Pulse: John Everson’s ‘Siren’ No. 1 on Kindle horror fiction charts
From Sun Staff and freelance reports February 7, 2013 7:50PM
John Everson’s book “Siren” was No. 1 on the Kindle horror fiction charts last weekend.
Updated: March 9, 2013 6:11AM
Finding his audience
‘Siren’ tops Kindle
horror fiction charts
When Naperville resident and author John Everson got online this past weekend, he found out he was No. 1 on the Kindle horror fiction charts.
“I’ve finished seven books now and six of them are out, and the folks at Amazon chose my fourth book ‘Siren’ as one of 100 featured e-books for less than $4,” Everson said. “It turns out, it’s in the top slot on their promotion, so people see the book right away and have really taken to it.”
Everson, 47, said that “Siren” was first published in 2010 by a New York mass market publisher who announced shortly after its publication that the company would no longer be in the mass market business. His best showing before this book was somewhere in the top 700 in the horror genre.
“That all but killed the sale of the fourth book, but now with e-books, it’s found an audience,” he said. “It’s going to be a couple of months before I see any royalty checks and know what the numbers are, but these e-books can easily sell 1,000 a month.”
For those who are curious, check the screen shot showing Everson’s leap up the charts at http://www.johneverson.com/wordplay/?p=4310
Excuses, excuses
Principal’s Friday
starts with a fright
Plenty of people are wont to say “thank goodness it’s Friday,” or something along those lines. But for a local public school principal, last Friday was more like a really, really bad Monday.
A written Naperville police report indicated officers about 8:10 a.m. Feb. 1 investigated a “disorderly conduct” complaint on the campus of Meadow Glens Elementary School. The school is at 1150 Muirhead Ave., east of The Meadows neighborhood in the east-central part of town.
Police took a “report of a student’s parent pulling out of (the student) drop off line too quickly, then speeding out of the lot, almost striking the principal, who was in the lot at the time,” the report read in part.
The principal escaped injury. The report went on to state the “parent advised (police) they did not see the principal in the lot.”
Among the best
Naperville Elite All-Star cheer team wins big
It may have been a showdown, but one local team used it as an opportunity to show off their cheerleading skills.
Naperville Elite All- Star Aspire team not only earned first place in their division, but earned the Grand Champion title for their efforts at the 2013 Showdown Grand National Championship from Feb. 2-3 in Schaumburg.
“Winning this meant the world to us,” said Trina Grant, who coaches the 30-member team along with her daughter Courtney. “Naperville Elite All-Star is a small gym. We don’t have 200-plus girls and our very own cheer gym like many of the other cheer locations in our area.
“Winning this was not about the trophies; winning this meant going out there and being able to compete at a competition this size and place in the top against some of the best cheer talent in the industry.”
More than 300 all-star cheer programs took part in the ninth annual competition that draws teams from across the Midwest.
“What impressed me the most about their performance this weekend was watching them take that stage with a determination and drive to give their all like I had never seen before,” said Grant, of Naperville. “Performing your routine is one thing, but performing it under such pressure is another. It takes a lot of courage, teamwork and will to succeed in order to do what these girls do.”
Along with the title, Naperville Elite All-Star Aspire team earned a paid bid to the U.S. finals, which gave them even more to cheer about.
To learn more about the team, visit www.neacheer.com
Couple of books
Gingriches to speak
at Anderson’s
Anderson’s Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville, will feature former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, on Feb. 20. Each will promote a new book.
Candace Purdom, who handles publicity and events, said this is the first husband-and-wife pairing with separate books that she can remember.
“We do get couples who are co-authors, but in this case, Callista is featuring ‘Land of the Pilgrim’s Pride,’ which is a children’s book, while Newt has written a historical novel called ‘Victory at Yorktown,’” Purdom said. “As always, we’re excited to have nationally known people like this come to Naperville and include us in their tour.”
A spokesperson for Callista’s publicity firm said that coming to Naperville was definitely on the radar for the Gingrich couple.
“Speaker and Mrs. Gingrich launched the American Legacy Book Tour this past November and have traveled to more than a dozen cities signing books and meeting people,” the publicist said. “When the opportunity came up for a trip to the Naperville area, we knew we had to try and set up a signing at Anderson’s Bookshop. ... It is the place every author hopes to have an event.”
The event begins at 7 p.m. Call 630-355-2665 for ticket information.
