That’s what the calendar says, and it’s never lied to me in the past. I could muse on the ever-more-rapid passage of time in its flight, but more time would fly while I was musing, and who needs that? Instead I’ll get down to the business of the moment, which consists of trying to compose a whole newsletter without once mentioning the movie that’s opening September 19th.

Well, that shouldn’t be too hard. Because there’s a lot to talk about.

First, our eBay auction—because it closes Tuesday. I discussed the 11 lots in the last newsletter, and won’t go through them again now; they’re conveniently grouped together here. As you’ll see, they’ve all advanced from their 99¢ openings, and it’s up to you where they wind up.

There are two more additions to our eBay store that I should mention. One’s a lot of eight different Burglar paperbacks, all of them signed, most of them in brand-new condition. We’ve got ten lots available—or did as of this writing—and I don’t expect them to last. The price is $49.99 + $3.99 shipping, and I’m afraid we’re filling US orders only on this item.

We’ve been selling Jerrold Mundis’s Break Writer’s Block Now for years; I bought the remaining stock when the publisher retired it, and it’s the one book I didn’t write that I carry in the bookstore. The price has varied some over the years—we moved a lot of copies at $24.99—but we’ve got too many copies on hand so we slashed the price dramatically. You can now get a hardcover copy of this invaluable little book for just $4.99 plus shipping.

But wait—there’s more!

Because we really want to free up storeroom space, and because good friends like y’all deserve a bargain, we’re offering ten-copy wholesale lots at a deep discount: $29.99 with free shipping. You can stock up for resale, provide copies for all the members of your writer’s group, or check off a batch of writer friends on your Christmas list. And, as with the Burglar lot, this offer is US-only. We’re happy to fill international order for single copies, but the postal red tape on bulk orders is more than we’re able to cope with.

Now on to other matters, specifically concerning that nonpareil of small-press publishing, Subterranean Press. Their hardcover first edition of Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf goes on sale September 30. (You can pre-order it now from Amazon or direct from the publisher.) The book contains an even dozen Ehrengraf stories, two of which are published here for the first time.

We’ll be bringing out an ebook at the same time, and our audiobook, brought to life by voice artist Don Sobczak, should be on sale even sooner, probably by the middle of this month; I’ll announce it and link to it as soon as it’s ready to be downloaded.

We’ve also arranged for Subterranean to bring out a hardcover trade edition of Bernie Rhodenbarr’s most recent appearance, The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons. Our trade paperback edition continues to sell well, and so does our ebook, but the only US hardcover edition has been our leather-bound limited edition, which at $79.99 is a little pricey for non-collectors, and out of the question for libraries. The Subterranean hardcover edition, with a new cover and a new interior design, is slated for release in April.

And what else is there to tell you? Well, why don’t I just copy and paste an item I found online:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133 Paid in Kindle Store
  • #1in Books > Mystery > Hard-Boiled
  • #1 in Kindle Store >Mystery > Hard-Boiled
  • #1 in Kindle Store >Noir