Category: Events

Countdown to Launch

~ M. L. Rio

Dear readers,

Today, we are two weeks away from Hot Wax pub day. It’s an exciting but incredibly busy time; if you’ve following me on social media, you’ve probably seen a lot of event announcements, some early reviews, and even some early swag. But I wanted to go ahead and send this reminder for those of you who are less chronically online.

The Hot Wax book tour starts one night early at the Strand in New York City; we’ll be in the rare books room on the second floor, and it’s worth the price of a ticket just to come and eyeball all the beautiful books. If you can’t make the launch, though, you New Yorkers have a second chance: we’re doing a special, one-off event at Rough Trade Below in Rockefeller Center, where I’ll be in conversation with Adam Weiner of the Tristate Area’s scrappiest rock band, Low Cut Connie. We’re going to spin some records and talk about all the music that went into the making of the book. I hope you’ll come out and jam with us.

If you’re outside of New York, never fear: we have so many events in September and October, there are pretty good odds I’ll be somewhere near your neck of the woods, signing books and taking questions and handing out bookmarks, stickers, buttons, crayons, candy, Matchbox cars, record store gift cards, and even (drumroll, please) these incredible tour posters designed by Hannah Taylor. It’s a real dream come true to have merch worthy of Gil & the Kills, the movers and shakers at the heart of Hot Wax. We have a hundred of these posters, and we’ll be giving one away–signed and numbered–at each of my events this fall.

If that’s not enough incentive, I don’t know what it is! We had such a blast on Graveyard tour last year and this time around we’ve pulled out all the stops, because everyone needs a little something to look forward to and with book bans cropping up all over the place and freedom of speech under threat, now is a real good time to come together and celebrate books. You can find working links to all of my upcoming appearances on the Events page. If you have questions, it’s best to reach out to the bookstore directly, as each event is a little different! If you think you want to come, jump on those tickets fast. Many of our events last year sold out, and the ones this fall are already filling up.

Finally, with just a few weeks left between me and pub day, I just want to say a little about pre-orders and how much they help support a book and the people who worked on it. Pre-ordering a book does a lot of good things: it helps the publisher decide how big the print run should be, which means we have enough copies for everyone at launch; it signals to bookstores and booksellers that this is a title worth stocking and talking about; and it helps our first-week sales numbers, which can make a big difference in the book’s future performance. Why do sales matter so much? Writing is an art, but at the end of the day, publishing is a business. Fabulous books like this cost money to edit and design and print and advertise. But sales numbers can also make or break an author: if the sales numbers aren’t good, good luck getting published again. I’ve lived it, and it’s heartbreaking. So if you want to support me and my work, this is one of the best and most impactful ways to do that. Thank to everyone who’s pre-ordered already, and thank you in advance to those of you haven’t yet. You can pre-order anywhere you get books: US pre-orders are here, and the UK is here.

I think it’ll be worth it, and worth the wait. I’ve been living in this book for a long time, and it’s turned into something really special. We can’t wait to share it with you.

M

HOT WAX Ireland Event

~ M. L. Rio

Great news for my pals in Ireland who have been patiently waiting (for years!) for an event in their neck of the woods: we’re bringing the Hot Wax world tour to Dublin on October 22nd.

You can find tickets and more information here. Hope to see you there!

HOT WAX US Tour Dates

~ M. L. Rio

Calling all road dogs!

The US Hot Wax tour is live. I’m so excited we’ll be able to bring this book to so many cities this fall, and it’s going to be an absolute blast. We’re working hard behind the scenes to bring you treats, tunes, tour merch, and so much more. It’s a really weird time to be promoting a book but now more than ever is a moment to fight for the arts and celebrate–loudly–everything that makes life colorful, vibrant, and worth living. I can’t wait to meet you all.

For tickets and more information, please contact hosting bookstores directly; you can find links on my Events page.

HOT WAX Pre-orders and UK Tour Dates

Featured ~ M. L. Rio

It’s been too quiet here for a little too long. But the good news is we’ve got good news worth sharing, so I’ll get right to the point. Hot Wax launch is just about three months away. It’s wild how fast this time has flown, but now that we’re really in the home stretch we can finally share some things with you.

