"Bold Debut"

Kirkus Reviews had a near-death experience last winter, but it survived, and I'm glad it did, both for the literary culture in general and for my own career in particular. The new edition of the Kirkus Reviews 2010 Spring & Summer Preview is now available for download, and I am awestruck to be included along with the likes of Don DeLillo, Alice Walker, and Scott Turow. Here's the condensed version of my (p)review:

"One of the year’s boldest debuts comes from the woodsy wilderness of Maine, where Paul Doiron augments his day job as the editor-in-chief of Down East magazine with a new crime series.... Doiron’s fierce combination of wilderness know-how and old-school journalism has already earned him a three-book contract.”

I wish I were as good a journalist as this description makes me out to be. But I'll lay claim to the wilderness know-how.

How Did You Get Published?

The question is one of the most often asked of authors, and I am always inclined to quote the great line from Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises:

How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

That was my own path to publishing a novel: gradual, then sudden.

There's really no science to the process. I've always believed it's a matter of perseverance, talent, and luck (not necessarily in that order). Now fantasy writer Jim C. Hines has created a fascinating survey that backs up many of my preconceptions while throwing cold water on a few others. Hines asked 247 authors a number of questions about the path they took to publishing success. The methodology is admittedly flawed (this is back of the napkin science), but it makes for fascinating reading, whether you're writing your first book or your fifteenth. 

Hat tip: Tess Gerritsen.

Certified Platinum

The Poacher's Son is going to be published in a large-print edition with a library binding by Center Point, a publisher of large-print books. By happy coincidence, Center Point is located just down the road from me in Thorndike, Maine. I'm extremely happy with the cover design Minotaur created for my novel, but I feel like the Center Point cover is equally strong. The large-print version, part of the Platinum Mysteries series, will be published on June 28.

I haven't heard yet whether there will be an iPad version of The Poacher's Son, but given that Macmillan is one of the publishing houses that entered into an agreement with Apple to provide titles for iBooks, I'm assuming that will be the case.

Hopeless Romantic

Another good review today for The Poacher's Son, this one from Romantic Times magazine:

Doiron’s impressive debut is told through the eyes of the suspect’s estranged son. This is a literate tale of revenge, love and loyalty that uses the mysterious Maine woods as both a motive for the crime and a knob for ratcheting up the suspense. Though the prose is sometimes flat-footed, there are plenty of twists and surprises to keep the reader guessing until the very end. ★★★★