Former Severna Park Resident Delves into New Market—Murder Mysteries

Jaime Schneider, long-known as one of the go-to guys in the luxury home market of Annapolis, has just published his first book.

In the Shadow of Silver Lake is a murder mystery set in Rehoboth, DE. Schneider splits his time between homes in Annapolis and Rehoboth.

"I want to be the Pat Conroy of Rehoboth," said Schneider, referring to the prolific author, whose novels are often set in the picturesque towns of South Carolina.

A downturn in the real estate market helped propel Schneider, a 1981 graduate of into pursuing writing.

"If you have the time and I have had the time, because after 28 years of selling luxury real estate, with this economy, it's allowed me the time to turn my passion for reading into writing," Schneider said.

The other factor was a gut feeling.

"It's funny. I like to read one to four books a month depending on how busy I am with work," he said. "I just thought I've got stories in me, so I took a crack at the first one."

Yes, there's another book and another one right behind that—all murder mysteries.

"The second is about to go to the publisher," said Schneider, who used a division of Amazon.com to self-publish. 

He explained this publishing route. 

"It's called CreateSpace. It's a great place to go," he said. "They do everything for you or as little as you want. I created a publishing house through their guidance."

It turns out to be a perfect fit for someone with a lot of marketing experience, because the author is the one doing the most marketing.

"You should really rely on yourself doing the marketing," said Schneider. "They help you get into Amazon and Kindle—the e-readers. Independent bookstores and book signings you really have to do yourself."

And he has been.

"I've sold, since it came out on Memorial Day weekend, 625 books," Schneider said.

Thus far, he's focused much of his efforts in Delaware, but is starting to pursue marketing opportunities in the Annapolis area.

"I want to do a book-signing here, but I haven't found the right location," Schneider said. He grew up in Hollywood on the Severn and hopes to have a book signing at some point in Severna Park and will be bringing copies of the book to his class reunion next month on Sept. 10 in Annapolis.

Remember he has another job, at least for the time being.

Schneider and his life/business partner, Glenn Randall, have been building a team of real estate agents through the Champion Realty, Bestgate Road office over the past few years called Team Annapolis.

Though Team Annapolis will still be active, Schneider said he and Randall are planning to wind down their own real estate careers.

As for why he used 'James' rather than 'Jaime' as his pen name, that goes back to his beginnings in real estate.

"Everybody knows me as Jaime, but I put it in print as James," Schneider said. "When I started in real estate 28 years ago, I had to look like I was older—I was a kid."

Schneider said all those years of selling luxury homes gave him some creative-writing experience.

"If you have to describe mansion after mansion and make them sound good, you develop a knack for storytelling," he said. "Whenever I wrote a brochure, I always wanted people to picture themselves enjoying the space."

The question most asked about murder mysteries—who did it?

"The compliment I've most often received—people like the twists, the turns and at the end, it's someone they never expected," he said with a laugh.

For more information, visit http://www.jamesschneider.net or http://www.amazon.com/James-Schneider/e/B0055U8KCU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

*This article has been changed to reflect the correct SPHS graduation date of 1981.