Marketing and Publlicity
New York Times Sunday Book Review!
No need to wait until Sunday! The New York Times Sunday Book Review was published online this afternoon, and (I still cannot believe it) my book, Something Missing, was included! My book. My name. In the Sunday Book Review. The review is short but very positive, and it’s the third book listed. I still can’t…
Read MoreIn good company
The Hartford Courant published a blurb about my appearance tonight at RJ Julia entitled “Mathew Dicks and Dr. Ruth.” Surprisingly, I received considerably more attention than the famed sex therapist in the short piece. I never envisioned my name being published alongside that of Dr. Ruth. Matthew Dicks and a world-renowned German sex therapist. Let…
Read MoreUncles can apparently sell books, too.
Not to be outdone by my mother-in-law… My Uncle Bob recently sent me some copies of Something Missing to sign and return to him so he could give them out as gifts. He also provided me with a FedEx shipping label to cover the cost of their return, and I assumed that his address and…
Read MoreThe best of all booksellers
I have some fantastic people working to promote my book: my agent, my editor, my publicist, and all of the booksellers working for my publisher and staffing fine bookstores everywhere. But sometimes, I wonder if my mother-in-law might not be the best of the bunch. I received this email today: So I went into Posner’s…
Read MoreIs “Something Missing” a bestseller yet?
Many people, friends, and strangers, via email, Facebook, Twitter, and in person, have asked me how the book is doing in the bookstores. Unsure myself, I asked my editor, who explained that it could take a while to find out how a book is doing. “Right now, we’re delighted with the number in-print and out…
Read MoreBook clubs: A good use of my time? Or just plain fun?
As a first-time novelist, the publishing process is new to me, so I’m not quite sure what typical authors do to promote their books, communicate with readers, and make themselves available to the general public. I have wonderful people at Broadway working with me, but I’m also trying to do my part, using Twitter, Facebook,…
Read MoreProduct placement
In reading some of my Amazon reviews (I know I shouldn’t, but they’re still very good), I noticed that two people commented on the specificity to which I wrote about specific brand names in Something Missing, wondering if I received money from the companies mentioned as a form of product placement. Indeed a fascinating idea,…
Read MoreTrade paper
The decision has been made to publish Something Missing as a trade paperback original rather than a hardback. Doubleday’s marketing department believes that the book will do better in trade paper. My agent explained it to me this way: The price point would be lower (paperbacks sell for about $14 while hardbacks sell for $22).…
Read MoreMore kind words
Another blurb for Something Missing came in yesterday, this one from David Rosen, author of I Just Want My Pants Back. He writes: “A funny, suspenseful, and thoroughly original debut that will keep you up to the wee hours flipping pages, having to explain your bloodshot eyes the next day. Damn you, Matthew Dicks —…
Read MoreMore on the Border’s Book Club selection
As a Border’s book club pick, Something Missing will get three face-outs in a bay at the front of the store and will be discounted by 20%. It also appears that I will have the opportunity to appear on Border’s book club channel and that a Q&A, reading guide, and an excerpt of the book…
Read More