Darden North, MD

http://www.youtube.com/user/dardennorth#p/a/u/0/zq4ZIVFIvBg Recently I was asked to be the featured speaker at my local library to kick-off the annual membership drive for the Friends of the Jackson (MS) Library held at the downtown Eudora Welty Library. At the last minute, I handed my digital camera to a friend and asked her to take a few pictures. My presentation included a discussion of my writing career balanced with being a doctor and then was followed by a reading from my third novel FRESH FROZEN. I also threw in an excerpt of my work-in-progress, planned fourth novel, WIGGLE ROOM. My friend had the insight to use the video feature of the camera and recorded the majority of the talk, even though handicapped by the absence of a tripod or HD camera features. I took my "free" video and had it professionally edited by Leslie LaCour of Hazel House Marketing for an hourly fee and then posted it on YouTube. I think it turned out to be a nice piece, suitable for inclusi...

A nice bit of fan email from D.B., who lives down the road a piece from Jackson: Hi, Dr. North! I finally read all of your books and I loved them! I had actually read Points of Origin first which was a few years ago. Then I purchased House Call and Fresh Frozen at this year's Mistletoe. I loved all the twists of House Call! And the end was so unexpected!! Thank you, D.B. A little bit of encouragement and praise go a long way. ----- Darden North

I recently conducted a little experiment in book marketing, placing an ad on FaceBook promoting the release of my three mystery/medical thriller novels as eBooks. The materials utilized for the experiment were no more than my laptop, a little electricity, a high speed cable Internet connection, and a credit card --- as well as some spare time that I did not have. (Perhaps I should have spent the minutes moving past page 100 of my work–in–progress, a fourth novel tentatively titled Wiggle Room .) The results of my non-scientific experiment are detailed in this essay and presented in the guise of a blog entry on my author’s website. While it is meant primarily to interest other authors or maybe publishers, I hope the piece is clever enough for my book fans as well. I was intrigued when author Jeffrey Marks recently reported his own experience with advertising on FaceBook, publishing an article and follow-up piece in the Mystery Writers of America newsletter. I decided to see for myself...