#329: New feature.  Starting next Wednesday (Nov. 20), I’ll start posting movie reviews, when available.  Because I see many movies, I thought it might be useful to readers of this blog to have an outside opinion about certain movies.  (By “outside opinion,” I mean (1) I’m not a professional movie reviewer; (2) I express my own opinion, often contrary to popular fads and pundits; and (3) I have no hidden agendas, actors in my family, or any connection to Hollywood, Bollywood, or Broadway.)  Sometimes my review will simply be: “I won’t see this movie because…” (that’s not really a review of the movie but a prejudice, but it can possibly help you in your viewing decisions—for example, the fiasco associated with casting Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher).

Caveat emptor: as usual, you can certainly disagree with what I write in the movie review.  You’re entitled to your opinion, but comment on the post then—other moviegoers might enjoy your opinion, whether you agree with me or not.  The posts in this blog are always open to reasonable comments—we’re a community of readers and writers and the intelligent exchange of ideas is priceless.

#330: New contest.  Every month, I’ll give a free ebook to the first person who mentions the MAGIC WORD in a reasonable comment to a blog post (see my webpage “Join the Conversation” for the definition of “reasonable comment”).  Your comment on the post has to refer to the post, of course.  In other words, it has to be more than “The Magic Word is XXX,” but the Magic Word doesn’t have to be cleverly included as part of your comment—you can finish your comment with that sentence, substituting the Magic Word for XXX, of course.

The person who wins each month will receive as a prize one of my ebooks from Amazon.  If you include in your blog post comment the name of the ebook—something like “The Magic Word is XXX (The Midas Bomb)”—you’ll receive The Midas Bomb, for example, assuming you’re a winner.  Otherwise, I’ll just start you off with one of my short story collections.  (If you don’t have an Amazon e-reader, at the same time you download my gift to you, you can download the free Amazon app so you can read the ebook on your device.)

Where do you find the Magic Word?  At the bottom of my webpage “Free Stuff and Contests” you will find the statement “This month’s Magic Word is….”  (Don’t miss this month either—it’s a short one.)

By the way, I won’t allow repeat winners.  I know some of you visit here often.  If you do and haven’t purchased any of my books, that’s bad karma—TANSTAAFL (see below) is in play now.  I probably won’t be giving away freebies via Amazon’s KDP Select either any time in the future.  My ebooks will slowly be removed from KDP Select, but until then, Amazon Prime members can borrow them.  Bottom line: if you want a free ebook from me, enter the contest or write a review (see below).

#331: Sequential titles, long series.  Sue Grafton, starting with A Is for Alibi (she’s now up to W Is for Wasted), has started a mini-fad among titles.  I’ve noticed other authors coming out with similar titles (One, Two… etc).  I give a great deal of thought to my titles.  Grafton and other authors are skimping on that.  Their titles seem clever—they’re not really—but, in her case, I’m wondering if the books have become a bit formulaic (also, what’s she going to do when she hits Z—die?).

I’m worrying about some of my series too.  Chen and Castilblanco, my two NYPD homicide detectives, have been around awhile.  Do I stop with Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder or continue the series?  For example, I’m already tired of Child’s Jack Reacher and Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme.  Are people tired of Chen and Castilblanco?  I’m not, but I’m biased.

#332: TANSTAAFL #1.  I first saw TANSTAAFL as an acronym in Heinlein’s sci-fi classic The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (highly recommended, by the way).  It means “There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch” (I’m not sure Heinlein included the third A, but it gives the acronym a certain cache—sounds like a delicious Danish pastry).  Here I’m using it to smack you around a bit, dear reader!

If you’re reading this blog—even if it’s your first time—you’re reading it for free.  But I incur certain costs in running this website, even if I don’t add in the cost of producing my ebooks.  Help me out.  Buy some books, damn it!  I just finished a give-away of two NEW ebooks—dismal results were obtained, for whatever reason.  I guess you can’t even give away good books anymore.  But…TANSTAAFL!  If you downloaded either of those books, write a short review when you finish reading it.  And, support this blog by buying more of my ebooks.

