Originally Published on August 7, 2026

A Jury of Readers

A jury summons in your mailbox is about as welcome as a case of pink eye. But seeing as how the alternative is a justice system in which we have no say, maybe it's best not to complain too much. Besides, civic duty and all that.

So when my summons came, I drove the 40 miles out to the county courts, hoping I wouldn't actually be called to be a trial juror.

No such luck. I was Juror #12. I almost dodged it. Almost.

If you've ever served on a jury, you know that a big part of it is sitting in a room that you can't leave with a dozen people you don't know. Conversation is scarce, since you can't talk about the case with your fellow jurors until the deliberations begin, at the end of the trial. Cell phones and boredom are ascendant.

In other words, a captive audience for a new author and his book.

Oh yeah, I went there. In fact, I went there with four copies of my book.

On the first day, I told my fellow jurors that I had just published my first novel this year, that it was a sci-fi thriller set in 1928, that it was awarded a star by Kirkus, and that I was giving away the paperback. I asked if anyone in the room needed reading material. One juror was excited about it, and gladly took the book.

I put a second copy of the book on the table and told the others that anyone who wanted it could keep it. A second juror took that one. By lunchtime, she told me that she was not only going to leave a review for me, but that she'd already gone onto Amazon and forwarded the book link to her book club. Wow.

A third juror overheard that and asked if I had any more copies. Of course I did. He took the third one.

I put the last book on the table. No one took it. But I brought it back the next day, anyway.

That turned out to be a good idea. One of the jurors left his cell phone in the car. He read the first five chapters before lunch. He asked if he could keep the book. Of course, I said. Just leave a review when you're done.

Well, at some point, we had to find justice for the man accused of a crime, so I promised my fellow jurors (after being certain no one else wanted a book) that I wouldn't bring in any more books. The trial came to a close three days later, and we deliberated. Guilty on all counts, the poor bastard.

Our work was done. Our foreperson handed in the paper with the verdict, and we waited to be called back into the courtroom. The court officer told us it would be another hour before the attorneys and judge came back from lunch, so we just sat in the jury room and munched on the pizza they'd brought in for us.

That's when I told them about the audiobook.

I'd be happy to give out a promotional code to anyone interested in hearing it; they could download the audiobook from Audible for free. Of course, the court officer had collected our cell phones during deliberations, so I didn't have the codes just then. So I gave out my author business card with a promise to email a code to anyone who contacted me. Everyone wanted a card.

• Five days of jury duty
• Four print books given out
• Twelve audiobook promo codes and business cards given out
• New book reviews incoming to Amazon
• New friends made
• Justice was served

All in all, not a bad week. For jury duty, I mean.

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