the price from $24.99 all the way to $9.99!  And the trade paperback’s also reduced—from $14.99 to $5.99!

Break Writer’s Block Now! by Jerrold Mundis. LB’s been recommending (and selling) this one for years. On special now at $9.99.

The Burglar in the Rye. A signed hardcover first edition of the ninth book in the series for only $9.99. Same price for Bernie #4—The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza.

The Specialists. LB’s one-book series, a signed hardcover first edition at the giveaway price of $4.99.

Stamps from the Keller Collection. The signed souvenir sheet, extras left over from last year’s Limited Edition of Hit Me. These flew out of here when we listed them, but we still have a few left at $9.99 postpaid.

Many of our listings are very inexpensive, $9.99 or less, and quite a few of these are one-of-a-kind. A tip: sort the listings by “Lowest Price First” to see the bargain prices all in one place. This link should do the sorting for you.

Of course, we’ve got some high-ticket items as well: Dark Harvest’s hardcover first editions of The Sins of the Fathers and Time to Murder and Create, a deluxe hardcover Collector’s Edition of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man, and the very scarce UK first edition of Even the Wicked. These are all $99.99 apiece. And, sometime after the first of the year, I’ll be listing for auction some rarities from the back of the storage bin—first editions of early Burglar and Scudder titles, and some original manuscripts, inclluding (if he lets me sell it) the complete handwritten manuscript of Tanner on Ice.

There you go. Order with a vengeance, and in a day or two I’ll post another apology when we run out of something else.

LB