South Dakota Signing Marks 48th State Appearance (news) with William Manchee on AuthorsDen

Since the release of his first book Twice Tempted in the Spring of 1997 Manchee has appeared at over 380 events, mostly book signings at Barnes and Noble, Hastings and Waldenbooks. During those events he estimates he has shaken hands with over 17,000 readers in 180 cities in 48 states. In the next year he expects to reach his goal of doing at least one signing in every state of the Union when he travels to Alaska and Hawaii.

Shortly after Manchee was published by a small Canadian press he realized, much to his dismay, that his publisher would be doing very little to promote his book. But by this time he had realized that writing was his true passion in life and had no intention of letting anything get in the way of success.
He immediately began researching and experimenting with various marketing techniques. It wasn't long before he learned a reality of the publishing industry--the major presses had a lock on the distribution system and it was extremely difficult for an author from a small press to get their titles into the bookstores. In fact, the only sure way it seemed was to talk the store into letting the author have a signing at their store. If they agreed, they would buy books, and hopefully, keep them in stock after the signing was over.
This certainly wasn't what Manchee expected when he set out to write the "the great American novel. "I was very naive. I thought when my book was published it would automatically end up in the bookstores, airports and the local grocery store," he laughs. "What a joke that turned out to be. Anyway, I finally accepted the fact that I was going to have lots of signings--and I mean lots, literally hundreds of signings to get my novels out there were people could find them."
Manchee set a goal of traveling to every state of the Union to promote his novel. His wife Janet travels with him. "I couldn't have done it without Janet's support. She's a great traveling companion."
Now Manchee has six novels under his belt with his new one, Ca$h Call, coming out in September 2002. Last week he had his 380th event at Little Professor Bookstore in Aberdeen, South Dakota. "I haven't been to a lot of independent stores, but I plan to that more with Cash Call. I've been to almost a hundred Barnes & Nobles, Waldenbooks, and Hastings. Those three chains have been my greatest supporters. In fact, they carry my novels in many of their stores across the nation," Manchee said.
In the next year he intends to complete his goal of going to all 50 states. "I plan the last state to be Hawaii. When its all over, my wife and I will relax and enjoy ourselves for a week or two before returning home to Dallas. Maybe by then I'll be able to retire from practicing law and write full time--that's my next goal," he reveals.
"It would be nice to be able to concentrate strictly on writing. In the past it has been hard juggling a law practice, writing and promoting. I think with more time and fewer distractions I could produce some really great stuff.

Web Site: William Manchee's Website