#333: TANSTAAFL #2.  For readers of this blog, tell your friends.  Maybe they only see movies…so tell about the new movie review feature.  If they read ebooks, tell them mine are a bargain besides being entertaining (read the reviews).  Tell them about the new contest (see above).  Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape, the new short story collection of speculative fiction (it also contains a novella), and Pop Two Antacids and Have Some Java, a short story collection involving my NYPD homicide detectives Chen and Castilblanco, both provide an inexpensive introduction to my writing for those reluctant to take the leap of spending a few more dollars—those two anthologies contain many pages of entertaining writing for less than a movie ticket in most venues.

Friends telling friends—that’s still the best PR and marketing tool, whether via the internet or at Saturday and Sunday tailgating parties.  Help me support this blog by buying, reading, and reviewing some of my books.  Indie authors work hard to entertain you.  Please support us.

#334: Blog post comments and reviews.  I know everyone’s either busy, shy, or just plain lazy—or all of the above—but this Golden Age of publishing is a helluva boon for readers.  Indie books offer great reading enjoyment for little investment—but they will go the way of the dinosaurs unless everyone does his part in supporting indie authors and publishers.  I do my part in giving back to the community of readers and writers by posting comments to other people’s blogs and writing book reviews.  You should too.

I don’t bite, by the way.  Despite my strong words (rants?), I’m really just a big teddy bear.  If you have a comment to a blog, I’ll generally post it, as long as it’s more than “atta boy” or “%$#@ you”—you don’t have to agree with the post or even parts of it, as long as you express your opinion logically.  To encourage you to do so, I’m creating a new monthly contest for you (see item #330).  Mind you, more comments represent more work for me—but I like that kind of work because I’m connecting with readers.

I also need reviews—not just me, but all indie authors do.  If you read an indie book, write a short review telling the author and the world what you think.  In my case, I’m willing to give you a free ebook in exchange for an honest review (up to my budget constraints, which are considerable).  Caveat emptor: I keep a list and check it more than twice.  I’ll know if you never write the review and wish bad karma to befall you if you don’t.

In both these cases—comments or reviews—you don’t have to be verbose.  I think Amazon requires at least twenty words for a book review, but that’s usually less than a Twitter message.  Let indie authors know what you think about their work.  Readers’ comments are motivation for all indie writers—ye olde indie author included.

#335: Beta readers.  I’ve been rethinking this.  Lately, some alert readers have discovered minor inconsistencies in some of my ebooks.  I thank them—God bless their eagle eyes!  I know the use of beta readers is quite common in the indie publishing industry, but I’ve always been hesitant—I’m masochistic in content and copy editing before my MS even reaches my wonderful formatter, and she and I proof-read the formatted ebook after she’s finished formatting.  Those are our jobs, though, so I’d employ a beta reader a bit differently.  I would like a beta reader to read my already content and copy edited MS (that’s manuscript, for the uninitiated), look for inconsistencies (name changes of characters, for example), and note places where readers might be confused (I recognize my writing can be complex—I don’t do simple).

If this is a gig that interests you, send me a bio (enough data for me to determine that you’re neither terrorist nor robot) and your contact info.  Beta reading for me would be intense but sporadic.  I need your complete bio info, though, because this is a position of trust.  I’ll google you—if you’re an author, you won’t qualify, unless I know you personally.  (Yeah, I know, even the MS is copyright protected, but I don’t need any legal hassles.)  First come, first serve, by the way, and your only remuneration will be reading an MS before the ebook is released—sort of like an early screening of a film, always a treat for me.

By the way, don’t take this as an expression of my desire to join a critique group.  No way!  They might help some indie authors, but I find them restrictive and stultifying.  I’m not asking beta readers to critique per se.  I’m only asking them to detect inconsistencies.  They can express their opinion, but I probably won’t listen, unless they’re telling me I’m going to be assassinated or sued (I don’t run very fast anymore).  I have strong opinions about critique groups.  I might develop equally strong opinions about using beta readers—whether favorable or not, I don’t know.  It’s an experiment….

In libris libertas….

[If you enjoyed this newsletter, please support this blog: buy, read, and review some of my books.]

 

This entry was posted on Friday, November 15th, 2013 at 4:00 am and is filed under News and Notices from the Writing Trenches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.