Positioning Statement

A riveting Southern gothic true crime narrative set against the shadowy world of mid-century Hot Springs, Arkansas—America's most notorious sin city—Killer Wife is the first full account of Bonnie Connelly, a black widow whose three husbands died violently across a single decade. Award-winning author Bitty Martin blends meticulous archival research and first-person interviews with victims' families to deliver a propulsive, deeply reported portrait of a woman who preferred a bullet to a divorce, and the justice system that struggled to stop her.

Market

Market Opportunity and Audience:

Perfect for readers of I'll Be Gone in the Dark (Ann Rule), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt), The Monster of Florence (Douglas Preston), Monster: My True Story (Aileen Wuornos with Christopher Berry-Dee), and Savage Appetites (Rachel Monroe)

True Crime is the #1 most-consumed podcast genre in the U.S., with 61% of Americans now listening to podcasts; True Crime accounts for roughly 1 in 5 podcast downloads (Edison Research, 2024)

True Crime books dominate nonfiction paperback bestseller lists: in 2023, 4 of the top 10 nonfiction paperbacks on the New York Times list were True Crime or Crime-adjacent titles

Female killer fascination: Books about women who kill consistently outperform those about male perpetrators in the true crime category; titles such as Alison Leotta's prosecutorial memoirs and Karen Kilgariff-adjacent projects demonstrate robust female-perpetrator demand

The "black widow" archetype is a proven commercial hook: Cases involving women who serially kill intimate partners consistently generate sustained media coverage; the Netflix documentary series on the Black Widow of Loudoun County drew 15 million views in its first month

Southern gothic True Crime is ascendant: The success of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (4+ million copies sold), Devil in the Grove, and A Death in Belmont proves strong reader appetite for richly atmospheric regional crime narratives

Hot Springs, Arkansas setting adds unique commercial appeal: Hot Springs was the illegal gambling capital of America through the mid-20th century, home to Al Capone's vacation retreats and the birthplace of Bill Clinton—a setting readers have never seen fully exploited in True Crime

1960s period True Crime is a strong market niche: The era predates modern forensic science, creating natural tension; readers are drawn to cases that reveal how gender bias, limited forensic tools, and local politics allowed killers to evade justice

FBI fugitive angle broadens appeal beyond genre readers: The nationwide manhunt element crosses over into thriller and crime fiction audiences, estimated at 47 million U.S. readers (NPD BookScan)

Women 25–54 make up approximately 70% of True Crime consumers (YouGov, 2023)—a highly engaged, book-purchasing demographic

Arkansas regional pride market: The Arkansas Center for the Book's recognition of Martin's previous title Snake Eyes as an "Arkansas Gem" demonstrates institutional support; an estimated 500,000+ Arkansas residents are active book buyers

Award pedigree drives discovery: Martin's prior recognition provides a built-in credibility signal to retailers, librarians, and the True Crime community

Author Credentials

Award-winning author: Her previous book, Snake Eyes, was selected as an "Arkansas Gem" by the Arkansas Center for the Book—a prestigious regional honor that validates Martin's research standards and storytelling craft

Deep local expertise: Martin has spent her career embedded in Hot Springs and Little Rock, Arkansas—the precise geography of the Bonnie Connelly murders—giving her unmatched access to archival sources, local institutions, and community memory

Board member, Garland County Historical Society: Provides direct access to primary historical records, court documents, and local newspaper archives covering the Connelly cases

Media industry background: Martin's career in print sales (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Times magazine) and TV sales (KATV–Channel 7/ABC affiliate) gives her a regional yet sophisticated understanding of media strategy

First-person interviews: Martin secured interviews with surviving family members of Bonnie's victims—a rare and powerful journalistic achievement for a 60-year-old case

Meticulous archival research: The book draws on contemporaneous newspaper accounts, court records, and FBI files, placing it squarely in the Ann Rule tradition of documented True Crime

Author website: https://www.bittymartin.com/

Publicity

Print, Broadcast & Major Media:

Major trade reviewers: Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Booklist

National newspapers: The New York Times (Sunday Book Review, Crime column), USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal

True Crime & Crime writing publications: CrimeReads, The Big Thrill (ITW), Crime Magazine

Southern & regional press: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Times, The Sentinel-Record, Oxford American (perfect Southern literary fit), Garden & Gun (Southern culture angle), Southern Living Magazine

Women's media: People ("People Crimes" coverage), Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, Glamour (digital only), Bustle, Refinery29 (female killer angle)

General interest: TIME Magazine, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine (historical Americana angle), Psychology Today, Mental Floss

History & culture: American History Magazine, Lapham's Quarterly, The Week, History.com editorial

Crime & legal media: Law & Crime Network (through YouTube), Above the Law, True Crime Magazine (UK)

NPR: Fresh Air, All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Here & Now; Arkansas Public Media (KUAR/KUAF) for local/regional

Broadcast: Dateline NBC (strong True Crime franchise, 6–9 million viewers per episode), 48 Hours (CBS), 20/20 (ABC), Court TV, Investigation Discovery network features

Cable news: CNN (American Gothic crime specials), HLN (True Crime programming), MS NOW

