John Grisham

Famous Authors Want to Help Me With My Key Words!

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My new novel FALLEN STAR came out yesterday… so naturally I heard today from a slew of famous authors I don’t know offering to help me market my book… like this email from Suzzane Collins.

Hello Lee,

I hope this message finds you well. I recently came across your work and wanted to take a moment to reach out. As a fellow author, I’ve always believed one of the most fulfilling parts of this journey is connecting with writers who share a genuine passion for storytelling and creative expression.

For reference, here’s my official Amazon information: Book: Sunrise Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)
Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001H6V7I0

I’d love to learn more about your writing journey and any current projects you’re working on. If you’d like, please feel free to share your author page or book link—I’d be delighted to take a look and support your work.

Wishing you continued inspiration and every success in your creative endeavors,
Suzzane Collins
contact.suzzanecollinsbooks@gmail.com

Suzzane Collins has had a successful and prolific career writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Collins made her mark in children’s literature with the New York Times bestselling five-book series for middle-grade readers The Underland Chronicles, which has received numerous accolades in both the United States and abroad. In the award-winning The Hunger Games trilogy, Collins continues to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age. Collins lives with her family in Connecticut.

Naturally, I was very excited that she wanted to hear about my “writing journey” and look at my author page. But when I suggested to her that she might not really be Suzzane, boy, did she set me straight:

Your loss. I actually wanted to refer you to an agent who can help you with your problem you have been facing since you published your book.

I didn’t know I needed an agent, or had a problem facing me with my book in the last 24 hours. I feel like such a fool now. But luckily, after I heard from her, I got a note from John Grisham.

Hello Lee Goldberg,

Some stories leave a lasting impression and yours feels like one of them. I came across your book and could immediately sense the passion and effort you’ve poured into it. It’s the kind of story that deserves a much wider audience.

Many great authors face challenges not because their work lacks quality, but because it doesn’t reach enough of the right readers. A few smart strategies can change that from optimizing keywords readers actually search for, to generating authentic reviews that boost visibility through Amazon’s algorithm. Those small shifts can make your book stand out, earn trust, and attract consistent engagement.

I’ve seen these methods help authors turn quiet launches into thriving titles that readers genuinely recommend and discuss. If you’re open to it, I’d love to share a few tailored insights to help your book gain the attention it deserves all fully within Amazon’s guidelines.

Warm regards,
John Grisham
info.johngrisham0@gmail.com

John Grisham is the author of more than fifty consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Boys From Biloxi, The Judge’s List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

I know it has to really be him, because he loves reaching out to authors he doesn’t know to offer “tailored insights” for their Amazon marketing strategies…and always includes his photo and bio in his emails. It’s the mark of authenticity! I think we’re going to be best friends.

But first, I need to respond to the email I got from JK Rowling…

Paul Levine Grills Jake Lassiter, Gets Punched Out

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StateVsLassiter_FINAL COVER 8-24I invited my friend, bestselling author Paul Levine, to write a guest blog about his new book, “State vs. Lassiter,” tenth in his acclaimed series about the former linebacker who became a night school Miami lawyer of dubious ethics.  Professing to be too lazy to do a blog item, Paul instead interviewed his protagonist with predictably hilarious results.

 Paul:  You look like you’re still in shape to play for the Miami Dolphins.  How do you do it?

Jake:  Being fictional helps.  By the way, you look like pelican crap. 

Paul:  You’re just peeved because I got you indicted for murder in the new book.

Jake:  I don’t get “peeved.”  I get pissed, and when I do, someone gets decked.

Paul:  Let me ask you a tough question.

Jake:  Take your best shot, scribbler.

Paul:   You’ve been called many things.  “Shyster.”  “Mouthpiece.”  “Shark.”

Jake: Careful, pal.  They don’t call me a shark for my ability to swim.

Paul:   But murderer?

Jake: I’m not bad.  You just write me that way.

Paul:   Okay, in “State vs. Lassiter,”  your client’s money goes missing…

Jake: I never stole from a client, bribed a judge, or threatened a witness, and until this    bum rap, the only time I was arrested, it was a case of mistaken identity.

Paul:   How’s that?

Jake: I didn’t know the guy I hit was a cop.

Paul:   Okay, at the start of the book, you’re having an affair with a beautiful woman who  also happens to be your banker.

Jake: So sue me.  Women think I look like a young Harrison Ford.

Paul:   One keystroke, I’ll turn you into an old Henry Ford.  You and your lady are having a fancy dinner on Miami Beach.  She threatens to turn you in for skimming client funds, and next thing we know, she’s dead…in your hotel suite at the Fontainebleau.

Jake: Is there a question in there, counselor?

Paul:   What happened?

Jake: I take the Fifth.  Every heard of it?

Paul:   You go on trial for murder.

Jake: Hold your horses.  No spoilers!

Paul:   “Hold your horses?”  What are you, an extra in “Gunsmoke?”

Jake: Sorry if I’m not hip enough for you, scribbler.  You won’t find my mug on  Facebook.  I don’t have a life coach, an aroma therapist, or a yoga instructor, and I don’t do Pilates.

Paul:   So you’re not trendy.  You’re not a Yuppie.

Jake:  I’m a carnivore among vegans, a brew and burger guy in a Chardonnay and paté world. 

Paul:   You’re a throwback, then?

Jake:  If that’s what you call someone with old friends, old habits, and old values.

Paul:   May I quote one of the five-star reviews on Amazon.com?

Jake:  Do I have a choice?

Paul:   “Blend the wit of Carl Hiaasen with the dialogue of Elmore Leonard and throw in John Grisham’s courtroom skills, and you have Jake Lassiter.”

Jake:  Makes me wish one of those guys was writing me.

Paul:   Bring us up to date.  You first appeared in “To Speak for the Dead” in 1990.

Jake:  Yeah, and they made a TV movie a few years later with Gerald McRaney.  My ass is better looking than him.

Paul:   Who should play you in a movie?

 Jake:  Easy.  The Duke.

Paul:   John Wayne?  You’re kidding.

Jake:  “I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on.”  Sort of sums it up, don’t it?

Paul:   “State vs. Lassiter” is your tenth book.  But you’re facing life in prison.  Is this the end?

Jake:  Not entirely up to me, is it scribbler?

Paul:   I’m thinking it’s time you hang up your shingle, no matter what happens in the trial.

Jake: (Reaches across the table and pops Paul with a left jab.  Ka-pow!). 

Paul:   Ouch!  What the hell!

Jake:  What’s the matter, noodle neck?  You don’t think I’d be a good jailhouse lawyer?

(“State vs. Lassiter” is available in paperback at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and as an e-book exclusively at Amazon Kindle.  More information on Paul Levine’s Website.)