Yesterday I told you I’m live tonight at the Maryland Writers Association, 7:30 pm in the annex building of the Chesapeake Arts Center, 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, Maryland. But I’m lots of places on the internet too.

Just when I thought I’d used up all the places to expose myself online I discovered Axis Avenue - http://www.axisavenue.com/author/1163/austin-s-camacho. This group says it’s dedicated to helping authors market themselves to a wider audience, while also giving readers a new outlet to creativity. For us, Axis Avenue is an online network of both up-and-coming and established authors. Writers can create a profile that showcases their work and tells readers a little bit about themselves. I like to establish a personal connection with readers, turning them from casual browsers to loyal readers.

Readers can use the site to search for authors by name or genre, or just browse until something catches your eye. It’s easy to discover new authors and books that would otherwise go unnoticed in a bookstore. And, by registering, you also have the opportunity to drop listed authors a line and communicate with them one-on-one about their books. You can’t do that at the bookstore!

I’m coming up on a busy week in Maryland. It starts tomorrow when I address this month’s meeting of the Maryland Writers Association. I’ll chat with the members on “The Joy and Challenge of Marketing Fiction,” which really is rather different from marketing nonfiction books. My speech will be short because I’ll want to leave lots of question and answer time. Meetings are held every month at 7:30 pm in the annex building of the Chesapeake Arts Center, 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, Maryland.

Friday I signed books at the third Borders Books store in Washington Dulles International Airport.  They’ve closed a few gates in Terminal B so business wasn’t as brisk as it was in the other two stores.  Still it was well worth my time and the folks there are always so friendly I’ll go back for another try later in the year.

Sunday’s signing at the Hard Bean Coffee and Booksellers was a new experience: outdoors during parents’ week in Annapolis, the home of the Naval Academy.  The city was packed with people, although it was a bit warm for an outdoor event.

On line, I was one of several authors quoted about character development on Candid Canine, the charming blog that is home to Petey the Dachshund from "Searching for a Starry Night," A Miniature Art Mystery from Christine Verstraete, one of my Echelon Publishing stable mates.  The book is perfect for young readers.  The blog is great for new authors.

I recently read of an author who made great sales doing telephone conference calls with book clubs. Of course when I mentioned this to a few fellow writers I immediately got all the reasons why it won’t work. Well, I’ll seek out a list of such clubs anyway, and see if I can make contact. If you’re in a book club and would like an author to join you at a meeting by telephone, shoot me an e-mail.

And to my author friends: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember: amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic.

As good as the chain stores have been to me, there are a few private stores that I hold dear to my heart.  One of them is the Hard Bean Coffee and Booksellers at 36 Market Space in Annapolis, MD.  This place has been very kind to local authors and I’ll be there tomorrow from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.  If you’re anywhere near this fine establishment, drop in Sunday.  Mention that you read about my signing on line and I will buy you one of the finest cups of coffee you have ever had.

Tomorrow I return to one of those airport stores everyone has been talking about.  This time it’s the Borders in Washington Dulles International Airport.  I’ll greet new friends there from 1 pm to 5 pm - and I know it will be new friends because airport stores have a steady flow of new folks.

I like to feature interesting web sites in this space, even when the site is my own.  I always feature the feedback and reviews I receive on my web site, and I’m way behind highlighting some of my friends.  For those not yet mentioned, please forgive me - I promise to get to you.  For the rest of you, I’d like to introduce Jensen Dobbins.

Jensen is one of my younger fans.  His parents bought him a copy of Blood and Bone for Christmas.  He waited until school was finished for the year to read it, but when he did he sent me a very nice email thanking me for signing it.  I want to thank Jensen for being a young reader, a vanishing resource in our country.  Read his review of Blood and Bone.

I get emails from writers every week asking questions, or advice or just for the benefit of my experience.  I always send a thoughtful reply and whether or not it’s helpful it’s always sincere.  I try to make whatever I know available to anyone who wants it. 

I’ve been ask why I give it away in emails, at seminars and at conferences.  Well, it feeds my ego of course, but there’s more to it than that.  I figure it’s payback, or maybe pay forward, for all the people who gave me advice and shared their experience when I was trying to figure out this writing thing.  Somebody told me what I needed to know, and when I tell someone else I think at some future time they’ll give it away to another, younger writer.  It could go on for generations, a little bit of me passed down like a verbal inheritance.

So whether you’re an author, a carpenter or an accountant, you’re good at something and I encourage you to share your knowledge. It’s one way to live forever.

I’m the victim of my own success in an unexpected way. After four successful book signings at Books-A-Million stores their supply chain is so back-ordered for my novels that the next four of their stores have had to cancel my book-signings. Luckily Borders hasn’t had this problem, so I was able to greet my old friends at the Borders Express in Dulles Town Center Mall this afternoon.  It’s always a good time and fans who bought one of my books keep returning to pick up another.

And it was another week of guest spots around the internet.  A fellow crime novelist, Charlotte Phillips, mentioned me in her Author’s Den blog on July 27th about "preparing for multi-author events."  Charlotte’s first novel, "Hacksaw" debuted in October and she’s following my lead by getting involved in a local writer’s group to boost her sales.

Then the "Books and Magazines Blog" picked up a piece from my MySpace Blog talking about my being picked up on MJ Rose’s blog.  THIS blog is really a compilation of popular books reviews and information on buying books and magazine online.  You’ll have to flip back to July 28th to see the reference to me, but there is a lot of good stuff along the way

And then my good friend and more literary writer Leslie Pietrzyk gave me a wonderful write-up on her blog, "Work-in-Progress" on which she explores the creative process and all things literary.  Leslie is the kindest of bloggers, always including lots of links to a writer’s books and web site. She also was commenting on my success with book signings in airport stores.  BTW, you don’t have to go to an airport to check out Leslie’s own great writing   But in the meantime, check out her blog.

It looks like I’ve really started something because the airport bookstore idea was also featured on "Mike’s Writing Workshop and Newsletter."  MIke Geffner puts his compendium out monthly, filled with musings, inspiration, and advanced advice for writers of all levels and genres.  You’ll have to scroll down quite a ways to find me, but again, there’s lots of valuable info here.

This weekend I get to do another signing in a familiar place.  Tomorrow it’s another round of book-signing at the Borders Express in Dulles Town Center Mall.  That one’s right after church, from noon to 4 pm so if you’re near the mall, at 21100 Dulles Town Circle, Dulles, VA come say hi.