Op-ed / essay strategy: Bylined pieces in CrimeReads and Oxford American on the mythology of Hot Springs, gender and justice in the 1960s South, or "why Southern women who kill fascinate us"

Podcasts

True Crime: My Favorite Murder (8M+ downloads/episode), Crime Junkie (9M+ listeners/month, #1 True Crime podcast), Casefile, True Crime Obsessed, And That's Why We Drink, Your Own Backyard, Small Town Murder

Narrative Nonfiction & Southern Stories: American Scandal (Wondery), Scam Goddess, Over My Dead Body, Dr. Death, Bone Valley

History & Culture: American History Tellers (Wondery), You're Wrong About, Revisionist History (Malcolm Gladwell), Stuff You Missed in History Class

Women's Interest: Call Her Daddy (3.5M+ listeners/episode for high-profile crime stories), Glennon Doyle's We Can Do Hard Things, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (Monica Padman has covered crime topics)

Books & Literary: What Should I Read Next?, The LARB (Los Angeles Review of Books) Radio Hour, The Currently Reading Podcast

Arkansas/Southern Regional: Arkansas PBS podcast content, Talk Business & Politics (Arkansas)

Social Media / Author Platform & Built-in Demand:

Author website (bittymartin.com): Existing platform with established audience from Snake Eyes; update with Killer Wife content, media kit, and booking information

BookTok (TikTok): True Crime is among TikTok's most viral book categories; #TrueCrime has 35B+ views on TikTok; target BookTok creators with 50K–2M followers in the True Crime niche (e.g., @pageandpanic, @crimebookclub); budget for 5–10 gifted review copies to top creators)

Bookstagram (Instagram): True Crime Bookstagram is robust; #truecrimebooks has 500K+ posts; outreach to @truecrimebookclub (80K+ followers) and similar accounts with aesthetic Southern gothic photography appeals

Facebook: True Crime Facebook groups are enormous—"True Crime Addicts" has 600K+ members; "Crime Junkies" has 500K+ members

Goodreads: Coordinate early reviewer program; True Crime is one of Goodreads' most active genre communities with 7M+ members in crime/mystery shelves

Reddit: r/TrueCrime has 4.5M subscribers; r/books has 23M subscribers; author AMA (Ask Me Anything) timed to publication; organic posts seeding interest in the "Black Widow of Hot Springs"

Pinterest: Southern gothic and True Crime aesthetics perform well; create a Killer Wife board with Hot Springs historical images, 1960s fashion, and archival photos to drive organic discovery

Email newsletter: Leverage Martin's existing relationships in the Arkansas media community for newsletter placements; coordinate with Garland County Historical Society member communications (est. 1,000+ subscribers)

YouTube: Pitch True Crime YouTube channels with 500K+ subscribers such as Kendall Rae (2.6M subscribers), Stephanie Harlowe (1.5M subscribers), and Eleanor Neale (2.2M subscribers) for dedicated case deep-dives

Digital & Influencer Outreach:

True Crime community: Partner with Crime Junkie's EXACTLY RIGHT network for newsletter and social promotion; explore “shared” content-driven posts with top-tier True Crime influencers

Southern literary community: Oxford American's social channels (100K+ followers); Garden & Gun (300K+ Instagram followers); Arkansas Times social channels

Historical societies: Coordinate with Arkansas Historical Association, Hot Springs National Park (3M+ annual visitors), and Arkansas State Archives for authentic promotional support and cross-promotion

Women's book clubs: Target the club She Reads (200K+ members), Book of the Month club crime picks, and Reese Witherspoon's “Hello Sunshine” book club consideration (strong appetite for Southern women's stories)

Documentary/streaming interest: Given the FBI manhunt angle and three documented murders, flag to Investigation Discovery, Netflix True Crime development, and HBO documentary teams—successful True Crime book-to-streaming adaptations (Dirty John, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Under the Banner of Heaven) demonstrate strong precedent

Summary Strategy (Key Points)

"The Black Widow of Hot Springs": Three dead husbands across ten years—1959, 1965, 1969—in America's most wide-open sin city; each death more brazen than the last

Gender and justice in the Jim Crow South: How Bonnie Connelly exploited gender expectations, small-town deference, and a overburdened justice system to evade accountability across three murders

Hot Springs as character: The only city in America where illegal gambling operated openly for decades with federal protection; home to Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and a culture that looked the other way—the perfect environment for a woman like Bonnie

A 21-year-old's fatal attraction: The May–December marriage of 45-year-old Bonnie to dance-hall king Don Rowland in 1968—and his violent death 14 months later—is the book's most shocking chapter

The FBI manhunt: After dodging multiple trials, Bonnie became a nationwide fugitive; the FBI pursuit brings a thriller dimension to a story already rich with Southern gothic atmosphere

First-ever full account: Despite decades of local legend and rumors, Killer Wife is the first book-length investigation of the Connelly cases—a genuine literary first

Survivor voices: Martin secured interviews with victims' surviving family members, lending the book moral weight and journalistic authority that separates it from sensationalism

Arkansas's hidden history: The book reveals a side of Arkansas—its gambling culture, its complicit power structures, its complicated gender politics—that has never been fully explored in national True Crime