The Inner Sanctum

Celebrated crime master James Lee Burke returns with a gorgeously crafted, brutally resonant chronicle of violence along the Texas-Mexico border in FEAST DAY OF FOOLS, out September 27.

Below, read Burke’s note of thanks to booksellers!

Dear Bookseller,

I learned long ago that the success of a book is not dependent on simply the author’s personal investment of time and work in it. Ultimately many people share in the production and sale of a book and the influence it has on others. However, only one name appears on the jacket and of it course it’s the author’s. But every professional writer knows the reality: His book would not be a success if others had not made a very large contribution to it. Those who edit and proofread, and do the artwork and flap copy, and create the ads and shepherd the manuscript through the long process of production each turn the book into something larger than the original work. Then comes the time when the book hits the shelves. This is when an author learns how booksellers and bookstore owners and his publisher’s sales team affect an author’s career in ways he had not imagined.

I was on the book circuit for fifteen years and my wife and I did thirty-five-city tours and attended most of the major book conventions and during that time we made many wonderful friends. Some of them changed my career. They hand-sold my books at every opportunity, mentioned my name to media whenever they could, introduced the books to Hollywood studios, and one lady, on her own, even started a bidding war that resulted in my being able to quit my teaching job and write full time. I can never adequately repay these people.

It’s a great pleasure to be a writer, because the world of books is made up of decent and intelligent men and women who are not only people of good will but who are fun to be with. I wouldn’t trade my life for all the money in the world, and the reason I have the life I do is in large part due to the wonderful people I’ve been privileged to know in the book business.

Anyway, this is just a small note of thanks to all of you out there who have been so loyal to me and my work. I’ll always be indebted to you.

James Lee Burke

If you would like to read FEAST DAY OF FOOLS, email Wendy.Sheanin@SimonandSchuster.com for an ARC.

After 8 years in the making, Susan Orlean’s RIN TIN TIN: The Life and the Legend (Simon & Schuster, Hardcover: 9781439190135, October 2011) is finally here—almost! Her newest novel since The New York Times bestseller The Orchid Thief, Rin Tin Tin is the story of the world’s most famous canine.

Read an excerpt from the Publishers Lunch’s BUZZ REVIEW below:

“Susan Orlean’s work has long circled the eccentric cauldron bubbling above the dutiful fire of American life. Orlean’s journalistic gifts have led her to souls who socialize on Saturday nights, the intoxicating originality of misunderstood artists like The Shaggs, and the wayward passions of orchid collectors. Now Orlean has discovered another effervescent subject hiding in plain sight: a cultural canine with a remarkably resilient heritage. You don’t have to be a dog enthusiast or a couch potato to appreciate this hearty tale, for Rin Tin Tin’s ascent and duration coincides with several high points throughout the 20th century…. In telling Rin Tin Tin’s story, Orlean makes a persuasive case that placing your heart in a singular pursuit eventually reveals the human essence.”

If you want an Advance Reader’s Copy, email Wendy.Sheanin@SimonandSchuster.com.