The first is NetGalley requests and pre-order links. If you’re a NetGalley member, you can request the US edition of the book here and the UK edition here. Our galleys–both print and digital–are pretty limited, so if you don’t get lucky this time, don’t fret! We still have some giveaways coming up, and you can always pre-order the book: you can find the US edition here and the UK edition here (or anywhere you buy books. Foreign editions will be coming in 2026; translators need time to translate).

If you’re not sure what all the fuss is about pre-orders and why authors always seem to be crowing about them, here are the basics: healthy pre-orders really help a book succeed, for two reasons. The first is enthusiasm, which should never be underestimated. A good volume of pre-orders lets booksellers/bookstores know that people are excited about the title, which makes them more likely to read it, stock it, and promote it to their local audience. That kind of word of mouth can do wonders for the life of a book in an era where nobody knows what else can actually move the needle. The second thing that pre-orders do is streamline production. An author’s worst nightmare–and their publisher’s, too–is having huge demand for a book and not enough copies in the first print run to meet it. This is trickier guesswork than ever with the tariff-induced destabilization of global trade (most of our paper and printing materials come from Canada and China, for instance). Pre-orders also go a long way towards making sure that there are simply enough copies of a book to go around. And, finally, pre-orders count toward first week sales, which can be a huge help in bumping a book onto the bestseller list. If you’re looking to support your favorite authors fighting to make art as the market is glutted with AI slop, consider pre-ordering titles you’re really excited about. It matters more than you know!

Because we appreciate it so much, we’ve arranged two options to pre-order signed copies of Hot Wax. You can snag a signed copy from Head House Books here in the States and from Waterstones in the UK. And if you pre-order a signed copy, you can still get it personalized if you come see me on tour! Which brings me to our next little announcement: UK tour dates are live and you can book your tickets now. We’re really excited about this route. Because the turnout for Graveyard Shift was so spectacular and we had such a fantastic time, we’ve got even more events this year and we’re hoping nobody’s too far away to make it. But because most of these events did sell out in 2024, if you’re pretty sure you want to come, don’t sleep on grabbing tickets. (If you’re curious what these events are like, you can find some recordings of the Graveyard tour on the Links page.) With any other questions, please contact bookstores directly! You can find all those hyperlinks in this post here.

US tour dates are still in the works, but should be announced very soon! We’re just waiting to nail down a couple of holdouts and plot a good route because yep, you guessed it–I’ll be driving myself again this year. With a road trip book like this, it just wouldn’t be right to do it any other way.

Hope to see you out there!

US Tour Dates and Graveyard News

~ M. L. Rio

It’s been a busy couple of weeks behind the scenes for the Rio team but we have some great news. Graveyard Shift is an IndieNext pick for October and one of Amazon’s Best Mysteries & Thrillers of the month!

It’s so exciting to see this little book getting so much love from the bookselling community. We can’t wait to share it with readers, which brings me to our next piece of good news: we finally have our US tour finalized. You can find all the dates and relevant links on the Events page, or below. Some events are already sold out, so if you want to come get a book signed, grab your ticket now. (Be sure to check the links for the full lists, as some of our West Coast stops aren’t included on the graphic.) These events won’t be your typical book readings–we’ll have great conversation partners, prize drawings, and goodies for everyone–so I hope you’ll come and join the fun.

You can also catch me at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 29, or at the Southern Festival of Books on October 26-7. If you can’t make it to any of these dates or I’m not coming to your city, never fear: at least one of these events will be taped and watchable online. Details to come.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll consider preordering the book! Preorders go a long way to giving a book a healthy launch, and making sure enough copies are in circulation ahead of pub day to prevent supply chain problems. This one will go down fast, so don’t want to make you wait. And don’t forget, the fresh new paperback of If We Were Villains drops the same day. My hard copies arrived last week, and they are a sight to behold. Don’t sleep on those scarlet spredges.

