Sigler nabbs starred review in Publishers Weekly
Chances are, none of you have ever read Publishers Weekly. Yet I’ll bet a good number of you are familiar with the name of the publication, as it’s bandied about on dust jacket covers and any ads for books you might have seen. This is the trade magazine for the publishing industry, and getting you book covered inside of its pages is a Very Big Thing.
And when it comes to getting Very Big Things to happen for him, Scott Sigler is the master. His first hard-cover release, Infected (have you seen this page yet?) received the following starred review last week:
* Infected Scott Sigler. Crown, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-307-40610-1
In Sigler’s riveting horror thriller, alien seeds from outer space infect a number of unlucky humans, who develop some unusual symptoms—itchy, blue triangular growths on their skin—that eventually result in the carriers becoming screaming, homicidal maniacs. CIA agent Dew Phillips must find out why these formerly docile citizens are running amok, aided by Margaret Montoya, a Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist, who reported the first of the strange cases. One of the infected, former football player Perry Dawsey, doesn’t take any crap from anybody, not even the aliens residing in his body. Sigler (Ancestor) leads the reader from one startling detail to the next—the creatures learn to speak (“feed us we hungry”); they grow little black eyes—until even hardened genre fans will find themselves whimpering at each new revelation. This terrifying page-turner could be the author’s breakout book, fueled by an extensive online podcast campaign. 5-city author tour. (Apr.)
OK, so what? He got written up in a magazine that none of you are going to read. Well, the big deal is who is reading this magazine. It’s the people who make decisions on what books will be carried in their bookstores. Ma and Pa Bookie read this magazine. But so does Joe Book Buyer, who’s trolling for titles to place in the hundreds (?) of Barnes and Noble stores across the country. Overseas, too.
And that’s what makes this special. Sure, the podosphere and blogosphere will embrace Scott and this launch. After all, he’s One of Us. But this is outside of us, in that crazy thing the kids are calling “RL” (real life). Not only did PW consider Scott’s book worthy of inclusion in their magazine, they gave it a starred review, and that’s as strong of an endorsement as they can give. To someone who gave (hell, is giving) his book away for free. Incredibly cool. For all of us.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:22 am
That so ROCKS Scott. Excellent review. There is no question that you are the leader of the charge into print from the podosphere.
I, for one, am in awe of your marketing skills. The writing’s not bad either.
With the number podiobooks members who are going to print this year, it is going to be a big year.