Finally, if you’re interested in writing craft conversations and more regular behind-the-scenes updates, you can always keep track of me on socials and on Substack.

Wishing you some fall weather, finally. More soon.

UK Tour Dates

~ M. L. Rio

Delighted to be returning to the UK this fall for some Graveyard Shift events. I hope you’ll come out and get a book signed–it promises to be a spooky good time. You can grab tickets here (and grab them fast, because space is limited).

M

Upcoming Events

~ M. L. Rio

Checking in with a quick update from the first stop of my eight-week conference/wedding/speaking/research tour. I’m in Chicago at the moment for the Renaissance Society of America Conference, and really looking forward to continuing the scholastic conversation at Arizona State University next month. I’ll be making a few classroom appearances as well as doing a larger event open to the public on April 17, so if you’re in the Phoenix/Tempe area I hope you’ll come out and join us. This will be a rare opportunity to hear me talk about my creative writing and my academic research in tandem. I promise, not as boring as it sounds! You can find more info here.

I’ll also be making an appearance this Wednesday at the Charleston Craft & Canvas book club. If you can’t get enough of the Villains, this is a great opportunity to discuss the book with other fans of crime and mystery, and to do some collective crafting inspired by the story. Just to sweeten the deal, the organizer also happens to be the person who directed me in my first Shakespeare play when I was fourteen. It promises to be a great hang, so if you’re in or around Charleston, SC, I hope you’ll sign up. You can do that–and find more info–here.

Can’t wait to meet you.

M

End-of-year updates

~ M. L. Rio

Hard to believe 2023 is almost over, but here we are. Before we go gentle into that silent night of the holiday break, a few updates from Team Rio to close out the year:

  • Events: I’ll be in conversation with Olivie Blake to discuss The Atlas Complex, hosted by A Novel Idea here in Philadelphia on January 11. It’s a ticketed event (we’ll both be signing books), so if you want to be sure to get a seat, snag one soon. Details here and on the Events page.
  • Interviews: I had a long, in-depth conversation with the On the Write Track podcast a few months back, and it’s one of the most thorough “behind-the-scenes of publishing” interviews I’ve done recently. If you’re an aspiring author, just curious about how the business works, or interested in IWWV’s long, strange journey, it’s worth an hour of your time. Listen here or find it on the Links page.
  • Newsletter: If you’ve been seeing fewer posts here, it’s because I’m migrating most of my longer-form writing to Substack. That’s where you’ll find my thoughts on craft and the industry, plus travel updates, content recs and roundups, and opportunities to post comments and ask questions. I recently started a series on one of my favorite (and every other writer’s least favorite) subjects: revision. If you’re curious, you can read the first post here. Subscription is free, for now, and it’s the best way to stay up-to-date. Now’s a good time to subscribe, because we have some big things coming in 2024. I can’t talk about it yet, but I’m really excited to do that when the time comes.

Finally, don’t forget that supply chain issues are still a thing. If you want to gift books to friends and family this year, here’s your nudge to order them now, and your reminder to be patient with booksellers. They’re under a lot of pressure. Give them the benefit of the doubt. And support small businesses and indie bookstores whenever you can.

More soon.

M

New York, New Events, and New Releases

~ M. L. Rio

A few quick updates as we approach the end of September. Firstly, the In These Hallowed Halls anthology is finally out in the world. You can buy it from many bookstores, or find your preferred online retailer here. To help celebrate the release, I signed stock of both Villains and the anthology at eight different bookstores in New York City this past week. You can find a list of them on this thread on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Finally, I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be helping kick off Spooky Season at one of my favorite indie bookstores. I hope you’ll join us at the Book & Cover (Chattanooga, TN) on October 2 at 7pm. Please note this is a ticketed event and tickets are going fast, so grab yours before they’re gone.

Hope to see you soon.

M

Reddit AMA

~ M. L. Rio

Missed my last AMA? Never fear, because we’ve got a new one on the books for Friday, May 5 at 12 pm ET on the r/books thread. (You can find me under the username M-L-Rio.) Mark your calendars and bring your questions!

M